Water Hours and Rain Dances

The Dry Season is here. For most of the year there is enough rain to keep everyone happy. The trees and ground cover stay green and the water catchments are full. But from January to May the rain is infrequent, to the point where serious care and planning is necessary. Because most of the teachers live in school-provided housing, they share catchments. To help keep the water shortage at bay, we have had to host meetings to discuss ways to save water. On the way out, one teacher summed up the meeting by remarking, “So it’s water hours and rain dances!” Here are some things we do:

1.       There is a bucket at the bottom of the shower. All of that water is saved. Use it to soak dishes before they are washed.

2.       Never ever leave the water running – ever – for shaving, teeth brushing, etc.

3.       Never leave your hose connected. Make sure there is no handle on the spigot – people steal water here.

4.       For the group housing, they turn the water off during the day and late at night – in other words, they have water hours; again so neighbors don’t have the opportunity to steal the water.

5.       Run the washer when it rains.

6.       Showers are SHORT.

7.       If it’s yellow let it mellow.

There is city water but it is only turned on two days a week. And if the water runs out, it’s simply gone. Yikes! This morning our catchment was a quarter full and we were getting pretty nervous. So even though we were cold and wet on the sailing race today, we rejoiced when the rain came. The catchment is now half full.

I apologize I haven’t written in quite some time. Nate came before Christmas and stayed until February. Willard’s folks came in mid-January and were here for two weeks. Meanwhile work has been very busy. My personal goal is to finish sending out Christmas cards this week!

Lest you think I am whining, I include a picture of how we spent our Saturday afternoon. Our girls are undefeated – I call them the Scrappy Girls. They don’t have a great shooting percentage but they can sure steal a ball and get it down the court! Some are barefoot and others are running in flip-flops. It is great fun to watch them, especially on a sunny afternoon with a nice breeze! During half-time I watched the coach draw out his plans on his little white board and then erase it with the sole of his flip-flop and then continue to draw and explain the plays. As I’ve said before, life is pretty interesting here!

Thanks for reading, take care! Love to you, Becky

The Scrappy Girls in red win against the Catholic Girls

The Cabana Boy Returns

It’s been about six weeks since I added to my blog so I guess I better get back with the program. Nate came to visit us just before Christmas and stayed until the end of January.  We had a great time with him. Right after Christmas we traveled to a neighboring atoll and spent three days living on a beautiful beach virtually isolated from the rest of the world.

We returned to Majuro just in time for the New Year’s block party. We wandered up and down the street listening to different bands compete with each other for who was the loudest. The closer to midnight it got the drunker the crowd got. We left right after midnight but I guess the real dancing didn’t get going until even later.

The second Tuesday in January Nate and I went out with Ronnie Remer for the monthly fishing tournament.  We had a great day fishing although it was a bit rough. We caught, tagged, and released three marlins (little guys, about 120 pounds) and five mahi mahi, two of which qualified for tournament points.  A long day but fun.

Nate and I also got certified to SCUBA dive in an intensive two- session stint which included four dives. We spent the week prior doing all the book work and taking the tests and on Saturday we were ready to go. Our training sessions took place at a small island on the other side of the lagoon. The first morning was all drills and procedures in shallow water. The afternoon was a iittle deeper with two interesting sights. A Huey helicopter sitting upright in about thirty feet of water and a DC3 cargo plane in about forty feet. Day two saw us back at the island and our morning dive took us to 100 foot passenger ship resting  at 60 feet. That afternoon we motored out to a submerged reef where we dove with schools of Barracudas. Barracudas are mean looking fish but they didn’t bother us although I was a little nervous.

My Mom and Dad arrived on the 19^th and stayed with us until February 1. We rented the house across the street for them because our little one bedroom house was already filled with the addition of Nate. I think Mom and Dad had a good time but the heat was bit much for them.  The average day time temperature is in the low eighties and the humidity is about 80 percent. It does take some getting used to.

Dad, Nate, and I went fishing with Ronnie one day and we caught four nice mahi mahi, one of which was over thirty pounds (that’s a big one). But our day got caught short when another boat lost power and we went to assist them. This boat, XXXX (pronounced “Four X”) was on the way to a container ship that had an ill sailor on board (appendicitis) and planned to evac him to Majuro. The ship was too big for the harbor entrance so a planned rendezvous was to take place about three miles out.  We took XXXX in tow and started back to the lagoon. About half way there a second boat arrived and we watched as the medical team transferred over. It was a pretty calm day with swells about five to seven feet. I was amazed that all medical personnel made the transfer with nobody getting hurt or tossed into the ocean.

After the transfer we continued our tow back into the lagoon and into the dock. It turned out that XXXX had lost their cooling system and fried their diesel.  It will take a new engine before it gets back in the water. We on the other hand had fresh mahi for dinner.

Nate left on January 30^th and, Mom and Dad left on February 1^st. After six weeks of having family around it does seem a little quiet around here. The power has gone out now and I’m finishing this by battery power on the back deck. The tide is way out but I know it will be in at 4 PM  because I’m diving with Todd Newman who is with the Royal Australian Navy and we will be doing some maintenance on their boat (he will, I’m just the dive buddy). Tomorrow is the monthly fishing tournament so I’ll have to get to bed early but with any luck there will be fresh fish for dinner tomorrow night. Life’s tough when you’re a Cabana Boy.