Email Glitch

To all are friends...our email has been hacked. We are not in Spain and don't need money. If you got an email from us asking you to help us, please ignore it. We are currenly locked out of MSN but we do have email at:

majurocoophs@yahoo.com - Becky
rwlathrop@gmail.com - Willard

We hope nobody was too concerned.

Willard and Becky

The Marshall Islands Journal and Other Amusements

The newspaper here never fails to amuse me. I think it is the first newspaper that I have ever read consistently cover to cover. Here is a recent article that gives you an example of why it humors me:

Plastic Bags

Plastic bags are neat, but for some reason many people feel they are very bad and should be banned. The suggestion is that cloth bags should be used instead of plastic, but cloth bags also have inherent difficulties. Cloth bags need occasional washing and fresh water and imported soap to do so.

Plastic bags have a convenient recyclable aspect: after emptying plastic bags are used as trash bags. They serve this function conveniently.

Plastic bags are dangerous because they can smother babies. This is why warnings are printed on plastic bags.

What do we recommend? That everyone wear oversize shirts, like if you are XX, buy a XXX. When you check out at the supermarket grab the front of your shirt at the bottom and draw the shirt up. This makes a pouch in front of your belly like a kangaroo. Stuff purchases in the pouch and go home. When you arrive, release the goods onto the kitchen table or whatever. If you need shopping shirts to go shopping you can buy them at Payless in Delap. Help keep Majuro neat.

A couple of months ago they hosted  political elections here. One race was extremely close. There were issues and they needed to recount the votes. When they finished they reported it all in the paper, including the names of the two voters who swayed the vote!

Most of the time there is an ad that reads: Please don’t rob banks!

On another subject, we have been blessed this week with rain. This is not a place that grumbles about rain! No, we are thankful - the catchments are about three-quarters full and we can do laundry without worry for a minute. The weather here feels a little cooler because of the trade-winds but it probably gets as low as 78 degrees. So it cracks us up that we see folks walking around with coats and sweatshirts! As for us, we are feeling very comfortable. The only down side to the winds as I see it, is it makes the snorkeling more difficult.

We did get a chance to go last weekend though. We got a call with an invitation to go out with a group of divers to Arno, a close atoll. The weather was perfect and the snorkeling pretty good. Part of the way there the skipper decided we should fish. The Japanese folk who were on board were excited about the prospect of fresh sashimi. So I put out a hand line and a couple minutes later got a big strike! I was SO excited and Willard and one of the Japanese men started pulling in the line (there was no reel). I was pretty disappointed that it got away - but now I think I’ll have to go again - I think I’ve caught the fever! Got another smaller hit again a little while later but it was fleeting as well. I did learn how to look for the flocks of birds having a feeding frenzy on the water. They are feeding on the little fish, and where there is little fish, there is my dinner! Of course there will be pictures when I catch it!

Hope you are all well - I hear spring might visit the Northwest any day! Take care - Love, Becky



My students who earned all As and Bs this quarter - aren't they adorable?



More Fun in the Marshall's

Last Saturday was the February fishing tournament and we went out for a day of fishing but lousy catching. The weather was good and the sea was easy but the fish were not biting. We did catch a couple of nice wahoos but only one was a qualifier, and a couple of small tunas so there was fish for dinner but no big fish. Currently our team is still in first place for the years point total but we better get lucky next month.

The week was slow but I did have to cover a couple of classes at the school while my lovely bride attended to other duties.  I have a regular coffee meeting down the road at a little store where I meet with a Marshallese man named Bob. We have coffee and discuss books we are reading and exchange books that we think the other will like. Bob is a US Army veteran and has lived all over the world before coming to the Marshall Islands to retire. 

This Saturday, Becky and I went out with Hiro and Carey for a day of diving and snorkeling. We left Majuro about 9 AM on Carey’s boat and traveled to Arno (the next atoll to the East). We Arrived at Arno and I went for a SCUBA dive with Hiro and Becky snorkeled.  I had a great dive Becky got to snorkel around the dive site. We had lunch on the boat and then while we moved to the next site we put out the fishing lines. Becky was running a hand line and had a tremendous striking but Hiro and I were unable to keep on the line and pull it in. Becky got a second strike but lost it. That’s the only luck we had. We dropped Becky off to go snorkeling and ran up the island to do a drift dive. I saw my first pair black tip sharks and we had a great dive. We fished all the way home but had not luck.

Life here in Majuro is good and Becky and I are doing well. I continue my job as the head cook and bottle washer and Becky continues to bring home the bacon. Life’s tough when you’re a cabana boy.