She made it to her island!

We finally got a letter from Heidi. I will copy must of the letter just the way she has written it. She is very descriptive in her writing

I made it to Kaben. My flight was good. We actually flew up to Utrok first (about an hour) and we got to get off the plane for a few minutes. I was exceptionally happy about this because Cornelia is on Utrok and was at the runway!! It was a nice treat. Then we were off to Kaben (about 30 min flight back the way we come). En route I saw the most amazing rainbow. It was a complete half circle or more and and every color in the spectrum was brilliantly visible! Beautiful! Now imagine an island covered in palm trees, pandanus trees, breadfruit tress and many other plants with just a small strip cleared so the airplane can land and that's Kaben.

When I landed there were about 50 + people waiting on the side of the runway to welcome me. They had a push-cart for my bags so I didn't have to carry them the 1/4 mile walk to the village. So, my bags and the 50+ parade of people made it to the village where I was given one of the few lawn chairs to sit on while repairs to my house were completed. I enjoyed a coconut and some chatting (Marshallese with a bit of English) then was sent on a walk to the end of the island with some kids. The end of the island is spectacular. There is a giant tree that must be hundreds of years old that shades the SANDY beach! Paradise! The water is crystal clear and has a great mix mix of blue hues. After my walk I came back to find all my stuff moved into my house. The people are very nice and helpful.

My house is a plywood square with a smaller room inside where I sleep and leave all of my stuff. I have a toilet (it only flushes when I pour water into it) and a shower, sadly it's covered, nearby as well. I also have a catchment and a well. There are probably 30 chickens that run around my house and they are quite annoying.

I live next to the school, which is a yellow, 4 room building very similar (but smaller) to the purple school we stayed in for orientation and the doctors office (which is of course merely the house that the doctor lives in) Today (Sept 1) we cleaned the school. My class hasn't been used for a year and it was so dirty! I was concerned about having to clean it because I didn't want to deal with all the bugs and spiders, but have no fear, a very rowdy group of boys did all of the dirty work! When I was moving some papers a cockroach appeared. I jumped & gasped and the boy's laughed quite merrily then grabbed the roach & took it outside! My class is still messy but I like to believe it is bug free for the time being.

Heidi is on her island!

I received an email from the field director letting me know that Heidi made it to her island on Saturday Aug. 29. She talked to Heidi on Monday Aug. 31 via the radio and said Heidi is well. They were starting registration for school, but classes probably won't start until this coming Monday Sept. 7.

Since there won't be any phone calls or emails, I am anxiously awaiting letters from her. It will be interesting to hear about the plane ride and see how much of her stuff she was able to take with her. Also, to hear about life on Kaben.

I hope everyone continues to write to her. Now that she is away from all the people from orientation, I am sure getting letters will be very important to her.