Hello!
What a week it's been. I experienced my first bit of missing home ( at least to the extent that I wanted to leave) and at some points this week I'd even decided I would leave. Of course, the only day that's an option is some Saturdays so we needn't worry I'm still here! I realize I was just having some bad days and things will (and have) gotten better. Each bad day from here on out will be easier because they will be one day closer to a successful completion of this year. :)
This week I had a cold. Don't ask me how I caught a cold out here bit I did. It wasn't the worst cold, but I didn't have any tissue so my nose got irritated, I was congested, and I was tired! One night I slept for almost 12 hours 7:30 PM to 6:45 AM! On top of my cold, my, my catchment ran out of water so I had to haul my water for showers,laundry, & the toilet from my well. Don't worry, I can now get water out of my well like the best of them & my arms are getting stronger by the day!
If I had to give this week a title it would be "Attack of the Killer Mosquitoes". Now Kaben is well know for its lack of mosquitoes; on a typical day one might see 7 mosquitoes. This past week mosquitoes have been everywhere and in huge swarms. Up until this week I think I've had 3 bites total. This week I probably got 40+ bites. These mosquitoes are not regular mosquitoes. They are monstrous! These monsters are abnormally large and vicious. I have mosquito bits on my back & stomach which means I'm being bitten through my clothes! It is awful! I get bit all day and excessively while I'm teaching but today is promising, some mosquitoes seem to have left!
I came to a weird realization yesterday while walking to breakfast. If this island disappeared tomorrow few people in the world would be concerned. What a weird thought. I wonder if the people here think about that. I doubt it because for many their whole world is the RMI, but wow! I thought about that while I was swatting at mosquitoes wondering why they even exist.
This morning for breakfast I had ramen noodles. I wasn't to thrilled about that even though I have been wishing for ramen for a few days. I only wanted ramen for lunch or dinner instead of rice, but be careful what you wish for cause you might get ramen for breakfast! Anyway, I ate a few bites but ramen isn't very good in the morning (at least to me) so I didn't eat much & was content to eat a granola bar before school. Well I had just gotten back to my house when my neighbor said (in Marshallese), "Heidi, eat!" I was going to pass & stick to my granola bar but then I saw she had pancakes and I love the pancakes here so I went to eat. Much to my surprise, the pancakes had BANANAS in them!! What a treat!!! I was only going to eat 1 because I wasn't all that hungry but when I tasted the sweetness of the banana I had to have more! I had 3 pancakes and was offered plenty more but I couldn't eat any more. I was also offered a dried and salted fish but I can't eat fish in the morning yet. Maybe one day, but definitely not a day I get banana pancakes!
I was so excited about my banana pancakes I forgot to tell you the funniest thing. When I was asked/told to eat with my neighbor she asked me what I had for breakfast but before my brain had time to translate her question into English and my answer into Marshallese she answered for me and said, very confidently, "Ramen?" I was shocked she knew already. It had only been maybe 6 minutes since I'd finished my ramen but she knew! Also, my neighbor's name is Nerry or Tolly depending on the day. Everyone here has 2 names which, you can imagine, is confusing. I'm slowly starting to remember who's who now that I know things like Nerry and Tolly is the same person!
For lunch today my family had bananas! I bet word got out that I was impressed & excited about having banana pancakes so then my host family got me banana for lunch! Apparently there is a (or more, I don't know) banana, lime, lemon, and papaya tree somewhere on Kaben. Have I mentioned how delicious the bananas were? Delicious! Keep in mind, these bananas are not the same as we're used to. They are the mini bananas that I used to see in the store & wonder about. I'd say they are more sweet & have a different texture from the bananas I eat at home.
Today was a good day for food. For dinner I had rice &meat (sound familiar?) but when I tasted the meat I wasn't sure what it was. Important sidenote : we eat dinner in the very dimmest of light. As most of you know, I like to see what I eat and am very particular about what goes in my mouth so this has been quite the experience. Too bad I can't just ask them to turn on the lights! So, in the near darkness I tried to discover what meat I was eating (also, it wasn't on a bone or I would have been able to tell). After several bites I thought it might be pork cause it didn't taste like fish except every now and then I would think I tasted fish. The problem is, I wasn't sure if I was imagining the fish taste or if I was imagining the fish taste or if it was really there. In the state of my confusion I asked Jessica (my host mom) what it was and she either said fish or pig. She doesn't speak much English but for some reason she decided to try saying fish or pig in English. unfortunately the f & p sound exactly the same as do the g and sh sound for most people here. I continued eating, wishing I knew what I was eating because it was delicious! Fortunately, I came across a tiny bone (which I am very familiar with) so I finally knew it was fish. I never thought the day would come that I wouldn't be able to tell I was eating fish, but tonight I couldn't tell. (it was a relief knowing I wasn't imagining the fish taste too!)
It's Saturday Sept 11. no plane today.
Last night I watched another movie with Bona's kids (6 of them!). It was in an Asian language that I didn't know though so I don't think I really understood what was going on. I think it was similar to the Denzel Washington movie where his son needs a transplant and he ends up "holding up" the hospital to get it done.
Right now I'm sitting under a coconut tree by the beach on a day long picnic. We walked to the end of the island to a house that I'm very confused about. Loa, my host grandpa, told me it is my host parents house but no one lives in it, but when we arrived there were clothes inside and out on the line as if someone lives here. Who knows, maybe we're borrowing it for the day. Anyway, some boys cut some branches/leaves off a coconut tree and made a nice mat for me to sit on while another climbed a tree to get me a coconut to drink. then they found me a straw (some kind of thick grass thing) so I'm sitting on the beach, on a mat, under a coconut tree, drinking a coconut with a straw. Paradise!
Well, today I had pork for lunch. Still on nasty bone too. What a different life here. I didn't love it (I've never been a pork fan) but it was a nice change from fish.
My favorite part of any day is when Bona lets me sit on their hammock in the evening! the stars start to come out and the hammock is in the just right place to see them and enjoy the breeze!
I went swimming at my picnic with all of the kids and they found the most amazing coral. We saw bright blue, purple, green, pink, white, and yellow coral that we could see without goggles just looking down! it was beautiful!
I'm trying to enjoy everything Kaben has to offer but I'm glad I have a few more weeks to see everything. I'll deal with the challenges of island life a bit longer sense I get to enjoy the beauty of it!
I hope everyone is well! I look forward to the next batch of mail I get!
Sending my love,
Heidi
If I had to give this week a title it would be "Attack of the Killer Mosquitoes". Now Kaben is well know for its lack of mosquitoes; on a typical day one might see 7 mosquitoes. This past week mosquitoes have been everywhere and in huge swarms. Up until this week I think I've had 3 bites total. This week I probably got 40+ bites. These mosquitoes are not regular mosquitoes. They are monstrous! These monsters are abnormally large and vicious. I have mosquito bits on my back & stomach which means I'm being bitten through my clothes! It is awful! I get bit all day and excessively while I'm teaching but today is promising, some mosquitoes seem to have left!
I came to a weird realization yesterday while walking to breakfast. If this island disappeared tomorrow few people in the world would be concerned. What a weird thought. I wonder if the people here think about that. I doubt it because for many their whole world is the RMI, but wow! I thought about that while I was swatting at mosquitoes wondering why they even exist.
This morning for breakfast I had ramen noodles. I wasn't to thrilled about that even though I have been wishing for ramen for a few days. I only wanted ramen for lunch or dinner instead of rice, but be careful what you wish for cause you might get ramen for breakfast! Anyway, I ate a few bites but ramen isn't very good in the morning (at least to me) so I didn't eat much & was content to eat a granola bar before school. Well I had just gotten back to my house when my neighbor said (in Marshallese), "Heidi, eat!" I was going to pass & stick to my granola bar but then I saw she had pancakes and I love the pancakes here so I went to eat. Much to my surprise, the pancakes had BANANAS in them!! What a treat!!! I was only going to eat 1 because I wasn't all that hungry but when I tasted the sweetness of the banana I had to have more! I had 3 pancakes and was offered plenty more but I couldn't eat any more. I was also offered a dried and salted fish but I can't eat fish in the morning yet. Maybe one day, but definitely not a day I get banana pancakes!
I was so excited about my banana pancakes I forgot to tell you the funniest thing. When I was asked/told to eat with my neighbor she asked me what I had for breakfast but before my brain had time to translate her question into English and my answer into Marshallese she answered for me and said, very confidently, "Ramen?" I was shocked she knew already. It had only been maybe 6 minutes since I'd finished my ramen but she knew! Also, my neighbor's name is Nerry or Tolly depending on the day. Everyone here has 2 names which, you can imagine, is confusing. I'm slowly starting to remember who's who now that I know things like Nerry and Tolly is the same person!
For lunch today my family had bananas! I bet word got out that I was impressed & excited about having banana pancakes so then my host family got me banana for lunch! Apparently there is a (or more, I don't know) banana, lime, lemon, and papaya tree somewhere on Kaben. Have I mentioned how delicious the bananas were? Delicious! Keep in mind, these bananas are not the same as we're used to. They are the mini bananas that I used to see in the store & wonder about. I'd say they are more sweet & have a different texture from the bananas I eat at home.
Today was a good day for food. For dinner I had rice &meat (sound familiar?) but when I tasted the meat I wasn't sure what it was. Important sidenote : we eat dinner in the very dimmest of light. As most of you know, I like to see what I eat and am very particular about what goes in my mouth so this has been quite the experience. Too bad I can't just ask them to turn on the lights! So, in the near darkness I tried to discover what meat I was eating (also, it wasn't on a bone or I would have been able to tell). After several bites I thought it might be pork cause it didn't taste like fish except every now and then I would think I tasted fish. The problem is, I wasn't sure if I was imagining the fish taste or if I was imagining the fish taste or if it was really there. In the state of my confusion I asked Jessica (my host mom) what it was and she either said fish or pig. She doesn't speak much English but for some reason she decided to try saying fish or pig in English. unfortunately the f & p sound exactly the same as do the g and sh sound for most people here. I continued eating, wishing I knew what I was eating because it was delicious! Fortunately, I came across a tiny bone (which I am very familiar with) so I finally knew it was fish. I never thought the day would come that I wouldn't be able to tell I was eating fish, but tonight I couldn't tell. (it was a relief knowing I wasn't imagining the fish taste too!)
It's Saturday Sept 11. no plane today.
Last night I watched another movie with Bona's kids (6 of them!). It was in an Asian language that I didn't know though so I don't think I really understood what was going on. I think it was similar to the Denzel Washington movie where his son needs a transplant and he ends up "holding up" the hospital to get it done.
Right now I'm sitting under a coconut tree by the beach on a day long picnic. We walked to the end of the island to a house that I'm very confused about. Loa, my host grandpa, told me it is my host parents house but no one lives in it, but when we arrived there were clothes inside and out on the line as if someone lives here. Who knows, maybe we're borrowing it for the day. Anyway, some boys cut some branches/leaves off a coconut tree and made a nice mat for me to sit on while another climbed a tree to get me a coconut to drink. then they found me a straw (some kind of thick grass thing) so I'm sitting on the beach, on a mat, under a coconut tree, drinking a coconut with a straw. Paradise!
Well, today I had pork for lunch. Still on nasty bone too. What a different life here. I didn't love it (I've never been a pork fan) but it was a nice change from fish.
My favorite part of any day is when Bona lets me sit on their hammock in the evening! the stars start to come out and the hammock is in the just right place to see them and enjoy the breeze!
I went swimming at my picnic with all of the kids and they found the most amazing coral. We saw bright blue, purple, green, pink, white, and yellow coral that we could see without goggles just looking down! it was beautiful!
I'm trying to enjoy everything Kaben has to offer but I'm glad I have a few more weeks to see everything. I'll deal with the challenges of island life a bit longer sense I get to enjoy the beauty of it!
I hope everyone is well! I look forward to the next batch of mail I get!
Sending my love,
Heidi
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