Sunday Oct. 2, 2009

Hello!!



So much to say...where to begin. I'll start with the birthday party I went to last night. It was a great event. (Keep in mind we just had a boat here so more food is on the island then usual.) The party started at 7 pm which really means it started a little past 9. There were balloons & lights (powered by many trusty car batteries) and it looked like quite the event. The party was a 1st birthday (1 yr old) and they are a HUGE deal here so I was excited sitting on my mat waiting for the short 2 hr. delay. When the party started I was AMAZED at how much food there was!



I was served the BIGGEST lobster I've ever seen. I didn't know lobsters got so big. There was also 2 donuts bwiro (which I've yet to like. It's made from aged breadfruit), a big bone with pork on it and, of course, rice. I've seen all of those things here before, but on top of all that I was given fried chicken (truely like a chicken breast from KFC but with a much different taste), a slice of ham (like sandwich meat, but I debated for a long time if it was ham or spam & finally decided it was ham), and my FAVORITE part, a half a hot dog!! There was more protein on my plate that most of the kids eat in a month(probably more than I've eaten in a month as well) not to mention the amazing variety!



Not everyone got lobster, I quickly noticed. You may recall I don't really care much for lobster but I do LOVE hot dogs so I decided to try to trade my lobster for HALF a hot dog. I bet you wouldn't believe that I could find no one willing to swap me! Not one person!!! People here aren't dumb, they know a hot dog is much more valuable than a lobster. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed.



Remember all of that food & now I must back up a bit more & update everyone on my life.



My field director came on the Captain Peter (the boat) and has been trying to work out my less than ideal host family situation. After she talked to many people (including me), she decided to change my host family! It was the cause of much drama here on Kaben and I fear it will be the talk of the island for weeks to come, but it is definitely the best thing for me (and when I say drama it isn't all bad drama, I think everyone but maybe 2 people are glad my family has been changed & support the decision which, as those of you from small communities know, is important!). My new host family is the one and only Samson family! This is Bona's family & I'm relieved.



Let me tell you about my family. Bona is my new Mama & she is great company & takes very good care of me. Junior, my baba, is the doctor for the island and is only concerned about my well being and happiness, I now have 7 brothers & sisters. My favorite is Roxiana, the energetic, talkative 2 yr. old. I think we'll have a good time together.



Along with the change of host parents came a threat that I had to move out of my house(you'll recall I was living a decent 6 min. walk away from my old host family). After many conversations in Marshallese, none of which I understood, my very upset old host grandpa lost the fight to kick me out & it was decided I would stay. This was good because otherwise I would have moved into Bona's 2 bedroom house & they would have given me one room all to myself & put the 9 of them in the other room.



Now I live next to my host family & couldn't be happier about it!



Back to all the food I was given. Naturally, I didn't eat all of it. I ate the hot dog (delicious!!!), some of the mystery ham, some chicken, a bit of rice, a bit of breadfruit, and both my donuts (of course)! After i ate all that (and it was so much after 5 weeks of eating so little!) Bona took my leftovers home, including the giant lobster, I didn't touch. I was glad cause I figured the 9 of them would enjoy the lobster & I wouldn't have to eat it. This morning at breakfast Bona happily showed me the whole lobster that she was warming in the oven for lunch. I'll try to enjoy it.

For breakfast this morning I got chocolate "milk". It was hot water, chocolate milk mix, and coffee creamer. It was surprisingly good (did I mention that is was the first time I've drank anything other than water or coconut in 5 weeks?) I've started to wonder if some things REALLY taste good or if they just taste different so I enjoy them. At this point I also wonder if it matters, and , of course, it doesn't!

Yesterday I also ate shrimp(apparently we have shrimp here as well) and not surprising, wasn't a fan, once again. I just wasn't meant to eat seafood.

My school schedule has also been changed. I now teach 2nd - 8th grade. My schedule is now 8/7, 6, 4/5, 2/3, 4/5, 6, 7/8 and I am NOT excited! I was also told this is potentially temporary & just for this coming week. I guess it's a good thing I procrastinate & didn't have much planned with my old schedule. I think one more teacher is on island and 2 more are supposed to be coming on the next plane (supposed to be sat. the 10th) which is the cause of the change.

Heidi