Day 43

February 11, 2010

 

Day 43:

 

            Cassiano came first thing in the morning to fix the power. The lights were out, the A/C was out and the stove and oven were out also. Somehow the outlets in the kitchen and living room still worked. I waited around for Cassiano and he eventually fixed the problem. Just after he left I wanted to take a shower before going to class but I couldn’t because the water wasn’t working. I had the shower running and then all of a sudden it just stopped. They were, at the exact time I wanted to take a shower, fixing the water problem. Class went really well. I had the kids draft up letters to send to my family back at home. I wrote Janice, Curtis, Rachel, Karen, Cameron, Elani and Chris on the board. I had the kids volunteer who they wanted to write to. Everyone raised their hand for Elani and some requested CeeJay. So I added CeeJay to the list. Still only about six kids volunteered so I just assigned them to family members and they all began drafting their letters. That went well. Of course I had to tell Bobby to stay on track but everything else went well.

            Also, yesterday I wrote the names of the kids who had missing work on the board for both classes. When I got to class today, Terri handed me missing work from every student that was there that day. I was stunned. Most of these kids don’t turn in work ever let alone put in extra work to get it in late. But they all did. Bolta was the only person that didn’t and he wasn’t in class even though I saw him during one of my walks yesterday and told him he better be in my class with his story done.

            Fourth bell was great. Bobby still wasn’t there. He hasn’t been there in over a week. Supposedly he got suspended. Honestly, I don’t see how kicking him out of school and letting him run the streets of Majuro is going to help him at all. He’s in 7^th grade. He reminds me of so many kids that I went to Jr. High and High school with that got in trouble and were abandoned by the school system. Most of those kids ended up becoming drug addicts, drug dealers, criminals at a very young age. I could have been one of them but luckily I had someone in my ass every time I messed up. I don’t think Bobby has that and I would love to be that person, but if he’s not allowed to come to school then there’s nothing I can do about it.

            Anyway, fourth bell was great today. They didn’t bother each other. They didn’t talk mess to each other. They wanted to write good letters and all of my students, boys and girls too, focused and diligently started the assignment.

            After class I went to Tide Table for lunch and to type some emails for Garrod. After waiting for my club sandwich for an hour and a half, I went to write emails for Garrod. I don’t know why the service here is so slow. Like, they don’t even care if they’re slow. I guess it’s because their customers don’t get irate about it. Maybe next time I’ll just go straight hood and get real reckless and see if the following times I get my food more quickly.

            Typing for Garrod was a doozy. I don’t even want to talk about it honestly, let’s just say there’s a clear generation gap there and I won’t be typing emails for him anymore. After that I walked back to the trailer and took about a 20 minute nap before going to basketball practice. When I got to the breezeway at the high school, I saw all of the basketball players sitting there with Tony. When I looked to the gym area I saw that the volleyball girls were there. We had been kicked out. Tony asked if it was okay to cancel practice until tomorrow. I asked if there was a schedule for the gym or anything and he said they decided today to make one. So now we have to coordinate gym usage for two volleyball teams and two basketball teams. I can’t say I didn’t see this eventually coming. But whatever, I need to be more chill about it. Everyone else is.

            So, I went back to the trailer and proceeded to go to the Laundromat to do laundry and drop off a surprise for some people on the island. I got a ride from Angela, the World Teach Assistant Field Coordinator, to Good Earth. I walked back, and when I got to the shop with the Who Dat shirts, I’m not sure if I told you already, but I went back and bought one on Tuesday. When I was there I saw this really cute little boy who was the grandson of the store owner wearing a Reggie Bush jersey. Her son in law works for the Saints and so when I got to the store I told her that I work for Reggie Bush. For the skeptics, through ProCamps I am technically employed by Reggie Bush so that statement is not a fabrication. So today I took the Reggie Bush autographed camp cards that I have and gave it to the little man. I don’ think he has any idea what it is or who it is but maybe one day he’ll appreciate it.

            I walked back to the trailer and finally found somewhere with pencils on the island. So I bought four mechanical pencils with lead before making it back home. Twice on the walk back two little boys stopped me and started beat boxing. They must have been at the Assumption Talent Show Disaster. LOL. I thought it was absolutely hilarious. The roughly 40 minute walk was pretty hot so I just wanted to chill out when I got back to the trailer. Eric then came up with the bright idea to go meet up with the gospel choir and go get donuts with them like they do after rehearsal everyday. So we walked out to the place in Rita where they get donuts everyday. It was a nice walk. I like Rita. The people are always nice, the children ALWAYS speak. Some of them were at the Rita Faith concert we had where Eric and I started our new handshake with the island: hit the rock, and pound the bows(elbows). It’s sweeping the island.

            So on my walk back I saw Russell and the rest of our basketball team playing at the high school. I walked over and talked with him for a while. He was pretty drunk though. Which is why I sort of feel bad about this next part. He said that he had been fishing all day and on the boat he and his friends got to drinking. That’s fine and all. But after we left the high school, he invited John and I to his house. When we left we had, collectively, about 18-20 lbs of fish. He just gave us SO much fish. One fish was about two feet long and he says it runs for $150 in Japan. He gave it to us for free. The other bag was about 12-15 fish each about 9” a piece. And then he gave us some clam-like snack food. His reasoning, “You’re family.”

            Despite the hardships of this island and the fact that they don’t have much, they treat us well. And of all the people I’ve met on this island they’ve treated me well. Russell especially. It’s people like him that exemplify happiness and the upkeep of humanity. I could see India.Arie writing a song about someone like him-similar to the guy in “There’s Hope”, I suggest you all check that out.

            When I got back with the fish Anna was cooking. About three minutes later the power went out again on the campus. The power was out for about two hours and I just sat there in the living room while Cassiano and his men figured out the problem. It was about 8 when the power went out and it came back on around 10:30 I guess, so 2.5 hours. When it came back on I FINALLY was able to take the shower that I had been waiting on. It was amazing. Cold water and all, it was just so hot in the trailer without A/C. The Oceanside breeze was great but it also brought with it a light mist which wasn’t a desired side effect.

            After my shower, I played some Bubble Spinner, a new game that Eric has me addicted to, made myself a midnight grilled cheese, brewed some tea, and went to bed.