Yokwe Aolep! (Hello everyone!)

Hey all and welcome to my blog. This will be the first of what I hope are many entries about my time teaching and adventuring in the Marshall Islands over the next year. For those of you that don't know what I am doing, I am on the Dartmouth Volunteer Teaching Program for graduates of Dartmouth College. I am one of 9 other volunteers who is teaching in the RMI (Republic of the Marshall Islands). Around August 11, I will start teaching 7th and 8th grade English at Majuro Middle School in the RMI capital, Majuro, on the Majuro Atoll. The other volunteers will be in other places on the Majuro Atoll or outer islands which are anywhere from a boat ride to a plane ride away from me.

My journey started on July 27 from the O'Hare airport where I had a terrible run-in with Continental Airlines (I suggest never flying them as their bag charges are tremendous). I made it to Hawaii that night and stayed in a hotel in Honolulu. I was able to meet up with two other volunteers--Kristin Dewey and Jenna Cunningham--soon after arriving and we skirted off to a nearby beak in Waikiki. We bodysurfed for what must have been and hour and a half. It was a great introduction to the island life (albeit very very different from the RMI). I had my "last American meal" that night at Chili's (anti-climatic, I know) with three other volunteers--Dave Armstrong, Alex Huestis, and Alex Rivadeneira. I insisted on having a bacon cheeseburger because I did not know if I would be able to have them in the RMI.

We left our hotel at 4:30am the next morning to catch our 7am flight. At the airport we met up with 2 other volunteers (2 more would be coming later). We had a riveting talk with an older couple who were the pastor and first lady of a Baptist Church in South Carolina (they insisted on giving me one of the "Do you know where you will go when you die" pamphlets even though I was wearing a cross...) who wished us well before we got on our plane to the RMI. The RMI is located across the International Dateline so we arrived in Majuro on the 29th (I slept most of the plane ride, but was able to watch "How to Train Your Dragon," which was a very good movie).

Anna Zelinski, Dartmouth class of 2006 and field director for the DVTP program, met us at the airport (which was the smallest airport I had even been in--seriously, the bags were basically hand delivered to us from the plane), put Marshallese handicrafts around our necks, and carted us off towards Marshall Islands High School (MIHS) where we would spend the next 2.5 weeks of orientation in a trailer on campus. The ride down the one street in Majuro was interesting to say the least. First, and most surprising, was that there was one main road, with very few side roads. You could see both the lagoon side of the atoll and the ocean side of the island at almost every point. Majuro is not clean or well kept either. Since there is little space, there is trash everywhere. This is not to say that there are not nice parts of the island, but most parts are pretty dirty and dilapidated. The atoll very much reminded me of other places I had been before--parts of the American South and Central America.

We spent the first few days getting used to island life. We opened bank accounts, got numbers at the hospital (yes, you have to register and get a number before they see you...this is to say that if you didn't do this before you were injured you would have to wait to get a number before you could see a doctor), and toured the city. Majuro does not have much, but does have restaurants and stores that offer most things that anyone could need. I was surprised to find that you could still get vitamin water and 5-hour energy drinks in a place where you had to buy purified water ($2 for 5 gallons, not too shabby!). Orientation has mostly been filled with workshops about teaching with the other volunteer teaching program that is on the island--World Teach. The past few days we have been in the midst of something called Practicum, which is when we prepare three days of lesson plans and teach actual Marshallese children while being observed by the program directors of both DVTP and World Teach (WT). My three day lesson unit was on the parts of speech and it went much better than I expected. Marshallese students as a whole are very passive and are afraid to make mistakes so they are reluctant to participate. Luckily I am fairly outgoing so I was able to make grammar fun for the students. Still, I have a lot to learn about time management in the classroom.

I will have more details when I get more free time (orientation keeps us fairly busy), but until then here are some of the more surprising things about life in the RMI:

1) There are wild roaming dogs EVERYWHERE. They are pretty docile because they used to people but I am terrified of dogs so I have not gotten used to this yet.

2) Marshallese people are extremely community oriented and friendly. While I did not assume that they wouldn't be, I am still humbled by their notion of family, which includes extended family, friends, and even teachers. The words in Marshallese for "want" and "like" are the same and the Marshallese are very quick to give you anything that you say you "want" or "like."

3) Young children (I am talking like 5 or 6 even) play in the street with almost anything until 10 or 11 at night. I guess this goes along with the idea that the community is close and everyone has to watch out for each other, but I still find this extremely strange.

4) Island time is a real thing. Things do not happen on time and usually go longer than expected. This is perfect for me since I am someone who is not very timely myself.

These are all I can think of for now. I am late for dinner and will write more about the culture, the people, my students, and the differences between here and America in future postings. Feel free to email me with any questions!

Bar lo kom (Bye everyone,)

Andrew