This will be short because I am headed to the Ministry of Education for a welcome party, but I just wanted to get online and let you all know that I am here and I am safe! Everything is wonderful and I hope to hear from you soon.

Much love,
Cari

written by  CariLeighAnn on July 23, 2009 from Majuro, Marshall Islands
from the travel blog: WorldTeach Marshall Islands
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Email from Cari to her family:

“..i am at the Tide Table restaurant/hotel, which is a very popular ripalle hangout. just met an older couple that has been here since december on their sailboat, that could be you!! things are good. i was really tired for a few days but i think that was just jet lag catching up to me...because the first few mornings i was wide awake really early.

let me think what is going on...we went out to Enamanit, which is a little teeny island close to Majuro where people go for day trips. it's a beautiful beach and we stayed all day, snorkeling (there was a small plane crash) and swimming and jumping off of this diving board that was on a floating dock. i set up my hammock and read, and fell into a deep sleep until the rain woke me up. everyone was jealous of my hammock. it rains about once a day, and it reminds me so much of sierra leone-- when it rains, it POURS. last night i quickly got my shampoo and washed my hair under a spout and it was great.

i snorkeled in our lagoon right outside Ajeltake (the elementary school where we're staying) for the first time last night, which was neat. people saw sharks on the ocean side. i haven't gone to the ocean side yet because i'm scared--strong current and choppy. it's nice to look at though--and falling asleep to the waves crashing is one of the best things. except last night we all woke up several times to the sound of vicious dog fights. there are dogs EVERYWHERE and they're so stupid. there's this one female that hangs out around our school and like four or 5 male dogs that all wanna get with her...so they all fight and it's so loud and sounds like they're killing each other.

lots of people have gotten ukeleles, which is fun to listen to…i want to get one soon and learn a little bit before I go out to namdrik. i ate my first coconut at the ministry of education welcome party (my principal didn't show :( ) and the coconut milk was pretty good, but the meat was pretty gross. i have bought 3 guam dresses and a muumuu. haven't worn the muumuu yet but i will try to go to church on sunday and that's what we have to wear.

let's see what else...ok i think you should send joel out here for a bit. he can come stay with me and the mayor and it'll be great. i dont think christmas in hawaii is going to work because of how unreliable Air Marshall is...and i have off from about the 18th until the 29th which isn't a whole lot of time. But joel or one of you should totally come visit! it would just be a plane ticket because you wouldn't have to pay for somewhere to stay. i love you guys and miss you! oh and i hitchhiked for the first time the other day--it's the best way to travel!

things you can send me:
packing tape
clothes pins
face cleansing pads
food - sweets/granola bars
books!
paper

okay i gotta go get some food (they have burgers at tide table...) and then be back at the outrigger/marshall islands resort by 1 for the doctor's visit! Love you much. say hi to kara and kailey (i just read her quote to me "poop goes plunk in the toilet") and molly and grandma. hope all is well at home. you need to update your blog. kthanks bye!”

written by  CariLeighAnn on July 29, 2009 from Majuro, Marshall Islands
from the travel blog: WorldTeach Marshall Islands
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Email from Cari to her family:

On Wednesday we start our practicums. We are in groups of 3 or 4 and we have to plan 3 hours a day from Wed-Fri. of pretty much whatever we want for a bunch of Marshallese kids. It’s being advertised on the radio as "Worldteach Camp" and Annie (field director) has said that every year this is something all the kids get really excited about and come to. I am in a group with some really awesome people -- Stefanie, Michael, and Carly. We have 7th-8th graders and we're going to do a health and body theme. Should be fun! This past weekend we went bowling with the Dartmouth group that just arrived on Thursday. There are about 15 of them and they do the same thing as Worldteach, they are just all Dartmouth graduates and they also have at least 2 volunteers at all of their schools. When we met them, I was looking at this one guy and thinking MAN I recognize him from somewhere...finally I asked one of the girls what his name was: Jeff. And where's he from? Virginia. So it hits me--he went to TJ and was in my year. They called him over and he immediately recognized me but wasn't as surprised as I was! We had lots of classes together ... small world. I told you about Brenton, the other TJ/UVA kid. He thinks we had a religion class together at UVA but I don’t really remember. He’s a nice kid, just got over the flu (not swine, supposedly) so he's back living with the rest of us. He got pampered for several days at Angela’s house in town--A/C and running water! Let’s see...oh so after bowling a bunch of us went to the tide table for some drinks. I ended up meeting this woman Daisy who is the exec director of WUTMI (women united together Marshall Islands) and turns out she came today to talk to us about what they do. She was really sweet and her husband is the senator from Mejit, where one of the other volunteers Kate is going, so I called Kate over and she got to meet him and it was neat. It’s such a small country I just don't even get surprised anymore when coincidental things like that happen. On Sunday a bunch of people went to Laura, which has a really nice beach. I stuck around Ajeltake...laid in the lagoon for like 3 hours (it was a beautiful day). I snorkeled some but mostly I just floated around...you can go out really far and it's still relatively shallow...so I just floated and looked at the clouds and looked back at Majuro...well really Majuro was on all sides of me but farther away on the other side. It's so pristine looking from out in the water...of course it's less so when you get up close but looking at the sand and the coconut trees and the white crosses sticking up from cemeteries was really picturesque. That’s all I did on Sunday. Well I napped and I took a jambo to the ice cream shop. We’ve been getting lots and lots of cultural sort of lessons. Like: to say yes, Marshallese people usually just raise their eyebrows. And men and women do NOT hang out together--unless they are sleeping together. And there's a good chance we might witness some domestic violence this year...it's a huge problem, because when the men drink, they don’t stop drinking until they're wasted and then they beat their wives. Greeeat. I mean that happens anywhere, I guess it's just a bigger issue here. The other day we visited an NGO that this dude started up to save the outrigger canoe. He brings in troubled youth (not in school) and teaches them how to make the outriggers, and they learn how to do it and bring it back to their outer islands. Namdrik is known for using the outrigger and I am pumped because I want to help make them! Like other things (fishing, spear fishing) this is not something that women do, and it may be a while before I feel comfortable asking if I can maybe help. The guys get to do everything. They don’t even have to wear shirts and we have to wear long dresses with slips. It’s a matrilineal society here but the men definitely have the power. I can't believe orientation ends next Thursday. It’s going by so fast! I’ve gotten five packages so far. Thanks SO much. Dad, you would be disgusted right now I’m wearing a big purple guam—haha, the things I wear in public here are so outrageous. I love it. So far I’m ok but I don't know once I’m in Namdrik. I can't think of much else to tell you for now...and I have to be at dinner in half an hour. It’s our "mid-orientation extravaganza" and we're eating at an Asian buffet place that is supposedly the best restaurant in Majuro (and therefore the country I suppose!). I love you all very much. Hope to hear from you soon. Unfortunately I don't think I’ll be able to be in town again until Sunday morning, so don’t wait up for me online. Love love love you!

Cari

written by  CariLeighAnn on August 3, 2009 from Majuro, Marshall Islands
from the travel blog: WorldTeach Marshall Islands
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Email from Cari to her family:

yokwe mama and baba

just thought i'd shoot you guys a quick email...been in town for several hours doing some shopping and seeing off laura, the first volunteer to leave! she got on a boat with like 110 other people...she'll be on it for 4 days until it gets to her island. crazy! it's a "field trip ship", which goes around to lots of different islands and sells things to the islanders (cigarettes, food, other supplies). it was so sad saying goodbye at the dock..then i realized pretty soon we're all gonna be going! well i suppose that's pretty optimistic...they keep telling us to be prepared to wait around. you know how that goes...island time. i'm on the big plane though (the little plane has stopped working in the past few days) so i HOPE i hope all goes well. i can't wait to get out there. i bought a ukelele today...starting learning some chords last night and decided i should go ahead and get one to take out to namdrik. oh speaking of buying things i have now charged about $150 to my debit card--not because i don't have enough money, but because i didn't have enough cash with me when i was buying the ukelele and a bunch of outer island supplies (container, buckets, shampoo, peanut butter, etc etc). sorry bout that--i don't think that should overdraw me but maybe you should do a quick check. we've had a lot of sessions recently on logistics...how to use the radio for checkin (weekly), our majuro "buddies" (who will send us things if we need them from majuro or whatever), blabla. apparently there's a 30 pound limit for luggage on air marshall--HA! the rest of it will be send as cargo IF there's room...i hope to god there's room. one kid last year didn't get ANY of his stuff except for the 30 pounds until Christmas. we went to the government building the other day, got to see where parliament (nitijela) meets. they actually start a session in about two weeks. yesterday we had a talk by this guy Jack who is a ribelle but he's in charge of the Bikini trust fund. it was really fascinating to learn the details of the nuclear testing and what happened to the displaced Bikinians and everything that is still unsettled with compensation. I'll write a letter to explain more about that. This guy's been here for a long time (he did Peace Corps in like the 70's), has a Marshallese wife and lots of kids. really knowledgeable. i've made really good friends with those little girls i was telling you about, and all of the other neighborhood kids. every evening when i get off the bus at ajeltake, they're waiting for me and Annie, a returning volunteer who is fluent in Marshallese. the two of us hang out with them until dinner, playing games and i get to practice my Marshallese. yesterday we played baseball with the tennis ball that i brought and a stick. also played a game that's like duck duck goose on crack, called "pako pako...something" which means shark shark and then the third thing which i can't remember in marshallese means sea cucumber. yes, shark shark sea cucumber. and you have to run around the circle if you're the sea cucumber and try to catch the shark...but you have to keep running until the group counts to ten...juon, ruo, jilu, emen, lalem, jijino, jimjuon, ralitok, ratimjuon, jonoul! i am seriously sore from running around with these kids. i'll be sad to leave them but i know there will be a lot of children to hang out with on namdrik! oh also they've renamed me Lilo, which is the same name as this adorable little 2 year old that hangs out with us. in south africa i was buli, now i'm lilo. i like it.

thanks so much for all the packages. just for more ideas, you can always send:
more peel and stick envelopes
lots of packing tape
lined paper
dried fruit

love you guys, don't worry we'll talk again before i leave! <3 Cari

written by  CariLeighAnn on August 12, 2009 from Majuro, Marshall Islands
from the travel blog: WorldTeach Marshall Islands
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