Life in Majuro, Round two!
18 November 2010 | Majuro
kathy
I forgot that this is supposed to be a "diary" sort of thing, and since we've been here over 2 weeks now and some people want to know what's going on, I will give you an update!
We've jumped back into life here, wet feet and all. And despite all the rain, Love Song's never been drier thanks to 2 things, the hard dodger that Allen built here last year, and no beer/alcohol onboard in over a month! Not to mention, when we pulled up here, Allen said, "Welcome back to the land of 'Sorry, we're out of that, whole island is out!'" and sure enough, there wasn't a diet coke/pepsi in sight. With that in mind, it's surprising that the XXXX (four X beer) didn't make it aboard. Fortunately, the temptation was promptly removed, as in the building that sold beer and ice on the waterfront is being demolished. That meant we had to find another store to buy ice, as we are still living without refrigeration and I can't believe I'm going to say it, but it's actually ok and a lot more simplified living! The parts are here, but the refrigeration man is busy...Allen has a job! What a switch, and it didn't take long, but there's 2 surf charter boats here that needed major AC/refer. work and he jumped on it, $$$ and purpose! What a change from last year!
These boats were instrumental in a very unfortunate incident at a nearby island, which it seems like every time we arrive someplace there's some horrible accident: ferry sunk (Tonga), men adrift for 68 days (PNG to RMI) last year, and this time, 3 locals and one American world teacher lost between the 2 islands. One was a pregnant woman coming to Majuro to have her baby. It's tragic, all hands lost. A massive search by many different boats, USCG and USN C-130's was finally called off after they found the boat submerged and the bodies of the skipper and woman not far from shore. They're holding a memorial for the young man world teacher today. This was also on the heels of the death of the President's mother, who was the "Iroij" or head chief/highest up leader of the land, which had flags at half mast for 2 weeks and a massive funeral blocking the only road for hours. We had thought that there was a funeral at the pier we can see from our boat, as there were all these articles of clothing (mainly Muumuus, which we naturally figured they were hers) tied all around the vessels and their rigging, but apparently that's how they inaugurate new boats in Marshallese style. And a grand style it was.
In light of all that, the return of pimples, tropical ulcers (boils) and athlete's foot paled in comparison and we figured we would just order some nice rubber boots and start a new trend, and invest stock in DIAL soap. Howevert, we had the best, most exciting week here ever the first week of December. By the way, Thanksgiving was really nice thanks to the Mieco Beach Yacht Club putting on a giant potluck bash, which we also were present for last year. Anyways, one would think that since the only movie theater closed down, and there's no opera house for opera, theater, or ballet that we are "culturally deprived", but NOT SO! Not only have we learned about the still functioning "Iroijs" for each island, we witnessed the most spectacular Art Show! Pix of it were posted on Facebook by my friend Daryle Newman, who is an amazing Australian artist that helped initiate and promote the event. She and I made friends last year at Coop School. The day after the art show, Coop School had their Christmas Concert here at the RRE stage, which is in our "backyard" at the shoreline. Then Friday, Gospel Day (a BIG holiday here) and Saturday there were 2 events promoting a new RMI industry, black pearls! That was pretty cool to see and drool over. Also on Saturday, the Laura Farm hosted a farmer's market in honor of World Food Day. Lots of yachties loaded up in the back of pick up trucks and rode the 28 miles down the atoll to the farm where we had a kindergarten field trip last year.
So, we are happy to be here, and have made new friends who just had their dog arrive from Hawaii, and they are willing to dog sit our 2 hounds while we are stateside for the holidays. Just a week away from departure. Can't believe how few and far between flying is for us anymore, but thank goodness for benefits because the tickets run $1,600 just to get to Honolulu! YIKES We are so blessed!
I posted a few pix on flickr when we got here (nothing short of a miracle) so you can check them out if you want, at www.flickr.com/photos/sunshinesimis and thanks to all for your comments on FB and the sailblogs letting me know how it showed up for you, and remember to tell me about you and yours when you get the chance! We still get homesick out here!
Merry Christmas! Kathy, Allen, Morgan, Wyatt, Dallas and Dulce