Happy 01000010011001000110000101111001, Jason!

I've got one thing string to say to you, Jason:
0100100100100000011011000110111101110110011001010010000001111001011011110111010100101100001000000110110101111001001000000110001001110010011011110111010001101000011001010111001000100001001000000100100100100000011101000110100001101001011011100110101100100000011110010110111101110101001000000110000101110010011001010010000001100110011000010110111001110100011000010111001101110100011010010110001100101110

No, you fools! Wave functions can be multiplied by operators only on the left! The LEFT!

Shakespeare . . . in Marshallese

The Marshall Islands High School and Youth Bridge Global performed As You Like It last week. We got front row seats and the performance was fantastic. Most of it was in Marshallese except for a few key parts. It took an incredible amount of work on their part. The setting was adapted to Majuro, as were the dances. At intermission we bought some coconuts to drink and some meat on a stick. I avoided the meat. Our seats were located about 6 feet from the front of the stage, and by the end there were 30 children sitting in front of us in that little space, 20 on the other side of the aisle. It was a new experience to be watching Shakespeare in Marshallese while children threw rocks at each others' heads in front of me. But I'm sure the play was a real treat for those kids. They and the whole audience went CRAZY when Rosalind and Orlando kissed. It was so funny. I got the whole thing on camera. It is not in Marshallese custom to kiss in public. They laughed and laughed.

I was especially impressed with Rosalina Jones, the actress that played Rosalind. She was very good in that role, which is befitting of a play that includes a strong female lead. Here are some pics and movies from that night. So glad we found a good babysitter and could actually go on a date! And what a date! It has been one of our favorite cultural (or inter-cultural, I guess you could say) experiences here.

One of the dances.

Orlando speaking.

The wrestling match.

Rosalind speaking.

The kissing and the subsequent uproar.

One of the final scenes. Everybody happy! Great work, MIHS!

Arno Atoll

Andrew here. This is a long-overdue post, but back in December, I got to travel to Arno, an atoll just adjacent to Majuro. It was a somber trip, in that we were commemorating an American teaching volunteer and three Marshallese who were lost at sea in 2010 while traveling from Arno to Majuro. Read more here. The family and other volunteers donated the funds to build a basketball court and memorial plaque, and I was invited to come to the dedication ceremony.

Children from Arno Atoll next to dedication plaque and basketball court.

It was a touching ceremony, particularly as the children sang Joy to the World, which was taught to them by James, the American volunteer before he was lost at sea. The community clearly loved him and had made him part of their family.

After the dedication, one of the locals offered to give me and a few others from Majuro a tour of their part of the atoll. They brought us to a magical rock outcropping, said to be used by Letao, an important and frequent character in Marshallese mythology. As near I could understand, these rocks are said to move in your direction when a queen/person of nobility is in love with you. Letao made the rocks move when three women brought him presents of varying quality, and the rocks turned towards the woman who brought the acceptable present. If you know the actual story, please let me know as my English translator had a hard time of it.

Letao's rocks in Bikarej, Arno.

We saw some fascinating trees and geography. Arno's atoll is closed in on itself in two places, so it is kind of like three lagoons in one. And there is a saltwater marsh that runs between the two parts of the lagoon closest to the village where we were. We saw trees that somehow survive on saltwater and collect the salt in their leaves, which they then shed. Some of the trees also used their roots to breathe oxygen so they go up rather than down. And hiking through an honest-to-goodness jungle (minus any snakes or large creatures that could do us harm) was a fantastic experience.

 

There are no bicycles on Arno, so I have no idea how this got here.

The boat ride over was quite intense, it being the windy season and all. One of the Marshallese on the boat said, "You Americans have your roller coaster, we have our boats." And it definitely felt like a roller coaster. But I didn't get seasick and had a great time of it. I am hoping to bring Jamie and Max over in the near future.

[Coconut] Milk Does a Body Good

Eating organic local foods. Max is 22 months old now.

Two things about this picture: 

1) the blender is full of our new favorite smoothie. 

1 cup milk

1/2 cup yogurt

1 or 2 Tbl peanut butter

one or two frozen bananas

fill up the rest of the container with spinach or lettuce (in our case, a hearty local spinach that is not that good in salads)

2) I have not had a lot of luck with homemade bread. I was either putting in too much yeast, too much flour, or something. I told Andrew that I was temporarily putting off the pursuit unless he could help find a recipe that actually worked. He said he would look into it, and then a little while later I received notification from Amazon that some bread recipes were on their way . . . along with the breadmaker that goes with those recipes. It made it all the way to the Marshall Islands intact and it's been a beautiful, wonderful machine.
I modified the multigrain recipe and it's so great. What a helpful husband!

This is Max reading a child development textbook that I had for a class back in college. He loves reading this book, except he calls it "Child Vomit."

Max will draw letters, numbers, and shapes for the better part of an hour like this.

Number practice.

On Contraceptives and Separation of Church and State

Wow, what a title. I've been hearing bits and pieces of what is going on in the States—Santorum, Limbaugh, panels made up of men deciding policies that directly affect women (could one call them death panels? Probably not, but let me tell you, childbirth FEELS like death!), and the subsequent outrage and backlash. It all seems so silly and unnecessary. I would like to calmly suggest that we use a bit of logic here and follow the lead of President Obama (I know some of my readers don't like him, but common sense is common sense, no matter who says it). He gave a speech back in 2006 about the separation of church and state. He gives a fantastic example that references Abraham and Isaac. I won't spoil his comparison, so just watch it.

Discussion, compromise, realistic expectations, allowing others the freedom to choose for themselves . . . it's so healthy! It's American! Religious freedom is why a lot of people came here in the first place! I'm of a different faith than Santorum; Latter-day Saints believe that family planning and contraceptive use is a personal matter between the wife, her spouse, and her God—and NOBODY else. Not the bishop, not the prophet, not the government, not her mother, not her friends. And certainly not Santorum. A woman is free to use contraceptives if she chooses.

Some Mormons choose to have big families because they want to, it's cultural, and/or because we believe that giving children an opportunity to have a mortal life is a good thing, even with all the accompanying sorrow that inevitably comes. (Can't have joy without knowing what sorrow feels like.) But other families don't have big families or any children at all for a variety of reasons—and there are many. And we are strongly encouraged not to judge each other one way or the other. The principle we promote is that life is good; you are then left to choose for yourself based on your circumstances and what is best for you and your family.

As we approach what will likely be an intense campaign season, I would like to share what Joseph Smith said about the separation of church and state. Are you ready for this? Mormons, are YOU ready for this? It even comes from an original source—Joseph Smith's journal, August 6, 1843 (a record of a sermon he gave that day):

I have not come to tell you to vote this way, that way, or the other in relation to National matters. I want it to [go] abroad to the whole world that every man should stand on his own merits. The Lord has not given me Revelation concerning politics. I have not asked the Lord for it. . . . I desire to see all parties protected in their rights. (Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith, ed. by Scott H. Faulring, Salt Lake: Signature Books, 1987, p. 401)

There you have it. You're free to choose contraceptives AND whatever political party you like! I sure love freedom. I love not having a baby every year—I personally couldn't handle that emotionally or physically (but props to you if you can and you choose that—no shame in that either). I also love my church. And, if you can't tell, I quite like Obama, too. But hey, those are my choices, and I fully support you in making your own.

Why I Like the Marshall Islands

I'm not good at participating in the FS Roundup, but I particularly liked the topic: what you like about your current posting. So, in almost no particular order, here are the things that I like about the Marshall Islands:

The view. This is my backyard. It is my favorite part of this tour. We're able to kayak around and even across to some of the outer islands of Majuro. I've crossed it myself, a distance of about 10K—it's a little freaky to cross over the middle of the lagoon and try not to think of what lies beneath (a dead volcano), but it's wildly beautiful.

Beach friends. I like watching the crabs scoop up sand and make their own little piles. The hermit crabs have the most beautiful shells.

Playing on the beach/sitting on the beach/watching Andrew and Max on the beach. Because this is a positive post I will not mention that the beach can also harbor other friends like a dead dolphin, a dead cat, a dead pig, and "Pamper Fish," as well as sharp glass, beer cans, high amounts of e. coli, and tires. So, because I'm not mentioning those things here, I'll just say that some days are good beach days and other days it's best to remain inside.

 Crashing waves. At first they kept me up at night but now I like them. This picture and the previous one were taken during king tide season. Although it's not fun for the island to flood, it is fun to see how high the waves get.

Because I have few, um, social obligations (there are 4 Foreign Service Officers at the Embassy—it's one of the smallest embassies in the world), I get to spend a lot of time with my Max. The relative isolation brings a lot more peace than I was expecting. And yes, that is a Drexel box. The other is a UAB box. :)

Time to watch Max do crazy things with numbers and letters. He's 2.5 months away from being 2 years old and he's already surpassed some kindergarteners in some categories. That said, he can't do some things that most almost-2-year-olds are supposed to do (hop and throw a ball, if I remember correctly), so it all equals out in the end. Sometimes he just wants to practice drawing and saying numbers up to 111 to himself (?!?) so I go and I work on my typesetting projects. I've had lots of good time to develop my business and think of some new ideas. A very rewarding part-time job.

The opportunity to learn more about vehicles. Because our poor 1999 vehicle keeps dying on us, and we're not about to buy expensive parts, I've learned to take out a couple of the fuses every time we park the car. It feels pretty cool to do it, frankly, and it adds an extra level of security too.

The random opportunities for cultural refinement. This was a classic pianist giving a Valentine's Day concert . . . on a slightly out-of-tune upright piano (the best the island had!!). It was enjoyable. He comes once a year.

I just love what this picture conveys.

The chance to be creative with new foods. Since good spinach is not available, I've grown my own, and this was my attempt at spinach saag (with chapati bread). It was okay. The spinach smoothie with the homemade yogurt is much better.

Max loves the "rip 'n dip."

We also have the chance to try out local foods. This was a bell apple, which has the texture of an apple but seriously and honestly tastes like pine tree needles. We've had fun adventures with pandanus, breadfruit, papaya, fish, and coconuts, too.

The rainstorms. They are something else. They help me pray a little more sincerely.

Views from around the island.

The supermarket. Majuro is interesting in that it is so far out in the ocean, but we have mostly American-imported goods. We have pretty much everything (in Western Family brand) that we need. It's not cheap, but it's nice to have something familiar.

Marshall Islands Resort's sushi day. Every Wednesday, for lunch, the MIR has a sushi buffet. You get to choose what you want on your roll, and you can have as many as you like for $12. The tuna is freshly caught. Whenever we pass by MIR, Max says "EAT SUSHI! BITE SUSHI!" Anyone who has seen him can attest that he does just that.

Local flora.

The different shades of blue in the water.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is a block away (and there are five chapels on the island). The Mormon connection has been key for me. I feel plugged in, I know a lot of local people that I can turn to for help, and I feel like in return I can help and serve them in meaningful ways, learning really neat things in the process.

The humidity. When we came back from vacation in the States, Majuro smelled like home. It smelled thick and peaceful. We have been on vacation, as it were, from our normal sinus troubles. (The picture above is actually from Arno on one of Andrew's trips.)

AND we get double rainbows sometimes. I love that view. The bidding process and contemplating our next move has made me appreciate it even more.

Banonoor im Ek (Baskets and Fish)

Every week we have an activity with the young women in my ward (ward = congregation) and pretty much every week I learn something flamingly awesome. The last two weeks have been particularly good:

Naan decided to teach the girls how to make banonoor, which is a small basket with two handles that is made from coconut fronds (kimej). All you need for materials is a coconut frond, count 5 leaves/strands/whatever you call them, then tear them off. You'll need 4 5-strand chunks for your banonoor.

Rosemillie and Naan

The materials.

How to start one side of the basket.

Make two of these.

Braid them together in a sort of backwards braid. Didn't fully understand this part.

Crystal 

Naan working her magic.

Rosemillie with Rutha.

Finished baskets. You just tie knots in the ends of the braids and them tie them together if you like.

We also learned how to make Marshallese balls for games out of three strands of the coconut frond. It really didn't seem too hard but it was painfully apparent upon completion that actual skill was needed.

Rice im Ek.

The second activity was cooking brown rice and fish at my house. Juana was in charge, and she brought over a big fat parrot fish. We can't really go fishing ourselves around here unless we ask a native if the fish is poisonous or not, so I was glad that she was in charge of this activity. On a side note, aren't my girls beautiful?

Kamat ek eo ilo paan an burae (I think I said that right—cooking the fish in the frying pan).

While the food was cooking I told them a little bit about American etiquette and how to eat politely at the table. I was told afterward that for a couple of the girls there it was really exciting because it was the first time they had ever eaten with a real fork. !!! We take so much for granted. Working with the young women has been really rewarding for me. I see more clearly what they struggle with, what life is like for them, and how simple positive experiences can make a difference.

Happy Birthday Adam Bieber

I belieb in you.