Kind of a Downer Day...The Dead Pig on Our Beach Thinks So Too

Went kayaking this morning. The waves were calm, the sun was bright, but there was a lot of trash. Plastic bags, lots of diapers, styrofoam cups, plastic bottles, spray cans, plastic silverware. It was a sad sight. The Marshallese have become a throw-away society now. Guess where they learned it from.

Went to the post office at 11:30. Closed for no apparent reason. Two people were just sitting around waiting for it to open. It drives me crazy to sit around and wait for someone to show up—not knowing if they'll show up at all. One of the girls I teach waits for a bus to take her to the other end of the island. It's supposed to come at 8:00 am, but it comes anywhere from 8 to 9 am, and sometimes not at all.

Nest of ants in the car. Andrew doesn't mind them, but I sure do.

Two Marshallese women who had started to come to my house for a Marshallese/Spanish exchange didn't show up, even though they had both said they would a few days ago. Earlier in the week one had called and asked me for money. I feel a little used.

First piano student (that I teach for free) didn't show up.

Second piano student (that I teach for free) didn't show up. Makes me feel a little un-used, which doesn't feel good either.

Dead pig washed up on our shore this afternoon. It smells bad.

Poor pig, bashed up on the shore again and again along with some diapers, styrofoam cups, and a bag of white rice.

You know, just kind of a downer day. You try and participate in a community, and this is what you get in return.

HOWEVER,

Andrew has proclaimed that tonight we will make a good, healthy dinner together, eat it out on the balcony, play a game when Max is asleep, and watch MacGyver.

We will not be having pork tonight.

And to be fair, on Thursday 8 Marshallese young women, 2 adults, and 1 younger brother (who came so that his sister wouldn't have to walk home alone) came to my house for Mutual (definition: an LDS church activity that occurs one night a week; we do service projects, learn things, and have fun).

They are trying to pass off goals for the church's Personal Progress program, so one of those goals was to write down a list of talents that you have and a list of talents that you'd like to have, and then choose one to work on. I then did a cooking demonstration and taught some basic cooking things. We made pumpkin cookies and molasses crinkles. They were a hit.

While the young women (and young man) were helping make the cookies, the conversation turned to the Word of Wisdom and how we all could do a better job of eating less meat as well as avoiding "the big five": alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, and drugs. We talked about how when we are slaves to addictive substances we can't hear the soft voice of the Holy Ghost and we relinquish the ability to control our bodies. It was a very good conversation and there was a good feeling in our home.

So there are good things going on too. It's helpful to keep things in perspective.