August 6th, 2009

This morning we got up at 4 am to fly to Majuro. There was a whole busload going to the airport, but we scattered to the different islands. The first stop on the flight, thankfully, was Majuro. I took pictures and examined the small atoll from the air as we circled on approach. It was hard to fathom that I will be here for the next 9 months. From the air it is a tinny strip of land that snakes around in a huge semi circle. The plane skimmed low over the water before a small airstrip appeared and we touched down. We exited from the plane on two roller staircases like you see in movies but are never used in modern airports. As I stepped onto the tarmac the heat hit me in a wet, humid wave. Just like Florida, I thought. It took us awhile to get through customs. When we emerged, the bus that was suppose to take us hadn't shown up. A van showed up and half of us piled in. As we moved along the long, narrow island, we saw kids playing under palm trees and ladies holding infants. Teenagers and men lounged against trees in the shade. Rusted out cars sat on blocks in the drive ways. We rode for 20 minutes and could see ocean on the right and on the left. Finally the island expanded and more buildings appeared. The school building is a bright purple hue with two stories. As we toured the buildings we discovered a few of them had nice, cool air conditioning. Unfortunately, our apartments weren't one of those.

Once everyone arrived, Cameron, the vice principal, and Lenny, the principal, decided where everyone would go. Ben Smith and I founded a nice two bed bedroom in an apartment we share with three other guys. After we unpacked, we all rode down to the local food store. We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of familar food labels we saw. On the other hand, we suffered from sticker shock at the high prices.

Once the shopping was done, some of us decided to check out the beautiful, blue water. We got our snorkelling gear and dove in. The water was nice and clear. As the tide came in the protected inner waters becamed rougher. Fish hid among the rocks. We saw countless schools of trumpet fish, a scattering of angel fish among the rocks, and many others I couldn't name. Suddenly I spotted a pair of eyeballs from a crevice in the rocks. Looking closer I realized it was a buffer fish. I pointed it out to Lauren. We both wanted to see it blow up. First we tried waving our hands in front of it, but it ignored us. Lauren tried to throw coral at it, but it didn't care. Next we took turns poking it, but it was a passive fish and wouldn't blow up for us.

This evening I lay in my hammock looking over the ocean. When I first arrived I was shocked by the living conditions and strangeness of the island. After spending time in the ocean, I am convinced I will enjoy my stay greatly and may even call it paradise. As we rode to the internet hotel, we got to see a beautiful sunset over the harbor. Pink, purple, and red reflected off the glassy surface of the water. I know there will be hard times in the future, but the Pacific Ocean is a wonderland for me.