Spring Break 2010!

Leading up to spring break we had a rough couple of weeks. We had education week where we had to plan something every afternoon. It ended up being way more work than just doing school. At the end of that we were all ready for a break, but it still didn't come. The next week they finished up education week. Friday was suppose to be a field day, but it got rained out. They changed it to Monday. Our principal told us we were not going, we would have regular school. Halfway through the day he changed his mind and marched the whole school over there. It turned into chaos really fast and we lost about two thirds of our students. The teachers over the young kids just took theirs straight back to school after realizing how disorganized everything was. The high school kids just walked away and went home. The middle school kids participated in tug-o-war battles. The guys didn't win any, but our girls went all the way and beat everyone. We have some Fijian girls and they are really big and strong people. That helped quite a bit.

I put together a movie night to raise money for graduation. It started about an hour later than we planned, but it went ok. Everyone argued a bunch over the movie. Orginially we had chosen Alvin and the Chipmunks 2, but the kids wanted something newer. They got A Christmas Carol and we put that on. Part way through the teachers came up and were complaining because there were ghosts in it and it was scary. So mid movie I changed it to Alvin and the Chipmunks. I didn't watch either, I was busy getting the food moving and stuff. We were able to raise $260 for their graduation. Along with the money we already have, they should be able to do what they want to.

That was the first weekend of spring break. Friday we went out surfing for a long while. Sunday we went sailing. The yacht club races once a month. This month three boats came out. I got on Deviant and the rest of the SMs divided between Hawkeye and Seattle Seal. Deviant ended up being the slowest and we messed up the start to boot. We thought the line was farther back from what it was so we were messing around and crossed early. We had to circle around and start again which put us behind. It was my second time on a sailboat out here, but I learned a lot. We kept tacking back and forth and I had to move ropes around every time we tacked. Hawkeye ended up being the fastest and despite starting way behind us, blew right past and took first. We gained on the Seal on the downwind leg because we used out sails better, but upwind we lost a lot of ground. Even so we would have been right together if we hadn't messed up the start.

The next couple days I kitesurfed. It wasn't a good couple days. The first day I started strong and then a short rip turned into a long rip and I had to take it back and fix it after only 10 minutes in the water. The next day I didn't put enough air in it and so I struggled to fly it. The struts no longer hold air at all and so when I would crash it it was so hard to get back up. When it was in the air the lack of air in the leading edge caused it to flap and provide very inconsistant power. It is also very sluggish without air and so I can't keep it powered up. Even so I was able to stand up for short runs and I feel like I was learning. If only my kite was in good working condition the whole time I would already be good at this sport. I've spent way more time flying a flat or damaged kite than flying one that works correctly.

Tuesday night we had a basketball game. It was the championship for high school. We lost the championship, but we came in second on the island, so it was all good. The kids got really depressed afterwards, but none of us felt like they gave it their all. The last two minutes they gave up and the score was 50 to 44. That is three shots, max. I saw them throw that many away with sloppy shooting. We could have won if they hadn't have given up. After the game I ran into the girls in my class. We went back to the school and I opened the gym. We played volleyball for a couple hours and that was really nice. I'm glad I got to hang out with them.

Saturday night I talked with one of the elders a long time. His daughter is in my class and he was helping out with the movie night fund raiser. I had a great talk with him about what is going on here and it's the first time I've felt welcomed by a Marshallese church member. He told me he regretted the distance between the SMs and church members. Anyway, he told me we should go out to Rongrong, an island that has good camping. He got a boat for us and we left on Wednesday. The boat right over was really fun. The waves in the lagoon were a decent size and the boat was flying along bounces up and down. It was a Boston Whaler style boat with an outboard motor and there was nowhere to sit but the edges of the boat. After the first couple minutes the other SMs sat on the deck and complained that their butts were slammed on the deck. I grabbed ahold of a rope and rode in the bow. It was really fun and kinda like riding a bucking horse with water splashing in your face.

The island is beautiful with a sheltered lagoon that was as still as a lake. The beach is sandy and drops off quickly to 30 feet deep. Around the edges are corral walls with tons of beautiful fish and corral everywhere. It is the most beautiful snorkelling I've seen since I've been here. On the ocean side a ship had run aground. Locals told us it had been there 10 years. We climbed aboard and explored the decks and hold. Then we jumped off the side into the water. It was an amazing two days and two nights in paradise. I didn't want to come back when the boat came for us.

We've got one more weekend of Spring Break. I don't know what we will do, but it's been good so far.