I'll never forget my last day on Majuro. In the days leading up to leaving I could feel the time ticking away. I quit wasting time watching movies and TV shows because I knew it was time I could spend hanging out with people I may never see again. I spent a lot of time hanging out with Chad and talking about the year and his year in Jeh. We analyzed Marshallese culture and how Americans reacted to it. I decided I wanted to do something with my students for the last day. I went over to Sancha's house because she lives right near the school. I asked her to get in touch with the other girls. I wanted to rent a golf cart and cruise around the island with them. She seemed excited about it.
Friday morning I went to Ace Hardware and rented a golf cart. The big one with three rows was already checked out. I had to take the small one that was only suppose to hold four people. I picked Sancha up first and asked her, "Who do we pick up next?" She directed me to Pearlynn's house. We got her out of bed. Her eyes were still squinting from sleep, but she was smiling. They chattered in Marshallese and then Sancha informed me that she didn't want to ride in the backward facing seat by herself, so Sancha went back there. We cruised over to Nujin's house next. They couldn't reach her on the phone but she was walking outside her house. Ofcourse she had the Nujin smile pasted on her face. She smiles more than anyone I know. She ran back inside and asked her mother if she could go and then jumped in with us. Sancha was begging me to drive so I let her drive to Rubina's house since you can go backroads all the way with almost no traffic. She drove pretty well from the start. Unfortunately, Rubina said she was busy. Those last days she seemed preoccupied and not very happy. Maybe she didn't want to hang out with the girls for some reason.
I again took the wheel and we drove down to Long Island. The girls were chattering in Marshallese the whole time. We tried Maniana's house but she was grounded. Next we went to Mary's house. She took forever to get ready because we had awakened her, but she brought out food. Since we hadn't eaten breakfast, that was very nice. We ate up the Marshallese donuts in a hurry and resumed our treck. The last person we picked up was Jasmine. She was grounded as well, but convinced her mom to let her go. It took us awhile to get the story but this is what I got. The night after the graduation and banquet the girls rented two rooms at MIR. The next morning Jasmine's brother and some guys from school were there and two of them got in a fight. Jasmine's parents thought that her brother was staying in her room and so she got in trouble for what he did. It doesn't make much since to me, but maybe I missed part of the story.
We left Jasmine's house and cruised down to the airport. After the airport there is very little traffic so I let Sancha drive again. As we went she got smoother and more confident. Somewhere near Ajeltake we traded again and Mary drove. She did ok, but wasn't as smooth as Sancha. The golf cart is hard to drive straight and unskilled drivers tended to weave back and forth. It takes a good deal of attention for me to stay smooth and going straight. We traded again and Pearlynn drove. That's when it got out of hand. She kept weaving and jerking the wheel. It was a little scary. She improved though and I prayed she wouldn't wreck into anything. A couple times it was scary when cars were coming the other way.
On the way we talked about stuff and joked around. Sancha told me about a haunted house we passed. She said that a tree was smoking a cigarrette when she went there. As we approached Laura they told me about a road that you shouldn't go on because she are guarranteed to get lost. The Eroge (royalty) have special powers and make it so you will get lost. I told them I wanted to go and get lost on Majuro. This was a funny concept to me considering that Majuro has one road in most places and only two in a couple. They refused and said they were afraid to go on it. We cruised around the tip of Laura. When we were way down at the point we saw this huge, retarded looking kid standing in the middle of the road. Pearlynn was driving and she slowed down. We told her to keep coming. When we went to go by the kid he started running beside the golf cart like a dog chasing a car. He reached his hand out and it looked like he wanted to grab on. Pearlynn hit the gas and we took off and left him. The girls were all strangely silent during this but after we were safe they screamed. It was like a delayed reaction.
We cruised around Laura for a bit and we saw this cop. He turned to follow us and so we pulled off when he couldn't see us and I traded back to the drivers seat. He passed once and then came back and stopped. He rolled down his window and asked me to come over. "A little overloaded aren't you?" He said with a smile. "Maybe a little." I responded. "Well you take care of those girls. You take care of them." He said with a huge smile. When he pulled away Mary informed me that he like young girls and that's probably why he stopped by. Her father is chief of police so he works for her dad. Ofcourse he never messes with her, but she says he goes after young girls.
Jasmine hadn't really driven anything before so we went to the large baseball field and let her drive around in the field. She did ok and so we convinced her to drive on the road. It was little backroads and she went super slow. I was sitting in the passenger seat and Sancha was standing up. She was talking and laughing like she always is and she let go for a minute and then we hit a bump. She just about fell out, but I helped her stay in the vehicle and everyone laughed at her. Even though we were going very slow she decided to stay in the vehicle. We went back to the field and let Nujin drive. She was an aweful driver, but it was really funny. She got closed to the edge of the field where the grass was deep and despite it being very difficult to mess up, she drove right into the super deep stuff. We got out without getting stuck, but it was super funny.
We drove back and ate at my house. I gave them the last of my corn and popcorn, which they love. I brought out a stuffed animal that someone sent me in a carepackage and they all went crazy wanting it. I thought it was funny that in 8th grade they still love stuffed animals.
Nujin had to go. She kept saying that she wanted me to stay and teach them through high school. I was sad when I had to say goodbye to her. The rest of us got in the cart and drove to the airport. On the way there we were all quiet. We were all sad that this was it. We had had a very fun day. They kept thanking me for renting the golf cart. It's hard for me to describe the friendship and closeness that I had with them. Just cruising along in the golf cart, sharing iced candy, laughing at their craziness, talking about the island ways. . . I've never felt anything like it. I've never felt remotely that close to anyone so much younger than me. It was like they were my daughters, but friends at the same time. Relationships are so important in island culture. You can see it in everything they do from sharing food with all their friends to walking out of their way to go by your house.
While I was checking in, they went to Jasmine's house and brought me back another Marhsallese handicraft necklace. Rudy took the golf cart and the girls down to the end of the runway to watch the plane land. I was really sad when they made last boarding call and none of them had made it back. Rubina came out to the airport to see us off. I said goodbye to the SMs who were leaving on Monday and the Filipinos. It was a little sad, but not too much. When I had to say goodbye to Rubina I just started crying. I was so sad boarding the plane. We took off and I could see Majuro laid out before me. I thought back to the flight in when I couldn't believe I would live on this ring of coral for 10 months. Taking off it was at night and I could see a ring of lights. I could pick out Delap point where we surfed, shoreline where I went to concerts with my students, Rita where we would go Wednesday nights for worship, Laura where we would go to the beach. I have so many memories attached to this little island. It was overwhelming and I cried a little as we left the lights of Majuro behind. As I took off into the night I vowed I would return someday in the next 4 years. I will do whatever it takes to return. I would even consider teaching another year. This island, with all it's ugliness and trash and bad habits has a beauty that only someone who has lived there and become one with the culture can understand.
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