Tourists!

Written 2/26/10

On Monday, 2/22, I was walking out of the administration building and I stumbled across two white people I did not recognize. My first thoughts, of course, were that I should talk to these folks, but before I could think of something to say (“Hi, I’m also white”?), the man asked me if I was one of the Dartmouth volunteers and introduced himself. He (Don) and his wife (Sherry) are from Seattle and have been traveling the world on their 75’ power yacht. Boaters like them often stop in Majuro, but they were the only ones who have ever stopped at the Jaluit atoll since we’ve been here. Apparently it’s difficult to get a permit to come here. We chatted for a bit until Morgan found us and then went back to our apartment to talk some more. They were wonderfully nice people, currently on their way to Japan, and were curious about the culture and problems of the RMI, which we told them about to the best of our abilities. After about an hour, they invited us to have dinner out on their boat that night. Don picked us up in the dinghy at 6:15 and brought us to the floating island of America that was their boat. They fed us beer and wine, upon which I was pleasantly buzzed after only three drinks, and then we had a delicious salad along with pasta topped with shrimp, olives, and pickled lemons. Desert was fresh-baked cookies made from dough that their son is locally famous for making back home. Aside from being such a beautiful boat and delicious meal, it was the most homey evening I’ve had since July, which was utterly rejuvenating. I went home and slept better and woke up more refreshed than I have in a long time. Don and Sherry showed up at school the next day to check out some of our classes and told us that we were gracious guests and must have wonderful parents. (First of all, how could we be anything BUT gracious for the generosity they showed us? And second, yes, we do have great parents.)

If you want to see a couple pictures Sherry took of us in our classroom, she said she’d put them on her blog, which can be found at... hmm, I forget the address right now, but I have it written down at home. I'll put it up next time I get online.