It Begins

I've decided to create a blog about life here in the Marshall Islands. I'll try to keep this up to date for the next year and should put up some photos soon.

As far as everything so far - I've been here for about a week and a half and am still in volunteer orientation, which will last about three more weeks. Writing this makes me realize that I will have to start journaling every day, because already too many things have happened for me to remember and get down on paper / screen.

To put things in a little perspective, I finished up over three years of hard work in investment banking just over a month ago. Instead of unleashing some solid senioritis build-up, I spent my first week out of work cramming for the GMAT, which fortunately ended up well but put my mind in an odd state. I spent my last two weeks in the states still in full throttle: going to a wedding, visiting LA and trying to somehow pack away enough stuff for a year in a non-developed island country. Then I found myself meeting the other 44 volunteers in the World Teach program in LA and flying in to the Marshall Islands last week. Sometimes everything still feels like an odd dream, and it remains an amazing feeling to wake up every morning and not have to think of a cubicle.

For our month of orientation, all of the volunteers are staying in an elementary school located on the main atoll, Majuro, on the island where I will be teaching along with a few of the other volunteers. The school grounds basically consist of six outdoor trailers and a playground / sandlot. All 45 of us are staying in three of the trailers, crammed in with all of our stuff and sleeping on little cots next to each other. So far, it’s actually been a lot of fun, kind of like summer camp. I’ve gotten used to bucket showering outside – which is surprisingly enjoyable - and am grateful for the (unreliable) air conditioning units installed in our trailers. The group is a really diverse set of people. Most of us are Americans (though we have a couple of Australians and a volunteer from the Dominican Republic), around half are straight out of college, and everyone is engaging and nice.

The orientation sessions are usually fun, thought the schedule combined with adjusting to living in a new environment can be draining. There is never a lack of interesting people to talk to, and kids from the neighborhood constantly come onto the grounds and play with us. We had a little field trip to an isolated island on Sunday which was a great release. We all got to hang out on the beach, snorkel as much as we wanted, and drink some beers in the sun – a great chance to blow off some steam. This was a good change of pace – since usually we have to act with considerable restraint, which is something I have taken very seriously. It’s important to make a good initial impression on the community and not disturb the neighbors, and obviously no alcohol is allowed on school grounds. I am still amazed at what a spectacle all of us create. When we landed at the airport, there were people gathered at the airfield looking in, and in general we are stared at as oddball “rebelles”, particularly when we travel in groups. I still have no idea what most people here think of an American of Indian descent – but I would guess they are really confused.
Since there’s already too much to recollect and it would cost me way too much to write up everything that has happened so far, I’m just going to list a few of the more interesting experiences / facts from life in the Marshall Islands so far:

- Hitch-hiking is a very common practice here, and nearly every driver on the road is weirdly nice about this and will even drive out of his way to drop people off. We routinely try to save money by jumping in the back of a pickup and hitching into town. It’s usually a lot of fun
- Every meal I’ve had so far here has rice. The vegetarian selection usually is some sort of noodles with tofu, which has gotten old fast. I got beans for the second time here yesterday and was hysterical with joy and protein
- On my way back from a jog two nights ago, a bunch of the local kids joined in with me. We all ran back to the orientation site, and I had to pick up a few of them on my shoulders when they got tired. Serious change from excel spreadsheets
- In general, the kids here are adorable and always want to play with us. They are always there for a good smile and laugh
- There is a local bar here – the FlameTree with a couple of pool tables and some good food / beer. The place is full of odd Americana – including a giant Confederate flag, Southern Fried Chicken on the menu and a “W Stands for Women” poster

That’s all for now.