Teacher, Miss Liz

This video makes my life- and it wasn't rehearsed and they do in fact just burst out singing this to me occassionally. And as you can see, Takleju is an amazing dancer/drummer.

Schools Days

Some recent school pictures... my students have become obsessed with picture taking....

William and Takleju

Seiko and her brother Taigan- he is 5 and becomes an occassional "honorary 5th grader" in the afternoon since he has half days.

Bonfire!

After careful planning around the tides, we were able to have a bonfire on the beach a few weeks ago! We were even able make hot dogs and smores. Morgan and I and a few neighbors camped out in the thatch after... which was really fun despite lack of sleep.

Here are a few pictures Morgan took:

Kwaj Retreat

The Kwajalein military base was generous to host local Ebeye missionaries (and Morgan and I, despite not being missionaries) for a Saturday night in "mini America". They put us all up in the Kwaj lodge, the base hotel, and we were able to take hot showers, relax, make local calls to the US, and stuff our faces with amazing food!

Here are some picture of the trip:

Morgan and I trying to hitch hike to Ebeye, because as usual, our ride didn't show up.

Missing the ferry (no surprise) and taking a water taxis to kwaj.

Once we finally got to the base, the weekend was great. There are actually a LOT of volunteers/missionaries on Ebeye, but you wouldnt know it because we never see each other. Most of the missionaries work at the SDA school. There are a lot of missionaries from the Phillipines, 3 from Germany, and a few from the US and other countries.

This pictures is of Emily, who is an SDA volunteer from North Carolina, and SDA volunteer from Germany, and Morgan.
(above) we all had to get pictures with the map at the kwaj lodge- you would be surprised at how few maps show all of the pacific!

(above) Morgan and I got to go to the pool and try to work on our awful farmer's tans

All of the volunteers/missionaries who came for the retreat

Easter in Gugeegue

Our neighbors Andrea and Terry organized a great Easter egg hunt for the island kids

Sebastian (above) checking out his goods

Kosrae!

The last week in March was spring break and Morgan and I decided to go to Kosrae, which is an island country that is one plane stop away. Unlike the Marshalls, it is one big island instead of thousands of tiny ones. World Teach is also in Kosrae and we were very grateful the volunteers there were willing to host us. We spent the week being awed at the sight of mountains (the marshalls is completely flat), kayaking, canoing, and lots of hitchhiking! Kosrae even has a few small hotels/resorts mostly owned by americans or other foreigners. Morgan and I fell in love with one called the Tree Lodge (the owner is ironically from Tennessee, near sewanee) that had this amazing restaurant on the water with mountain views. We were even able to get some wine!

Here are some pictures of our trip:

This was a farm on top of a small mountain run by a Japanese man, more vegetables than we'd seen in months! (above)

Morgan at one of the resorts for pizza! (above)

We took an outrigger canoe tour through the mangroves, which was amazing. Our guide Tatau was so great. (below)

(below) kayaking through the mangroves at Tree Lodge

(below) The Tree Lodge restaurant that was a paradise for us!

We went and saw some GIANT eels (below)

and a huge bird cave (below)

(below) We also went spearfishing, with a spear gun. I was more worried about shooting myself in the foot than catching any fish. Morgan shot one, and our guide Hamilton got many. We got pretty beat up in the surf and coral trying to get out of the water, and I was already beat up from falling out of a moving truck the day before (yes, I am a clutz). With many cuts and bruises and looking like a mess, we made it out of the water with all the fish.

A scenic view of Kosrae

Water Water

This is what we realized we were drinking/showering in/washing clothes in for a few weeks.... the brownish color should have been a dead give away. Morgan is still convinced we have fungus growing in our brains.... fortunately our water is now fixed!

our catchment