Only in Majuro...

Only in Majuro

            I was thinking the other day about how amazing life can be here in Majuro.  I started a list of things that I have done in the past month that I never would have been able to do if we still lived in Chicago or Colorado.  The list is actually surprisingly long.  Over the past month I saw a Whale Shark while fishing (the largest fish in the world), swam in a mile deep blue ocean, caroused in 5 foot waves in my “backyard,” worked out daily on the ocean shore, kayaked on the Pacific over beautiful coral, played in a significant regional basketball event and witnessed the Pacific Nations Forum.  It has been quite a month.

Whale Shark

This is "the" Whale Shark.  This picture was taken by one of the brave souls who jumped in.  

This was truly one of the most unique experiences of my life.  Anyone who knows me knows that I have never been fishing or eaten an orange.  I know, I know.  Anyways, I was able to check one of those off the list a few weeks ago.  I went fishing!  Seven teachers at Coop organized a daylong trip to go out on the open ocean and see what we could find.  As soon as we left the lagoon and entered the ocean the birds were going crazy, which is a great sign for fisherman.  We saw three whales immediately and towards the end of the day saw a few dolphins.  As the day was winding down we saw a swarm of birds out on the distant horizon and decided to go around for one more pass to see if we could find some Tuna.  As we approached the birds it quickly became clear that something “big” was happening out here.  It was a whale shark, the largest fish in the world.  He was swimming at the surface and had an uncountable number of fish swimming around him.  It was truly amazing to see a fish that was much bigger than the boat we were on and see him swim up to and right under the boat.  Several people on the boat decided this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to swim with a whale shark and jumped in.  I recorded them on video and was getting ready to jump in when my friend and colleague Alvin warned that there were also some oceanic white-tip sharks as well, which are one of the most dangerous sharks in the world, so I called an audible and stayed on the boat.  While I certainly wish I would have gotten in with the massive fish, just seeing it was a phenomenal experience.  

Swimming in Blue Ocean

During the middle of the fishing trip we anchored in mile deep water so our spear fishermen could see what they could find.  They didn’t catch any fish, but those of us on the boat did get out and swim around for nearly a half an hour in mile deep water.  We didn’t see any strange creature, but there were hundreds of tiny fish every color of the rainbow.  If you’ve never been swimming out in the ocean with no land or ocean floor around it is quite a surreal experience!

“Backyard” Swimming

A few weeks ago Janae and I went swimming with our close friends Dan and Rachelle in our “backyard.”  The tide was high and the water was about 5 foot deep with 4 to 5 foot waves.  It was quite amusing and so different to swim on a reef and not a beach.  It’s a great way to cool off after a workout or a hard fought basketball game in the Majuro sun. 

Daily Workouts on the Ocean

This one is sort of self explanatory, but it is the best gym in the world.  To watch the sunrise and get a workout in simultaneously is good for your body and soul.

Kayaking

Yesterday Janae and I were fortunate enough to be able to borrow our friends’ kayaks.  Robin and Bruce have some solid ocean kayaks and were kind enough to watch Neyla while we explored.  While we narrowly beat a torrential rainstorm, we were able to paddle the shore of Majuro and see beautiful coral and fish below.  It’s great exercise too.

Ralik-Ratak Basketball Invitational

The Lae team after our 1st game victory.  

My favorite thing about Majuro is the love of sport.  No matter what sport you’re playing or where, you’ll always draw a crowd.  But I am now playing in one of the biggest basketball events in the region.  I’m so happy to have been invited to play with the Lae team and we have a really solid squad.  I like our chances to take the title.  Here are a few pictures from our first game and win over Nauru.

Pacific Nations Forum

Each year the nations of the Pacific have a regional conference and this year it was held right here in Majuro.  It was really interesting and educational to be here for that and hear the discussions over climate change from a group of countries that this issue most dearly affects.  Scientists estimate that virtually the entire country of The Marshall Islands will be under water in less than 100 years unless something is reversed in the carbon emissions of the world.  The Forum’s theme for this year was, “Marshalling a response climate change.”  I thought that was rather clever.

Majuro, if nothing else, is definitely a place where Janae, Neyla and I have had some once in a lifetime experiences.  We’re looking forward to more!

How I think 9-11 anniversary should be remembered...

            Twelve years ago I was waking as a college Junior to take my first test of the year in a Religious Studies class that I loved.  Soon enough the test was out of my mind and the tragedy that ensued in Manhattan and Washington were on the forefront of my mind.  I remember feeling horror, fear, sadness and shock.  I had never felt so helpless, hopeless and angry.  As the day went on and the days followed September 11, 2001 I also remember never feeling so connected to humanity and never seeing such unity in the America and the world.  The world rallied to our side, they supported America in a way that we hadn’t seen in so long.  One million Iranians came out for a candlelight vigil in Tehran and prayed for and supported America and the thousands of victims from the horrific events of the day.  The labels of Republican and Democrat were replaced by American.  It was an amazing thing to see the unity that came from the horror. 

            Twelve years later this unity is gone.  The United States invaded Iraq, started rendition, began water boarding, holding prisoners at Guantanamo and lost any moral high ground we may have once had.  Worldwide polls now show people believe that the greatest threat to world peace is America.  The hatred that Republicans have for liberalism and the disrespect that Democrats have for conservatives have replaced American as their number one allegiance.  The toxic nature of politics in America is truly frightening.  In a short time we have gotten a collective case of amnesia and seemingly have not learned anything from the horror of 9-11-01.

            How then are we to remember this day?  I think we should do so soberly and with seriousness.  If we recall, in their last moments what did so many of the victims on 9-11 do?  They called their loved ones and said, “I love you.  Thank you.”  They reminded their loved ones that they loved them and said thank you for being a great husband, son, brother, friend, etc… 

            I think that is the best way we can remember today.  Not by flying a flag or rallying nationalistic support, but going to those whom we love and reminding them how thankful we are for them and how much we appreciate their love. 

            It seems to me this may be how the victims of that day would like today to be remembered.  My encouragement is to simply do just that.  Go to those whom you love the most and take some time to remind them how much they mean to you.  All too often we don’t do this because our pride gets in the way, but we can’t do life without those closest to us.  Life is a team sport; rugged individualism will get us nowhere.  We should take today to remember those we love and explicitly remind them of how much we love them and need them.  

Majestic Majuro Mornings

Each morning I wake up around 6:00 am just as the sun is beginning to poke its head over the vast Pacific.  The black of the sky slowly turns to a dark purple, then dark blue and finally the oranges and yellows peak out from behind the beautiful atoll of Arno, Majuro's sister to the east.  Each majestic morning I know that whenever we leave Majuro I will miss my morning routine of watching the sun rise, drinking my iced coffee and pensively thinking about the world.  Some mornings when Neyla rises early, I get to share this experience with her.  We sit on our stoop, her with her milk and me with my coffee, we cuddle close, watch the sun rise, stand on the shore and pray.  

This morning was exceptionally amazing.  The wind was blowing a bit more than normal for this time of year and our friends Alvin and Ross were preparing to go diving beyond the breakers.  As they entered the water, we saw dozens of spinner dolphins swimming beyond the reef.  As our friends made it beyond the breakers we saw the few dozen dolphins jumping in unison and swimming down the coast of Majuro.  We had seen dolphins before, but never all jumping together in a sort of military formation.  All at once the 30 or so dolphins would jump entirely out of the water and race their way north toward the Rita end (northeast) of Majuro.  Janae and I were left flabbergasted. This was not something we saw much of in Chicago or Colorado.  

The best times of day in Majuro are the sunrises and sunsets.  The heat is not oppressive yet and the beauty is unsurpassed.  Most mornings I am so amazed by the sunrise that I often take pictures in hopes of others far away having some sense of the beauty that exists, but the pictures in no way can capture the true beauty.  You can't see the dolphins, you can feel the sun's warmth and you can't feel your soul being illuminated through the picture.  To truly understand the spectacular nature of the mornings of Majuro you need to experience it.

Below are some Sunrise pictures from Majuro:

The Best Part of Being a Father...

Often times I still find it hard to believe that I am a dad.  Neyla has been with us now for almost 16 months now, and despite the fact that she monopolizes so much of Janae's and my time, the concept that I am her father astounds me.  There's no doubt that there are times that Neyla absolutely drives Janae and I up a wall and frustrates us to no end, but I have never felt the way I do about a tiny person (or a large one for that matter).  Each time she runs to me with her arms wide-open a new "greatest moment of my life" occurs.  To read her a book or feed her or to see her and Janae interact fills my heart full of love and admiration. 

            Janae is a fantastically amazing mother.  I could not have imagined just how maternal and loving she would be with Neyla, but when Ney was born it was like something just kicked in inside of Janae.  When I first met Janae (maybe some of you remember this Janae), she thought that the two dumbest things that you could ever do were to get married and have kids.  She said it made no sense and that people only did those things for self-centered reasons.  She was convinced she would do neither.  I told her that I thought both were admirable and that I hoped someday I would do both.  Luckily for me, somewhere along the path of life she changed her mind. 

            On one of our first dates, after years of not seeing each other, Janae had told me she had changed.  She said that she thinks that she wants kids now and would like to be married.  She thought that if she didn't have kids she would be missing out on a part of life that she was meant to take part in.  The only problem was that she wasn't sure she would ever find a man that she'd like to share this experience with.  Within 6 weeks she had identified that man and it was I, thankfully.  ;-)

            When we found out that Janae was pregnant we were so happy, but we didn't know why.  We were not planning on having a baby we just left it up to fate.  Shortly thereafter we found out it would be a girl and I was secretly panicking while Janae was celebrating.  I didn't know the first thing about being a father, let alone to a girl.  I knew that most boys were pure evil and that one day one would ask out my daughter and this future moment panicked me.  I wanted to time travel, find this boy and teach him a lesson nice and early, either that or early register Neyla in a nunnery. 

            These worries no longer exist within my silly head.  Mostly because Janae is so amazing with her and I know for whatever silliness Neyla gets from me, it will be balanced and nullified by her mother's beauty, grace and love.  Even when Janae was a young tough feminista I knew that she was one of the most unique and beautiful people I had ever met.  My favorite thing about Neyla is that she is half Janae.  That is the best thing about having a child, that they are half you and half the person you love the most in the world.