Bits and Pieces

Notes on some things from the past few weeks. . . The Marshallese we work with live on the nearby island of Ebeye. In early October, they came to celebrate Manit Day here on Kwaj . Manit Day celebrates Marshallese culture and traditional ways. There were rope and basket making demonstrations, a dance performance, and opportunities for us to try our hand at coconut husking. There were also native food and drink to try. The coconut was good. I'm not so sure about the breadfruit and fish soup. I had a small cup with a couple chunks of breadfruit. It's like a bland potato. Fish heads seem to be favored for these soups; somehow there weren't any in the ladle I scooped out. The Marshallese fellows that work with us pool their money and make themselves lunch at the shop. One day a couple of the guys were complaining that they were having the same thing Tuesday that they had on Saturday - dog. That wasn't offered - as far as I know - at Manit Day . . . . . I made plans to go to Roi-Namur over the Columbus Day weekend. Roi, with more missile range facilities and some American full-time residents, is about 50 miles north. Unfortunately, the commuter planes were grounded. Apparently none of the three planes were deemed safe. Corrosion is a big problem. Commuters from here fly daily and we can catch a ride 'space available. When the planes aren't flying, the people that must commute are flown on helicopters, but there are no 'space available' passengers. It was almost a week before the planes were flying again . . . . . Since I've been here, there have been a number of missile missions. A couple missiles were launched from an island in the atoll and a couple missile launches from the States involved the tracking systems here. In mid-October, there was a missile launch of a different sort. An outfit called Orbital is in the business of putting satellites in space with missiles launched from a plane. For anyone who is interested, check out www.orbital.com/SpaceLaunch/Pegasus. These folks have a good record with a streak of 29 successful launches and a total of 40 successful launches since 1990. Some were commercial satellites, but this one was for NASA. We, the electric shop, set up some temporary power for them on the runway and assisted with the air conditioning for the plane while it was on the tarmac for about a week. The folks from Orbital showed their appreciation by inviting us to their cookout. They've been here before; they brought their own supplies for the cookout, from the beef tri-tip to the redwood for grilling. And quite a bit of adult beverages. A good time was had by all - including a number of Kwaj folks who showed up after dinner just to share in the 'camaraderie' . . . . . This past week, AAFES (Army Air Force Exchange Services) finally got the new post exchange opened. It replaced the company operated Macy's that closed last summer. Still, the opening was hardly noticed. No where near the excitement of the food court or shoppette openings. I guess food, drink and alcohol draw more people than clothes, jewelry, furniture and linens. Now today, (10/29/2008) the PXtra opened and there was a lot of excitement. This is the place for tools, fishing gear, bicycles, dive gear, electronics - all the important stuff . . . . . A Marshallese crafts fair was held here on Kwaj. These folks came from near and far, not just Ebeye. Kind of a chance to buy the things that we were shown at Manit Day. I didn't see anything I couldn't live without, baskets or seashell-and-woven-fiber-jewelry, but I did pick up some locally grown bananas, limes and fish jerky. The bananas were great. The difference between the flavor of fresh bananas and the stuff you buy in the grocery is like the difference between home grown tomatoes and those tasteless things at the store. Limes weren't noticeably different, I guess the Corona makes them all taste the same. I can say I've had fish jerky; I'll stick to the beef or venison types. A company was taking reservations for a new fish and dive resort on an island that was near the atomic bomb tests back in the 40's or 50's. I passed. All of the food for the island has to be shipped in, none can be grown there, although they say the fish are fine. Yeah, sure, even the two headed ones and the ones that glow in the dark. Then again, maybe night dives can be made without flashlight . . . . . This weekend the local - as in American - artsy/craftsy folks are holding a crafts fair. I don't know, maybe they'll try to sell stuff back to the Marshallese. The following weekend, the folks on Roi are holding a chili cook-off. I have a ticket for the catamaran that's scheduled to go up. I'm told corrosion isn't an issue . . . . . By the by, I've included a couple shots from the small boat marina to give you landlocked folks an idea of high and low tide. This occurred from morning to afternoon. Checkout the angle of the ramp that goes down to the boats . . . . . Gotta go - I want to get the rod and reel I bought at Pxtra set up so I can go fishin' at the Shark Pit next time we get a high tide after work. Bar lo yuk. (Very loosely translated, that's Marshallese for 'see you later') . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PS- In my last post, I wrote that we were behind 00.00" in rainfall for the year. I'll fire the proofreader later, we were behind about 10". We've had enough in October to get us up to about 9" behind. Which is to say, it's been raining a lot.