hair cut in Majuro

 

LOW TIDE

These pictures were taken during “king tides” (when the high and low tides are “supersized”- so to speak) which occur only every, we have not counted yet, so many months, 4-6? These are taken on the lagoon side out  of our back door.    1. kids pulling up treasures

2. “Happy” stands on a pizza, notice complete with pepperoni. and is watching fish. The exposed coral is even prettier under water to the snorkeler as it is almost always haven to schools of tiny blue fish (I would use the scientific classification complete with life cycle details but we will save that for more of my creation brochure donated articles- so to speak).

3. More pizza…from the snorkel they look more like donuts (also not the scientific class…)  Haven to black hand sized ek (fish in Marshallese)

3 More coral

  4 Some one at PETCO REALLY MESSED UP! The entire aquarium section must have been dropped in our lagoon. Every time snorkeling you see fish from a different isle usually five new isles. 

5 Not an ek, the Brenda braided look seen at any tide at your local Kingdom Hall and if you did not recognize the one eyed blond that would Montana's’ own.

JAMBO JAMBO AT THE BARRETTS’

To our beloved who may wonder “I’ll bet Vince has been taking pictures and updating the blog and has decided how many pictures can a guy take when the shore line is 50 yards apart and 30miles long”---You are right! So here are a few anyway—when in truth we are overwhelmed by there is an awful lot to do in trying to teach an old guy “ewi wawen ej ba kajin majol”… I have never faced anything more frustrating in my life , plus service ,meetings, you know the life saving routine…continuing… there is also no espn(there is none)we are still reduced to occasional tv sent on cd—which has somehow lost its pull, an  ”atol” sized computer lap top screen with no sports—baseball never counts unless you are pitching or gimping to second base .

What you see may look like fun,,It was!  courtesy  of the “happy God” and a little going away party for a couple from Guam, here for a month plus, to work on the Translation home. They too are need greaters originally from Idaho. This is the homestead in the background hosted still as only “Lynn from Brooklyn or is that long island , no we all know home is where the “truth” came into the picture—that would be MONTANA!  The only down side was I travelled halfway across the world, hidden on a tiny spec of an atoll (a word I never would have defined in trivia pursuit) and guess who gets stuck organizing a few “games”….THE MAN WITH A PE DEGREE… funny , no one has asked about my degree or for that matter even if i graduated from high school.

Anyway enjoy the dances…they were way better live as well as with some local music and audience participation songs…and in English Lynn organized a chorus of the beautiful people to sing two of the new Kingdom songs as a goodbye (one being the song of dedication…and since we ,Micronesia, still have the old song book  and have not heard the new songs, there were a few tears in the crowd… not those of us with a degree. ……The brother in the last row just couldn't stay seated ! His hips didn't move quite like the sisters’ , also lost in the still photos.

From the ATOL…

1.WHY IS THIS TREE CALLED A “FLAME TREE’’?

2. Circuit Assembly …Attendant to self…anywhere but Majuro…”Oh my goodness Here I go to return lovely children to their parents”…however in Majuro, attendant to self …”Boy this is a really good part!”. Baptismal candidate with grandpa Brother Zechariah.

  4.”The women are a large army!” nice application to you “highlanders”.

Translation Home

“If Jehovah wants the house!”………….On all of Majuro we figure there may be six we actually only know of four homes which are of this size 6 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms and now after the building committee add on, there is office space to accommodate the translation team!  If you recall our home search more than one bedroom is the exception not the rule. The search for living space and office space went mostly unsuccessful for  some time including options to build, not desired because of difficulty finding leased land and high building costs. Then this home was noticed by “word of mouth” in a perfect location with a nearby smaller home thought to be perhaps used for the office space. Negotiations with the smaller home fell to owners lack of cooperation and desire for “high” price. Looking into the larger home proved successful with no doubt Jehovah’s direction behind the scenes.  

It turns out that the owner  was living on Ebeye, a tiny island off the atoll of Kwajalein.  Guess where she lives on Ebeye? (stay tuned for answer)   This large home was built for family use but the family never used the home and it was new and unoccupied! Go angels.  The owner “coincidentally” on Ebeye lives next to the Kingdom Hall and has a very friendly and neighborly relationship with the missionaries living next door.  On contacting her, she proves very interested in renting to the brothers.  The price is very reasonable and she was willing to pay the costs of remodeling for the additional office space!  We will let you know when the neighbor in Ebeye becomes a sister (we hope)!  

The first picture is the front view of the home.  As can be seen the home is in “rural” part of Majuro closest to the Laura congregation.  Picture two is also a front view capturing existing landscaping.  This third picture shows back view including the patio area which was enclosed by cinder block by the building committee (and with a little help from some of us ‘need greaters’ )  Brothers from Guam and Phonpeii came and lived in the home while getting it ready for the translation team.  They have been here two months and are almost finished.  They hope to have the office running by September 1.

Anybody out there?

Needless to say we have been a little slow with any new pics. Hopefully these will get us back on track if anyone is out there. Picture one is taken from ocean side looking west on about the second week of May. About two weeks later the sunset would not be in this frame, so we take a short walk to the lagoon side to now in June to catch picture 2 as the sun sets now in the  lagoon probably into July before its’ return.

3. We drove out to the west end of Majuro to capture this one. Unlike this picture if there are no clouds on the very horizon we are told that just as the sun disappears it emits a green glow. We returned a week later for a congregation picnic to say goodbye to some of the construction team working on the translation home (STAY TUNED  for blog 2) as well as the CO and wife.  Most of us on a cloudless evening witnessed yet another one of our grand creators signatures of aw as the sun dropped into the sea and for only a brief second there sat on the horizon the most beautiful praiseworthy “greener than green emerald” to disappear to the viewers open mouthed expressions of “wow”  ,” did you see that”, a few  “I missed  it “(that would include Lynn which is good so we can go back camera in hand) ………………………   PRAISE JAH YOU SUN AND…. 

Majuro Health Club

Start at the bench… “Barrett style” no collars…no spotter needed…contoured bench for posterior end!

Knee lubricant may be needed at this station…I think even titanium rusts here.

Bike stop at pull up bar…to the….rope climb … or rope stand. Short and sweet!

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES

This is a young girl named Eugene. (Eta in Eugene) Eugene is always smiling.  We met Eugene along with many young ones in the Laura congregation right away.  The young ones although shy are very welcoming in introducing themselves and always available to correct our Marshallese! Most take English in school. It wasn’t until several weeks maybe months when we realized Eugene did not have her parents at meetings.  Her older cousins, Brenda and Sally Ann always had invited her to join them at meetings.  She would come with that smile on her face and ready to comment.  She started studying with one of the teenagers, Crystal.  Her family was planning to send her to the states to her relatives with an opportunity to have a better education.  She refused saying that she feels she would rather serve Jehovah in Majuro.  Her parents allowed her to stay and because of her decision and her interest in the truth her mom began to study. Eugene  recently became an unbaptized publisher, her mom from her bible study has been legally married and stopped smoking and desires to be a publisher, and now dad has begun to study!  Eugene found this baby bird fallen from a tree and has wrapped it in a breadfruit leaf. I think you would agree, Jehovah would be pleased, it is in good hands! Korata takes a break during field service during the Memorial invitation campaign and sits on a renowned Marshallese canoe. The Marshallese are credited with this style canoe. This one is a small one. They are 2 to 5 times bigger but the same style. They can be powered by oarsmen or a sail. The sail post can be seen on the left. Wood is all hand carved and they are still made locally. When mariners first saw the canoes they were amazed (and are still impressed) by their speed and maneuverability.  

Nice box decorations and notes Kennedy but you forgot to put your dad inside to help me put it back together!

Baseball in any language, but perhaps you do not take off your flip-flops for home plate and just which coconut tree is second base?

Pig Roast

The pig roast was held at our house last Monday (for them it was a holiday, “Nuclear Victims Day”  kind of like our Memorial Day) After we dug a big hole,  about 1 foot deep,the sisters put many coconut husks and sticks in the ground and above ground until it was about 1 foot above ground.  Then they covered that stuff with coral rocks. The husks were lit then from the sides below the coral. The third pic shows the fire burnt down just below ground level. Time to cover the coral with leaves of different variety for protection and flavor. Then comes the pig topped with more leaves 

  Then they put a large piece of cardboard over the leaves.  Finally the guys shovel the sand that is behind them back onto the cardboard.

It cooked practically all day and was it delicious!  The flavor was so good!  Here they are peeling the leaves off.  The sister, Namu took the head home for herself!!

“THIS LITTLE PIG STAYED HOME!”

Tsunami Warning!

Matthew 24:7 “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another.”   February 28 waking up on Sunday morning as usual for meeting we get a phone call from a local elder notifying us that the branch in Guam had called the Majuro missionary home to notify the friends that a major earthquake in Chile had sent Tsunami warnings to the entire south Pacific. We tried to call you Jeremy and settled for an email “meeting has been cancelled”! We helped notify  the friends  from Laura, those living right on the ocean side were told they could go to the Kingdom Hall. The Hall is not on high ground but it is inland—so to speak—at least for Laura, maybe .5mi to ocean a bit further to lagoon. Several friends and families went . We living at island midpoint and with a “cement bunker” home with a second story (good thing we know the neighbors, Jehovah’s witnesses are good at that) decided to stay and be a mid island check point with phone contact and internet access for updates. All are safe and it is now afternoon with no signs of any problems which by recent reports should put us past the “wave”.

The top two pictures were taken today showing stormy sky’s and turbulent seas. This picture of lagoon side actually has a fishing boat (white spot on horizon, next time I will get closer) which is ship wrecked up on the lagoon. It has been abandoned for several years.It is a large 100`feetish’ boat.

Last picture actually taken on another day when the tides were particularly high washing up lots of debris.

NOTICE: Since we are a day ahead of Montana perhaps you all should cancel meeting Sunday. I understand there are some low spots in those Rocky Mountains! However in view of the rest of Mathew 24 and 25 you had better not, someone say’s something about “Keep on the watch!”

High point? Catch! Samson? Meeting!

1.This bridge the locals call the highest point in Majuro which since it is manmade it must have gotten the title years ago when built to connect two atols to complete Majuros’ 30mile stretch. It is at about the 10 mile location. There are now several buildings higher and the paper said the garbage pile at the dump is now the highest point---yuk! Small boats pass here to easy access from the lagoon to the ocean also a fun jump off spot “York bridge style”.

2. Incoming! Catch that coconut dont duck!                     3. Samson brings down our house! Crystal, actually introduced earlier, poses with the Philistines for a cameo to send to mom in Phillipines . 4.Depending on the meeting and if Brother Andy’s bus is full we may have o to 6 passengers to pick up for meeting, if we have’nt mentioned it is almost a 30 min 15mi drive; watch for coconuts, the tuna can can only clear little ones, pot holes about every mile (flat tires at 4) people stroll (“jambo”) on the road, dogs hide for a short chase, chickens run stop turn around run some more . This meeting night was interesting. Just after opening song lights go out. Power outages  quite common on comes a flashlight a few brothers familiar to the drill get the inverter from the magazine counter plug into the power box , start up the other brothers car , hook onto car battery turn off all fans (ooooo not good) turn on one stage light, and all three meetings complete to the finish without a hitch, the car never stalled or ran out of gas. Oh and after the last song ,without music ,on comes the power. Another meeting in Majuro.

Friends, Service and Banana Balls?

1.Lynn at the Laura Hall with l to r Crystal a teenager still in school exemplary in every way and also a translator at meetings for those of us who will need one for “some time”, in front Doda who with her eyes open and a smile she can “ stop traffic”, Grandma Nalon holding down the home while mom Sally is in the Phillipines for health reasons should be home soon.

This is Andy, found the truth in California returned to home Majuro with family to care for sick relatives and has been a pillar in the congregations for many years'. We are on a Bible study  sitting in the yard the Rabelle{foreigner} with titanium knees gets the white lawn chair. Notice the homemade oven being built.  Ribar, tin, plywood, some coconut charcoals, and bake your breadfruit. 

Sitting, not on a shoeshine bench but a “Raniki” bench.  there is a metal grater at the end for shaving the insides of the coconut.  Add bananas from our front yard tree, boil bananas, then mash with coconut and tata, banana balls!  Enno (delicious)!!   Praise Jah you people, our loving creator’s 6:30 show. 

TIDBITS FROM MAJURO

1.  Three Amigos!  On the left is a pandanus (in Marshallese – Bob)  They hang on a small like palm tree about 8 – 20 feet tall.  This Bob lies on the lagoon after erosion and winds knocked over its tree.  These are good to eat.  When they are ripe, there is an orange in the grooves.  You pull off the green knobs and it is like sucking a paint brush!  The brush ends get stuck in your teeth but it tastes good.  Some make a juice out of them but we don’t know how.  Next to the Bob is a small coconut tree starting to grow out of the coconut which you can see is half out of the sand.  You can break open the husk of these that have leaves coming out of them and the middle of the coconut is no longer liquid but a solid.  Kind of like the texture of styrofoam!  They then call it “u”.  It is really delicious and you can just eat it, cook it with vegetables, or they make a drink called “liquod” that they add milk to.  The third amigo is a eroded, washed up coconut shell from the lagoon with eye holes courtesy of the local rat population!  it is surprising how many coconuts on the ground have rat holes in and through them.  Got to pick them up fast! 

2.  A rural home in Laura while out in service.  Notice to the right is a tent!  That is the bedroom and the building in the middle is there main house.  Behind the house is their outdoor kitchen.  This is one of Lynn’s return visits.  You have to take a “Montana dirt road” to get to it.  Except a .10 mile drive vs Montana’s 100 miles!

3.  Different view of our house.  Remember we live in the downstairs.  The red door to the right is the courtyard where one of our bathrooms is.  Notice above the courtyard in the back is our neighbors lanai.  That is over our bedroom.  The tree next to the house is a breadfruit tree which hasn’t produced yet. 

THE NUMBER 1 WAY TOU KNOW YOUR NOT IN MONTANA!

NUNBER 1: YOUR WIFE NO LONGER HAS THE BEST TAN IN THE CONGREGATION!!!                     LYNN WITH SISTER BEGO ONE OF THE TRANSLATORS SHE DID THE WATCHTOWER FOR VINCE AT THE S.A.D. COME TO MAJURO WE NEED BROTHERS! The old guy is Doug a need greater from Ca.. To find out the sisters names you will just have to come brothers.