5/10/08
It’s a rainy day in Gugeegue. We are getting ready for exams next week, some planning for next year and prom the week after, and graduation of the 26th. A wave of graduation-mania has hit the school, and everyone is obsessed with preparing for it. Our principal has people out here every day (even Saturdays) building a covered stage in front of the school for the seniors to sit on. Supposedly, the atoll’s King, the RMI President, and the Colonel from the base, and the Kwajalein senators will all be in attendance, making it the most high profile event in Gugeegue history.
Last night my house was broken into. It was 230am on a Saturday morning, and Staci was still at Ashley’s watching a movie. All the lights were off, but I had left the door unlocked for Staci. I was not sleeping well, and I heard the door open. Since my bedroom door is always open (to keep a breeze coming through) I expected to see Staci head into her room…. But no one came in. So, I sleepily got up in my boxers to go close the door, which I thought may have just not been closed all the way. When I got to the kitchen, there was a man walking into the house. He stopped dead for about half a second and then sprinted out the door into the jungle towards Gugeegue’s town. Tristan and his wife had their house broken into (through the roof, while they were home) by a drunk guy at 7am last week, but my intruder was sober… I made that judgment when I decided not to run after him into the woods barefoot – there was no way I could have caught him… plus, then what? This morning I went over to our one police officer’s house and let him know what happened and that I would never be able to ID anybody (it seems silly, but when you only have 250 people living on an island, it’s pretty easy to figure out who the transgressor is) because he had a t-shirt wrapped around his head and face.
Class is going well. I will really miss a lot of the kids. And others, not so much. Speaking of kids, so far 7 girls have been discovered pregnant this quarter alone (we only have about 260 students left). This is always very depressing, and it makes class worse because a couple of them can be quite obnoxious. Teen hormones + pregnancy hormones = a headache for Mr. Matt.
I went diving last weekend on the base. Saw some Japanese boat wrecks from World War 2. Very cool.
I’m heading out on June 2nd. One day in Majuro to stock up on handicrafts and cover my body in tribal tatoos, then out on the 4th. Then I arrive in Honolulu at 3AM on the 4th (international dateline). Then I leave Honolulu at 8pm on the 4th, take the redeye to LAX, arrive at 5am, and leave at 8pm (arg) for another redeye to Newark. Not going to be a fun 4 days.
Alex, one of the Ebeye volunteers, left two days ago because of a stubborn infection of unknown origins that was causing his lymph nodes to be swollen. Hopefully I’ll leave under better circumstances. Although, right now I’m not doing so well. My throat was sore for two days and now I literally cannot make coherent sounds come out of my mouth. I don’t really feel sick… I just can’t talk. But, it doesn’t matter – I am done teaching new material for the year! Monday and Tuesday are review days, and the rest of the week is exams. And then my short career as a teacher is over.