Traveled to Ebeye

This weekend we went to Ebeye, which is the island 6 miles to the North of Kwajalein up the reef.  Ebeye is an island about half the size of Kwaj, but home to nearly 12,000 people.  Ebeye is considered a third world nation and has no American presence on the island.  It really opened our eyes to what life is like for the Marshallese.  We walked the island and observed the living conditions of the residents of the island.  From a teaching perspective, it was very good to see where some of our students live.  The people were incredibly friendly and all of the little kids wanted to give us "high fives" when we would walk past them.  We were also able to enjoy a restaurant on the island, our first sit down restaurant since we left Nebraska!  Check out the pictures below for a glimpse of the island.

A young girl was washing her clothes in the ocean.  The water supply is not always available to the Marshallese.

Housing consists of piecing together wood scraps and tin pieces that people can find.  

Only half of the kids have the option of going to school due to limited availability of space.  Therefore, at all hours of the day you will see young children out and about with out any adult supervision.  

Here is a graveyard and a house in the background.

Basketball is one of the most popular sports on the island.  This picture was taken during school hours, so we assumed these were some of the kids with out the opportunity to attend school.  

Fishing...sort of.

We are now fully into the swing of school and work and haven't had as much time to post on here as we would like, but are thankful for a day off today to post a few things.  School is going well and we are enjoying our classes and the students.  We are working hard, but liking it.  In the last week we started our scuba certification classes and had fun watching the huskers play early Sunday morning.  Here are a few pictures and some stories to go with them.

This weekend we were able to go out with some people who have a boat and they took us to a few awesome places around the lagoon.  This is called the Prinz Eugen and it is a German tanker that was captured during WWII.  It was taken to Bikini Atoll where it was used to test the effects of the first Nuclear Bomb.  After the test it was dragged to our island, and it had enough damage that some high winds came up and it was turned over.  It is well over 100 yards long and was pretty fun to snorkel around.  Many people have carved their names into the boat over time and it is now mostly covered in rust and coral.

Last Sunday I had the chance to go fishing with a few guys, so Mindi and I boarded a boat and went out.  We only caught one fish and i got to reel it in.  Our fishing trip was cut pretty short though.

Our fishing trip was cut short because I got so incredibly sea sick that we had to come back.  This is me finally back on the dock trying to stop throwing up.  It was pretty miserable.  I got sick on the way to the fishing spot, and couldn't quit "chumming the water" as they call it when someone throws up over the side of the boat.  After letting my breakfast go a few times we got the first bite and the guys on the boat started yelling at me to go to the back and reel it in.  I went back there and started to reel it in, but it was about 200 yards out and they didn't slow down the boat to make it easier.  After 10 minutes of them screaming at me to reel faster and being called an assortment of names for how slow i was going we finally got the fish into the boat and i headed straight for the railing so i could dry heave some more.  I found out that the first time someone goes fishing they make them reel the fish in by themself, instead of taking turns at it, and they scream at them the whole time to speed up.  After that my stomach and my arms hurt.  Anyways, i was leaning over the edge of the boat after the fish was in, just trying to stop throwing up, when one of the big waves (They were about 10 feet that day) crashed over the side of the boat and completely took me out.  It was at that point that I thought we had better go back or I may leave my stomach out to sea.  Oh, and i better add who didn't get sick, my wonderful wife who is much tougher than I!  The other guys who were fishing like to remind me of that fact when i see them.  I will try some dramimine or something next time we go out.

We saw our first turtle while snorkeling on Monday!  I tried to swim after it, but this is the closest I got.

Some other fish we saw while snorkeling.

Anyways, that is a small update from the last week, and it was nice to have a long weekend with labor day.