Leaving Majuro

So if everything goes well, I'll be leaving tomorrow on an AMI flight for Wotje. I've got everything packed and ready to go. I wanted to write one last blog post to let a few people know about the place I'm going to. I wrote this yesterday morning. Enjoy my list.

This will probably be my last blog post from majuro until mid serve in December. I'll try to post occasionally from Wotje, but the internet is unreliable at best. A little background on Wotje: It's about 150 miles north of majuro (see map on first post). it has a lot of WWII relics because it was occupied by the Japanese and then bombed and taken over by the US. There are a bunch of sunken ships in the lagoon and there are still bomb craters and lookout towers all over the island. This is a huge piece of history and testament to the importance of the Marshall Islands in WWII. One downside is that there are still unexploded bomb fragments lying around the jungle, so the people tell me no to go wandering off by myself deep in the jungle. As if I would do that anyways. The other problem is that there is a fish here called the stone fish and it loves the rusty stuff on and around the ships so there are a ton of them there. The stone fish is known for it's sting which hurts like a mother ****er and will hurt to the point of not walkign for several days. So the moral of the story is...don't walk/put my flippers down near rusting ships and don't go walking alone in the jungle. My list of don'ts is growing by the minute but here are a few I've come up with.

Don't show your knees

Don't forget to ALWAYS wear a slip

Don't show your shoulders

Don't go anywhere (far distances) alone

Don't go on a jambo (walk) with a guy

Don't be in a closed room with a guy (this includes the classroom)

Don't step over a lady's feet when she's sitting on the ground

Don't forget to duck your head when walking by the irooj (chief/king)

Don't tell someone you like something because they'll give it to you

DON'T DO ANYTHING ON SUNDAYS

Don't forget to put money in the collection plate at church

Don't wear your hair down at church

Don't talk about relationships in mixed gender settings EVER

Don't refuse to take food

Don't tell them you're hungry (it looks bad on your host family)

Don't drink alcohol (the outer islands are dry and if they catch you drinking, the chain you to a coconut tree as a form of public shaming)

I'm sure I'll have more later. Hope to write soon!