Last night I went to the high school welcome feast for new students. My mama and baba were invited because he's the doctor on the island and Ketty is the women's representative for Wotje. Needless to say, in true Marshallese fashion, there was an obscene amount of food. On coconut palm frond plates, we had BBQ chicken, meatballs, pig, breadfruit, pumpkin, cornbread, cookies, and nothing is complete without rice. We also had a few oddities like hotdogs, fruit cocktail in condensed milk and bubble gum. It was absolutely delicious and I ate so much I was actually scared that I would throw up. :S
In addition to feeding upwards of 300 people, the students also put on a show. Each class, 10th, 11th and 12th would sing to the 9th graders. Then the 9th graders sang back. After these traditional Marshallese songs, John and Gabe, the two Dartmouth volunteers, got up and whipped the crowd into a frenzy with Backstreet Boys' I Want it That Way. There was a little dance off at the end and the positive reaction is throw gum at them. After their performance, Nazila, the contract teacher, got together with Grace and they sang Girls Just Want to Have Fun. There wasn't as much of a reaction, I think the song was before their time.
It was a great night and to top it off, we got to take home some more food! I'll be eating some BBQ chicken for lunch today!
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