Ripelles are Party Animals

This weekend I was
invited to 3 different parties. The
first was a an opening party for my new school. The senators from 3 different atolls came and gave speeches including
the assistant to the Ambassador. There
was lots of food and quite a few people there. Let me say that those senators and guests left with some awesome swag. They got a bouquet of Wotje wots, a lei, a
crown of Wotje wots, a little model canoe and a HUGE basket of food. It was nuts. The next party was for Women's
Day and it happened at the Protestant church. There were a lot of decorations and singing from various groups. The women served some more amazing
Marshallese food in the trademark coconut leaf plates. More singing and dancing. The last party was the wild one. One of the teachers, Connie, had a birthday
party and Kathleen, john, Gabe and I went. They served some more excellent food and then Glenn, Connie's uncle
coerced us to get up and give a "program" which means dance and
sing. Kathleen had taught me the
birthday song from TGI Fridays just in case so we were prepared. We sang our song and before we could retreat,
they had turned on the stereo and were dancing with us. I got thrown around like a rag doll. Marshallese women are shy and mild until
there's music . Then they turn into
professional wrestlers. Connie ran
inside to get clothes which she roughly pulled over my head and then she
smeared lotion on my leg and face. Kathleen
had the same done to her. We didn't know
what to do so we continued to dance. It
was a very bizaare thing. To my
astonishment, John and Gabe were not exempt. They were pulled on to the dance floor and Connie dressed them in
dresses and smeared lotion on their faces too. Then I'm not sure what happened, but Gabe was running and the ladies
were chasing him. They ended up tackling
him onto the floor where they proceeded to spank him and wipe more lotion on
him. At this point, Kathleen and I were
standing there trying not to die from laughter. We went back to our table with our pilfered clothes and hair accessories
and watched as Gabe was attacked. It was
pretty hilarious. After that excitement,
we all decided to go home, but not before they gave us more food to take home
and big piece of chocolate cake. I guess
it was their way of making reparations for the near slaughter of Wotje's
ripelle population. All in all it was a
great weekend and on Monday, Connie came up to me and invited me to the
Christmas party in December. I have
plenty of time to study up on my self defense moves before then.