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| Ben, my student, and I at the MMS Talent Show |
So
much has happened since my last post! I taught a full five courses all week
because one of the teachers is out for a week and a half. That was a challenge
of itself, mostly because of the amount of grading I had to do. There are 30
students in each class, so with five classes that was 150 essays I had to
grade! The increased time in the classroom wasn’t so bad, and I actually
enjoyed getting to spend time with some more of the 8th graders. It
was nice to get to compare their writing levels to the writing levels of my
students. I’d like to say that my students had better structure for their
paragraphs. I’ve been trying to get them to always use a topic sentence, three
supporting details with transition words, and a concluding sentence. Hopefully
they remember everything I’ve taught them once I leave- I can’t believe I’m
only here for less than two more weeks!
This
week was also devoted to final preparations for the Majuro Middle School Talent
Show. I was working with our principal, Anthony, and a group of MMS teachers to
finalize our silent auction, the list of performers, and other details. We held
one last rehearsal on the stage at the gym on Tuesday. Courtney, one of the
DVTP grad students and a teacher at MMS, was our MC for the show, so he was
helping out with the practice. We also had one student from the girls’ club,
Sunshine, as assistant MC. She’s great- she has so much sass and can really
fire up a crowd.
Thursday
was the Talent Show! It was incredible how much support we got. There were over
1,000 people there with about 20 talent acts. We pre-sold more than $1,000 in
raffle tickets, sold all the food, and four of the items for the silent
auction. I got to the RRE compound at 3:30 right after school to help set up. I
worked at the silent auction table outside Tide Table, the restaurant at the
RRE compound, until about 5:30 when I went over to help coordinate the talent
acts. We ended up selling two amimano fans and hats made by our guidance
counselor, Neritha Jacklick, and a “Iakwe” bag (which means “hello” in
Marshallese). We also had two paintings made by one of the teachers and a pair
of earrings which we unfortunately didn’t sell. Once 6:00 rolled around, which
was supposed to be the starting time of the show, most of the talent acts still
weren’t there, which is very typical for the Marshallese who are always running
on island time. They don’t think anything of arriving two hours late for
things. We finally got the show started around 7:00, and we didn’t end until
9:45. By around 7:30, there was a huge crowd there, and people were trying to
sneak in around back.
The
first act to go was a group of 7th grade girls doing a hula dance.
We then had the most adorable group of about 15 Filipino kids ages 3-10 dancing
to Party Rock Anthem and a Marshallese sing. They were incredible. They started
break dancing and were actually the cutest kids I’ve ever seen. They go to Co
Op and Baptist mostly, which are two private schools in Majuro, and they’re the
daughters and sons of different teachers at various schools and some doctors.
That was so much fun to watch. We also had the students from Ejit Elementary
school, which is the island where a lot of the refugees from Bikini atoll live.
They did the Cotton Eye Joe and a Marshallese song where they banged together
coconut shells. They were super cute as well. The rest of the acts were
students from MMS, most of them doing hula dances and two groups of boys
playing the keyboard and singing. The best act was Sunshine, another 8th
grader, and Rosita’s (Filipino teacher at MMS) eight year old daughter, Yana,
who goes to Co Op doing Azonto. Carleigh said it was the best rendition of
Azonto she’s ever seen (and they dance to Azonto a lot, it’s literally the only
song they play on the radio here). They were incredible, especially Yana. She’s
super self-confident and outgoing for an eight year old. During the show,
Jayne, Vee, Sunshine, her sister, Yana, and I went up on stage and did a
freestyle dance to Gangnam Style, which is also a favorite song here. That was
ridiculous, but so much fun. Yana did a split in the middle of the stage. That
girl is awesome. We also had three raffle prizes that we announced at the end
of the show. The grand prize was $300, and then we had two gift certificates.
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| Filipino kids |
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| Sunshine, Yana, and Teliah |
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| Ejit Kids doing Cotton Eye Joe |
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| Gangnam Style |
The
most stressful part of the talent show was having groups of kids running up to
me saying they were ready to perform, and then actually they were waiting for
their friend, and then actually they were too scared. I had to rearrange the
order about 30 times. The entire show I was running around looking for the
performers and trying to get them to line up by the side of the stage so we
could have smooth transitions between songs. It was totally worth it in the
end, though. I had a blast hanging out with my students, watching them perform,
and raising money for the teachers. I’m excited to find out how much we ended
up raising. The principal was very happy with the way the show went. We ended
up hanging out after the show with some of the teachers, and everyone was
exhausted but very glad we did the show. I’m really proud of all the effort I
put into making the show run smoothly. It’s nice to know that I did this
project that will have a lasting impact on MMS. Hopefully we can send as many
teachers as possible to the PREL conference in Saipan this summer. I’m looking
forward to hearing how far the money will go.
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| Crowd at Show |
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| Room 205's hula dance |
Friday
was Nuclear Victims Day from World War II, so we did not have school. We ended
up going to an island about 10 miles away called “Three Bag Island.” We rented
out the whole island for only $30 a person for the night. There was a big
bungalow where we spent the night. Three Bag Island is a little bit past Eneko,
and you really realize how in the middle of nowhere the Marshall Islands are
when you are on it. Unlike the other islands we’ve been on, Three Bag Island is
separated from the other islands by The whole island takes about 2 minutes to
walk around. It is covered in palm trees, so you feel like you are in a jungle.
There’s a tiny beach on the lagoon side that we could swim in, and then the
other side of the island is the Pacific Ocean. The current is ridiculously
strong, even though the waves don’t break until about 300 yards out. We waded
into the ocean a little bit and didn’t have any desire to go any farther. The
waves are probably 10 feet tall! We got to barbeque and just hang out for the
afternoon/ night. It was nice to relax after such a busy week!
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| Bungalow at Three Bag Island |
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| Three Bag Island |
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| Hanging out on the porch |
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| Lagoon side |
On Saturday after getting
back from Three Bag Island, I spent the day at the Technical Rehearsal for West
Side Story at the ICC. The backdrop I helped paint for the set was up and running. In addition to designing the lighting, I’m the makeup
designer with Becky. We ran around town looking for the makeup we needed, which
is incredibly difficult to find in Majuro. We are doing a blue them for the
Jets and a red theme for the Sharks. We got eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara,
blush, lipstick, and nail polish. That’s basically all we can use because of
the budget, but I think it will show up pretty well. There are four girls from
MIHS helping us on the nights of the play, and two of them came yesterday to
the rehearsal. We experimented on some of the cast members during rehearsal,
which was a ton of fun. The boys looked ridiculous up close with their eye
shadow. They were having a blast with it. I’m also operating the fog machine
for two of the scenes, when Tony and Maria first meet and then during the
ballet sequence. The play is looking really good so far! This week will be
crazy busy with it- we’ll be practicing Monday and Tuesday from 4 until about
11, and then the show is on Wednesday through Saturday so we’ll be there from
around 5 until midnight. I’m looking forward to it, though. The kids have put
in so much work, and I know they’ll do great!
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| Tech Rehearsal |
