Its our Saturday night here, but actually its Sunday at 8pm. We work, pretty much the whole island works Tuesday to Saturday, so we have Sundays and Mondays off.
It's turning out to be more of a money thing than an adventure thing. I mean, it is a beautiful island in the south pacific, but its more of a working island not geared so much towards tourism. I have only been here a month so maybe things will change. I am going to get a boating license, which will allow me to rent a boat and take off to other islands (most are uninhabited) and surf or scuba or kiteboard with some people I have met. I have my kiteboarding stuff here now, and I bought a surfboard.
Most of what I do here is kind of domestic/mundane. I work out a lot, play beach volleyball twice a day on sundays, surf if the tide is up after work or if not on the weekend during the day, and for two weeks now I have gathered enough people to play ultimate Frisbee on Monday evenings. Its a small island with about 1200 people on it. I am going to get recertified with the Scuba stuff...its something I'm not all that into, but I can't come clear out here and not dive I hear...there is just too much to see. There is a free ferry to get to Ebeye (I've read its the armpit of the south pacific) which I've heard and read is the most densely populated place on earth. All living is squalor, partly due to our involvement in the 50's and partly due to the Marshallese Monarchy system...
There are no private vehicles, so everyone ride a bike everywhere. I'd imagine I've put around 400 miles on mine (we have a work truck that my lab tech and I have put 200 miles on in 3wks). The food is cafeteria food with over cooked meat, but there are a lot of healthy choices.
It is basically an Army post, but hardly any military guys are here. Maybe 5% active military, and they are hard to distinguish from any one else. I am considered an Ex Pat. They are paying me well, and the first 97k is tax free if I stay away more than 330 days, and don't come back for more than 30, which I will only get two weeks off in July anyhow. Real work hasn't started and won't for another month or two, but it promises to be busy. I am officially the "lab manager" for the materials testing lab for San Juan Construction based out of Colorado. Its a strange skill set and bunch of certifications I've picked up over the past ten years. This job will boost my resume tremendously, so I take it very seriously while I am at work.
Luke I will leave you with a pic of one of the beautiful trimarans (sp?) that I've seen down here...
and some other pics
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