We played Frisbee tonight. Harley showed up first. He's about 12, really good at Frisbee. We chucked it back and forth for a bit, until he decided to go to the REB(?) to see if the Merrimans were done. I don't know if I have the acronym right, but its a religious place for people, and it is Good Friday. Gary, our guy from AMEC came out to say he forgot it was Good Friday. The Merrimans and Harley and Liam showed up. We played 3 on 3. It was the Merrimans "against the world" as Reuben called out the teams. Katheryn, the oldest of the Merrimans, and leader at Frisbee, Jason, the next oldest I'd guess, and then Reuben, the youngest (at Frisbee...maybe 12 or 14). I think Katheryn is around 20, Jason still in high school but 6'1", and Rueben...hmm 12 or 13 and 6ft. Both Jason and Rueben are defensive forces to be reckoned with. Katheryn plays conservatively. All great kids. Harley is nearly 6ft but thin, and Liam, very small, maybe 5'4", and kid skinny....however he is completely great to have on your team. I've met all the parents. Liam's parents say he gets squirmy when they make him miss Frisbee. Harley's dad is with the Corp of Engineers who are at the top of the construction hierarchy here. I forgot to mention Xan, who plays sometimes, and his father Max who I got to play early on, and is also with the Corp of Engineers and has visited my lab to kind of evaluate. Max is young for his age, and his son Xan, around 13 plays well too.
4-5-15- Saturday. Not sure if I have the date correct on the last post or this one. Not sure it really matters. Saturday is Friday back in the States. Its enjoyable saying that. I never really pictured myself saying that. Regardless, its a stress relieving night where ....well we all consider it a drinking night. Ok, so for me, there really isn't any stress out here. There are some grumpy older guys who try and make their lives stressful, and try to share that stress with any one who might listen. I could give examples but its not really worth reliving.
The moon was full tonight. Last night, after Frisbee, I stopped by "Ocean View" or more locally known as "the snake pit". Its a bar where the selection of beers is pretty minimal. Its open air and on the east reef. "On the east reef" means its ocean side and if one could see far enough sitting comfortably out back on the plastic lawn chairs, they would see Chile. Tonight, was a bit different than just violent waves crashing on the reef.(all the wind comes mainly from the east here, not like Ohio). Low tide was at 10:30 , which is about right now (while I'm sitting in my lagoon side chateau). At low tide the surf breaks about 300 feet offshore. The "American" pools are clearly visible in the reef at low tide. The "pools", "American" and "Japanese" are these very rectangular (maybe 60 x 200 ft) excavations cut into the coral between the island and the "edge" of the island that start about 400 ft offshore. They dug them to get aggregate for the concrete for the bunkers and the rest of the war crap stuff back in the day where we didn't kill each other so efficiently during war. They are mostly only visible at low tide, where you can walk out to them.
I have friends, along with the flashlight that when I turn it on from here you can see it in the states, that want to dive the pools at night. I can't wait. Out of the 30 that I work with only one will join me in that sort of adventure. Fortunately, or more likely, "fittingly" most of the friends and activity partners I have here are not coworkers. Nothing against them, they just are more "settled" or lacking adventurousness :).
4-6-15 Easter Sunday. I walked into town today to get the bike I left behind when I bought the new one. The new multi speed bike has a bent back rim, no back brakes because the wheel is so messed up. The wheel rubs on the frame just enough to psychologically let you know its slowing you down. All the shifter cables don't work because they are rusted. Its a year old, and Chris said he kept it inside. I paid $60. My Huffy, that I paid $80 for, before realizing they sell for a hundred brand new at the store, is well lacking class. Its rusting badly after only 4 months of life on Kwaj. I replaced the chain with a stainless steel chain that cost $30. The other chain rusted and broke. Only being 4 months old, the bike looks like hell, but its a bike made of steel. Steel rusts out here. I can probably get $40 out of it on the facebook page Kwaj swap and shop, but I'll probably give to one of the Marshalese. I hate to admit it, but I shoulda just bought a "Sun" bike and basket totaling around $400 and been done with it. The new bike is going to need 80 bucks worth...well maybe $160 if you add the basket. Arg. Life on Kwaj.
Here are some pics from this past week.
this one is looking out of my front door. I have Lagoon front property. It's called Coral Sands Pavillion and beach. It's completely gorgeous.
This is the side of the island I work at. In the top two pics you can see a yellow box type deal. That's my lab. The pile of yellow rock (aggregate) was shipped in from Guam, because they don't want to use up this island. It's just like Ohio limestone, but slightly lighter in weight and color. In the top two pics...if you could see past the building on the right, you would see my surf spot. Or rather the island surf spot....which I still don't completely understand. Everyone goes to this little spot where the waves break supposedly perfectly. Its like 40 yards wide. It gets crowded (ok 3 is a crowd when you don't know what the hell you are doing). There have to be other places. Friday, crap, I mean Saturday after work and before the bar deal I went surfing for the first time in a few weeks. I got the longest rides of my life on a surfboard. Pretty F@#$% in cool!. It was awesome.
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