Kwajalein Atoll.......: June 21st......longest day of the year...

The choice tonight was.....1. The Vet's Hall. "Radar Love" was playing. I do need to say that they are a local band, hence the name (Kwaj is an island full of radar dishes that look like small epcot centers). 2. Um ok I was watching some girl with a bow thing on the internet ...that whole series about the "Mocking Jay" and a girl with a bow. Don't get me wrong, my lack of proper title doesn't mean I don't love the movies. I think it just means I'm stupid about all that. My number 3 choice was to throw a few beers in my manpurse (yea I'd rather call it that than a courier pouch)(I am not metrosexual) and head to the opposite side of the island where there are no lights and the people from the other end (the residential end) think people get mugged, because everyone knows all construction people are bad and stupid.

I made the right decision. I just felt strange about looking at some science fiction deal on here (the internet) when I had two better choices. I really kinda wanted to go to the bar, but I'm sure I looked wasted from a whole day of perfectness. Oh and I had stepped outside a few times and looked at the starlit moonlit sky.

Ok, I'm fairly certain the word perfect has entered my life before describing well, my life. I'm really hoping it will continue. At the west end of the island, our surf spot has a wooden deck with some lounge chairs on it, a perfect aluminum railing set in concrete leading to the ocean...with steps, and a bench under a tree that shades you pretty much only in the morning. I've never been out there at night, and I'm glad I headed west from my incredibly awesome lagoon front (yes largest lagoon in the world...yes be jealous) home instead of going to see Radar Love. I have not taken enough time to go out at night and appreciate the stars out here. In my defense, most times they are clouded over, but tonight it was a great way to just go chill and ...sit on the edge of the grandest canyon we have...

I need to explain todays perfectness...

I have a captains license, which allows me to rent a boat from the small boat marina any time I wish. Since I am off Sundays and Mondays, I rented one for this Sunday. There were so many on my minds list that I wanted to invite. There are so many in our little shire that need to get off the island. The lady in charge of the Marshallese that clean our residences, the two ladies that cook the best dinners on the island, ...............I'll just go ahead and say it. There were 7 women on the boat with me, the lucky guy.

I would have to say the coolest thing to come from that was Sheila, the lady in charge of the people who keep house around here, snorkeled for her first time. I love seeing people discover new things. I drug her backwards with my flippers on and her floating wearing a life jacket on her legs, to a coral head in the middle of the sandy bottom lagoon side at Bigej. After a little convincing, she stuck her face under the water. I can't really duplicate the sounds of excitement coming from the exhaust end of her snorkel, but she finally poked her head up and said "THIS is cool!" There was one other girl there that had never snorkeled before either, but she was more comfortable in the water than Sheila. Holly was also out celebrating her 25th birthday. I will never get tired of seeing people have a great time.

We got back a little after noon, which is required for a B boat morning rental. As we pulled up to the dock, a friend of mine who I met surfing was there (giving me Kudos for being on a boat with 7 women). Joe, is the best surfer I know, great at kiteboarding, and never really seems to stop moving. I asked him "where are you guys going?", and he told me he was there with Jobie and his wife Amber to take me out wakeboarding. Jobie, would be the best kiteboarder on island. The guy is originally from Kansas, but has basically grown up on Kwaj. He's been out here since he was pre teen, I believe someone told me. I think he's some kind of pilot. His wife Amber is from Wyoming, and drives one of the ferries from Kwaj to Ebeye, which she says she really likes. I had been bugging Amber to take me out wakeboarding for a while so I could get the "ski boat endorsement". There is a ski boat out here, but you have to get "checked out" on it before you can "take it out" (ie rent it). So, after just spending 5 hours (albeit morning hours....which means less sun) on a boat, I got on another boat. I love boating. We drove to the ski area, which was incredibly choppy (ennono is the Marshallese word for choppy), and I beat myself up wakeboarding and drove the boat as Jobie beat himself up wakeboarding. I'm now halfway to getting a ski boat endorsement, which just means I can take people out wakeboarding, but will still need someone with a ski boat endorsement to take me.

June 22, 2015

Breakfast is the crappiest meal of the day around here, but after 8 hours of not eating it can't be missed. My alarm went off at 6:30 am, and I went and had the runny eggs, bacon, and oatmeal then came back and tried unsuccessfully to get back to sleep. I made repeated attempts until around 11, and decided that it is completely wrong to try so hard to waste such a beautiful day by staying inside.
I got a facebook message from Amber saying they would take me out again to finish my "orientation" on the ski boat, which would allow me to go out with one of the guys from the small boat marina to get checked off for the endorsement. She said 1 pm. Around noon, Sandra, the second in charge here at man camp, came riding up as I was out on the beach trying to figure my kite telling me that Joe said to fly to the small boat marina or I would miss it. So, with a muscle shirt on and no hat I road like a beast down there thinking they were going to take the ski boat out to get the last of my orientation drives done...which should have lasted an hour tops. Instead they were heading to Little Bustard on Joe's Zodiac to go kiteboarding. I have to be more careful about getting caught in the sun out here. 3 hours I was out there with no hat, no long sleeve shirt. Not Good. So now it looks like I am still wearing that muscle shirt and I'm sure my scalp is fried. Bad Ben. Here are some pix from last weekend.........