Graduation

!Graduation!

Finally! I can post a new blog again! Of course, high school graduation is a very BUSY time of the year, especially if you are a senior on Kwajalein. High school graduation in the United States does not compare to the graduation ceremonies on Kwaj. Graduation on Kwajalein is extremely personal (mostly because there are only 18 kids in the graduating class), but it's GREAT! The week of the graduation ceremony has to have been one of the most chaotic weeks of my life. Graduation on Kwaj is a very anticipated event by seniors, their families, and the community. It has been for many, many years. The week before graduation, the seniors had to go and decorate the whole Multi-Purpose room for the ceremony, and I (lucky me) got to be in charge of that. WE GOT IT DONE! With much effort from the guys, and much

cooperation from the girls, the room was done in two days flat. But the work wasn't done. Then there were pictures in caps and gowns, a complete rehersal for the senior class (which we did twice, speeches and all) and a final touch up before the ceremony. Everyone was spent but SUPER excited about walking down the aisle. The day of graduation, after the rehersals, Colby and I spent some time relaxing and making leis for people after the ceremony. That wasn't too much fun, Colby got plumeria milk in his hair (for those of you who don't know, plumeria milk is like super glue and does not come out), and I got it ALL over my arms, so at the ceremony I was sticking to my sleeves.

The ceremony came, and all the seniors reported in a back room to light candles. We walked down the aisle with our candles, posing and smiling for pictures. Then the talking began, with welcoming speeches (performed in english and marshalleese), the valedictorian speech, many MANY scholarships (one that I won and two that Colby won!), a class history where three students told a story about the senior class and thier years at Kwajalein Jr/Sr highschool, thank you speeches, a slideshow of all the seniors, and fianlly the diplomas. It was really neat though, during the thank you speeches we all got two leis, one for our fathers and one for our mothers,

and we got to go out to the crowd, in the middle of the ceremony, to put a lei on around parents necks. I think that is what made the ceremony so personal, the five minutes of hugs, sobbing, and pictures. I cried SO much, while Colby on the other hand didn't. He's thinks he is a real man, even though I object.We got our diplomas (and Colby got a medal for being Salutatorian), and then we walked out of the MP room and got into a receiving line, which is where the whole community comes through the line and gives kthe graduates hugs, leis, pictures, and presents. It was a really neat experience. We had leis piled up to our ears. Some of the leis were really neat, some had presents in them, some were made so they could be kept for years to come, and some smelled like wine, which wasn't too terrible I guess. Everyone was super hot and sweaty from standing outside getting leis, but it was definitely well worth it.  We took our pictures, cried, and got lots of hugs before it was all finally over.

Graduation on Kwaj is quite an experience. I've been to many high school graduations, and this ceremony has been by far the prettiest and most heart felt ceremony I have EVER experienced. THEN IT WAS TIME TO PARTY. Another thing that is big on Kwaj are the graduation parties. They are a bit more important than the ceremony to some parents! I, however, decided not to be apart of the graduation parties...solely because planning a graduation party is like planning a wedding with 9 pairs of parents, and that was WAY too much stress for me to handle!

Colby had a party though, with all the senior guys. It was FANTASTIC. On Kwajalien, graduation parties are usually a group thing, because the community is so small. Receiving money from community members is a tradition on Kwaj.

Everyone recieves a little note or envelope with money inside, it's really fun. So the boys each got to decorate their own card box and decorate their own corner of the receiving tables. I decorated all of Colby's stuff, thats why it looks so GREAT.

 The party was filled with live music, laughter, great food and PLENTY of alcohol, which was good because over half the island had to have been at their graduation party! The festivites carried on through the night with more live music, some performed by Colby and his friends, and MUCH dancing. Hula dancing and marshalleese dances are also traditional at the graduation parties, and they are SO much fun.

Fianlly graduation time is over, the diplomas have been received, the parties have been had, and the food is all gone. NOW I CAN START BLOGGING AGAIN! But overall, I have to say, living on Kwajalein, graduation time of the year has always been a lot of fun, and I, as well as Colby, couldn't have had a better senior year anywhere else. Though we will be leaving this island soon, it will always be our home, filled with many memories of beaches, laughter, and island time. Hopefully I will be able to get a few more posts up about Kwaj before we leave. Here are some more pictures from the party, enjoy! This post was spell checked by Colby) *

!Wandering Around Kwaj!
(pictures pictures pictures)

A walk around Kwaj is always full of awesome picture opportunities! Colby and I jumped on those opportunities and decided it would be neat to just take pictures of what we see on a normal walk around Kwaj. Houses on Kwajalein are provided by the military, so they basically all look the same. That DOES NOT mean people don't add a bit of personality to their homes.

My house has the typical bikes parked out in the front, along with a gorgeous plumeria tree right in the front yard. The white and yellow plumeria are common flower trees seen all around Kwaj, and they have to be the best smelling flowers EVER. We decided to mess around with my panorama setting on my camrea (which works amazingly). This setting gives us awesome pictures of the street as well as beaches, use it if you have one! 

This is a picture walking out of my house to the main street!

This is a picture of the boat docks!

On Kwaj, people don't really worry much about how the front of their house looks, what really matters is what kind of back porch/ chill pad you have. Many people personalize their back yards with decks, plants, and sometimes fences. It's like their own little hide-away. On the weekends these back porches are always filled with grillers, chatters, and party goers. It's fun to walk along the dirt paths behind houses because of how diverse every back yard is. Everything from buoy balls, flags, surfboards, and the much needed lawn chairs can be seen in these back yards.

One of the best things about Kwaj is that not everyone has a fence, so people choose to make due with a fence of potted plants, which works perfectly fine (and adds much color to the scenery)!

Throughout all the back yards I have seen on Kwaj, Colby's back yard has to be one of best personalized ones on island! He comes from a very athletic sportsy family (they obviously surf). I've been out surfing a couple of times, and let me tell you, it's HARD to get up on a board. I still have yet to do that! Colby has many awesome things hanging in his back porch, (surfboards and buoys of all kinds) and yes, of course, what would a surfing family be without skateboards! And what would an island picture excursion be without plenty pictures of flowers! (I'm not sure what they are really called so please excuse my made up captions!)

The amazing fusia flowers that dot everyones back yards!The flower that looks like a lily, might not be a lily, but then again might be a lilyPink flowers that grow on a bush that my dad for some reason can't keep alive!

And the other pink pot plant flower that I wish tastes as good as it smells!

A little bit past the housing area is an alley way to the local boat docks. It's filled with MATSON crates, and giant cranes (which are also fun to take pictures with)! I tried to take a picture like I was pushing up really hard on a crane (and the face was all supposed to be acting) but REALLY, the crane was burning hot and I ended up burning my finger tips from trying to get in a good picture (so the face I made wasn't acting!). It was all worth it though! Colby and I also decided to try and take a few jumping pictures,and out of many we took, these are the only two decent ones!

Jumping pictures can be SO MUCH WORK! Not only do you have to keep photogenic facial expressions but you ALSO have to make sure your arms don't look AWKWARD AS ALL GET OUT!  I give Alex McGlinn props for being able to make them so awesome! You can visit her blog at http://www.jpwstw.blogspot.com/ to see more awesome jumping pictures! Anyways, Colby and I continued our walk down to the local docks where we got some pictures of nurse sharks, jet skiis, and lots of bikes, common things to see when in this part of town! Well, this blog post was mainly for showing off some pictures we took on a walk around Kwaj, so I'm going to stop writing and just put the rest of the pictures up (no captions, excuse me)! Enjoy, and remember; this blog has been spell checked by Colby McGlinn :) **

Bigej Boat Trip!

Bigej April 7th

Boat trips to Bigej are always fun. All you need is a B-boat, some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and LOTS of sunscreen! April 6th was my Dad's birthday, and April 8th was my birthday, so on the seventh we decided to go do a little birthday boat trip. Bigej is a remote island about 30 minutes away from kwaj (by boat). It's a popular destination for Kwaj residents. It's a common place to go for tanning, family boat trips, and school trips. It's funny, because when I was out here before (2007) the island was deserted and had NO people living on it, but sometime in the past four years Bigej has developed a tiny community of little shacks and Marshallese residents! So whenever we go out to the island we like to park at the far left end so we don't disturb anyone. The boat was occupied by my dad,  my sister (Jamie), Colby, and myself. Just the four of us in a boat is not the greatest idea (my dad likes to mess with me and

 swerve the boat until I feel like I'm going to pass out!). There is about a 25 minute ride of nice calm water (on a good day), where you can see the coral heads underneath the boat as you pass the other islands that dot the range on the way. Sometimes there is the occasional flying fish or pod of dolphins that jump out in front of your boat! Then there is the 5 minutes of ocean pass that you have to maneuver through right before you get to Bigej. Some days the pass is not too rough and the boat either surfs the waves and hops along them lightly, but other days the little B-boat FLYS through the swells. Right when you get to the island its immediately calm. I, of course, always freak out going through the pass whether it's rough or calm (I'm not a boat fanatic). When we got to Bigej we spent the day tanning, snorkeling, fishing, listening to music, and gazing at the beautiful bright blue and green scenery around us.

 Colby fished for a little bit (while I was snorkeling, which was a scary experience). He had a hard time tieing knots for his lures, which made up for great pictures! Didn't catch anything though. My dad snorkeled in hopes of catching some fish for the fish tank. We walked away empty handed on that one too! So we stayed on the island all day, soaking up the sun, (which burnt us all), and floating in the water. We were so lucky how extremely bright of a day it was too, because the water was crystal clear and you could see all of the coral heads dotting the shore! Colby and I enjoyed sitting on some rafts together before we had to leave. We returned to Kwaj at about five in the afternoon with burnt backs and wobbly legs, but it was definitely worth it! Boat trips on Kwajalein atoll are always pretty whether the trip consists of fishing, island hopping, or just cruising around to get an adrenaline rush. Being able to rent the B-Boats is definitely a great benefit of being a Kwaj resident, mostly because of how cheap it can be compared to renting a boat anywhere else, and also because it is always a fun excursion! Until next time! *spell checked by colby:)





 

Kwajalein Spring Fest 2012!

Spring Fest 2012!

Kwajalein has a number of annual gatherings from talent shows to coffee shops, even Fourth of July, but Spring Fest has to be the most attended event of the year! Each year, during spring break, Kwaj hosts a community festival welcoming spring (without seasons, people need a bit of a reminder!) There's always a variety of things to do from wandering through the two t-shirt vender tents that sell custom Kwaj t-shirts ( a must have if you want to start a conversation in the states), great cookie sales, dunk tanks, burgers and hot dogs, a chili cook off, delicious snow cones, and even a beer tent labeled with the classic pirate flag! Live music is performed on stage all day, which always draws in a large crowd of beach bums with their tents and beers ready and eager to sit in the sand until sun set! 

        
Family and friends were camped in front of the stage this year, mostly to drink cold beers and get a nice tan, but also to listen to Colby, Dawson (Colby's guitar student) and I perform on stage! This was Dawson's coming out day, as well as Colby and my first time doing a serious performance. Colby has experience on stage performing with other bands, and even performed with people last Spring Fest, and I performed with him during the talent show (a very funny rendition of Rock Lobster) which took a bit of the edge off, but this was our first time actually singing (seriously singing) in front of people, so it was nerve racking for everyone!

 After listening to a few great acts, the three of us  reluctantly wandered over to the stage to get ready to go on. Of course we were all trying to tell ourselves we weren't nervous ( which never EVER actually works), but all of us were pumped with adrenaline and excitement when we went on stage. THANK GOD, it was a bit earlier in the day and there wasn't a huge crowd (by six at night there is a HUGE crowd of happy drunk beach dwellers listening to the live bands), so we weren't that scared. Who am I kidding, I was FREAKED! But the performance started and even though I was shaky (singing when your nervous is very hard) Colby kept his cool and sang every note of each song perfectly while Dawson played his solos perfectly on cue! Oh, and we played Paparazzi by Lady GAGA, and Underneath it all by No Doubt.

(it sounded fantastic when we practiced, of course)

Overall the day was a blast. I fianlly got a snowcone, and Colby got a great tan, and Jamie and I got some awesome new shirts (Colby is wearing mine in the pictures)! We performed well and Dawson did a great job on his solos and we recieved many kudos throughout the rest of the day. After performing my dad was hot so we packed it up and went home, but Colby and I got to go back down at night and listen to the rest of the performances (which were awesome). The day was good, the community had a lot of fun, and we got some awesome pictures as well as some good stage experience. Now we're getting even more excited to go busking in the states! TTFN! *spell checked by Colby:)