Airok Vacation - Day Five
Day 5 – A Funeral and a Party
The night before Belenty told me the guys would go fishing at 4 or 5 am to get more fish for the party. This was far too early for me so I did not plan to go. At 7 Asheran came by my house to tell me they were ready to go. I’d left my sun block and swimsuit at Belenty’s house about a quarter mile away so I declined, as I did not want to hold them up. Instead I slept in and took it easy. … While walking to Belenty’s house I spotted the most beautiful woman I’d yet to see here in all of my 2 years here in the Marshall Islands. I was immediately smitten and decided I would propose marriage if given a chance. She didn’t seem to notice me. Around noon I decided to go for a walk on the road that leads through the jungle along the lagoon. It passed what Belenty calls a river. I would call it more of a mangrove swamp. It is picturesque nonetheless. I observed that it was affected by the tides. I once heard on a Discovery show that 80% of all life on this planet begins in mangroves. I therefore hold a certain reverence for mangroves. I strolled for an hour down the dirt road, pausing now and then to observe the beauty. Occasionally someone would pass me going the other way and would greet me with a yokwe, hello, good morning, or good evening. A very nice clean-cut teenage boy overtook me on his bike and stopped to introduce himself. His name was Junior. He asked me where I was going and I replied, “I don’t know, just walking.” He described where his house was then rode off. While walking I pondered how I could possibly succeed in my goal of marrying the woman I saw earlier and how I could do it without alienating Belenty’s family. My first thought was to in a straightforward and honest manner explain to Belenty that this other woman was younger, thinner, and prettier than her. But my past experience has shown that the approach I was considering is not always well received. Plus I had no idea how I could meet her and if she could speak English or even if some other lucky guy had beaten me to it.
I passed a school in another small village and a few houses down from it was Junior’s. 3 of his sisters were out walking. They greeted me with huge smiles. The oldest named Brenda was quite pretty and will most likely break a few boys hearts in time. They went through the standard lines of asking me my name and where I was from.
I hiked a little ways further then turned around. Some boys were playing basketball in the street, a favorite sport here. Junior sat on the side of the road with a ukulele. I sat down next to him and rested in the shade. He told me he was too lazy to play basketball but I could if I wanted. I was a foot taller than anyone else playing so I figured I could dominate but I declined the offer owing to my sore hip.
Shortly afterwards, a half dozen little girls caught up to me and joined me for the rest of my hike. They ranged in age from about 5 to 11, the oldest named Kelly, a name I could actually remember. They would break into a big smile whenever I looked at them. The youngest ones took turns running up beside me then laughing shyly. It was a long walk back to Airok village but they stayed with me the whole way. Towards the end the littlest fell a ways behind. I walked back to her and tried to make motions that I would carry her on my shoulders. When I tried to pick her up she started crying and I felt horrible. I fear I scared her. Fortunately an older girl came along on a bike and comforted her then rode her the rest of the way. The other girls and I made it the rest of the way. When we got to Belenty’s I told the girls to wait and I would go to the store to buy them candy. I bought extra and a group of 3 pretty ladies called over to me asking me for candy too. Naturally I couldn’t resist so I passed some out to them. One introduced herself as Belenty’s aunt though I doubt she was any older. I was beginning to notice that women there would only talk to me when Belenty was not around. If she were there they would only greet me. But at various times when she wasn’t around then they would engage me in conversation. While I’d like to think it was because they had the hots for me in reality I suspect it was because they did not want Belenty to think they were interested. They would typically ask me where Belenty was and I would say, “she’s sleeping or she is at her cousin’s house” and then they would go on talking to me. I kept having to explain to people she wasn’t my wife and sometimes I would have to explain she wasn’t my husband (they got the terms mixed up often).
I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the hammock. Presently 6 young men passed carrying the casket with the deceased. They were followed by most of the rest of the village. Everyone was on foot. It seemed strange to me that neither Belenty nor any of the rest of her immediate family joined-in as he was their cousin. While writing this, an older lady has sat down next to me and seems quite curious about me writing a story. The family is all fairly interested and I sense taking a little pride that I will be sending tales of their life back to friends and family in the states. She is teaching me Marshallese words such as Buubuu, which means Grandmother.
Later it was time for the party. I started seeing people passing with plates loaded with food. I also saw my intended headed that way. She had on a dress with a slit that showed enough leg to confirm my resolution to marry her at all costs.
I decided it was time to go to the party, partly in hopes of meeting my bride-to-be but mostly because I noticed some people had hot dogs on their plates. People were gathered in small groups about the ground. I took my place in the food line eagerly anticipating my hot dog. They had 3 ladies at the table ladling on the food. There was rice, pork, chicken, bread, fish, and my beloved hot dogs. I normally would have gone for the chicken instead but feared it had been cooked hours before or maybe the night before and left sitting outside. They put enough food on each plate to feed a family of four. I had a hard time explaining I only needed a little rice. I am sure they did not understand why I only wanted a hot dog and not the other meat. After the food I had been eating my 2 hot dogs seemed like a feast to me. I hardly felt disappointment in not spotting my beloved in my joy to be eating something that resembled American food.
That night the street was unusually deserted. Belenty told me it was because people were afraid the newly deceased ghost would be out walking. She insisted I turn on my flashlight when walking. I thought of suggesting we cut some slits in a sheet, put it over my head and I could pretend I was a ghost and freak people out. But I had not seen any sheets there and everyone had been so nice to me that I decided I did not want to show any disrespect to their beliefs.
The night before I had retired to my little house early to listen to some roots on my Walkman in hope that I might find some relief from the culture shock I was beginning to feel. Belenty wanted to come talk to me but was afraid to walk down the street for fear she would see the ghost. She tried to convince her sister to go get me but her sister would not go out either. I started to tell her about some of the ghost hunting Nicci and I had done but she asked me to wait until the morning.
Figure 8 My Vacation home on Airok
2 Responses to “Airok Vacation - Day Five”
 Comment by Daniel August 12th, 2007 at 1:31 am |
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100% regarding Airok Vacation - Day Five, but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong |
 Comment by Richard Jones August 24th, 2007 at 12:25 am |
Daniel, |
