It’s time for me to express my gratitude to Mark Bergsrud of Continental Airlines. Growing up, my cousin Mark creamed me in ping pong more times than there are grains of sand on Waikiki. He also knew great music when he heard it. I have him to thank for my Neil Young fascination. For these... more »
Jendrik Leviticus, Maritha’s grandfather, was twelve years old in 1946. He lived on Bikini Atoll in the northern Marshall Islands. In his lifetime, the Japanese had controlled the islands, but just recently the Americans had “liberated” the Marshallese. The Americans had a new toy that they’d used on the Japanese a couple of times, but they... more »
Like all of the non-Western world, the Marshall Islands were invaded by Christian missionaries sometime in the last hundred years. As Kylie observed, they were darned successful. Kylie said, “There are churches everywhere, and they’re the nicest buildings on the island.” The most successful group appear to be the Mormons. Eddie counted... more »
Two Marshallese artifacts that I’d like to highlight are taxis and cemetaries. First, the taxis. Taxis are public transportation. For 75 cents, you go can anywhere on the east end of Majuro between Rita and the airport, a stretch of about ten miles. I don’t know if it’s a requirement, but every taxi I saw was... more »
Shortly after we arrived on Majuro, Eddie told me that they wanted to have a big party at Jendrik’s house Saturday night with all of the relatives. As Saturday approached, details of the party got more specific, like they’d pick us up about 5:00 at the hotel, and the party would start about 6:00. A... more »
The first morning we were on Majuro, Eddie and Jendrik (Maritha’s father and grandfather) arrived in a pair of Hyundai Elantras (the official island car- they’re everywhere) to show us around Majuro. The girls rode with jima (grandpa) and Edison (Maritha’s brother), and Sherry and I rode with Eddie, Merdik, and Doji (Maritha’s mother... more »
So what, and where in the heck, are the Marshall Islands? Fair question. What I tell people is this: Go to Hawaii. Go another 2500 miles. If you get to the Philippines, you’ve gone too far. I’ve hunted for maps online, and they’re nearly impossible to find. Google Earth has images of about half... more »
We arrived on Majuro Aug. 2. After landing, we waited about an hour to get processed though customs. During this time, Maritha could see her little brothers through some narrow slats that separated us from the main lobby. It was a long hour. Finally, we came out the customs door... more »
And life is good. God is good. We left Hawaii about 7:30 a.m. Aug. 1, flew for 5 hours, and landed in Majuro at about 10:30 a.m. Aug. 2. Who knew? Actually, I knew, but it’s still pretty freaky to cross the international date line. Maritha’s family met us in force.... more »
