Week 36 in Tarawa

 

We thought this past week would be a slow week since it was the break between the 1st and 2nd trimesters.  However, with Tuesday and Wednesday being the Husband and Wife Retreat, and Friday and Saturday being the Young Men/Young Women campout, we found ourselves quite busy.  This picture was taken near the post office in Bairiki.  It shows what happens if you don't clean out your rain gutters regularly!

Tuesday, for the Husband/Wife Retreat, we did the first presentation titled "Equally Yoked".  It fit very nicely with our theme: "Thee Lift Me and I'll Lift Thee and We'll Ascend Together".  The Cultural Hall was beautifully decorated, but most of the administrators and staff were up all night getting it ready.  We wished they had asked us to help.

This is a close up of how each table was decorated.  The green cloth and plant represented new life, and the white, purity.  The ladders were made by Tereke, our woodshop teacher.  They represent the four ordinances needed to reach the highest level of the Celestial Kingdom.

This picture shows the Cultural Hall just before we started.  Notice how we are always put right in front.

The second day of the Husband/Wife Retreat was spent at the Beach Picnic Park on the east side of Betio. Here you can see actual proof that Sister Sumner really did join in the volleyball game.  Not to brag, but her team won!

The sisters are playing musical chairs.  Sister Sumner didn't dare join this fierce competition.

The men also played musical chairs but were not nearly as aggressive as the women.  Elder Sumner did not join in.

He did, however, compete in the sack race, and despite his advanced age, held his own.

Sister Sumner competed in the balloon popping competition. She had a hard time reaching the chair since it was stacked three high and she can barely reach a single high chair.

Elder Sumner was able to get some pretty good hits despite having to use a cricket bat instead of a good old baseball or softball bat.

We were served a lot of traditional food, but didn't taste the lime coconut raw fish.  After the dancing and singing, the senior missionaries left to do some shopping before it got too late.  We found out the next day that we missed a killer water fight where everyone got soaked.

No Kiribati activity is complete without music, singing, and dancing.  We listened to interesting stories of life on Tarawa during World War II when the Japanese occupied the island.  Many of the people who could get away fled to the outer islands. They watched from the beaches of North Tarawa as the Americans invaded Betio from the Lagoon and ocean sides.  The beach we were on was right next to the Japanese guns and fortifications which are still standing.  The people appreciated the kindness of the Americans after having experience over two years of Japanese cruelty. 

Friday we drove to the east end of Tarawa, to the Maneaba on Buota, close to the Buota chapel and the Buota bridge. Friday afternoon the kids played silly but fun games in the shade of the Maneaba.

Later, they played games on the sandy beach.  This game has two teams trying to capture a stick without being caught before getting back to their team.

The kids really go at it.  You can see the second boy in line, Tebati (pronounced teh-BASE), with his face covered in sand.  Tebati is the Young Men's President, and a talented musician.  He just received his mission call to Cebu, Philippines, and enters the Provo MTC on June 15th.

Friday evening we gathered around what they called a bonfire.  You would have thought it too small to be a bonfire, but it worked fine for them.  We stood around the bonfire, sang hymns and listened to testimonies for about a half hour.

After some singing and dancing in the Maneaba, we called it a night.  Sister Sumner and I slept in the cab of the pickup truck.  The boys slept in the Maneaba on the left side of the truck, and the girls slept in the elementary school classroom in front of the truck.

This was a good but exhausting week.  We look forward to getting back to our usual routine next week. We start EDU 330, Classroom Management on Tuesday, May 26th.