Day 10

It is hard to come here to the school (see pic above) and have time to check e-mails, do lesson plans, and update the blog since I get tired of being here for hours. I am hoping they can find a power strip in Male today so I can at least have power on my pc at home so I can type up files to bring to school later where there is Internet. I am often in the mood to write about my day in the evening, but I can't plug in my pc in the outlets they have here.

So, here is something several days later... not fresh on my mind sadly.

LANGUAGE

I am encountering the language differences between Japan and here of course. The other day, I couldn't figure out what a shopkeeper was asking me. She kept saying, "What island are you from?" In Japan, everyone seems to know the word "country" or at least they start giving me possible answers like "England?". So, I was running options through my head of "What island am I staying on?", "What island I am working on?", "What island am I going to today?", or maybe "What country are you from?" and yes, that was what they were aiming for. I guess "island" is a common word they know.

In class, it seems that "s" at the beginning of a word will come out as "sh", so "suit" will be "shoot". They also misplace "is" a lot as in "What favorite is your place?" instead of "What is your favorite place?" I tried to get everyone to catch the problem as I had the student repeat his sentence several times, but only the Japanese girl could see the problem since that is not a common error in Japan.

STUDENTS

It is interesting to me that the male resort workers are typically from Maldives, but the female workers are from abroad. But, I have only met about 19 workers so far, so my experience is limited. 4 females and 15 males. Only 1 male from abroad.

A Thai gift shop worker that isn't in my class rode on a short boat ride with me and we talked a lot then and later as I waited again for a boat. She married another resort worker who is Maldivian 3 years ago and they have a 7 month-old baby. But, she says it is against the rules for married couples to live in the same housing. Yearly she puts that in the suggestion box that the married couples can share a dorm room... You would think happy workers would make for a happier work place... And their child lives in Thailand with her mother now. Kind of sad I felt.

I spoke for almost an hour with another student who was riding a boat with me. He is 23 and really energetic. He explained some about their education system here. As for him, he finished school in 10th grade and then went the vocational track for hospitality training. He has been working for his company for 5 years already. They have 5 different grades and he is in the 2nd grade now so he is allowed a flight to Sri Lanka twice a year so that he can experience another culture (though they don't pay for his hotel stay!) But, he is choosing to save up several of those trips so he can take a further away flight like to Singapore. Incentives you know. Other incentives are the training options like taking English classes.

Since the workers live there on the islands 11 months of the year, they have sports teams as well. I see them practicing Maldives #1 sport of soccer out on the beach. I hear that there are 2 or 3 of Maldives national champions working at one of my hotels, so they are hopeful that in the inter-island resort competition their hotel will win! They also have a volleyball team at this particular resort.

RESORTS

I heard about a sister resort to one of mine which is very exclusive. On the island there are only 6 guest rooms and these go for $2,000 per night with a 5 night minimum. I think there were like 22 staff members to serve them - 1 resort host per room who would clean and interact with their assigned guest, 3 chefs, some sailors and so forth.

I am hoping I can visit my resorts casually this coming week since I have a day off and Piper and David will be there for work. On one island I will just have a look around and on the other island I will snorkel since it should be so much better in those areas.

ROOMMATES

My two roommates are just wonderful! They are only here til the 18th I believe, but they have been so kind to me and I have enjoyed stories about South Africa immensely. I might have said that before... Last night, Jean's mother encouraged me to join them at Jean's best friend's (here) home. He lives above Piper and David and is Maldivian. They have an incredible view from their top floor patio and we sat out there for several hours and watched the stars above us and the lightening in the clouds in the distance - a variety of a light show! The hosts are Rimas and Shazu and they were nice but they speak so softly and there are the ocean waves in the background, so I couldn't hear much of what they said sadly. Rimas' sister was there with her 9-year-old daughter who just loves Jean's family since they played lots with her - pulling her in the ocean on a tube, helping her ride a bike, and so forth. She didn't want to return to Male so we 3 ladies (thanks to Jean's mother's insistence!) rode the ferry back with them at 9 p.m. last night and then we went to a restaurant that the little girl recommended!! Luckily she knows nice restaurants! We had fish and chips on a 2nd floor terrace and then came back to Hulhumale. It was kind of impulsive and nice to get to know everyone better.

Jean's sister is really outgoing and comfortable to be with. She has lived in England for like 10 years and visits New Jersey to see family there sometimes. I hope to introduce her to some of my NYC friends since she is into doing anything and everything and has a great time doing it all.

His mother is really trying to get me out of my shell some, so she invited me to go to the "Picnic Island" on Saturday (tomorrow) with everyone. Piper hired a boat and everyone will split the costs and take some food to share once there. It is a public beach I guess with lots of trees and a chance to go snorkeling. So, I will meet Rimas' family again, the Sweedish family, perhaps Bobby and his family (he had been my first contact with Maldives and I finally met him briefly yesterday), and some others. I think there will be 20 people going so the cost is only like $7 per person I believe. I am only worried about using sunscreen again since I am not sure what caused my rash on my face earlier this week...but I have to wear it since I will be out so much then. We will see.

ADJUSTING?

No, not yet really. It helps to have the roommates to take walks with or such. I just feel so different from the people here and I am not comfortable with the money yet, so I feel out of place. I may always feel that way though since I always felt different in Japan too. I just wish I was okay with food here... Shazu told me that in Male I can find avocados, broccoli and such. It is just unlikely to find it on my island since if someone does bring it over, it is snatched up quickly she said.

I wanted to go explore in Male today, but I haven't done my job searches recently, so I guess I should do that instead.

Saturday is the picnic, Sunday I hope to go my islands to have a self-guided tour and snorkel around for the 3 hours Piper and David teach since it will be my last week of working only 2 days (will work 4 days from the 18th and maybe 6 days later), and then it is work and lesson plans as usual.

Wish me luck with the heat, sun, and exploring!