OH! I wish I had time and energy to write daily! There are so many things I notice and I want to share, but by the time I write, I have forgotten them. Even trying to get a pen and paper from my purse is too troublesome since my bag is crammed full so I am reluctant to unzip it during my commute or it takes energy to get it closed again! (It is stuffed with materials for class…yes, a backpack would have been smart to bring. Buying things like that here are too expensive since they are imported and not worth it over this short stay.)
MALDIVIAN PEOPLE
I will start with the most recent. Today I had a Maldvian couple and baby come to my home to visit. They know the people I work with and were very close to Jean. They know I love the traditional Maldivian breakfast called “masuni”? (like tuna salad but contains coconut), so they brought me some and I shared the last of my Japanese sakura cake with them. They visited for more than 2 hours and I look forward to their next visit.
INDIA
I learned so much about southern India since the wife had studied there for 3 years. It is interesting that I find Maldives such a challenge to live in, and they find India to be terribly difficult! And, I have to say, the life here is much, much better than India! They would often lose electricity (here I have only been without once for 15 minutes). They would lose water for 2 days at a time often but once for 7 days! (I don’t have hot water here but it hasn’t been a big burden not to have it.) The shops there all closed at 8 p.m. and the streets become dark so you can’t go out for things then and the taxis will charge at least double to drive you at night (I can go to markets and restaurants til 11 p.m. and the street lights are never all out at once and the taxis around here seem to have only one price though I haven’t checked that thoroughly. Oh, the heat is a bit more bearable at night without the sunlight and I don’t get home from work til after 8 so the shops open are a good thing). In India, well-to-do men with cars and dressed nicely would get out and urinate on the street and no one paid any mind to it (here I only saw some men in the bushes along my way to the ferry and I wasn’t sure if they were using the restroom or getting up from a nap). And the worst was the smell in India from cow, goat, and elephant dung everywhere. (Here there only cats and the stench from the dumpsters on one end of town…and the visual trash eye-sore.) So, I have it better!
Oh my gosh, I think we should be pushing for more human rights in India too. The women in some areas are so mistreated!! The story they told me was about a real life situation 19 years ago that was made into a movie is awful. I don’t know how wide spread this is, so I can only talk about this one area. In this area, baby girls are typically killed at birth since they are a burden to the families (think of dowries when they are married off and such). This one area killed off almost all girls, so the men had to go to other towns to look for wives. One family had lost their mother and there was left the father and his 5 sons the youngest who was around 18 years old. The father went in search for a wife for them and he found this one 14 year old girl (around that age) and they made her marry all five sons! I could go on, but you can imagine the terrible things she had to endure. I don’t want to repeat it. But things like that are allowed!! Well, there may be laws against it, but they are not enforced.
And if a woman is told to marry someone and then if they are even at the alter with all guests present, if the dowry is not satisfactory, the wedding can be called off and the woman’s reputation is (somehow??) tainted so she is unlikely to be asked for marriage again!
MY ISLAND - HULHUMALE
They pointed out to me that the population on my island is about 50% Bangladesh workers doing the building and working in the cafes. They said I have to learn the difference between the two because they do not represent the Maldivian people or standards.
MUSLIM PRAYERS
And, I learned more about the prayer customs 5 times a day. They are reciting passages from the Koran silently as they do the standing and kneeling and head to the floor routine. The first of the day is a repetition of 4 times and the other times of the day are 3/4/4/2 I think…I have already forgotten! It only takes like 5 minutes to do it. And the call over the loud speakers is in Arabic. It is like a chant saying “come and pray” and some more I think. I think he said all Muslims here can read and write Arabic although they might not be able to communicate with it. And, there is a portion of the mosque for women, though I have never seen a woman go in. They say usually the women do it at home while the men do it at the mosque. And, if they are not able to do the prayers at any point in the day, they can make them up at home later. And you are excused from doing it if you are on a boat or some other things like that (though one of the crew members does it every night at sunset like I think I mentioned long ago so I have had the great opportunity to see the ritual performed close up). And on TV, they put like a 5 second notice up on the screen to let people know when it is prayer time. And on Fridays (their holy day), the stores are allowed to reopen after 2.5 hours for the special long “services?” / “prayers?” (I forgot to ask why it is so long then) since making money and work is also important.
FAMILY
When naming a child, it must be a name approved by the government! It has to meet Islamic acceptance! So, they couldn’t officially name a baby “Vickie”! It could have that nickname though. And the naming always occurs 7 days after birth. And traditionally, they slaughter an animal for that ceremony. But the couple that came here thought it was pointless to do it here, so they had a family member living in India slaughter a goat and then give the meat to the poor! Isn’t that a great thing?! So, they could meet the tradition, but help the hungry.
Breast feeding is the norm and encouraged for a baby’s health. If the mother cannot give milk, someone else in the family will. For example, the lady’s cousin just gave birth but can’t give milk yet, so she went in for several days to feed that lady’s child!! I think she said that that new mother’s mom had fed her when she was a baby too, so it was her turn to return the favor. And breast feeding can be done for years for a child since they won’t force the child to quit.
Having a baby outside of wedlock is such a sin here in Maldives that a woman will be lashed at the courthouse (for public humiliation) like 100 times (I think that was the number) on the back (after she has the baby), and then put in jail with other criminals for 3 months while the baby is put in a special home til she is released! In the old days, she would be under house arrest for 1 year. Wow…is human nature so terrible that we should torture people for following natural desires that doesn’t hurt another?
Did you know that more than one wife is allowed here?! A Bangladesh janitor I see weekly at the classroom asked about my family so I was showing him 3 pictures of them on my computer. When he saw my brother’s family, he said “1 wife?” and I said “yes” just thinking he was trying to make conversation with almost zero English abilities that he has. Then this week, a student said something about his wives and I thought it was a joke but my Japanese student told me about the multiple wife situations here! So, I went and talked to that student more. He was joking and only has one wife, but he said it is legal to have as many as you can financially support. I wonder if it happens often. I will have to ask my new friends here. I wonder because I heard that the apartments that have these 2 or 3 bedrooms are actually used by several families, not just one! I imagined 2 or 3 couples with their kids, but now I wonder if it is just one husband with several wives and their children??
WORK WEEK
I cannot get used to saying “Sunday” in my Sunday class! I keep saying “Monday” and they keep correcting me. I asked them if they knew why I did that. No one could guess! They understood after I explained that our work weeks in America and Japan are Monday through Friday not Sunday through Thursday.
WORK
I feel too busy. I give tests weekly at Reach’s request to prove student’s progress, and grading and advising the individual students is too time consuming… I prefer individual attention to their specific problems, so I wonder if I am cut out for this group lesson gig. So, I will cut out testing and stick to the massive amount of homework I assign and check…that will still overwhelm me! And, to top it off, they are asking me to submit lesson plans. I had stopped creating them since it was easier to just put post-it notes on each page of the books to remind me what to say or do since we have to cover like 10-25 pages in less than 2 hours each week. So…I will be doing that most of the weekend…but have to work on job things too. An application for LA is due this month and I haven’t even had time to start it. (okay, I could forego the blog right?! But these are things I don’t want to forget…)
I also need to get to work on Yosuke’s next TOEIC book. He is hoping I will work on some writing for him, but I haven’t even started that…and next weekend I worry I won’t have all the homework checked so my time will go to that…I am too dedicated to each student….but they need it! I want to give extra work since some of them are overachievers too, but it takes time to go find exercises for them to do. (one finished the whole book already and asked for more to do!) and I need to create bonus work for others who are failing terribly…such a range of abilities in one class.
Jean left Thursday morning back to South Africa. He loved it immensely here and hopes to return some day. He made lots of friends, learned some of the language, and just took this in completely. I think it was his second living abroad situation. Before he lived in England while in school.
At Banyan Tree Resort, a couple was doing their wedding vows! I put a picture of that above too. Some of the things related were that they carried in on a chair, they had their names in flowers and candles, they planted a coconut tree since their love will grow like the tree will, then they jetted off to a sand bar for a private dinner at sunset with her in her wedding dress! We were in class at the time, but our window looked right out at the coconut tree area. So, I couldn’t get pictures at the time it was happening.
LIFE
I was invited out tonight by the British girl again, but said no since I can’t see me having any time to do all I need to…and I worry that I am about to lose Internet access on Fridays and Saturdays since they are thinking to rent out the classroom to a photography studio on the weekends! So…I don’t know how I will do my searches and get grades done and do my personal things in just the few hours each weekday I can go to the office (and find the Internet working). I know I could have purchased Internet at home, but they said it could take a month to get it and now it is just not worth the hassle of securing it. So, I’m not too happy right now.
HEALTH
Daily there is something else wrong with me. Amazing! Yesterday my elbow felt strained from carrying my heavy bag in my hands (since my shoulders are hurting from always carrying it that way). Earlier in the week it was my knee that felt like it might pop out of place. There were bumps on my eyelid. There was more pain in my heels and shin. And the ant bites may be subsiding but they still are completely red and look awful and itch still some. And there was more but I forgot now.
FOOD
I am not going hungry anymore though it would be a little good for me! Tonight I had homemade pizza at Piper’s home. Very good. And…I am learning some things that I like though they are not necessarily healthy but they are easy. I did buy a papaya and as you can see in the picture, they are huge here. They are much bigger than the pineapples that I don’t want to buy anymore since they are so skinny. Oh, and I saw miniature pineapples too…not sure the point of those since there isn’t much there after you cut all the eyes and core out. Though I am sweating like crazy during the day and walking for about 1.5 hours at the minimum, I don’t think I am losing weight anymore.
WEATHER
It was a little cooler Wednesday night as I came home. I could see rain in the distance so I guess that cooled it off, but it still must have been 88 or more and who know the heat index. But, it was a little bit of a relief for my walk home. Luckily for me, I haven’t had to walk in the rain yet. I hear it can come up to your ankles when it is heavy since it can’t drain off the streets easily. And they say because of global warming, they don’t know when the rains will come yet since nowadays there are just patches here and there instead of all over at once. And last year, it didn’t rain in rainy season but did later and the tourists were not too happy since they pay different prices for different seasons.
OVERALL
I was looking around the other day and thought there was so much that would make an incredible “foreign film” since there are many sights and sounds that are unfamiliar to Americans. And I have met some passionate people here that could talk about different things like the coral reefs, feelings about other cultures, or the concern over the attitude towards education here and the loss of their language . Many people here seem to be great story tellers. I can’t understand sometimes since they may be speaking in Dhivehi, but they captivate the listeners and I wish I knew what they said. That is different from Japan where people didn’t seem to tell stories if they were sitting around – only small, polite talk.
Those are some differences – in Japan, people were seen reading books on trains and everywhere; they didn’t talk much to other people; and with English, they are educated I think but not comfortable producing verbal language. Here, I never see a native with a book (once I saw a foreign woman with a book and maybe 3 times saw students reading worksheets – not much since I see many people on ferries daily); people talk easily and some of my students are SO creative in making up stories; and they don’t seem to be as educated about English grammar, but you can’t get them to be quit talking long enough so you can point out their mistakes. Knowledge and Usage issues….
And, I am learning a lot about myself. Challenges are super hard, but you can learn a lot quickly about who you are when you throw yourself into other environments with new personalities and activities. I have lots of self-improvement to do I can see! I think I am about through learning from this experience…though, even returning to America will be another challenge since I have been gone so long! Just talking to the Americans here I can see that I am really out of it culturally, technically, and in interpersonal interactions. Or, maybe a lot of that is the age difference…I felt disconnected from the 20 something year old ALTs in Japan too. And many of the foreigners here are young too…I think most are 30 or younger.
