sunrise

Due to popular demand here are some slightly better shots of my new home for the next year. This is the back porch onto the beach, the sunrise this morning, and me.

Things are well here, has been quite rainy. Had our first miny crisis at work today when one of the drinking water pumps failed. It was installed 10 yrs ago and never had any maintenance done, not even a change of oil. Woops. Off to it...

fisherman's day

The week I arrived here in Majuro there happened to be a holiday, fisherman's day. Its supposedly the only place in the world to honor fishermen with their own holiday. The big event of the weekend was the annual Billfish tournament and I managed to get myself onto a boat on sat and sunday. It was awesome to be on a boat with true locals who really knew what they were doing. We brought in marlin, yellowfin tuna, barracuda, and others. Check out this fish we caught on day two. It was the smallest one.

Sunday bike ride

Went for a sunday morning ride down to the end of the island, only about 30 miles rt with two new friends, possibly the only other bike enthusiasts on the island. Saw an unussal sight. Anyone ever seen a boat built out of a wheel barrow and 4in rigged insulation. Paddle made of palm tree branch.

first week

The end of my first full week has been great and I on the high end of optimism. I am sure I will soon learn really what is going on here and get jaded and pessimistic, but for now it is all smiles. Besides the first week flying by there has been tons great initiatives happening here that I will get to be a part of. I have been fortunate to walk in here with multiple wheels already turning with the development of the sector and improvement of the water supply and sanitation systems. There is a policy process that has already begun and at least two donor funded projects that are expecting my input to finalize. My counterparts at the Water and Sewer Company also have some good energy. Like me they are also somewhat new and young and believe we can really do something here. It is the weekend, so see ya!

Here is a picture of one my counterparts Wani in our office.

The view from my new place on to beach and ocean. Well really it is the lagoon on the interior of the atoll. See google earth to see what I mean. Sorry for the picture quality as it was taken from my phone. Will send better copy once I get my bags unpacked.

Life is tough.
lv jesse

My new home

Not bad eh?

I'm back, sort of...

Hey all, so I am back, online that is, and decided to get this blog going again. Of course this means that I am in fact gone back overseas. So...

Here I am in the Marshall Islands. enjoy and keep in touch.

Rio

Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro. Not a great shot but proof I was there. The guy in the front is selling grilled cheese. A rio must.










From the left Joao, Catherine, Beck, and Me at a hilltop castle in Lisbon. If you can believe it this was on the way from Brazil to Mozambique. Due to a missed connection, the fault of the airline, we were rerouted through Portugal and had about 10hrs to tool around. Oh yeah it was O degrees and we were packed for the beach. If you look closely we are all wearing 4 or 5 shirts.

xmas trip

Which one is the real Superman?











Hyena with a leg in its mouth in Kruger national reserve, South Africa.









Me with a alligator on the amazon.

Rio

got back to rio this morning after three days at the parallel universe music festival. The festival was amazing! It was on the beach, imagine paradise beach, with three stages and maybe 30,000 people. There were no hotels and everyone was in tents on the beach. Tired of the music just go to the beach or get a acai, a wonderful smoothy like drink made of fresh fruit, then back to the music. New years eve was quite exciting including lazer show and fireworks and I even danced until dawn.

There is a weird trend here at the beach to wear a utility type belt with all your valuables instead of say a backpack. I guess it is less likely to get stolen. I got to say it looks quite funny with a brazilian bikini although it does mean there are hundreds of tomb raider look-a-likes on the beach. Not bad.

I have the next five days here in rio checking out the sites, enjoying more beach, and meeting up with friends. It has been tough to find a hotel because everything is sold out with the new year so we just got a nice apartment for the week near the beach in the famous ipanema. hope you all had a nice new years. i will upload pics soon i promise. Check ya later

jesse