One of my favorite pastimes is reading. As I often have a pull inside me to write, today, I had a pull in me telling me to take a book down to the beach shack and read. It’s one of the most relaxing things I could do for myself, sitting in a shady spot with the sound of the waves lapping at my feet and immerse myself in someone else’s world, someone else’s life adventures. I tend to read the genres I like to write, which are personal narratives, biographies, and even a little historical fiction here and there. I’ll try others genres recommended by friends or chosen by my book club, but if I am free to choose whatever I want, I always gravitate toward the memoirs. I can’t imagine a life without reading, and I am lucky that my love of reading has cultivated a love of books for my two boys. My oldest son will actually beg for books more often than a new toy, and once he has found something on his level that draws him in, he will finish an entire book in one sitting, and he’s only been reading for a couple of years. Right now, we are reading a series of books entitled “How to Train Your Dragon.” I read a chapter or two out loud to them at night as they snuggle into their beds, and the first few nights, he whined for me not to stop. I told him it was developing his patience and making the book even more exciting as it leaves him with a sense of suspense each night about what is going to happen next, but he told me that he doesn’t like suspense. He could read it himself, and he would probably be done in only a few hours, but it’s family quality time for us, and selfish for me as I love reading to kids, my own or anyone else’s who care to listen. I tend to give my children books for presents and incentives for appropriate behavior, and fortunately, they are happy to have a new book just as much as any other prize. If they are bored, reading is the first thing I recommend for them to do, and most of the time, they are satisfied with that, even though the rambunctious of being boys sometimes gets the better of them, and they start picking at each other and wrestling in the middle of looking at books. My older son often reads to his younger brother, and that’s one of those sights as a mother and an avid reader that touches my heart. I hope they will always enjoy reading as a pastime and not just as something they have to do for school or work.
Reading is especially important to our community here on Kwajalein as well. It helps keep many of us sane throughout the year. It can be tough to live on a 3 mile long, ½ mile wide flat piece of coral only a few feet below sea level seeing the same people and going to the same events and places every day and night without a way to escape. Reading helps us escape until those much anticipated vacations where we get to attend cultural events, go to our favorite restaurants, visit family, and spend money and time realizing how good we actually have it in the islands, and then we can come back and handle it another year.
The thing is, the lifestyle and community has not changed much since the base was set up here back in the 50’s and 60’s. There are a few less people, a few more TV channels, and more access to the outside world through the advent of the internet (although we are still on a dial up system, which is very slow and makes us feel as if we are still in the dark ages compared to the wireless high speed connections in the states), but it’s basically the same. We still don’t use cell phones. We still ride bicycles everywhere. We still have the same chow halls and see movies in the outdoor Richardson Theater, whose stage was once graced by the famous Bob Hope! The only “restaurant” for residents is still the snack bar, although it has been renovated once or twice over the years and is now a conglomerate of fast food joints instead of a local buffet and/or grill as it has been in the past. In fact, we have many “re-treads” here on the island, people who come back for a second or third “tour,” and there are many who just come back to visit now and again and relive their days on the atoll. When I have the chance, I always ask, “So, how’s it feel to be back?” And I always get the same reply, “It feels like I never left or like I was just on an extended vacation.” This proves my point that it really doesn’t change that much. While the rest of the world is constantly changing, we are in a time warp of sorts, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s part of what attracts and keeps residents here, sometimes for 30-40 years, if not all at one time, then over the course of several tours that add up to that amount.
One long term resident told me that the only real difference he has noticed over the years is the lack of after work social time around the island. He said that now you ride around after work and see the lights from TV screens shining in the homes around the island instead of seeing all those people at the local sports games and events happening around the island. That’s the disadvantage of the increased technology all over, I believe, with people inside playing video games, socializing on Facebook, and watching TV instead of making those real connections with each other outside work and school and enjoying the outdoors like previous generations have had so much more motivation to participate in than us. Despite that change, there are still adult and child sports leagues and many, many events to get us off our butts and out of the house here. It’s a very social island, and when people PCS (make a permanent change of station or move off island in other words), they always talk about how they will miss their friends and the social connections they made here. Even after moving back to the states or wherever they go, that’s what they remember and miss about the atoll, friends. It’s easy to make them here because if you don’t make friends fast, you may become quite lonely, and you have more time to spend with them, and it’s easier to get together because we all live so close. Overall, it’s a very sheltered, small community, and because of that, we are all very close and involved in each other’s lives on a daily basis. For me, this is another reason why pastimes such as reading can be a good escape when you need a break from the “rock fever” we all get from the quaintness or our small town environment.
Unfortunately, reading is another thing we as Americans sometimes take for granted. The ability to read, the access we have to books and the passion for reading, which is encouraged for many of us growing up with books at home, with parents and teachers who read to us, and with reading being so important to move ahead in our educations and careers, it’s a given for us. Reading is simply part of our lives, period. I’ve learned from the juxtaposition of cultures here that books and reading are not so readily incorporated into life on an atoll so far away from these important resources of education. Because of this, the 4-H Ebeye Citizenship Club I lead decided to hold a community reading night for our Marshallese members at their public school library a few months ago, and the results were truly inspiring. I gathered some books left over from donations to the school’s book fair that had not sold and decided to bring them over on the boat to allow each child who attended to take one or two home to read and enjoy as most kids do not have any books of their own at home. This is heartbreaking to me because I still treasure the set of “Little House on the Prairie” books my mom gave me so many years ago. I can’t imagine life without books, and I wanted to share that passion and love for reading with these kids who don’t have the opportunity to grow up around books.
Before our group went over for the book night, I was told by a friend that the Marshallese do not keep books at home because the glue in the binding attracts rats to their home, and my heart literally sank, but I came up with a plan. I would still take the books along with plastic zip lock bags to take them home in and keep them dry and hopefully safe from the rats, at least for a bit. The rats out here could chew through that plastic in a minute, but I was not to be dissuaded from my plan. Thankfully, I was rewarded with a passel of kids who thoroughly enjoyed being read to, completing a craft and word searches related to one of the books read, and just sitting and looking at books. They all left with at least one book, and the teachers who attended and are part of the club were equally excited to take the rest of the books back to their classrooms to use. It’s not that they don’t get donations of materials from those with big hearts on the nearby American bases, but so often those donations are just sent over in boxes and piled up in unused classroom, and no one ever sees them, much less uses them. This way, they are not overwhelmed with boxes and boxes of materials someone else is throwing out because we only took a small amount to share, and also because we enjoyed them together, provided an example of how our culture helps instill a passion for reading in our kids, and gave them a chance to pick out and take what they knew they could really use, and that gave me so much more joy than just sending a box of books over ever could.
I cannot imagine growing up without library story times, books stores to sift through all the latest titles, and nights reading under the covers with a flashlight before bed, but these kids do not have these opportunities, and it’s a shame, but I thank the 4-H Club members from Ebeye for allowing us to share our books, time, and love of reading with them, and we look forward to more such events this coming school year because to me a childhood without books is like summertime without the ice cream truck. You will survive without that special treat, but life is so much sweeter with it.
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