Island Christmas

Giving

Stockings were stuffed

All the mice were stirring

The treats were eaten with delight

Christmas

Simple Things

A front yard and home
backyard lagoon for swimming
with geckos and shells

The Earth, The Sea, And the Sky

The Sky

Surrounds the Earth

With Fire in the Clouds

Rushing in refreshing the land

The Sea

The road beyond the airport. The control tower at the airport. One of Air Kiribati's Planes.

Thanksgiving

Thankful

For life and breath

And enough food to eat

For hands to hold and hearts to love

Blessings

The Senior Missionaries pooled their resources and prepared a Thanksgiving dinner. There was turkey (legs), mashed potatoes, stuffing, jello, pumpkin pie and watermelon.

We went to a part of Betio that I call the Avenues. It is a very crowded place with narrow paths between shacks. There were children playing with whatever they could find, older people sleeping in hammocks, pigs, and turtles upside down on their shells. 

The people were happy in their circumstance.

A Little of This and a Little of That

Rusting

Guns do not fire

The ships no longer float

Island littered with this and that

Relics

Roasted Chicken spending time in the display window. 

Road crew spending time by the side of the road. 

An old boat spending time rusting.

Graduation

Endings
Are not finale
But beginnings again
As adventure draws to a close
Onward

Preparations where made, students practiced singing and marching, talks where given, a feast was prepared and eaten then dancing went on late into the evening.  

A Little Rain. A Little food. A Little Wood

Stormy
Sometimes it rains
Pouring down from above
Reflections of good things to come
Divine

The Service Center employee people to take care of the grounds, purchase airline tickets, and keep the wards and school going.  They hosts important Church dignitaries.

The senior missionaries get together and whenever they do they EAT. 

And they get together quite often.  At Zone Conference the Senior Missionaries prepare the meals for the younger missionaries and listen in on the meetings.  The AP's do a great job conducting, and presenting the lesson.  

Elder Bogh showed Banririe (Vice Principal) how to do segmented wood turning. 

Shown below are some of his first projects. Now Banririe has to teach some of the students.

Halloween and Christmas Pagent

Christmas

On Halloween

Shepherds came with Angels

very strange mix of Holidays

Culture

Once in a while the tide is extra high. Below are kids playing. They are daring the ocean to try and get them wet. This takes place outside our back door.

 School is winding down. Below is Teacher Appreciation day put on by the students. There was singing and dancing. Of course there was food. There is always food.

The students are going to leave and go home for the 'summer" or "winter" or whatever... so two days before Halloween, the music department dressed up in costumes and presented their Christmas Program. Mary and Joseph were in attendance as well as the wise men, shepherds and angels singing. The manger is the big shell with a red rose in it. Baby Jesus was a stuffed doll or bear wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Water, Water everywhere but not a drop to drink. So we drink in the beauty.