A Marshallese in Las Vegas

     A friend of mine from Thailand and I from Marshall Island was in Las Vegas City last year and we had a great time. It was our first time to see this famous city which we hear from friends that it a gambling place and a sin city! My friend who lives in Salt Lake City wants to come over to visit Vegas before both of us returns back to our own country. When we came from the airport in the evening by car we saw many tall fancy beautiful building and we saw lots of fancy signs along the roads and it crowded with people. My friend stayed at a motel call Riviera and it's a nice motel. Coming down from the room to the casino area we saw it was crowded with people gambling. On our way out we saw these statues of ladies naked butts in front-door wall of motel then I told my friend this is why they said it a sin city!  It was surprising at first when we saw it, and was hilarious because we begin to take photos of us with these statues of ladies. We were able to go up to the stratosphere tower but we were too scared to get in the ride because we were like thousand feet up from the ground. The fountain of Bellagio show was beautiful alone with music played on the background. One thing that we were really not comfortable with is on the street it was crowded with people and employees for companies that pass out these dirty cards to people. We had no idea what those card were, but one guy handed us a card and first we thought it something they want us to buy from them. Totally wrong! I cannot believe my eyes when I saw the card with naked women on it. Well I confirmed to myself that oh boy it is a Sin City! We had fun going in and out of each big fancy building of Las Vegas, and we walked everywhere from Riviera Motel to Mandalay Bar Hotel. My feet were so tired and in pain because I was wearing flat sandal instead of walking shoes. We shopped a little and played games at New York Hotel and walked back to the motel. It was an adventure.

Moving to a new place far away from home and family

It was summer time in 2009 when my parents decided to send me to Hawaii with my oldest brother to stay with him and attend high school there. It was my first trip to traveling without my parents. I almost got lost at the Honolulu airport, but then a security guard came by and he showed me a sign that says Immigration. I walk out the terminal and saw my brother outside waiting for me. He took me to where he was living and showed me my room. I went in to sleep after the four hour trip. I woke up and found out that I wanted to go back to my parent. I told him that I wanted to come back to the Marshall Islands. I did not want to stay there any longer. I missed my home and family. I did not know anybody around, there was nobody around to talk to and nobody to play with when my brother was off to work and that really made me want to cry. One Saturday night, my brother took me to a park called Makiki Park. I saw many Marshallese my age but I did not know any of them. I look at them laughing and playing, this also makes me really want to  come back home with my family and friends. Then, my brother came and introduced me to his friends.

Life on Arno

People who live on Arno atoll work hard for a living. They wake up before the sunrise to prepare food for their family. Local food is what they eat every day. They encounter hard times getting imported food for themselves, so they rely on local food. They get up every morning and cook breadfruit while they are waiting for low tide. Low tide is the best time for them to go catch fish for their family. After they finish all this for their family, they often call their relatives to help them with farming. Farming is quite important in this country. Farming is another way for their survival. They know that without farming and fishing they cannot survive. Many people who live on Arno faced many difficulties and hardships in their life even though they still try their best to grow plants for themselves. People who live on Arno today always come to Majuro to shop for food and other items they need. They come to Majuro to shop because they think it is less expensive to shop on Majuro. There are a couple of small businesses on Arno today, but their prices are too high and people on Arno cannot afford to buy from them. They work really hard collecting copra so they can buy what they need for themselves. Copra is one of their main resources on the atolls. Even though copra is one of their main resources, they still have to work hard every day.

By Lucky Kelen

Being a college student while having a job

It’s challenging to taking classes and having a job at the same time. Why I’m saying this is because instead of focusing on my work stuff I have to focus on my studies too so that I can achieve good grades. This is very challenging because for sure, I need to focus on my work stuff because it’s the main priority for me so that I don’t get fired, but when I’m thinking about it, it’s also important for me to finish my college so that I can get a better grades. However, most of the college moms have jobs and take classes at the same time because they want to achieve their degree.  Being in college while having a job is very tiring because you have to focus on both things instead of one, and mostly I have to focus on my job because if not then my kids will not get food, clothes and everything that is needed for them. Sometimes I almost think of quitting from taking classes but when I look back and think about it I just find that it’s also very important for me to achieve my goal which is my college degree so that I can take care of my kids. Today, life is very hard if you don’t have a college degree and a job because without these you cannot take care of your kids and your family.

By Charity Tawoj