Arrival! (It took forever)
I'm in the Marshall Islands! It took us a whole 2 days to get here (with an accumulated flying time of ~20 hours), 7 books, 3 movies, and lots of ginger ale. From the moment we landed, it's been work work work. On our first day (after landing around noon), we met up with various contacts here on Kwajalein. Then we spent the afternoon touring the motu and gathering supplies. It's amazing how much bureaucracy we end up having to deal with for every simple thing.
For example, we have to have a paper signed by several different people for our boxed lunches. Every time we want a boxed lunch from the mess hall, we have to turn in the paper to the mess hall the night before so we can pick up the lunch in the morning. Of course, getting four copies of the same signed paper has not happened. Instead we are expected to stop by the office every day to pick up a new signed paper. Mostly we've switched to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! Overall, however, people have been very friendly and tried to help.
Kwajalein motu/island is at the southern tip of Kwajalein atoll (yes it's confusing, but think of it like this, Kwajalein is the title of a book and chapter title within the book). It is almost entirely occupied by the USAKA (US Army at Kwajalein Atoll) and affiliated personnel. So it's very American feeling (point in fact that we can buy pb&j in the grocery store and buds at the bar for $1). We have to wear id badges with our picture on them everywhere (I wasn't allowed to buy groceries until I got mine back from the hotel room!). We travel along in a small electric golf cart and it takes maybe 20 mins to traverse the length of the motu. Anyways, the big thing on this island is all the radar that the military runs. There are lots of huge radar golf balls and antennas pointing up. We have to be careful about climbing more than 15 feet and about interference with our equipment. We are also not allowed to take any pictures that show the radar!
But it was a fun filled if exhausting first day. We ended it with a short stop at the bar overlooking the ocean. One of the things with atolls is always telling which side of the water you are looking at: the lagoon side or the ocean side. Anyways, it was a nice way to end the evening. Overall a good first day (or really half day). I'll post a new blog tonight hopefully about our first full day of work we had yesterday and today and lots of pictures!
Most Thankful for: My kindle & checked luggage all the way through
Least Favorite part: paying over $2000 in checked baggage fees (urgh united)
For example, we have to have a paper signed by several different people for our boxed lunches. Every time we want a boxed lunch from the mess hall, we have to turn in the paper to the mess hall the night before so we can pick up the lunch in the morning. Of course, getting four copies of the same signed paper has not happened. Instead we are expected to stop by the office every day to pick up a new signed paper. Mostly we've switched to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! Overall, however, people have been very friendly and tried to help.
Kwajalein motu/island is at the southern tip of Kwajalein atoll (yes it's confusing, but think of it like this, Kwajalein is the title of a book and chapter title within the book). It is almost entirely occupied by the USAKA (US Army at Kwajalein Atoll) and affiliated personnel. So it's very American feeling (point in fact that we can buy pb&j in the grocery store and buds at the bar for $1). We have to wear id badges with our picture on them everywhere (I wasn't allowed to buy groceries until I got mine back from the hotel room!). We travel along in a small electric golf cart and it takes maybe 20 mins to traverse the length of the motu. Anyways, the big thing on this island is all the radar that the military runs. There are lots of huge radar golf balls and antennas pointing up. We have to be careful about climbing more than 15 feet and about interference with our equipment. We are also not allowed to take any pictures that show the radar!
But it was a fun filled if exhausting first day. We ended it with a short stop at the bar overlooking the ocean. One of the things with atolls is always telling which side of the water you are looking at: the lagoon side or the ocean side. Anyways, it was a nice way to end the evening. Overall a good first day (or really half day). I'll post a new blog tonight hopefully about our first full day of work we had yesterday and today and lots of pictures!
Most Thankful for: My kindle & checked luggage all the way through
Least Favorite part: paying over $2000 in checked baggage fees (urgh united)
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