I Will Eat You...

This is one of my Wanikar clansmen by the name of Mario. Those of us that know him, call him "Aten Le Pwangekis" which means he fits in all the tight places--he is very handy to have around. He is an all-around-kinda-guy. He is self-taught in many fields including auto and diesel mechanic, carpentry, heavy equipment operator, local herbology and love potions, Oneopese customs and traditions, healing and message(especially of the female ailments and meteks), and many other trades and skills.

What's so amazing about brother Mario is his diligence and perseverance in learning and acquiring these skills given the fact that he had dropped out when he was only in the 5th grade at OES. Right now, he is in Honolulu working as a supervisor in a construction company. Other Oneopese guys (some with college degrees)had to go through his rigorous application process and screening, trying to get employed in his company. Mario turned every one of them down. According to him,"They don't know da kine...shit!"

In his free time, Mario is now volunteering as an Oneopese-to-English-to-Oneopese interpreter and translator. Just the other day while listening to the Chuukese oldie "Upwe Ochek Pwe Niwinin Omw Oput Ngang", a Marshallese girl asked him what is the meaning of the song. Mario stared deep into the girl's eyes, licked his lips, smiled and said, "I will eat you because you don't love me."

Ain't that sumptin'?

Kidney--A Valuable Commodity

I heard the story of a fellow islander whose kidneys failed and was medevac to the Philippines for treatment and to get transplants. The story goes on to say that upon arrival at the hospital in Manila, donors were already lined up outside to be screened and hopefully to get a match so that they could give one of their kidneys to the patient in exchange for cash. Luckily for the patient, his bood type or DNA or chromosomes or whatever was matched with one of the donors so his operation was done and he received his new kidney. And also luckily for the donor, he walked away with only one kidney but was richer by several thousands US dollars in cash.

Whether or not the story was true, that is besides the point that I am trying to make here. As one can deduce from the story, each person has two kidneys but can survive or live with only one. As such, some people, especially poor folks such as me, now view the kidney as a valuable commodity that can be sold, exchanged, or traded for money, food, designer clothes, jewelry or used for dowry. It's value is right up there with gold, a Google share, or a studio in Honolulu.

It has become so important that some Chuukese are now thinking of using it to name their kids. Until recently, they only used the names of other important organs for names (i.e., Apple of My Eyes, My Heart, etc.). Just the other day, my friend Masaichy (masai=eyes; ichi=number one)was telling his son J4 that, because he loved him so much, he is going to change his name to "My Kidney".

How about that?

A Trip to the Library

I eventually come back to this moment in my life where I begin to acknowledge this "itch" to post something on this blog regardless of whether they have anything of value or interest or they are just a total dissaray of unrelated ideas, rants, complaints, melancholic recollections and dejected yarns. However the outcome, I am still going to post whaterver comes to mind as part of this illiterary nonsense.

Yesterday becomes another milestone in my very simple and lazy life. It may be a milestone to me but to the average person, it is only A Day in The Life of that individual. Something that I kept putting off because of my laziness which I often excused as being busy all the time, was finally accomplished today. After only about three years in the planning, research, and development stage, I finally took my kids to the Library and got them their first library cards. Yeah! Tell me about it. That was hard. All you have to do was fill out the half-page application form, sign it and give it back to the grim and constipated-looking librarian. BTW, she was (the librarian that is) trying to ruin my day by asking too many unnecessary and stupid questions, but the ear-to-ear grin on Seven's face as he clutched his new library card in his little hands was a good excuse to forgive her. As for Najna... Where is that girl? Oh, there she is! As soon as she got her card, she literally flew over to one of the computers, logged on using her new card number and off she went. ONLINE, of course! Well, what you know? She already has her own page about Space and was already chatting with her cyber friends. I think getting her a library card was a mistake. Instead of using the card to borrow books to broaden her mind to the vast and exciting world of literary treasures, she decides to downsize it to a minuscule storage room of acronyms, chat-room lingos and terms that contribute to the deliberate degradation and pulverization of the English lexicon, spelling and grammar. I have to talk to that girl! She sure has a good coconut on her shoulder but I think she is just too spoiled. It was my fault to call her "Princess" eversince she was born. Now she's really acting like one. Whatever she says, she thinks will go. She will be disappointed that girl. I wonder where she gets her stubborness from. Anyway, I luv dem kid. Their my life.