Today I was looking through my journal, where I write down all my adventures and I found myself looking at Friday, September 24, which was Manit Day. Manit Day is when the Marshallese remember their culture and the various customs that little by little are becoming less practiced on the larger and more westernized islands. But on the outer islands (like Namu) these customs are still very much alive. In a sense I’m living in a Manit year. On the island of Ebeye they celebrated Manit Day a little differently than on Namu. While on Namu there is an abundance of breadfruit and coconuts, Ebeye has few coconut trees and no breadfruit. So on Ebeye, Manit Day is a special treat for everybody.
Looking back at that day, it was not exactly what I expected. The day before Manit Day was bright and sunny and it seems as though the next day would be the same. Unfortunately it was not, it was cloudy and rainy. Regardless of the weather we decided that we would carry on with the games we had planned for the school and the community. We had just started our first game when it started pouring, forcing us to find cover at the school or the church. I think we spent probably an hour or two just waiting for the rain to die down. It didn’t. So, I decided that regardless of weather I would try to make the best of that day. We started up a game of soccer…in the rain! Man, that was a blast! Everybody was soaked but our laugher drowned out the pouring rain. After a while people began joining us and other people started playing volleyball. Even though everything we had planned to do that day fell through, we still had a great day. It seems the worst of days can turn into the best of days with the right attitude.
-Saul
