The tree lighting at Cafe Roi last night was put off until next week. It seems that a crane was not available to place the lights at the top of the tree. Our culture of safety here forbids the use of ladders above certain heights.
We did manage to get some presents wrapped for the children of Enniburr at C-building last night. We had a great turn-out. Since our gift bags have not arrived via USPS, bag-stuffing will also be put off until next week. We wrapped all the big things though; mostly sports equipment.
Softball gloves, bats, baggo (some of you call it "cornhole" i believe, ive never been able to say it without snickering). Softball is a bit of a phenom on Enniburr (we call it 3rd Island). Softball is THE sport there. We have a small softball league for a few months each year in the spring. The Marshallese teams are invited to Roi to play our team. When it comes to softball, these Marshallese are INCREDIBLY GOOD; i think they share a brain when out on the playing field. They take their game quite seriously and they always win.
As the wrapping of the presents concluded most of us went to the local bar: The Outrigger.
The Outrigger is the local watering hole on Roi-Namur. Attractions include wifi, big screen television, computerized jukebox, table top shuffleboard (mostly unused except to place your drink on when playing pool), dart board, and two pool tables. We also have a snack bar here with a limited menu. The "missile burger" is quite good and is a welcome change from the chow hall fare. Folks from Kwajalein come up on the weekend to get away from things and eat here quite a bit. It's open 24 hours a day..the building is anyway. Good place to come anytime to get online besides in our BQ rooms which only have dial-up internet access at this point. The bar itself opens at 1700 everyday. Full liquor, beer (cans and bottles only) and wine are available. Not many wine drinkers at the bar though. If you decide to order wine, there is a better than average chance it won't be any good. Wally, our resident bartender will cheerfully open a new bottle for you. Wally is a bit of a fixture here. He is in his seventies and has been here on the atoll for over 30 years. Although slightly hard of hearing, he is a great bartender and is a bit of a flirt with the (very few) ladies that we have on Roi.
Roi is a unique place. It is a working island with about 100 or so full-time residents. During the day, between the commuters from Kwajalein (more on them later) and the 3rd island residents who come over each day on the boat to work, the population of the island rises to about 250 people. By about 2100 each night, the island is back down to the 100 or so residents here.
Roi is the reason for the US presence here in the Marshall Islands. It is the home for a few large radar dishes and various other space monitoring systems. Lots of engineer-type people running the show. Most of the resident population is comprised of support staff for the island's operations. People like myself; i am the full time resident nurse and in no way associated with operations. I treat boo-boos, i've helped birth a baby. The list goes on, but i won't go into it. My time is short here on Roi. My last day of work will be May 1st. I'm ready to be back in the real world. Whatever you can imagine Roi to be, i assure you, it ISN'T the real world. I often say that you couldn't make this place up if you tried.
We did manage to get some presents wrapped for the children of Enniburr at C-building last night. We had a great turn-out. Since our gift bags have not arrived via USPS, bag-stuffing will also be put off until next week. We wrapped all the big things though; mostly sports equipment.
Softball gloves, bats, baggo (some of you call it "cornhole" i believe, ive never been able to say it without snickering). Softball is a bit of a phenom on Enniburr (we call it 3rd Island). Softball is THE sport there. We have a small softball league for a few months each year in the spring. The Marshallese teams are invited to Roi to play our team. When it comes to softball, these Marshallese are INCREDIBLY GOOD; i think they share a brain when out on the playing field. They take their game quite seriously and they always win.
As the wrapping of the presents concluded most of us went to the local bar: The Outrigger.
The Outrigger is the local watering hole on Roi-Namur. Attractions include wifi, big screen television, computerized jukebox, table top shuffleboard (mostly unused except to place your drink on when playing pool), dart board, and two pool tables. We also have a snack bar here with a limited menu. The "missile burger" is quite good and is a welcome change from the chow hall fare. Folks from Kwajalein come up on the weekend to get away from things and eat here quite a bit. It's open 24 hours a day..the building is anyway. Good place to come anytime to get online besides in our BQ rooms which only have dial-up internet access at this point. The bar itself opens at 1700 everyday. Full liquor, beer (cans and bottles only) and wine are available. Not many wine drinkers at the bar though. If you decide to order wine, there is a better than average chance it won't be any good. Wally, our resident bartender will cheerfully open a new bottle for you. Wally is a bit of a fixture here. He is in his seventies and has been here on the atoll for over 30 years. Although slightly hard of hearing, he is a great bartender and is a bit of a flirt with the (very few) ladies that we have on Roi.
Roi is a unique place. It is a working island with about 100 or so full-time residents. During the day, between the commuters from Kwajalein (more on them later) and the 3rd island residents who come over each day on the boat to work, the population of the island rises to about 250 people. By about 2100 each night, the island is back down to the 100 or so residents here.
Roi is the reason for the US presence here in the Marshall Islands. It is the home for a few large radar dishes and various other space monitoring systems. Lots of engineer-type people running the show. Most of the resident population is comprised of support staff for the island's operations. People like myself; i am the full time resident nurse and in no way associated with operations. I treat boo-boos, i've helped birth a baby. The list goes on, but i won't go into it. My time is short here on Roi. My last day of work will be May 1st. I'm ready to be back in the real world. Whatever you can imagine Roi to be, i assure you, it ISN'T the real world. I often say that you couldn't make this place up if you tried.
