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Posts: 3470
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
Marshall Islands Idyll
The U.S. State Department assigned me to a temporary gig at the American Embassy in Majuro, the Marshall Islands, located in the Western Pacific. I arrived one week ago and have settled into my Embassy digs. Having visited the Marshalls several times as an active duty Foreign Service.Officer, I am familiar with the people, their customs, and their music. In fact, not much changes out here in the Pacific.
One of the more pleasant aspects of the Marshallese that hasn't changed much is their music. While guitars and keyboards are fairly common in clubs and pubs, the ukulele still reigns supreme. One can go out on a balmy, tropical, Pacific evening and hear ukulele music coming from the open doors and windows of homes along the way. Sometimes it is accompanied by singing, but often it is just the ukulele being played. In both cases it is a nice sound. Most of the younger people play and sing a form of what I call "ukulele pop." But the most beautiful music of all is when one of the older generation begins to sing the old seafaring ballads, evoking long voyages in ocean-going canoes. Wonderful stuff.
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Posts: 3456
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
RE: Marshall Islands Idyll (in reply to BarkellWH)
During my last few years at Kwajalein there was a notable resurgence in popularity of the ukulele among young Marshallese people on Kwajalein Atoll.
At the intra-atoll commuter airplane terminals, or at the harbors where the intra-island boats landed and picked up their passengers, you could usually count on hearing a spontaneous group of teenagers playing and singing as they waited to travel.
It was a lovely way to spend my time, listening to them.
It was a lovely way to spend my time, listening to them.
I couldn't agree more with you, Richard. In fact, there is a common thread that runs through all the traditional music of the Pacific islands, from the Marshalls to Palau, from Samoa to Hawaii and on to the eastern-most part of Polynesia, Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Part of it is the lilting melody, and part of it is the language. All of the Pacific Island languages have their origin in Malayo-Polynesian, which was brought to all of the islands from its origin in today's Indonesian Archipelago by the original seafaring people who populated the Pacific.
I was once assigned to the American Embassy in Santiago, Chile. My wife Marta and I took a trip to Rapa Nui and spent five days rambling around. My birthday happened to fall during this trip, and the owner of the guest house where we stayed took us out for a barbecue on the beach and brought his guitar along. After we had dined and consumed a couple of bottles of beer each, he began playing the guitar and singing the old Rapa Nui ballads. I can only describe it as heartbreakingly beautiful. It was so beautiful that it literally brought tears to my (and Marta's) eyes. Thinking about it now reminds me of how much I love the Pacific islands.
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Richard You have such a wonderful store of rich memories. Please keep them coming. Are you, by any chance, compiling an autobiography? That would be a good read.
RE: Marshall Islands Idyll (in reply to BarkellWH)
Bill and indeed Richard, There is always such a richness of content in what you share. I often find myself just reading and imagining myself away into your memories without needing or wanting to comment.....most odd to experience , but also a real pleasure to have the occasional moment here and there of escape to somewhere not experienced personally but so well shared!! Perhaps you could both pen autobiographies as VAL suggested?
RE: Marshall Islands Idyll (in reply to BarkellWH)
Hey Bill, Hope you're not too idyll....go easy on the sakau. I've never been to the Marshall's except to land while taking on passengers on board the Air Mike 727.
The uke playing sounds fun. If can and want to fly home via Japan, stop in to see us for a few days. Can't offer much besides company and a two mile long beach and the onsen, but you're welcome to stop over. :) And my hell hole shop, at least it has air conditioning this year.
Posts: 3470
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: Marshall Islands Idyll (in reply to estebanana)
quote:
Hey Bill, Hope you're not too idyll....go easy on the sakau. I've never been to the Marshall's except to land while taking on passengers on board the Air Mike 727. The uke playing sounds fun. If can and want to fly home via Japan, stop in to see us for a few days. Can't offer much besides company and a two mile long beach and the onsen, but you're welcome to stop over. :) And my hell hole shop, at least it has air conditioning this year.
Many thanks for the invitation, Stephen. Believe me, your company would be enough reason to stop over and stay for a few days with you and your lady. Unfortunately, I have some prior commitments to attend to upon my return to Washington, and I will have to defer a visit until a later opportunity presents itself.
Always good to hear from you.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Bill and indeed Richard, There is always such a richness of content in what you share. I often find myself just reading and imagining myself away into your memories without needing or wanting to comment.....most odd to experience , but also a real pleasure to have the occasional moment here and there of escape to somewhere not experienced personally but so well shared!! Perhaps you could both pen autobiographies as VAL suggested?
Thank you for the kind words, Pink. Much appreciated.
Regarding penning an autobiography, I have kept notes and journals at various junctures of my life that, were I to pull them together with some vivid memories, might make interesting reading. On the other hand, I'm not sure it would be interesting and compelling enough to attract a publisher willing to shell out the cost of pubication. And I have met too many "wannabe" and "would be" authors at bars in artsy places like Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico and Sedona, Arizona who prattle on about books they have had published, and when pressed about their publisher, invariably admit that it was a vanity press (where you, the author, pay the press to bind and "publish" your work of poetry, memoirs, novel, etc.). That sort of pretentiousness has no appeal for me.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
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