• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Janice Beetle Books

Writing, editing, book development, and publishing help

  • Home
  • About
    • My Books
    • Clients’ Books
    • Privacy Policy
  • Services
    • Creative Writing Review/Coaching
    • Book Development /Writing
      • Book Development Sampler
    • Book Editing
    • Copy Editing
    • Book Design
    • Publishing Guidance
  • Blog
  • Poem Pods
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Order My Book
You are here: Home / Adventures / Some Things I’m Learning

Some Things I’m Learning

January 9, 2016 by Janice Beetle Leave a Comment

Note: This is the fifth of fifteen parts. Click here to read from the beginning.

There is a lot to be learned when you enter another culture. Here are some things I am learning about life on Majuro.

Food. Fresh food is very hard to come by, produce especially. Apples, oranges, potatoes and onions seem to be in good supply—perhaps because they have a long shelf life—but fresh vegetables like lettuce, beans and broccoli are hard to come by, and they are very expensive. The meat seems to be of a good quality, and it didn’t seem terribly expensive to me, but packaged goods are crazy high in price. A box of Kraft mac and cheese, for instance, costs $2.50, compared to four boxes for $1 at a Big Y at home. Also of note in the grocery store: check the labels for the expiration date. Because I had Molly with me, I didn’t have to learn this the hard way. On my first grocery outing, as I reached for a quart of half and half, she said, “Check the date.” Good learning. There were several dozen quarts—all expired, some by more than a month. All of the yogurts in the produce case were also long passed the “Best used by” dates.

Water. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, water is a golden commodity. Drinking water comes from the store, or if you are hearty, the community cistern, but you really need to have transportation to lug the full jug back home; it’s too big of a hassle in a taxi and impossible on foot. Water for the toilets comes from the ocean, and all faucets are supplied by the huge vessels you see dotting the landscape. Outside Molly’s apartment there are about a half dozen such supply tanks. On my first day, Molly let me know if it doesn’t rain, and the tanks run dry, there will be no washing of dishes or bodies. I have been praying for rain since, and it has obliged. But this is the dry season.

Taxis. Molly doesn’t have a car; most people don’t, so taxis are everywhere, and they are cheap, with a complicated fee structure. It’s 75 cents per person for a ride in a taxi, but 50 cents per if the taxi is a van. If you cross the bridge toward one end of the island, there’s an extra fee, and it’s $5 per person to the airport. To signal a taxi, you hold up the fingers to represent how many passengers. If the driver can accommodate you, he pulls over. (I have yet to see a female driver.) If the driver doesn’t have room, he gives a little toot on his horn. When you get in a taxi, don’t expect conversation or acknowledgement of any kind. It’s all business. And, don’t be surprised if the driver’s children are in the front seat. You don’t tell the driver where you are going, until you are almost there, and again, when you speak the destination, don’t expect to be acknowledged. You only know the driver heard and understood when they turn in to let you off.

Safety on the roadways. For starters, most of the cars are sedans that have seen better days. Many ride very low to the ground, have damaged seats in the interior and damaged bodies on the exterior. Only the driver and passengers in the front seat are required to wear seatbelts, but you rarely see the children buckled in. There seem to be few other regulations on passengers as well. On Christmas Eve Day, Molly and I saw sedans built for five passengers going by with a dozen people stuffed inside. We also saw one car pass by in which the driver, a man, was holding the steering wheel with his left hand and a small child under a year old in the other. Car seats? Forget about it. They don’t exist here.

 

Click here to read the next blog in this series. Make sure you don’t miss it; sign up to follow this blog on the Home page, in the sidebar.

← Previous Post
Next Post →

Filed Under: Adventures, All Tagged With: learning, travel

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe

Please enter your email address to receive blog posts by email.

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Larceny in the Aisles is Hot Off the Press!
  • Ten Tips for the Travel Writer-Wannabe
  • Thrilled to Meet My Client From London

Archives

  • October 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • November 2012

Footer

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

© 2023 Janice Beetle Books · Privacy Policy
Content by Janice Beetle Books · Site by Turn Signal Media