about halfway between Hawaii and Guam and is a Republic with free
association with the United States. The population here is about 27,000 and
the people here seemed happy and very friendly. But, considering the number
of men loitering about, one would guess that un-employment here is high.
Got off the ship and hooked up with a great Taxi driver to be our tour guide
for the day. John was born and educated in the US, but his parents have
moved back to their homeland in Majuro. John was very excited about the new
4-G internet that was recently launched here. He teaches computer and
software programing at the local college. Upon hearing that I was from
Denver, a discussion followed about the New England Patriots, and how
unhappy he was when they lost to Denver in the playoffs last year.
The atoll is 36 miles long, and we covered all 36 miles, in addition to some
side roads - which considering how narrow the land mass is, there are not
many. We even stopped at the airport - today a United flight was arriving
from Hawaii, will make a circuit of the islands, and then head back again to
Hawaii in a couple of days.
Divers come to the Marshall Islands to explore the many WWII relics . The
Japanese military used the islands as their Central pacific eastern
defensive perimeter, with some of the bloodiest battles taking place here.
I have never seen so many churches - and many of them have schools to go
with them. The predominant church here seemed to be the LDS Church.
Checked out a few local craft shops and headed back to the ship for some
air-conditioning and a nice ice-cold soda.
