The Thrill of Initiating a Toilet

July 11, 2018

Just as our practice was about to start this afternoon, the students broke into a birthday song for one of the girls. They placed her in a plastic chair, sat her in the middle of the room and they proceeded to sing. They had nothing to offer her other than the more or less spontaneous moment. One other girl started dancing about, caught up in the excitement and, I believe, the unexpectedness of the small event. The birthday girl calmly accepted the attention, which got caught up in itself and just kept going. I didn’t really want to cut off the joy, but they probably could have kept up the momentum for quite some time. I did, however, build on the moment by staging a little song contest between the drama groups (collections of 5-6 students working together to develop their own short play). As I hoped, the thrill of the little competition fed the camaraderie of the groups.

Such small moments permeate our work. This collection of students, from multiple schools around Kwajelein atoll (mostly Ebeye and Gugeegue), are quite adept at filling stretches of time with small moments of joy, connection and pleasure. Several of the students rush to get to my room, as there is a weak, but stubborn air conditioner hanging precariously on the wall. Doesn’t do much but sprinkle a little coolness on those nearby, but those students embrace the sprinkle with reverence and exhalations of satisfaction. When I allow them to sit in the plastic chairs that are in various states of deterioration, the students move at a pace unmatched in anything else they do during our time together. The relaxed comfort of a still white piece of plastic. More enjoyable for me, however, is when they discover little moments in their developing drama work. Moments they build from collaborative ideas that blossom into laughter appreciated practices shared with the other groups. I love when a group that has struggled to come together, or find a suitable idea or even make sense of what they wish their play to be about, suddenly stumbles on a single discovery that thrills them and catapults them into a triumphant overcoming of their challenge.

I take closer stock of my own small moments as I share these little ones with the students. A week ago I wrote of being yanked into situations uncomfortable for me, of struggling in the heat as I wondered whether my local house would be finished or whether I would have to gather up my luggage yet again and make my way back to the hotel on the connected next island. My house got finished. Mostly. So I moved in after a week of being here. There’s no sink yet. No cooking facilities of any kind. The shower is half complete, but works very well. And, most essentially, I have a working toilet. The thrill of initiating a brand new toilet out here struck me unexpectedly and with great joy. Who cares, right? But in the proper context, given the right surroundings compounded with the timing of overcoming the challenge, that toilet thrill can be a very real one.

This evening proved to be a temperate one, despite a long day of sunshine. The power has remained on all day. My house is cool, quiet and comfortable. I ended up sharing the house with a small family who is here as a part of the same program I am with, which in itself is a little bit of a comfort. And I stepped out the door just moments ago to feel the ocean breeze, listen to the quiet of a small island and gaze in awe at the myriad stars blanketing the sky.

On Friday the students will share their drama work. Maybe they will be great. Maybe they will stumble a little. Maybe they might even be a little too shy to rise to their best work. But I know they will have experienced a series of thrilling little moments that will have filled our time together with simple joy.