31 December 2015: Maps, Cheese & Gecko

After finishing my post yesterday, I headed out to Telcom. They said they had a technician out in Madolenihmw, and that my house might just get hooked up. They told me to check back around 3 pm.

From there I went to the Australian Embassy, to see if I could finally get the adventure maps I’d been wanting. They had some of them, but were out of others, including the one for Madolenihmw. They said they had given some to the Surf Club, down by Mangrove, and perhaps I could get them there.

That’s all the way on the other side of town, so I decided to save that for later. In the meantime, I stopped at Ellen’s Market for more bananas. I also got yam, eggs and foil, while I was at it. It’s interesting what combinations of things one winds up with, when shopping in Pohnpei.

Back at Craig’s, I had a bite to eat and wound up napping a bit. I was still tired, and definitely sore from Tuesday’s waterfall adventure. I don’t think I’ll be jumping off any tall ledges anytime soon. Not intentionally, anyway!

Sadly, when I stopped by Telcom again, I was told my place had not, in fact, gotten hooked up. So now, I wait until next week, at the soonest. Nothing to do about it, so I headed down to Mangrove. They were nearly out of the maps the Embassy had in good supply, but had quite a stack of Western Kitti and Madolenihmw, which I was glad to get. They also had a nice factsheet / map set for the outer islands that I was able to pick up. Between these and an offline version of Google Maps, which I was able to download to my phone (thanks, Dave!), I should have plenty of ideas as to places to have adventures!

On the way back, I found myself surprisingly tired and hungry. I stopped at Palm Terrace and got an odd combination of snacks, including some cheap cookies and a small chocolate loaf cake (not as good for me as the banana bread, no doubt, but also considerably cheaper). On the healthier side, I picked up a can of tuna, figuring I could make a sandwich to offset the sugar.

I ran in to Phil on the way back, and he mentioned a wine and cheese gathering at Craig’s a bit later. It sounded tasty, but I didn’t want to impose. Cheese is not easy to get on island, and Craig had a supply only because his family brought it when they visited recently.

Moments later, I had other things on my mind, as a major rain shower cut loose. I was soaked in seconds, but was able to take cover in front of the laundromat. I was quietly sitting there, enjoying my audio book as the torrents fell, when the book was interrupted by a phone call. It was Craig. I had packages! Also, I had an official invitation to the cheese gathering. The rainstorm was short, and I was back at the apartment within a couple minutes of Craig dropping the packages.

One was my much-awaited computer, on which I am writing this blog post. It’s a slow, small netbook, but it does the job. Hopefully, it’ll hold up better than my Mac did. I know it can handle the heat, because it survived Kenya. But we’ll see about the moisture. The second package will help with that, as it was a set of 8 desiccant packs my mom had ordered for me. The third package was a box of 12 assorted Kind bars, also from my mom.

I spent the time until Craig came back for the gathering getting my computer set up and working. It can pick up COM’s wi-fi from Craig’s, but doesn’t go to the login page automatically. It took me a little while to figure out how to get around that. And then it took forever for it to download the backlog of e-mail waiting on my various servers. But the ability to do e-mail offline will be very helpful.

Craig had shifted to another place he was housesitting for, that has a marvelous kitchen. I understand the view is awesome, as well, but, as it was dark, I could only imagine. The spread we had was pretty impressive, though!

At one point, a very large gecko went running by, and then hung out in the window. While I know it can move pretty quickly when it chooses, it was remarkably sedentary, in its window location, and I was able  to get some good pictures of it.

Eventually, the night wound down, and Craig took me back to the apartment.

This morning was rather rainy, and the day has been mostly overcast and relatively cool. I went out to Ace Hardware and found a plastic container for my Mac, and it’s now packed away with the desiccant. I think I’ll give it about a week to try to dry out, and then see if I can get it to work. The good thing about the desiccant packs is that I can recharge them in the toaster oven. That should help me keep the electronics all much happier.

Other than that brief outing, I’ve had a pretty lazy day. I moved over to Craig’s room, because I thought Bud was coming back today. It turns out his flight got changed, so he’ll be back tomorrow. His room is cleaned back up and ready for him, anyway.

I also baked up some potatoes and yams. The local yams aren’t like any yams I’ve encountered before, and I’m not quite sure what to do with them. I sautéed up some onions, garlic and bell pepper, and mixed in black beans and potatoes. The yams were pretty bland, so I mixed in just a bit of them. It worked, but I was hoping for more of a sweet potato flavor when I got them.

It’s New Year’s Eve on the island, and I keep hearing kids pounding on things to make noise, and people setting off fireworks. I think it’s going to be a noisy night.

30 December 2015: Kitti Waterfall Adventure

I headed out Monday evening, planning to go grocery shopping. I stopped at Phil & Crystal’s along the way, to deliver finished bracelets. There was quite a crowd there, and they were just finishing dinner. The curry smelled tasty, I must admit. I was happy to be invited to finish off what was in the pot (and hungry enough that I didn’t think to take a picture before I ate it). It really was rather good. I did get a picture of their cat, who made friends with me on my way out.

I got out of there too late to shop at Palm Terrace, so I walked to A-1. I picked up a 10-lb bag of potatoes and a 5-lb bag of apples, along with a few other odds and ends. It filled the backpack and made for a rather heavy load, but I got it home okay.

There were still a few Granny Smith’s left, so I decided to bake them up. I was going to bake some of the potatoes, as well, but realized there was no foil in the house, and didn’t feel like going back out to get it. The apples were good, anyway. I spent the rest of my evening listening to my audio book (now on to Anne Frank Remembered, another selection available in the MHS library), enjoying the apples, and working on a bracelet for Victor, another WorldTeach-Chuuk volunteer visiting Pohnpei.

On Tuesday, a group of us headed out to Kitti. Emerson led us on a hike to his local waterfall. I couldn’t find it on the map, but think it must be along the Lehnmesi River. Most of the walk to it was along a dirt road, but the last bit was on a narrow trail through the jungle, including a stream crossing.

My attention was caught by some of the shelf fungus, and I was fascinated by the seeds that looked to be wrapped in strange red plastic. It’s not plastic, of course, but something purely natural. It sure looks odd, though.

At the waterfall, there’s a sizable ledge over a large, deep pool.

Phil was the first to jump, and looked happy enough when he came back up.

 

He was followed by Emerson and Craig.

Brigid contemplated going next, but seemed uncertain. The guys came back up and jumped again, before any of the girls jumped. When I decided to go, I did it quickly, so as not to let the fear set in. That happened about half way down, when it was clearly too late.

I’m glad I did it, I think, but I wouldn’t do it again. The height is a bit too much, and I hit the water kind of hard, despite entering fairly straight. I’m still sore from it, today. It was an awesome swimming hole, though. I think I would spend much time there, were I stationed in Kitti.

When we’d all had our fill of both the jump and swimming in the pool, we headed back to Emerson’s to meet up with Crystal, John and Chelsea for dinner. Chelsea and Crystal made an excellent stir fry that we all enjoyed.

After dinner, I caught a ride back to town with Craig and Brigid. I spent the rest of the evening relaxing, listening to my audio book and working on a bracelet for John, to match Crystal’s. Not a bad way to spend a day.

 

 

28 December 2015: Hike Attempt

I was still sore after all the walking I did on Saturday, so I took it pretty easy on Sunday. I worked on more bracelets and listened to audio books. I finished Hallucinations, and went on to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I’ve read Huck Finn before, of course (several times even), but it had been a while, and it’s one of the books available in the library here. I had checked it out for students to listen to, but figured I should listen to it myself, first. It was pretty well done.

When I woke this morning, I found a note for me, saying there were plans to go on a hike today. We met up with our guide at Nett Elementary, and took a taxi as far up Nan Soakoasok Road as it could safely get. We walked up to the end of the road, but found out the land owner didn’t want people crossing his property, so we didn’t wind up going on the hike. We didn’t come up with an alternate plan, so I walked back home. Looking now at Google Maps, there were a couple other trails in that general vicinity we could have tried. Next time, perhaps.

I actually enjoyed the walk, anyway. It was mostly downhill or level, and it was a quiet road. The butterflies were all over the place. Only one of them was cooperative enough for me to catch it with my phone, though. It wasn’t one of the more colorful ones (many had orange on them, as well), but it’s the best one I’ve got.

A little further down, I was captivated by a tree with a painted-looking trunk. I’m pretty sure it just grows that way, but it’s not a species I’ve noticed before.

There were also plants with single huge leaves, just off the side of the road, all white but for the veins. I thought them particularly photogenic.

As I got further down, there were nice views of Dausokele Estuary and the surrounding hills, including Sokehs Rock.

Back in town, I stopped at the bank to get my account number, so Craig could process my stipend. The line was impressive, and I was very glad for my audio book (and the air conditioning). I stopped at the Australian Embassy, to try to get their maps, but they’re not open until 12/30. I stopped at Telcom, as well. Someday, I’ll get internet at my Kepirohi home!

27 December 2015: Liduduhniap Water Fall

I wandered out yesterday, and stopped at Super Savers, in search of more shirts I could wear to teach in. The packing guidelines had said solid-colored shirts, and I didn’t have too many of those that were in decent shape (oddly enough, most of my shirts that are in good shape are tie-dyed). It turns out I didn’t really need solid-colored shirts, and I had plenty that would have worked fine. But, since none of them made it here with me, I’ve been looking for some here. Finding shirts that will work and that I will wear is a bit of a challenge, but I found three likely candidates, for a whopping $5 total. I’m not at all sure why wordpress chose to invert this picture, but as I don’t have a photo editor here, upside-down will have to do.

I stopped by TelCom, as well, but had forgotten it was Saturday. The office was open for payments, but customer service was closed. I’ll need to go back on Monday.

I swung back by Craig’s for a bit of food, and to change to my exploring clothes. I started up my audio book (Oliver Sacks’ Hallucinations) and headed out. I went toward Nett Point, but decided to turn on the Nanipil River Road and go in search of Liduduhniap Waterfall. I had no idea how far it might be, but it seemed like a suitable adventure.

The road was a quiet one, which was nice. I spotted a number of Micronesian Honeyeaters, though none of them cooperated by holding still long enough for me to get a good picture. One of these days, I’ll take out my telephoto on a birding trip.

About halfway up the road, it earns its name, running alongside the Nanipil River. The river valley is surprisingly level (compared to most of the terrain I’ve encountered on Pohnpei), but there are some nice views of the hills to either side.

I was drawn by the flowers, as I walked. I don’t know my flowers at all, but I like taking pictures of them, all the same. I’ve yet to see the flower on a banana plant open, but it’s a pretty impressive structure.

At the end of the mostly-level section, I reached what looked to be a small hydroelectric plant. It looked to have been rebuilt at least once, and there was overgrown machinery in front of the older structure.

At this point, the road starts to climb. Gradually at first, then more steeply as the pavement ends. I was partway up the coral road when I crossed paths with Lorenzo. He asked me where I was going. I told him I didn’t know, that I was just exploring. He told me I really should have taken a taxi. I didn’t bother to tell him that would have defeated the point of the adventure.

We walked along together for a while. I told him a bit about Seattle, and what I was doing here. He told me of his farm on the mountain side, where he grows bananas and sakau. I had reason to be glad I ran into him, as we soon came to a fork in the road, and I’d have had no idea which way to go. He guided me to the left, saying the waterfall was not far.

The admission price at the waterfall was $1, but I had forgotten to transfer my wallet when I’d changed clothes for the adventure. I said I’d have to check it out another time. Lorenzo offered the man a dollar, which was refused, and we were granted access anyway. The path lead to an overlook, between the two tiers of the waterfall. The view wasn’t clear enough to get a good picture. Lorenzo then guided me further down the path. I stopped along the way, to get a shot of the mountainside, on the other side of the river. The path lead to the pool below the lower waterfall, which made a good swimming hole. The water was remarkably cool, and very refreshing.

Lorenzo crossed the river, on his way to his farm, and I headed back to town. I couldn’t resist getting a picture of the truck out front, which is being reclaimed by plants, but has the look of being an intentional piece of yard art.

Much further down the road, I spotted more reclaimed machinery, that I had missed on the way up. There’s nothing nearby to indicate why it should be there; it’s simply “growing” in a field of green.

My only wildlife shot along the trip was a little green lizard, of the same species as the one that visited Chelsea’s classroom, that poked its head up to look at me from one of the little platforms out in front of someone’s house. It looked much more at home than the one in the classroom had.

I was pretty worn out by the time I got back (Google Maps puts the walk at about 8.5 miles), and was glad to simply relax on Craig’s couch for a while, listening to my audio book and working on a bracelet.

Then my phone buzzed. Arielle and Emerson were making dinner over at Phil and Crystal’s, and were inviting me to join them. I pondered. On the one hand, food and company would be nice. On the other hand, it would require walking to Phil and Crystal’s, and I was sore. I decided it was worth it, though, and gathered my energy to head over. It was a simple, but tasty, meal of pasta with tomato sauce served with bits of chicken. A nice way to end the day.

26 December 2015: Merry Christmas!

It’s been a quiet couple of days, really. On Thursday, I went out looking to see if the take-out place was open, so I could grab some food. They weren’t, but I managed to find Palm Terrace, which is a pretty decent grocery store, along the way. I wound up with four bags of groceries, which was a bit of a challenge to take home, but it wasn’t too far away.

A bit later, I wandered over to the college, to look up the location of the Australian Embassy on Google Maps. They publish the adventure maps for Pohnpei, and I really want to get a set. But when I wandered over there, they were closed. I walked back along the waterfront, and picked up some bananas from one of the market. A large bunch was $1.05. I can definitely deal with that!

In the evening, Lexi and Arielle made dinner for a group of us, as a thank you for hosting them while they’re visiting from Chuuk. There were mashed potatoes with onions and Romanian meatballs. It was pretty tasty.

Friday was Christmas. During the day, I spent some time at the college, connected to the library back home, figuring out what books I might be able to get for my students. OneClick was being slow and mostly uncooperative, but I managed to get a few checked out through Overdrive. I wasn’t having much luck with actually downloading them, though, so I’ll have to get on a more reliable wireless, at some point.

For my contribution to the Christmas dinner, I made baked apple slices, coated in cinnamon and sugar. All the WorldTeach volunteers still on island gathered at AJ’s place, along with Craig’s family and a Peace Corps volunteer. There was a pretty impressive array of food available. No one left hungry, that’s for sure!

I’ve been making a lot of bracelets lately, as gifts. I made them for Lexi and Arielle, as going-away gifts. I’ve also made one for Emerson, Julie and Brigid, and am currently working on one for Craig’s mom. There are more in the queue, for Phil, Crystal, and Chelsea. I really ought to take pictures of all these, before I give them away, so I can remember what color combinations work well. But it’s nice to be able to make them for people. I’ve gotten pretty quick at them.

23 December 2015: Ant Atoll

No news on my mother this morning, so I headed out with Craig’s family, on a trip to Ant Atoll. We went out on the boat, past the point where we’d been scuba diving yesterday, and about another 10 miles to Ant. We were let out to snorkel along the reef wall. My camera was actually cooperating today (more-or-less), so I was way behind the others, stopping to take pictures. I loved the coral, the diversity of fish, the clarity of the water. I think the wall was at least 60 feet high, and I could easily see to the bottom. The fish were much easier to see up where I was, of course, but did notice a roughly four-foot white-tipped reef shark swim by, toward the bottom.

Once back in the boat, we headed for the beach. We parked about in the middle. I took a picture of toward the one end, and decided to snorkel my way toward the other end. When I first got in the water, there were some largish fish hanging out under and near the boat, hopeful for food.

The route toward the other end was mostly sand, but there was some sea grass, as well, along with small patches of coral. When I looked closely, I found fish that resembled the sand swimming around the sandy areas, and fish that looked like sea grass in the sea grass beds. I tried to get pictures of these, but, because they were well camouflaged, they didn’t photograph well.  There were many more little fish swimming around the little patches of coral, though they’re all hiding in the photos that came out well.

Once I reached the end, I figured I had to take a shot looking down the length of the beach. It’s definitely a beautiful place. That’s the boat we came on, that you can see in the distance.

I made my way back to the boat, still snorkeling along the way. I got a few more pictures along the way.

I even managed to catch a picture of a black-tipped reef shark that was swimming by. You have to look to see it, but it was definitely more impressive in real life.

Back at the boat, Mario cracked a cold coconut for me, and I happily drank. He split it for me, too, and I munched on some of the meat. Craig’s family had brought a lot of food, and generously shared. I had a curry burrito, a couple breaded chicken strips, and a vegetable sushi roll that was really quite good.

After lunch, most of us snorkeled down the other way. There was more reef in that direction, and I got a couple more good pictures.

When we were all back at the boat, Alan tossed some bits of peanut butter and jelly sandwich into the water, and there was a bit of a feeding frenzy. A few of the black-tipped reef sharks wandered in, too, but not close enough for me to get a better picture.

Finally, it was time to head back. We were going against the wind, so the waves were rougher, and the trip was longer than it had been on the way out. We had a beautiful day, out at Ant, but Pohnpei looked mostly cloudy, and a bit rainy.

Allois was keeping an eye out for opportunities to catch a fish, but he didn’t have any luck. I did manage to get a picture of the birds swarming over their fishing spot.

Not far past that, we even saw a couple flying fish, though I was no where near fast enough to get a picture of one.

A fabulous outing, that I am very glad to have had the opportunity to take. Even if it did send me on a search for aloe when I got back. I kept mostly covered, but my arms are a bit on the red side. It was worth it, though next time, I think I’ll keep the long-sleeved shirt on!

22 December 2015: Nan Madol, Scuba and Mom

After I finished yesterday’s catch-up blog post, I walked over to Telcom, to get a local sim for my phone. T-Mobile doesn’t have coverage here, so my phone wouldn’t work until it was unlocked. I had tried to get that done before I left, but the phone had to have been activated for 40 days before they’d unlock it. I had recently been given the phone, by a generous member of the Buy Nothing community, and those 40 days weren’t quite up yet when I left. But, with a little help from home, the phone was successfully unlocked, and I now have a local number.

When I got back to Craig’s place, Emerson told me there was a bar-b-que at AJ’s, for Craig’s family, and asked if I was going. I hadn’t known about it, but, if it was okay, I was happy to tag along. I wish I’d had more warning, as I could have brought something, but our quick trip to the store didn’t suggest anything to me. I figured I’d just have to do some cooking somewhere down the line. There turned out to be plenty of food, anyway, which was good. Grilled carrots, string beans, chicken, sausage, corn on the cob, broccoli and some of Phil’s homemade sauerkraut. An unusual combination, perhaps, and not your typical Christmas fare, but good, all the same.

AJ’s yard turned out to be full of Bufo. I’d seen occasional indications that they were here, but this was the first time I’d seen them in numbers. I only got a picture of one, though, and not a very good picture, at that. I got a better picture of one of his geckos.

There were enough people needing rides back from AJs that there were going to be two trips. I went on the first one. It was late (for me, at least), but I went ahead and checked to see if I could pick up the COM wi-fi to check e-mail and Facebook before I went to bed. There was a message waiting for me, asking me to contact my dad. Found out my mom is in the hospital, and not doing well. That was a pretty depressing end to a rather nice day.

Monday morning, I was up early, wanting to get an update on my Mom before deciding what to do for the day. Word was that she was doing better, which was good to hear.

Back at Craig’s, the other kitten decided to be friendly (she had been pretty stand-offish when I’d  first said hello), and she posed for a very cute picture, trying to get me to play with her.

A little later, a whole group of us made the trip out to Nan Madol. I need to read up more on these ruins, but construction was apparently started sometime between 200 and 1200 (a pretty big span!), and it was the capital of the Saudeleur Dynasty until about 1628. We didn’t really have a guide on this trip, and just explored the main building, though more ruins were in evidence all around.

When we finished our explorations, we did a little snorkeling nearby. My waterproof camera wasn’t cooperating, so I didn’t get too many pictures. I think it might be leaking. It would take a picture, and then shut off. So I put it away, and just enjoyed the swim, followed by a picnic lunch.

On the way back, we stopped at Kepirohi Waterfall, and I got to show off “my backyard” to the folks who hadn’t seen it yet. They were suitably impressed.  🙂

I was going to try to get a blog post written last night, but about the time I had the pictures uploaded, the power went out. So I made a quiet evening of it.

Yesterday had probably been the most beautiful day I’ve seen on Pohnpei, with only light, fluffy clouds and no rain. Sometime during the night, though, the rain clouds came in with a vengeance. It was seriously pouring this morning, when I went to check for an update on my mom (there wasn’t one), and I wondered if the weather would interfere with our plans to go scuba diving today. It did not. Craig needed to get some work done, but his sister Julie and dad Alan wanted to go for a dive while they were here, and Lexi (WorldTeach-Chuuk) and I were more than happy to join them.

The boat trip out left around 9. The rain had lightened up, but everything was still pretty grey. When we were getting ready to get in the water, almost everyone was shivering, and we wondered whether this was going to work, especially because we didn’t have wetsuits. The water was warm, though, and once we were diving, I was quite comfortable.

Almost as soon as we were in the water, a school of barracuda swam by. In all, I think we saw literally thousands of fish, of many, many different kinds. I had my GPS on, so I’ll be able to check the location of our dive once I get a computer I can hook it up to. I know we were out near the barrier reef. There was lots of coral, of course, of both hard and soft varieties. I love just parking near a coral forest, and watching the fish.

Between dives, we had a snack of fresh coconut water and some pretty tasty banana bread. Then most of us got back in the water, because it was warmer there. Besides, we were parked over a reef, and the snorkeling was good. I broke my camera out. It still wasn’t behaving well (I think I need to return it), but I managed to get a few nice pictures, anyway.

On the way back in, the others hunkered down in the bottom of the boat, using the dive equipment as a windbreak. The sun was trying to come back out as we headed in, so it wasn’t that cold, but it’d been a long day in the water.

When I got back in, the word on my mom wasn’t good. My brother had sent a message around mid-day that things had taken a turn for the worse, and he was suggesting I might want to come home. But when I checked in with him for details, he said she’d stabilized, and he thought I was okay to stay. It’s hard to deal with that kind of yo-yo, so far from home. Returning from here is no trivial matter. I want to be there for my family, but I also want to be here, for the students I made a commitment to. I don’t really know what to do. For now, I guess I keep in touch, keep my family in my thoughts, and make the most of what’s in front of me.

 

 

20 December 2015: Another Week in Pohnpei

Once again, limited computer access has made getting a blog post written during the week impractical at best. In fact, I am now back in Kolonia for the holidays, because there would be no computer access at all in Madolenihmw. My poor Mac fell victim to the moisture here, so I’m also currently without a computer of my own (although one is on the way). Craig was kind enough to give me access to his office, so I can use his. However, it’s an old Windows xp machine, and it took me a while to figure out how to get photos off my phone and on to the computer. I’ve finally worked it out.

But let me back up, to where I actually left off, which was last Sunday. I left the computer lab, and walked home. Along the way, I stopped to get a picture of the large tree by the bus stop, just down from the high school. The students often gather under its shade, when they’re around. I also got pictures of one of my favorite blooming flowers, and of the very friendly dog that lives by the Western Union store, that always greets us when we go by.

After getting a bit of food, I headed out to explore. I started down the road toward Nan Madol, not sure where it would take me, but knowing I hadn’t been there, which was good enough for me. I hadn’t walked very far when I caught up with Shirley and a friend of hers. I have to admit, I didn’t actually recognize Shirley, though I thought she looked familiar. I’ve been introduced to so many people since I got here, and I tend to have some trouble recognizing people out of context, anyway. She’s part of the family that owns the house we’re staying in. She definitely recognized me, so she offered to be my tour guide. She’s studying tourism and hospitality, and it was a good opportunity to practice English. That, and she was kind of bored, anyway, and welcomed something to do. Little did she know what she was getting herself into!

When she’d asked me where I was going, I’d told her I was exploring, and was looking to see things worth seeing. She asked me if I wanted to go to some bridge, and if it was okay, even if it was far. I was perfectly okay with that. It turns out that my idea of far and hers are a bit different, so I didn’t realize we had reached our destination when we stopped to admire the view. So we kept walking, after that. We did quite a loop, out near Nan Madol, though we didn’t actually visit that site. It was a nice walk, and I enjoyed it. I wished I had brought my binoculars, or my telephoto lens, so I could have gotten pictures of some of the birds we saw. Next time.

Often, along the way, Shirley would talk with some of the locals. These conversations always ended with them laughing. Finally, I asked her if I should be concerned about that. She told me that they had asked her where we were going, and when she told them how far, they wanted to know why we didn’t drive. She told them that she didn’t know how to say it was time to turn back, so she had just kept going. I felt bad, and told her we could turn back at anytime, if she wanted. She told me we were already on a route that would get us back. She had never been on so long a walk before, she said. But when we got back, she told me that if I wanted to go on more long walks, to let her know. She thought it was good for her.

When we got back, Shirley came in with me to pick out some colors for an ankle bracelet. I had shown her the one I’d made, during our walk. She liked it, so I had offered to make one for her. She picked the diamond pattern, choosing some nice greens for the background, and yellow for the diamonds. I followed her back out, and got interested in the dish being prepared on the table below our balcony. Albert told me it was bananas with coconut, a dish I thought he called “bounce banana,” although I very well could have misheard them. He told me they’d bring me some, when it was done, so I could try it.

Chelsea was back from Kolonia, and it was about time to think about our own dinner. She had no objection to more ratatouille. We still had plenty of vegetables, so I made a fresh batch. I made a bit extra, so I could share some with the family, in exchange for the banana dish. That came up, delivered by Shirley, shortly before my own dish was done. Chelsea tried it, but didn’t care for it, so I ate the whole thing. I washed the plate, and took it back down, loaded with ratatouille, which the family tried. I didn’t see them eat it, because I went back in, but they told me they liked it.

Monday was the start of what was supposed to be my first full week of teaching at MHS. I still wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do, but after their free read/write (suggested topic: What is your favorite place? Where is it? What’s it like? What do you do there? Why do you like it?), I took students to the library, so they could check out the collection. I particularly pointed them to the books the library had multiple copies of, so they could read the story at the same time as their friends, and discuss it. I also told them I would try to get audio books for titles in the King County Library’s collection. I asked around as to how students check out books from the MHS library, but no one I asked was sure. So, for the moment, I just noted books of interest.

This week’s lunch soup was made with fish, but was otherwise similar to the soup made with chicken, except that early in the week, it had some greens in it. It was nice to have a little variety, but I have to admit I like the soup made with chicken better.

At one point, during a planning period, a very large dragon fly flew into my room. It was bouncing against the ceiling for a bit, trying to find its way out, before finally landing on one of the windows. I got a few pictures of it before carefully wrapping it in my over shirt (which I wasn’t wearing) and releasing it outside.

After school, we walked up to the farm, to see what they might have this week. It was the same as last time, and we still had plenty of eggplant and cabbage, so we just got some more beans. It poured while we were at the farm, but cleared again when we were ready to head home. A large snail was out on the path, appreciating the moisture.

We bought a new (to us) kind of sweet bread from one of the stores on the way home. We had a bit of a snack, then finished off the ratatouille for dinner, and had a quiet evening.

I hadn’t been able to connect to the library to get audio books, so I decided to start a Wordly Wise lesson on Tuesday. I had brought Book 8 with me, that I used as a tutor, and thought it might be a good way to approach vocabulary building and reading comprehension. At first, I thought I was going to have to check a different lesson out to each group of students, but I was able to make some photocopies before class started. So, after the free read/write (suggested topic: How I celebrate Christmas. Note: Describe as if for a stranger, unfamiliar with what you know or do.), I had students work in groups of three, all on lesson 1.

I went through the vocabulary list first, so the students would know how the words were pronounced. I asked them to write down unfamiliar words, along with their definitions. For the first section of the lesson, Finding Meanings, I told them they would be able to make one sentence using two of the four available phrases, that correctly used one of the vocabulary words. I asked them to write the sentence and underline the vocabulary word. Each student was to write his or her own paper, to help make the information stick.

As I was getting ready to leave for the day, one of the teachers, Gary, called me over to give me some bananas. He said they were cooking bananas, that could be boiled or fried. When we got home, we found that Dickson had collected many bananas, as well. I don’t think they were all intended for us, but I had asked for bananas. He also got me some yam.

I decided to go for a swim after school, but Chelsea wanted to get some work done, so I went on my own. I forgot to take my mask with me, so I mostly tread water, looking up at the waterfall above me. I did do a little head-high crawl.

I had bought cinnamon rolls and some sweet breadsticks from the store by the falls on my way in, and had set them on the rocks. While I was in the water, the lizard that lives in those rocks came out and tried to steal my packages. And here I’d thought it was the ants I’d have to worry about!

Chelsea made a saute for dinner, using the hamburger she had gotten in Kolonia and some of our vegetables. We had it along with some of the pillow rolls we had gotten earlier in the week. I also fried up some of the bananas, to see how I liked them. They were a little sweet, and pretty tasty, I thought. I experimented with baking slices, but they came out a little dry (still okay, though). So I tried wrapping a whole (peeled) banana in foil and baking it, as well. It got a little dry on the outside, even with the foil, but the inside was good.

After the free read/write on Wednesday (suggested topic: How do you spend your school day? What do you do when you wake up? How do you get ready? How do you get here? What classes do you have? Etc.), I had my students continue work on Wordly Wise. They were to pick up where they left off, and continue as far as they could through 1B and 1C.

The exercise in 1B gave them a sentence that included a phrase in bold, that they needed to replace with the appropriate vocabulary word. I asked them to write down the corrected sentence.

For 1C, they were asked questions about a vocabulary word, and asked what it applied to. This started getting a bit trickier, because any number of the four possible answers could be correct. For example, the first question was “Which of the following might employ a pseudonym?” A writer or a singer were correct, while a small business and the president of a country were not. I asked them to write the answer to the question in a complete sentence.

Early in the day, Chelsea told me she’d gotten a message from Crystal that PICS was starting their holidays early, on Friday. Shortly thereafter, she got a message from one of the teachers that there was a staff meeting after school. At the staff meeting, MHS voted to also have the holidays start early. The school Christmas party would be Friday, and there would be no school next week. They also voted to have the staff party on Monday.

It was kind of interesting, sitting through the staff meeting, because it was conducted in Pohnpeian. Chelsea and I were able to get the gist of what was happening, thanks to some translation from Gary. I’ve never been in a faculty meeting at a high school in the States, so I can’t really compare it.

The staff meeting had taken a while, so afterward, we just went home for the evening. We stretched the leftovers a bit by making some rice and adding some of the greens. It made a nice improvement, and left us with enough for the next day, as well.

It had not taken students long to hear the results of the vote, so they were very much aware that Thursday was the last day of classes before the holiday. They were excited and happy. In the case of my afternoon classes, that also meant most of my students didn’t come to class. That threw things off a bit, but morning classes progressed as normal.

For the free read/write, the suggested topic was “‘Learning is a path I must travel for myself.’ Do you think this is true? Why or why not. Explain. Give examples.” My first class interpreted the metaphor rather literally, so after that, I explained that metaphor was a means of conveying an idea through imagery. It worked as a better prompt, after that.

We continued Wordly Wise. Again, students were asked to pick up where they’d left off and to continue as far as they could, up through section 1D. This exercise was the most challenging yet, because it asked them to complete two of three sentences, using to very similar words. I asked them to write out the two sentences that they could complete. For the example, the words were brusque and abrupt. The sentences were: 1) I was greeted with a(n) _______ “no” when I asked if I could help. 2) A(n) _______ person always seems to be in a hurry. 3) The bus came to a(n) _______ stop when a dog ran directly in front of it.

After the first class (during which the library was locked), I also gave students the opportunity to go to the library to check out a book to read over their holidays. The handful of students who showed up for my last class elected not to, but most of the rest of my classes did.

Among the books in the library, the ones that get the most attention are the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, by Rick Riordan. The boys actually fight over them. One of my students has been devouring them at the rate of one a night. I don’t want to encourage the fights, but I’d love to encourage the enthusiasm. So I’m working on trying to contact Rick Riordan (or his people, anyway) and see if perhaps they might be willing to donate some more of his books to the library. If that’s not possible, I would like to find out if he’s involved in any of the programs that let students chat with authors.

I was getting ready to leave when one of Chelsea’s students said she was asking for me. When I got to room, she told me she had a lizard waiting for me, under one of her back corner desks. It was a beautiful green, and looked very out of place under a student desk. After getting a picture of it, I wrapped it carefully in my shirt (this seems to be a pattern!), took it outside, and released it onto a breadfruit tree, which it immediately began to climb.

The lizard safely returned to a more natural habitat, we headed home. On the way there, I got a photo of a family of chickens (look hard to see the chicks), a lizards in a tree, and I tried to get a shot of one of the spider webs across the path, made by little tiny spiders.

There’s what looks to be a nice pool a ways downstream from the waterfall, and we checked this out as a potential swimming hole. After looking it over, we decided to go for the main pool, below the waterfall. Rather than go back to the path, though, we traveled rock-to-rock, through the stream. I was very surprised, at one point, to look down and see a rather large crayfish.

I got a nice swim in. If I pick the right spot, I can swim upstream and hold my position, watching the fish below me as I swim. Beats a treadmill, any day! The fish seem to be curious or friendly, as they will gather around wherever I am. (They haven’t tried to eat me yet, so I don’t think they see me as food.)

On the way back home, we bought ice cream cones from the store by the falls. We had noticed the ice cream on the way in, and decided to try it on the way out. It was rocky road, and pretty good.

We had leftovers for dinner, and I fried up some more bananas. Shirley came by to pick up her finished bracelet (which I forgot to get a picture of). I asked her whether I’d done the bananas right. She said I cut them too thick. They would certainly be crispier if I cut them thinner, but I kind of like them they way they are.

I left for school on Friday ahead of Chelsea. One of the boys in the courtyard had been playing with a home-made pull-car, as I headed out. I stopped to admire the handiwork.

At school, students had home room parties, before going to the cafeteria for the school party. Chelsea and I had known about the homeroom parties, but had told our homerooms that, if they wanted a party, they needed to work it out themselves, because we didn’t know how they should go. Most of my students didn’t show (or if they were there, they went to other rooms for their parties).

What we hadn’t known was that the homeroom parties went until 11. If we had, we would have come up with some idea or entertainment. I let the handful of students who came to my room play with my Kindle, while I worked on a new bracelet. I had thought to let students make bracelets, but I didn’t have the slots cut in the looms, and didn’t have anything to cut them with.

I wandered over to the science classroom, as that seemed the most likely place to find a razor blade or scalpel, which I could use to cut the slots on the looms. I wound up walking in on a student giving a practice presentation, intended for the Pacific Symposium for Science and Sustainability (PS3). I hadn’t known PS3 existed, or that MHS students participated, but I was happy to learn about it. I let the students and the teacher know that I would be happy to help them get ready. I also got the razor blade was looking for, but by the time I got back to my class, the students were ready to head out to the school party.

There was a PA in the cafeteria, playing loud dance music. The tables had all been moved to the outside walls, leaving the center floor wide open. The music was a bit much for me, so I stayed outside until the main program started. Everyone joined hands, and sang a Christmas hymn (I’m forgetting which one – it was a familiar tune, but they sang in Pohnpeian). There was a prayer, and a few short speeches. Then Chelsea and I were served, and lunch began. There was rice, meat (we never did figure out quite what) and cucumbers. Later, they served ice cream cones, both vanilla and chocolate.

When the party ended (rather suddenly, it seemed), we headed home to finish packing for our trip to Kolonia. As I was taking care of our food waste, I managed to get pictures of a rooster cleaning out a coconut shell, and the family’s cat lounging on a cornerstone of our house.

The cab arrived pretty promptly, and we were on our way. Rather quickly, in fact. I’m still amazed that the cab didn’t manage to actually hit anything along the way.

I got dropped off at Craig’s place, and settled in. He showed me to his office at the College of Micronesia (COM), where I’m able to use this computer and get to the internet. I did a little grocery shopping, so I could make dinner that would also serve as lunch for the Six Waterfalls hike, planned for Saturday. I made a pasta salad, with macaroni, black beans, stewed tomatoes, canned corn, cabbage and green beans. I had even found a little lunch box to pack it in, along with the iced oatmeal cookies I had gotten for the hike. As I returned from my shopping trip, I had the chance to meet Craig’s adopted cat. She’s very friendly, and simply loves to be petted.

The next morning, after checking in on the internet, I got ready to join the group for the hike. Phil and I took a cab, while Craig brought his sister Julie, Emerson, and the two WorldTeach volunteers from Chuuk. Sadly, my camera decided it wasn’t talking to my microSD card, so I didn’t get any pictures from the hike (though I’m hoping to get some from the others). It was a challenging, hilly, muddy hike, but also beautiful. We made a wrong turn at a fork, and went a bit out of our way. After some consultation at the first waterfall, we decided to visit the second (which Craig said he thought was the best, anyway), and then go back. So I now have two reasons to make the hike again: to get pictures, and to complete the hike. I’d love to get an early start, and make a slow, quiet pace, because I know there were plenty of birds around. I’d love to get the chance to see them, and to better appreciate the forest we were traveling through.

I went walking around last night, getting better oriented in town. It was a pleasant night, only getting a bit too warm when the air got still, which was rarely. It was one of the clearer nights I’ve seen here, and I even caught a glimpse of a few stars.

Today, I’ve had a quiet day, finally figuring out how to get my pictures on this computer (I had to upload them via Crystal’s wi-fi, then download them here) and getting this blog post written. Hopefully, I can now produce posts a little more regularly, at least while I’m here for the holidays!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13 December 2015: Quiet Morning

Most of the time I was at school yesterday (which was for several hours) it was pouring. When I finished my work on the computer, I went back to my classroom for a bit, to work on student papers and wait for a break in the rain. I only got through a couple papers when a lessening of the downpour encouraged me to make the walk home. I was impressed by the amount of water in evidence. This morning, as I walked to school, all of it was gone.

Apparently, the rain was mostly done for a while, because I got home without getting very wet. I did get rather warm, though, so I enjoyed a fresh coconut as I relaxed. I even figured out how to tap it myself, with the kitchen knife we have. Splitting it will still take a machete, though.

I finished going through my students papers, and made myself a dinner of leftovers. I was missing my computer, but managed to entertain myself without it.

This morning, I had a couple donuts, and made myself some hash browns from one of the leftover baked potatoes. Then I headed back to school, for the computer lab. My King County Library account works from here, and I’ve been taking advantage of being the only one using the connection to get some audio books downloaded. Aside from wanting them to entertain myself, I’m also hoping I might be able to use them for my students.

This afternoon, I’m hoping to do a bit of exploring. We’ll see where it takes me. In the meantime, I realized I forgot to share the picture of our shower guardian, a silver-dollar-sized spider that lives in and around our shower. Chelsea asked me to get rid of it the first day, but it resisted being washed down the drain. It’s rather remarkably agile when necessary, but mostly just sits in one place, waiting for her chosen prey to come by. We’re apparently not her chosen prey, because she’s shown no aggression toward us (despite our attempt to wash her down the drain). So we’ve decided to let her stay. I always check her location when I get into the bathroom (she does move, from time to time, but is pretty predictable in her choice of spots), but have otherwise let her be. Well, other than when I had her pose for this picture:

 

12 December 2015: A week on Pohnpei

I have not had much computer access lately, so I’m way behind on getting this blog posted. But I came in to the school’s computer lab today, to get caught up!

I left off last Sunday, with Kathryn on her way to pick us up for our last orientation session. We wound up going to Ocean View for lunch, so we could make use of the wi-fi there (which was why I was able to make the last post). It did, in fact, have a nice ocean view, but it was amazing how quickly that view would change. One minute, it would be relatively clear, and a few minutes later, the clouds would roll in thick and cut loose with wind and rain.

Because of the weather, we didn’t wind up going swimming. I did get a pretty decent (if somewhat salty) lunch of vegetable noodles.

We hung out there for quite a while. The internet was actually good enough that I was able to get e-mail downloaded to my computer for the first time since arriving on Pohnpei. We eventually went home for a lazy evening, and I went through some of that e-mail.

On Monday, we spent the morning at PICS, observing Kathryn’s math class. It was my first experience in a classroom here, so it was nice to get the chance to observe.

We walked home for lunch, and then Kathryn picked us up for errands. We set up our bank accounts, refilled our water jug, and got Cash Power (the electricity here is pre-paid, with an entry keypad at each residence). We also went shopping. At the hardware store, I got a 5-gallon bucket to keep in the shower (in case we lost water) and a toaster oven (our house only has a hot plate), and made an extra front door key. At Ace Office Supply (which also has groceries, for some reason), I got a couple pencils, chalk, dried beans, canned tomatoes, a can of hominy, a can of cranberry sauce (it was cheap – they must have gotten overstock after Thanksgiving), spices, potatoes, carrots and onions. At the grocery store, I picked up shampoo, soap, toilet paper, tooth paste and garlic.

Our errands complete, we headed back to Race and Ringlen’s, to see if we could get everything into the car. It was kind of a tight fit, but we managed it, and Kathryn’s car successfully made the drive to our new home. We stopped by the high school, but it was late enough that no one was around. So we took the evening to settle in. We were pretty tired, so we both just ate some of our snacks for dinner.

Tuesday turned out to be a school holiday, because of run-off elections. Albert (the head of the host family that owns our house) took us to visit the Chinese Farm, but no one was around to sell us anything. We saw one of the Chinese workers, but I don’t think he understood us when we asked about buying produce. It was cool to see all the stuff they were growing, though, and we looked forward to being able to buy some of it, in the coming months.

For the afternoon, we decided we wanted to go swimming. Albert sent Kristen with us as a guide to Kepirohi Waterfall, and her friend Sinatra joined us along the way. It’s at most a half mile from our house, and is quite beautiful. There’s a $3 admission charge for adults, though, so I don’t know if I’ll get there that often. Perhaps we can work out a “season pass” of sorts.

Back at home, I cooked my first dinner on Pohnpei. I had soaked some of the black beans that morning, and cooked them up. I sauteed onion and garlic in cumin and chili powder, and added the hominy, along with a can of diced tomatoes with chilis. I mixed the black beans back in, and we had ourselves a fairly hearty stew.

Wednesday, we we got to school early, to meet the principal and get oriented. We were pointed to our classrooms: one was downstairs, and one upstairs. Chelsea wanted the one upstairs, because she wanted to be able to take the stairs, so I took the one downstairs. (I should get a picture of it, but I haven’t yet – perhaps when I get it a bit better decorated.) I did get a nice shot looking out toward the ocean, in the early morning light. The picture doesn’t quite do the view justice, though.

It took a little while to figure out our teaching schedules. I had been expecting to teach Oral English to seniors, but I was switched to teaching English Reading & Writing to Sophmores. So I’ve got a bit of scrambling to do, to figure out what I’ll teach and how, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out.

We went home mid-day, because we weren’t going to be able to get into our classrooms until the end of the school day. I stopped at the container store on our way in, and bought us some cinnamon rolls. They were pretty tasty, heated up in the toaster oven.

I had brought materials to make friendship bracelets, that came with weaving templates. I decided to try one out. I was impressed with how well it worked. The finished bracelet stretched more than I expected it to, so I put it on my ankle. It took me a bit to figure out how to make the closure work so that it would stay, but I did it. I can’t figure out how to rotate pictures with what I’ve got available to me, at the moment, and it’s a little out of focus, but it looks like this:

When we got back to school, we got to meet with the Language Arts Department, as well as a couple other teachers, so we could learn a bit about what students have worked on so far, and what they still need to do. We didn’t get a lot of detail, but we certainly got a general idea, which was helpful.

For dinner, I had the thought to serve the leftover stew over baked potatoes. The combination worked very well, and was even heartier than it had been the night before.

With Albert’s help, I was able to buy four young coconuts, which I put in the fridge for the next day. Tapping into a cold coconut at the end of a long day sounded amazing, and I was seriously looking forward to it.

Thursday morning began our first day of class. I was given my class roster and grade book, inherited from the previous teacher. I called the first student and she identified herself. I asked her to come forward. She and the rest of the class were flustered (they don’t like to be singled out). I was just taking pictures, though, so I have a better chance to learn names quickly.Many were a bit shy about it (one girl in my last class just couldn’t bring herself to have her picture taken, I took a picture of her with a towel over her head). It probably didn’t help that the rest of the class seemed to find the practice incredibly amusing. A few were bold, and posed for the pictures, clearly wanting to look good. In all, I think it was a fun way to start things out (and having the pictures will be invaluable).

Once the pictures were done, I introduced myself, and asked the students to complete the following assignment:

1. What’s one thing you’ve already learned in this class?
2. What one thing would you most like to work on in this class?
3. What’s one thing you would like me to know about you, your school, or Pohnpei?
4. What do you want your life to look like 5 years from now?
5. What questions would you like to ask me?

Based on their answers, some of the students didn’t quite understand my phrasing. But I got a feel for what selections from the text they had already been exposed to, and what skills they had worked on. I also got a starting feel for their current writing skills. I went through all the papers, answered their questions, and made comments where appropriate. A good beginning, I hope.

After school, Chelsea and I walked to the Chinese Farm, to see if we could get some produce. On the road to the farm, we passed some machinery that the jungle is taking back. I thought it made a cool picture.

It took a little while, but we got a fabulous deal on some Chinese cabbage, string beans, and eggplant.

This was the first time we had actually walked all the way home (someone had invariably offered us a ride, up until then), and it was definitely a warm afternoon. I asked one of the guys outside to tap our cold coconuts (they have a machete, which we don’t). The coconut water was, indeed, incredibly refreshing. There was also a fair amount of young coconut meat in there, so, once I finished the water, I got the coconut split, and enjoyed half of it.

Then I got started on dinner. I made a modified ratatouille with our new fresh vegetables. Sauteed onions and garlic, oregano, basil, eggplant, string beans, Chinese cabbage and canned diced tomatoes. I probably should have put potato in it, but it takes so long to cook that I didn’t want to wait for it. It was still pretty good.

As we started walking to school on Friday, we noticed that one of the container stores close to us had baked goods. We selected a bag of donuts and a bag of donut holes. We sampled them, but took them back home, so they could be in the fridge.

At school, I handed papers back and introduced my students to my class philosophy:

• Treat others with courtesy and respect
• Mistakes are good, as long as you learn from them
• Take ownership for your learning
• When in doubt, ask

I then previewed a vocabulary challenge that would start when they brought in their journals (which they’re supposed to do Monday). The goal is to increase their vocabulary by at least one word each school day:

• Write down an English word you’re not familiar with
• Include pronunciation notes if appropriate
• Define the word
• Use the word in a sentence

I told them that, while they’re building their English vocabulary, they can help me build my Pohnpeian vocabulary. (I pointed out that, while they may not consider themselves very comfortable in English, they’re way ahead of where I am with Pohnpeian.) I told them it probably wouldn’t help me for them to use the word in a Pohnpeian sentence, but that I would appreciate if they gave me some idea of when I’d use it.

Finally, I gave them a free read/write assignment which I said would start every class, starting Monday. It will last 15 minutes (whether they’re there or not), and they’ll have three options:

1. Respond to comments on an assignment
2. Write on a topic of their own choosing (the suggested topic for today was what they’re doing with their weekend)
3. Read a selection of their choice from the text book. Record title, author, page number(s), and how much of the selection they read. They then needed to write a brief description of what the reading was about, and/or write what they thought about the reading.

Because this was the first day of class, and they were getting used to the idea of how this assignment works (I don’t think they’re used to having much choice in how assignments go), I let them have the rest of the class to complete the assignment.

Both days, I got lunch in the cafeteria. I still need to get a picture, but it’s a soup with rice, onions, chicken, and pepper. When Chelsea joined me for it on Friday, she said it was also pretty salty. I’m usually pretty sensitive to salt, but I didn’t really notice that. Of course, given that I don’t cook with salt at home, and that we’re doing a fair amount of sweating in the heat, the salt is probably good for me.

We caught a ride from the head cook most of the way home, so we decided to save our cold coconuts for another day. We did eat some of the leftover coconut meat, though.

For dinner, I baked some more potatoes, and served leftovers of both stews over them. I think we’re eating pretty well!

This morning, we reheated some of the donuts in the toaster oven, and then dipped them in Chelsea’s sugar. (They’re a little sweet on their own, but fairly plain). Fresh, I think the donuts were better, but reheated, the donut holes had them beat.

The plan had been to go to a group hike near Kitti today, but we got word that AJ’s mother had passed away, and that the hike probably wasn’t happening. Chelsea decided to catch a cab to Kolonia, while I decided to head to school, to see if I could get a computer to work on.

It was a warm walk, so I was thrilled to find the computer lab open and the air conditioning on. There’s a Saturday school program here, that I may volunteer to help with sometimes, once I get things more organized. Then again, maybe not, because it’s a full-day program, and I kind of want my Saturdays to be able to explore the island. We’ll see.

At any rate, I was able to get on a computer, and get this blog caught up, finally. One of the teachers even gave me a boxed lunch!

At one point, the power went out, but I had brought some papers with me that still needed comments, so I worked on them while polishing off the lunch. I had only done a few when the power came back on, so now I’m actually up to date!