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!