For those of you who have been worried or curious about how I am doing, I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to get online more often. Because my host family doesn’t have an internet connection in their home, I have had to get to the Telecom building to access the internet. This has proven very difficult with my orientation schedule. Hopefully, once I move into my apartment in Kitti (which I now know is pronounced Kit-chee), I will be able to have a reliable dial up connection to access the internet.
Anyways, I am so glad to finally be here in Pohnpei. Once I met my group in LA, we had a long flight to Honolulu and got about four hours of sleep there. One volunteer met a family friend in Honolulu and spent the night going out to eat, seeing the beach, sightseeing in the Capital, and generally having an awesome time. I saw what the airport and hotel look like at night… From there, we had a four or five hour flight to Majuro which is an atoll part of the Marshall Islands. Luckily, we were able to get off the plane and grab something to eat at the one room airport for a little while. After another couple hours of flying, we landed on Kwajalein – another atoll of the Marshall Islands – where we were not allowed to get off the plane because it is a US Army base. I was able to snap a few illegal pictures of the place before the military began a search of the cabin for suspicious luggage. Then, we continued on for another hour or two to Kosrae (Koshe-Rye) and dropped off the set of 6-7 other WorldTeach volunteers. Kosrae was astoundingly beautiful and it would have been a fascinating place to volunteer in since there are only about 6000 people living on the island. After another hour or so of anxious anticipation, we finally arrived in Pohnpei.
Flying in, the island is straight out of Jurassic Park. I ventured into the jungle behind the high school yesterday and actually had a slight feeling of being that character that somehow gets split up from the group and eaten by a pack of starved velociraptors. I was surprised at how much there is to Pohnpei though. GoogleEarth makes the island look like a pretty featureless green circle floating in the middle of the ocean but once you see it yourself, it’s filled with enormous mountains, valleys, rivers, dense foliage, and winding roads that disorient and amaze you at the same time. Much to my surprise and dismay, these same features prevent me from seeing the ocean on a regular basis. Also, I knew that it would be hot and humid here but I had no idea to what extent. When I stepped off the plane, I was hit with a wall of humidity that causes you to start sweating almost immediately. I tried to think of adjectives to describe the humidity and I came up with “engulfing,” “suffocating,” and “violent.” I’ve adapted to this weather by avoiding any kind of exertion such as walking too fast or thinking too hard.
Since I have been here, I have been living with another volunteer (Mike Hilbert - if you want to follow his blog) in a house in Kolonia. We have three host moms, two of which are sisters and work in the schools, a host dad who has been teaching us traditional Pohnpeian customs and language, three host brothers ranging in age from around 7ish to 23, an 19 year old host sister who will soon be starting school at the College of Micronesia, and a young host sister who has finally overcome her shyness enough to tell me good morning and good night (mensang mwahu, pong mwahu) which is probably the cutest thing you’ll ever see. They have been more welcoming and generous than I could possibly imagine. Pohnpeians take great pride in making their guests feel like family (and also making sure they are never ever hungry). For breakfast this week, Mike and I have been consistently presented with something along the lines of 6 fried eggs, 15 pancakes, 10 french toast slices, a bowl of spicy fried spam and cabbage, and a plate of sliced oranges. Mistakenly, we have been under the impression that it would be rude for us not to finish this food. I just recently discovered that our younger host brother and sister were getting our leftovers. I wish I had found this out sooner.
To avoid making an unpalatably long entry and writing for the whole evening, I’ll cut myself off for now. I plan on writing another entry this weekend explaining all of the things I have been doing, eating, and learning the past six days. Everything is going really well, the other volunteers are awesome to hang out with, and the people here are super friendly (and curious – since there are very few “menwai” or foreigners in Pohnpei). For now, I’m off to a mountaintop restaurant with an insane view of the lagoon to relax with some of the other volunteers! I hope everything is going well back home!
Anyways, I am so glad to finally be here in Pohnpei. Once I met my group in LA, we had a long flight to Honolulu and got about four hours of sleep there. One volunteer met a family friend in Honolulu and spent the night going out to eat, seeing the beach, sightseeing in the Capital, and generally having an awesome time. I saw what the airport and hotel look like at night… From there, we had a four or five hour flight to Majuro which is an atoll part of the Marshall Islands. Luckily, we were able to get off the plane and grab something to eat at the one room airport for a little while. After another couple hours of flying, we landed on Kwajalein – another atoll of the Marshall Islands – where we were not allowed to get off the plane because it is a US Army base. I was able to snap a few illegal pictures of the place before the military began a search of the cabin for suspicious luggage. Then, we continued on for another hour or two to Kosrae (Koshe-Rye) and dropped off the set of 6-7 other WorldTeach volunteers. Kosrae was astoundingly beautiful and it would have been a fascinating place to volunteer in since there are only about 6000 people living on the island. After another hour or so of anxious anticipation, we finally arrived in Pohnpei.
Sokeh's Rock from the plane
Flying in, the island is straight out of Jurassic Park. I ventured into the jungle behind the high school yesterday and actually had a slight feeling of being that character that somehow gets split up from the group and eaten by a pack of starved velociraptors. I was surprised at how much there is to Pohnpei though. GoogleEarth makes the island look like a pretty featureless green circle floating in the middle of the ocean but once you see it yourself, it’s filled with enormous mountains, valleys, rivers, dense foliage, and winding roads that disorient and amaze you at the same time. Much to my surprise and dismay, these same features prevent me from seeing the ocean on a regular basis. Also, I knew that it would be hot and humid here but I had no idea to what extent. When I stepped off the plane, I was hit with a wall of humidity that causes you to start sweating almost immediately. I tried to think of adjectives to describe the humidity and I came up with “engulfing,” “suffocating,” and “violent.” I’ve adapted to this weather by avoiding any kind of exertion such as walking too fast or thinking too hard.
Pohnpei from the apartment of our field director, Kate Troutman
Our host family's house in Kolonia
To avoid making an unpalatably long entry and writing for the whole evening, I’ll cut myself off for now. I plan on writing another entry this weekend explaining all of the things I have been doing, eating, and learning the past six days. Everything is going really well, the other volunteers are awesome to hang out with, and the people here are super friendly (and curious – since there are very few “menwai” or foreigners in Pohnpei). For now, I’m off to a mountaintop restaurant with an insane view of the lagoon to relax with some of the other volunteers! I hope everything is going well back home!
The lagoon from a local restaurant!
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