good things come in sixes

More often than not, when you make plans in Pohnpei, they will fall through – it’s just a fact of life.  In fact, in only the past three weekends, I have been promised a trip to the jungle to plant sakau, a fishing trip, and another trip to the jungle to plant yams.  Despite sincere assurances that all of these things would happen, none of them has occurred yet.  So, when an opportunity to go on the “six-waterfall hike” presented itself, I was again resigned to sit at home correcting papers and feeling sorry for myself.  Even if the hike did indeed take place, we didn’t even have a ride to the trailhead, so things were looking pretty bleak.  We decided to give it a shot anyway and started walking along the main road on Sunday morning hoping for a ride.  To my surprise, the very first car that came by not only picked us up but was headed to the exact village that we needed to get to.  It seemed fate was on our side that day. 

We met the other hikers at the trailhead in Salapwuk (Sala-pook), a village tucked high up in the mountains and relatively far from the main road.  Unfortunately, it was such a rainy day that there was no view of the ocean (a cherished sight for someone living in Kitti) even though the village has a great vantage point.  After a few short introductions, we paid some locals for permission to cross their property and headed off into the jungle in search of the famous six waterfalls. 

Most of the hike followed a main river which we either hiked adjacent to, across, or just straight up against the current.  This meant that the majority of the time we were either bushwhacking or stepping over dangerously slimy river rocks (I think only one person out of 18 made it the whole day without falling and clearly he is an anomaly).  The river itself is nestled between incredibly steep and densely forested mountains which shut you off from the rest of the world.  Every once in a while, there would be another river which emptied into the one we were hiking through and it would take the form of an enormous waterfall.  We spent a good amount of time at each waterfall swimming and exploring the caves. 

I know you’ll hate me for saying it, but the combination of 70-75 degree rainy weather and cold river water made it a pretty freezing hike.  Not to mention, I was so wet for the entire day that some tiny cuts I had on the bottom of my feet had turned into gaping crevasses after I took my shoes off.  I was positively limping to school today.  Regardless, after much slipping, wading, swimming, and trudging, we made it to all six waterfalls and completed the loop of our very satisfying hike.  It took about 8 hours to finish and I would estimate that it was about 4 miles long.  I could have written more but I figured that the pictures would say more than I could describe.  Enjoy!

Our guide leading us to the second waterfall of the hike.  This is also the river that we hiked through and along for the majority of the day.  We made crossings like this many more times.

A closer view of the second waterfall.  Mom's care packages have kept me from getting toooo skinny.

The third waterfall.  This one also had a pretty large cave behind the falls.

Another WT volunteer, Mike, wearing an old shoe that we found camouflaged among some mossy rocks.

A waterproof camera is the best investment you could ever make for a hike like this.

The entrance to the last waterfall of the hike.

We used a rope to help us swim up-current through a rocky crevasse to get to the last waterfall.

An incredible heart-shaped waterfall in one of the most remote spots on the island.  The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was set in a staggeringly large leafy cereal bowl whose walls nearly block out the sky.  At the end of the day, you really felt like you "earned" this waterfall. 

One of the local guides (actually a student at my high school) jumping off the top part of the falls.  Don't ask me how any of us were able to climb up there in the first place, but it was a great jump.

tropical misconceptions

Before I got to Pohnpei, I knew there would be many challenges here and many things that I would have to learn to adapt to.  So far, there have indeed been challenges, but it has been nothing insurmountable; the best way to describe it would be to say that it is just different.  I really don’t want to be that person who goes to a third world country and blogs about how hard their life is in an effort to garner simultaneous pity and amazement at their “adventure.” I have running water, a fridge, internet access, access to a post-office, and the other day, I spent $5 of my hard-earned money on eight slices of Colby jack cheese.  I would say my life is at the very least bearable, if not pretty darn good.  Maybe I’m just reacting to some blogs that I’ve recently been exposed to, but I don’t want this to become some kind of pity-party.  Having to sleep under a mosquito net is not the most remarkable thing in the world.  With that said, I am going to continue by running through a quick list of things that - for some reason or another – have surprised me since I’ve been here.  Starting with…

• Mosquito nets: While a necessity, they are far from being the invincible forcefield I assumed them to be.  In fact, Gabrielle and I have each noticed elaborate spider-webs adorning our mesh canopies.  You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Well at least the spiders will eat any bugs that incidentally make their way into the nets, right??” Nope - Inexplicable Nocturnal Bites (INB’s) are a hallmark of our nightly slumbers despite the guardian spiders.  As an aside, mosquito nets offer no protection at all when it comes to bed bugs.  You can ask Gabrielle about that nice little piece of information.

• Mosquitoes: Not that they are an intelligent species, but they are particularly dim-witted on this island.  I see nothing at all of them for the entire day (except in the bathroom), and then each night at precisely 7pm, they just appear all throughout the kitchen.  So, at about 7:05pm, we light a mosquito coil and they disappear for the rest of the night.  As for when I’m in the bathroom (where it is more often moist), there will be six or seven of them swarming around me and not a single one will go in for the kill.  It’s as if the slightest bit of movement or even awareness of them will ward them off.  Gabrielle is not as lucky though and we’ve come up with the theory that body hair is the best natural bug repellant.  Indeed, my only bites are at my ankles where I am the least hairy.  It’s a good thing I grew a hideous beard to protect my face from unsightly mosquito bites.

• Showers: I don’t know what I was expecting, but I continue to be baffled and dismayed by the icy shower water situation.  But Scott, you live next to the equator, you should love having a cold shower every day.  Let me put it this way, some people may describe the feeling as “refreshing,” but to me, a freezing shower is just that – freezing.  It’s not like I want a hot shower after going on a run in 80 degree 100% humidity weather, but a little bit warmer than ice would be okay.  Other volunteers on the island have bragged to me about staying over a nice house and getting hot showers.  The saddest part is that I get jealous.  It is truly incredible what you can become dissatisfied with on a tropical island.

• Quick-Dry Towels: Imagine drying yourself with a piece of rubber and then having it smell like mildew after one use and you’ll know what a Quick-dry towel is like.  It’s just like a normal towel except it’s a millimeter thick, doesn’t get you dry, and is a complete false advertisement.  Quick-dry?  More like Still Pretty Slow-dry.  Maybe I just bought the wrong brand, but regardless, if I wanted to smear water all over my body after a shower, I wouldn’t have packed a towel in the first place. 

• Ants: I just want to say that ants are probably the most amazing creatures I’ve ever seen.  Always at work, they traverse huge distances while carrying other much larger creatures and almost never get lost.  And recently, they even found a way into my peanut butter even though I keep that lid sealed more securely than grandma’s apple pie recipe.  I couldn’t even be mad I was so impressed they found a way in there.  Needless to say, I did not show these remarkable creatures any mercy and along the way I discovered a new peanut butter flavor: Skippy’s Extra Extra Crunchy.

Sorry for the lack of visuals!  The next post will have plenty of pictures.

as if we couldn't get any whiter

Usually, writers like to start out with a “punch” to grab the reader’s attention and make them want to keep reading.  Instead, I’m going to start out by recommending that you check out Gabrielle’s blog at http://kosraeanadventures.blogspot.com because hers will be much more enjoyable to read.  She has a way more complete recap of this week and her pictures are also way better.  Besides, there are even some pictures of me up there so if it’s me you’re really interested in, you still won’t be disappointed!

With that said, I’m going to continue by talking about Gabrielle!  How backwards has this blog become??  I’ve been constantly bragging about her because she has gotten so “local” recently.  We’ve been going to a Protestant Church called Pohnalamwahu (roughly translated as “on a path to goodness”) Church and we’ve had the opportunity to become really close with the rest of the congregation.  On a side note, we go to church at least twice a week here and it’s become one of my favorite things to do.  Whether it’s cluelessly belting out Pohnpeian hymns, talking politics after the service over a cup of coffee, or receiving mountains of food that would make Jabba the Hut feel jealous, it’s the best part of the week.  Anyways, Gabrielle has been doing some serious bonding with the church ladies and has recently started dancing with them after the services.  Unbeknownst to Gabrielle, they were rehearsing for an island-wide dance group performance/competition/future MTV show (“America’s Best Pohnpeian Dance Crew Featuring One White Girl”).  When they saw that Gabrielle had the moves, they didn’t hesitate to ask her to join them in the upcoming performance on Saturday.  From there on out, she participated in all the rehearsals, was given a white mumu, white mwaramwar, and white flower to put in her hair.  

The procession towards the church in Madolenihmw.  Each municipality has its own color for events such as these - Kitti's color is white.

 When the day of the performance came, she got all dressed up and I almost couldn’t tell her apart from the rest of the women!  Up until this point, I had not seen the dance yet and I was expecting to see a riotous explosion of choreography and singing – after all, they had spent days rehearsing for hours on end.  What I saw was a slow moving, rhythmic, and flowing dance that was no less impressive.  Fulfilling my obligation as dutiful husband, I took so many pictures and videos that I filled up my memory card and had to go back and delete the bad pictures in order to make more room.  The next time I have four hours to kill (ha!), I will upload a video; but until then, the pictures will have to do! 

The church in Madolenihmw where all the church groups congregated on this warm Saturday morning.

Gabrielle and the other women slowly making their way up to the front of the church to perform for the other church groups.

As for my own rapport with the community, I am trying to keep up with Gabrielle who has clearly taken the lead in this invented competition of mine.  So far, she takes the cake with the older women, but I am winning with the 5 year old boys who constantly want to see my muscles.  My secret weapon is throwing out handshakes that were cool 10 years ago - apparently, the high-five never really reached Pohnpei.  When I started doing the good ol’ dikido limau (high-five), the wonder on their faces was as if I had taught them how to make fire.  And, like fire, it caught on with the entire elementary school.  I have kids I’ve never even met before lining up in front of my classroom to get their chance to give me some kind of 90’s greeting.  My favorite is the one where you make a fist and give a sort of punch to another person’s fist.  They went crazy when I did the exploding version where you fling your fingers open right when you make contact.  Although I am apparently the coolest 5 year old around, it gets frustrating to be unable to communicate with any of them.  For this reason -and also for the hell of it - I have begun a new concerted effort to become fluent in Pohnpeian.  I know enough to get by, but this is such an easy language to learn I almost have no excuse.  Like they say though, I am learning akisakis, or little by little.  We shall see how that endeavor pans out!  Maybe after this year, I won’t be so menwai after all.

Me and one of my favorite buddies at the neighboring elementary school.