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. 

eight bananas a day keeps the doctor away

I can’t believe that I’m already halfway through my fifth week as a high school teacher.  It’s almost too weird to even type that.  Not too long ago, my only obligations involved studying for classes (gossiping with friends in the library), working night-shifts at the hospital (oftentimes getting paid to do the studying I ignored in the library), and waking up before 1 pm on Saturdays.  This is what many people have told me were the “good ol’ days.”  I can see why they would say that – the work I have been doing recently has been tireless, full of responsibility, and if you have an “off” day, you get eaten alive.  With that said, I think there is plenty of the good ol’ days present in my day-to-day lifestyle in Pohnpei; as the wise philosopher Drake once said, “I’m looking forward to the memories of right now.”  When we haven’t been in class, Gabrielle and I have been able to do some pretty incredible things and it’s just getting better and better (not that class hasn’t, but days off are a treasured thing). 

Shaving coconuts in our front yard.  We tried making coconut milk but needless to say, we still have a bit to learn.

Me with some bananas that I got from the backyard.  I learned that banana trees only reproduce once, so when you want to get the fruit, you just cut the whole tree down.  This particular kind of banana is originally from Chuuk and is not very sweet.  They are better for frying.

 On Monday of last week, the Federated States of Micronesia celebrated Liberation Day.  Nobody is quite sure who they were liberated from, but hell, it’s a day off so let’s fire up the barbecues and get liberated!  On top of that, we didn’t have school on Tuesday because it was a PTO meeting day.  So, this was the perfect four day weekend to really get involved and have a blast in Kitti – we didn’t even come into Kolonia to resupply and go out with the other WorldTeachers.  Ironically, this was our most low key weekend we’ve had so far.  I was able to read two entire books in these four days; there was just nothing going on!  Granted, we went out with some local friends to a sakau market on Friday night and to the Lan Pai Pohn waterfall on Sunday, but for the whole rest of the time, I feel like we didn’t see any other human beings.  We had the chance to go to a potentially awesome all-day church festival on Sunday, but because we had made prior plans to hike to the waterfall, we weren’t able to attend.  The waterfall hike ended up taking around two hours and is right by our house (so we can go there anytime), and we were left shaking our heads at our bad planning.  Now that I’ve seen how Pohnpeians celebrate, I don’t think I’ll ever double-book a Sunday or feast day ever again.  

The waterfall by our house that we visited on Sunday.  There didn't seem to be a good way to get back up to the top, so we didn't jump off.

 So far, our most profound experiences have taken place on the weekdays (when we have the least amount of free time to afford it).  Yesterday, Monday afternoon, we were invited to a funeral for a coworker’s cousin.   When we arrived, I was expecting to walk into a somber, melancholy atmosphere and instead, I was greeted by maybe a hundred people eating, smoking, laughing, and drinking around the Nahs or the outdoor patio area.  I am slowly getting used to the feeling of “walking the gauntlet” when we arrive at a new place – heads turn, people stare, and every once in a while you hear the Pohnpeian word for “white person” thrown into a conversation (there are about three of us total in Kipar, Kitti).  Although this is unnerving at first, Pohnpeians are quick to make you feel welcome.  Seating in the Nahs is by invitation only, and almost as soon as we got there, the high-titled man presiding over the ceremony made sure that we had a seat inside.  We had arrived on the third day of this four day funeral and apparently it was “fish day.”  Indeed, I noticed that every new person to show up would deposit his catch of the day in a growing pile of sea-life.  For four hours, Gabrielle was on my left, a dead turtle on my right, and I watched hundreds of fish of various shapes, sizes, and colors get heaped into a pile that became almost eye-level.  There were four separate stones where men were pounding sakau, and we were continually offered this kava in addition to all the food we could eat.  I would have felt like a true Pohnpeian if I were able to understand any of the speeches that were occasionally belted out over the uproar.  

The fish that were given to us at the funeral.  The next day, we cooked the one on the left.  It's an interesting process to gut a fish when you have no idea what you are doing...I learned quite a bit of anatomy.

After some time, it was finally time to leave and Gabrielle reluctantly left our seats to return home to our life of lesson planning and grading.  Before we could go, we were given three woven baskets filled with various foods, a coconut, a pineapple, and four freshly caught reef fish.  I could not believe that we were included in the distribution of food at a funeral for a woman we did not know especially after showing up unannounced and unexpectedly.  I have never felt so welcomed in my life - even when I look and act so different from the people around me.  Next time, I am definitely bringing a donation of food with me so that I can be a better guest to such generous hosts.  With luck, I will be able to learn how to spearfish and I will be able to provide a suitable and worthwhile contribution.  Until then, I’ll have to keep pestering my local friends to take me out on the boat and teach me their ways!  Who knows what the next long weekend has in store for me…

A mwaramwar made of sour cherries is on the left; they are given to guests and attendees of festivals and are worn on the head.  (The nice thing about this mwaramwar is that it's edible!  It tastes decent when dipped in salt).  One of our three food baskets from the funeral is on the right.

Uht soukasouk piaia (ooch sook-a-sook pee-ay-a) - I'm not certain that's the correct spelling, but it's the name of my favorite thing to eat here.  It's pounded banana that they warm up and cover with freshly made coconut milk.  Not infrequently, our neighbors will stop by with a plate.  Between this kind of dessert and the bananas we have in our entrance-way, I have about 8 uht, or bananas, every day.

internet????

I feel like every time I write a blog post or send a letter, I have to apologize for how long it has taken me to do so.  Gosh – it’s 2011 – you’d think there would be wifi and reliable high speed internet in all developing countries by now!  Allegedly, Pohnpei has these things.  But, after my drawn-out and circuitous struggle to procure a simple dial-up connection in my home, I have started to doubt the claims.  I’m not really in a place to complain about such trivial matters when there are other things much more pressing to the Pohnpeian people (and to myself); but seriously, can I please just make one phone call to my mother so that we can have the following conversation?

Me: “Hi Mom, I cannot believe how difficult teaching is, how the heck do you make it look so easy?”

Mom: “That’s the first thing you say after a month of not calling me??  I love and missed you too…  Anyways Scott, it comes from many years of trial and error and learning from your mistakes!”

Me: “Okay but I am here for one year, so how can I make it easy sooner rather than later?”

Mom: “Well, you could try sucking it up.”

Me: “So you’re saying that the magical solution I am looking for is time and experience?”

Mom: “Either that or a magical assistant who does all of your lesson planning, prep-work, instruction, grading, and end-of-the-day foot massages.”

Me: “Do you think you could send some money so I can pay Gabrielle to do that?”

Or maybe something like that (for the record, my mom is a sweet caring lady who would have provided much more empathetic responses).  The point is, I have at my disposal a veteran teacher who loves me and is willing – nay, wants – to help me, and I can’t talk to her about my first three weeks of school because telecom won’t press the one button that delivers internet to my modem.  For some reason, I have it in my head that all it takes to activate the internet is the click of a mouse, and there’s a guy sitting in his chair – next to said mouse – laughing manically as he watches me through his hidden camera while I frantically restart my modem a dozen times in a row.  If you are reading this right now, it’s because this mysterious man has relented and granted me mercy.  If you are out there, mysterious man, thank you. 

As I write this, I have a pulse.  For this reason, I am fairly certain that I have survived the first two and a half weeks of school.  I’m being dramatic – it wasn’t that bad.  Although I now understand my mom’s exhaustion at the end of a long work day, I think that teaching in Pohnpei is very rewarding and I dare say, fun.  At the last minute, I received an extra class so I now have upper level Algebra I and Geometry classes, and a lower level Algebra I.  The hardest part of this arrangement is that I have to create three unique 90 minute lessons for each day.  Making them informative, helpful, engaging, interesting, easy to understand, unique, and beneficial for an extremely multi-level class is the other hardest part.  But the students couldn’t be better and they are way smarter than anyone gives them credit for.  I can’t speak for their English skills (you can read Gabrielle’s blog if you’re looking for that), but they have a solid foundation of most math topics, so about 40% of what I have been doing is refreshing and reviewing.  

Nanpei Memorial High School.  My classroom is behind the baseball backstop on the left side of the photo.  The cafeteria is the building to the right.  Although the large tree is blocking the view of the mountains, the school is tucked away in a simply breathtaking natural environment.

Our classrooms!  It is a two room building that is used by the WorldTeach volunteers every year.

Gabrielle and I outside of my classroom.  Gabrielle's classroom is right down the "hall" to the right.  The windows/walls are made from mesh so it's a surprisingly well ventilated room!  By well-ventilated, I mean that sometimes I actually don't sweat while I'm teaching.

Sometimes I think it would actually be easier if my students were worse at math because then I could go step by step with the book and build the foundation myself.  As it is now, they are extremely fluent in some topics that you wouldn’t expect, and extremely deficient in other topics that you would assume they know.  This makes my job more difficult because I have to parse through the material to find the things that they need to know and skip what they already know.  In other words, to continue with the house metaphor, I have had to fill in large gaps of the “foundation” that were never built while skipping over parts of the house that were apparently already built.  It’s all very frustrating.  In one class period, I could have my students bored to tears because they’ve seen the material 50 times to being completely overwhelmed by new information.  The ranges of both math proficiency and English proficiency create a staggering achievement gap in my classes and thus a huge challenge for me as I try to move the entire class forward.  In some cases, there are students who have neither the foundation NOR the house and are sort of left in the dust trying to catch up.  Interestingly, my most difficult class to teach is also my highest level class because despite pre-tests and assessments, I have no idea what they already know.  Sometimes they astound me with their aptitude and other times they bewilder me with their misunderstanding.

My classroom!  Sans students.  Those walls used to be white!

 I could go on endlessly about classes but I’ll have plenty of time throughout the year for that.  The only reason I have time to write right now is because water outages were responsible for cancelling school early today.  Apparently, these things are a common occurrence.  I thought that a run would be a great way to occupy myself during the extra free time but I neglected to think about my need for a shower afterwards.  Like I said: water outages.  Due to a generous offer from a non-WT volunteer living down the road, I was able to use a local river for a bath.  I wish I could describe how it felt to be standing completely alone in a stream, in a jungle, naked, in the blackness of the night, and rinsing the Pantene out of my hair with a bucket.  It is such a surreal yet calming thing to do.  For the 100^th time this month I asked myself, how the hell did I get a chance to do something like this?  And that’s what makes it all worth it.  

A stormy sunset at Seinwar Elementary School.  In the distance you can see some construction equipment seemingly floating in the water.  On the right, the bluriness is rainfall over the reef.

 For those of you who have sent me mail, email, packages, or messages, THANK YOU so much and I promise I will get back to you as soon as I can.  I have not forgotten about you, and I’m sorry if you thought I was being distant.  I am only distant in the physical sense.  I will do my best to give you the responses you deserve!!