Tu woh from Micronesia!
I arrived in Kosrae about two weeks ago, but the time requirements of our intensive orientation and a very bootleg internet situation have limited my blobbing abilities. It's a relief to finally put something here!
I arrived on this island in bad shape; After traveling almost constantly for five days (with a very fun birthday stopover in Los Angeles with dem catz) my body was very confused and very tired. Fret not, though, I've more than made up for it since I've been here: I've been sleeping at least 10 hours most nights and have been having some very strange dreams!
Rick, the valiant field director of the WorldTeach Kosrae program, met me at the "airport" in a pickup truck and off we went to join the other volunteers at the high school. Note: the "airport" was two concrete-floor rooms with a very lax customs inspection process. Things are very different here. I knew they would be, and they definitely are. I don't know if I'm culture shocked yet, but it's probably coming. Darn that iceberg.
The drive to the high school provided my visual introduction to my home for the next ten months. This island is even more beautiful than I imagined or that pictures can convey. There is just one road connecting the four main "towns" on the island (more like clusters of homes and the occasional market), and it stretches along the white beach-framed Pacific with lots of coconut, mango, and papaya trees along the way. The food here literally falls from the sky. Homes and what businesses there are are mostly on this road, and the inside land is mostly beautifully untamed, thick jungle. I feel as though I live on the edge of Jurrassic Park.
We (the other seven volunteers and I) meet at the high school each day, all day, for orientation activities and teacher training. The other seven are some pretty great kids, and I feel lucky already to have their friendship and support for the year. The high school is probably the most modern building on the island, completed by Chinese contractors last year who apparently did not take the weather conditions here into account. It is a pretty nice building, but the excessive rain makes the already slippery floors very slippery. We are in the rainiest place on earth, after all. There have been wipeouts, but I take very small, very cautious steps to prevent that. We'll see how long that lasts.
Activities at orientation range from daily Kosraen language classes (I've become skilled already in the numbers and colors, thank you very much) to teacher training lessons to "cultural" activites. These are my favorite and have included learning to make a basket from banana leaves, how to husk and grate a fresh coconut, how to de-bone a freshly caught fish (sashimi is awesome here), and hikes around the island. We've swam under beautiful waterfalls, trekked through the thick of the jungle to some ruins, and spent a day snorkeling in the warm Pacific. It is pretty awesome.
My least favorite activity was a tour of the "hospital"; fingers crossed none of us get sick!
I lived with a Kosraen host family for these two weeks, and the Kineres welcomed me into their home and island with overwelming generosity and hospitality. My host father, Tensley, speaks excellent English and is always rife with important facts about this place. My host mother, Panina, is limited to the Kosraen language but has a pretty excellent laugh and dotes on me way too much. Two cute-as-a-button little girls (Moreen, age 8; and Natalie, age 7) are my host sisters, and they follow me around everywhere. I feel lucky to have these adorable little ones to call family for this year. Moreen already speakes excellent English and we read The Fantastic Mr. Fox together at night. The older brother, Haldon, seems less enthusiastic but occasionally I was able to get a word out of him. What is it with pre-teen boys all over the world?
Here are some more things that have become a part of my daily life here:
• Mosquitos. Whew, they love me! I researched and found that mosquitos are very attracted to some people's skin and not at all to the skin of others. Darn my "luck." For now I'm beating them with a daily deet dose.
• A bike with a faulty chain = my all-over transportation. My host family lent me a bike to use during the orientation period, and it's got some issues. I did feel accomplished when I learned how to re-attach the chain the first time, though. Then it started pouring.
• Lots of heat, humidity, and sweat. Summers in Louisiana have prepared me well, though.
• A whole new wardrobe: I wear long skirts and shoulder-covering shirts every day to comply with local customs. It's been a bit of an adjustment, but it's nice to not have to think or care at all about how I look. In fact, it's better if I'm not looking so great to hopefully ward off the cat-calling by local gentlemen. We white ladies are definitely a curiosity here.
• The juiciest tangerines and most delicious bananas and coconuts I'm sure I will ever have.
• Some pretty wild dogs. The dogs in Germany were strangely obedient, these are strangely untamed. They're so untamed that they will chase you as you ride your bike along the rode and growl at you menacingly. Usually yelling the word "chuck" and pretending to throw a rock does the trick. I love dogs, and I hope nothing that happens this year changes that. No weenie dog sightings yet :(
• Cold bucket showers and hair that never seems to dry. It might just be time to break out some scissors.
• Micronesian food. I eat breakfast and dinner each evening with my host family. I'm not at all a picky eater (much of this blog has been devoted to culinary pursuits), but I'm not such a huge fan of what I've had so far. The people are really unhealthy (diabetes is a big problem on the island) and much of the food is fried, made with lots of oil, or left to sit for a long time. There have been some tasty dishes, though, and the raw ingredients are certainly there. I'm looking forward to cooking on my own (yay fresh fish and crabs!) when I move.
• Kosraen donuts. Theory about every country having it's own awesome version of the donut further confirmed.
I moved out of the host family's home on a hill last night and will be living with Rick for the next two weeks while my final house is cleaned and readied by the current tenant. I'll ultimately be living with another volunteer, Peter, in what looks to be an awesome house right on the crab-ridden water on Lelu island (it's a smaller island connected to the main island by a causeway). We will each have our own room, bathroom, at least one shower head, and eventually a decently speedy internet connection!
After one more week of orientation and one week of "registration" (the high school students must come to the school to re-register each year) I'll be facing my first class of real, live high school students, who are hopefully ready to learn about their continents and Ancient Greece and Rome.
There are certainly challenges here, but these first two weeks have washed away my larger apprehensions about my decision to spend the year here. I am quite content with this island and this program. More to come from the South Pacific!
