april 12

as of today, I have exactly one month left as a worldteach pohnpei volunteer. time flies!

i know that compared to the fall, my blogging has limped along this spring - in the normal way that travel blogs do, as adventure settles into the ordinary. i've been telling myself for weeks that i would blog as soon as i had news to report on my next step, but as nothing has solidified, i'll save that post for later.

instead, i present to you a synopsis of my typical week in pohnpei:

monday: morning run, teach from 8:30am-7:50pm, eat dinner and crash.

tuesday: hike sokeh's ridge, teach from 10:30-12:30, grade/lesson plan/run errands in the afternoon, play ultimate frisbee in the evening.

wednesday: morning run, teach from 8:30am-6:50pm, book (short story) club meeting.

thursday: hike sokeh's ridge, teach from 10:30-12:30, grade/lesson plan/run errands in the afternoon, go to aerobics class in the evening.

friday: morning run, teach from 8:30am-7:50pm, try to summon the energy for an evening with friends, tequila, and karaoke.

saturday: try and skype with the family, consider updating the blog, swim/snorkel/hike/laze about, go to church, sing some more karaoke or play some bridge.

sunday: hiking club and yoga in the evening, possibly head to the movies.

repeat x 15, and you've just experienced the last three months of my life. life is good, and comfortable, and quickly wrapping up. i'll be in hawaii with my parents from may 12-may 19, and back in the dc area may 20. most likely i'll be travelling in southeast asia in june, and will possibly be returning to pohnpei this summer. but, that's a big 'possibly', so i'll save the future for another post.

in the meantime, please mark your calendars - may 29th, my family is having a memorial day party in fairfax, and it would be wonderful to see as many of your lovely faces there as possible!

i've just added a few more pictures to 'pohnpei II' on facebook, and I'll direct you there for pictures. hope you enjoy!

hiking sokeh's rock

i can't believe that it took me so long, but last weekend i finally hiked the 'rock' of sokeh's - one of the most famous landmarks of pohnpei, and one of it's most strenuous hikes. it was amazing! it was also incredibly dangerous, but i can't wait to go again. the side of the rock is a rather steep cliff, and you climb using a rope and an old pipe as a guide. i'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

free diving in mokil

i came across a journal entry i wrote while on the field trip ship over christmas break. as i have no exciting adventures or pictures to share, i thought i'd post this reflection of free diving in mokil instead.

when the sea is clear, light sees to rise up from the depths in rays not unlike those from the sun. in mokil atoll, nature's finest - barracudas, sea turtles, white tip sharks - dance in the spotlight of these streams of light. when the sea is clear, vision extends as far as the light can penetrate. the spectrum reveals relative depths. at the surface, pinks and reds abound in coral and fish,. descending, they disappear, followed by yellow and green, until a deep indigo masks all detail but black. in an atoll as isolated as mokil, there are none of civilization's tarnishes. no beer cans, no rusting engine parts. no names scratched onto coral, no bleached coral, dead from pollutants. just life. beautiful, bountiful, thriving life in many forms of splendour. schools upon schools of fish dart around well-fed sharks. holes in coral reveal stories of life below. the sheer architectural grandeur brings to mind the ruins of an ancient civilization - only in a much more alive way. does life require isolation from global humanity to retain such purity? i am humbled and awed to have experienced such a place, and at the same time heartbroken by its frailty and ever-so-slight potential for survival.

some images

1. puppy! (still in need of a name and soliciting suggestions).

2. pohnpei has world-famous pepper. what does pepper look like before its processed? like this.

3. why i like to sleep in hammocks on reef islands: the sunrises.

4. some mementos from my outer island trip.

journaling

since its been a while since i've blogged, a sample of journal entries from my new spring semester esl students. the first is one of my stronger students, the second , a girl after my own heart.

I really want to see my life like this after five years from now. First, after five years from now I see myself working. I will have my own house, my own car, maybe I will have a small family that I will adore, a family filled with lots of love and joy. I will also have my own money. The income or money earning can support both me and my parents. On that time there will be a strip dancers on my car and also I will have an helicopter. My helicopter will very special because there will be a swimming pool inside. So I will be the famous or wellknown person.

[Next to a magazine ad for lasagna] This picture can show, what I'm gonna talk about. I'm talking about a food. This is my dream to eat this food. If I eat reach where this food came from or who can made this for me, I think it will be a better life for me to have.

voyager images

some pictures, in reverse chronological order:

arriving back to pohnpei at dawn:
















holding a BIRD on the boat!
















kids jumping off the deck to kill time at mokil:





















sprouting coconuts at pingelap:





















traditional pingelapese outrigger canoe:





















arriving at pingelap at dusk:
















mokil:





















leaving pohnpei at dusk:
















the caroline voyager:

a trip aboard the caroline voyager

earlier this week, i was able to travel to two of pohnpei's outer atolls - mokil and pingelap. with a group of other teachers, i bought a deck spot on the caroline voyager, a cargo ship that takes supplies and passengers out to the far islands a few times each year. almost all the passengers were in great spirits and ready to visit home, and the atmosphere was a lot of fun. i was excited to see several of my students aboard, too.

we left pohnpei at 6pm and travelled overnight to mokil, arriving around 6am. unfortunately, this portion of the journey was marked by my discovery of seasickness. thankfully the seas calmed a bit for the rest of the trip, and i learned a valuable lesson - that being horizontal fixes a seasick tummy.

after a brief visit to mokil, an atoll with around 100 residents, three of us forged onwards to pingelap atoll. pingelap is the focus of oliver sacks' book the island of the colorblind, and it was really exciting for me to see a place i had read so much about. we travelled to pingelap in the afternoon, and arrived in early evening. as we pulled up close to the reef, we could see the entire community outside waiting for our arrival. we were a special surprise to the peace corps volunteer in pingelap, who wasn't expecting our visit and is in an exceptionally isolated post.

in exploring pingelap, i was struck by the number of abandoned houses. the population is slightly larger than mokil, but i am told is under 200. the signs of rapid population decline are evident, as more and more people move to the main island of pohnpei. i was likewise struck by the number of outrigger canoes. canoe racing is a traditional activity, but they are not too common in pohnpei proper. they were beautiful.

one of the most fun parts of our time in pingelap was unloading the cargo with the community there. there was a palpable excitement as we carried boxes and boxes of canned goods and ramen in for the store, and as people received mail and packages from family and friends. it felt like a party!

on the journey back to mokil, we had a much smaller group. we bonded over breadfruit, taro, and bananas, and the most freshly caught tuna i'll likely ever get to eat. as we waited for the fishing boats to pick us up and take us into mokil, little boys jumped off the voyager and played in the ocean.

in mokil i had a chance to snorkel while the ship loaded copra (a form of coconut that is the only export of the atolls). i wish i could share pictures of what i saw. it was beyond anything i've seen before, and one of the most incredible things i've ever done. i saw sea turtles, so many sharks, barracudas, and coral that was decidedly alive.

another overnight trip, and we returned safely to pohnpei - just in time for new year's! i had a blast celebrating here, and hope you all had a good night too. the celebration of the new year continues here tonight - lots of honking, banging on drums, screaming, kids dousing cars with water balloons and hoses. lots of fun!

no pictures today, but look back soon (or on facebook) for some pictures from mokil and pingelap.

hoping you all have a wonderful 2010 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!