hello again

hi friends.

i'm in laos. i was in thailand. sooon i'll be in vietnam and cambodia! then i'll be in the united states. and then possibly micronesia.

i've been a terrible blogger, but pictures are coming as soon as i'm stateside (or in a permanent spot). promise!

xoxo.

land of the free, home of reasonable traffic norms

i've been reflecting on my time here a lot recently. one thing i've noticed is that the things that make me most frustrated on a day to day basis almost all have to with driving. i'm looking forward to some time in the states, where the following practices are not common and socially acceptable:

-driving right-hand drive cars on the right side of the road
-allowing your children to stand on your lap while you drive
-using brights as the only lights you have
-sleeping in the middle of the road, sprawling across both lanes
-leaving your car running and unattended for 15 minutes while you put the laundry in
-driving in reverse for extended distances along the main road
-letting your children hang out of car windows as you speed along
-driving so recklessly that the people sitting in the back of your truck fall out and into the road
-passing people with complete disregard to the blind curve directly ahead of you
-parking on the side of the road and leaving your brights on
-decorating the back of your taxi with 151-proof rum labels
-opening your car door while driving to spit betel nut on the side of the road... without checking for pedestrians that may very well be hit with your car door or showered in betel nut spit
-driving (without exaggeration) 5-10 miles an hour between 4 and 8pm because its sakau time and you're just that mellow
-using a car that lacks doors, a roof, a windshield, or any semblance of emissions control
-doing ANYTHING you want to do behind the wheel, because there is zero police presence for traffic-related things. (excepting the traffic guys who direct traffic at lunch hour by blowing their whistle at every single car that passes.)

i'll stop there. there are certainly deeper frustrations and more important issues facing pohnpei. but today, i'm looking forward to interstates, seatbelts, traffic laws, and police to actually enforce them.

see you stateside, suckas! i'm in hawaii may 12, and in northern va may 20.

soursop

i'm not sure i can live without the king of delicious tropical fruits, soursop. anyone ever seen it for sale in the us?

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.