Some Random Pictures

Happy Birthday Es.

Matt's new Canoe out on Joy Island

Some after school pool games


Me and Es...

Me and Relian

Matt my roomate bought a canoe and it was finished this last Friday, it is pictured above. We took it out to Joy Island inside the reef. It was also Es's birthday on Sunday, and there was a small celebration (aka cake and ice cream). The pictures are from the weekend. I'll have more pictures up soon, I've been taking more.

Another short but sweet sweet update

I will have more pictures posted soon, i've been working on taking more pictures, or just taking my camera along for the rides.

Life on the islands (or this one in particular) has been an incredibly interesting and varied experience. I have been here just about five months, roughly half of the school year. We are about to break for Christmas vacation (which is a break for christmas undoubtedly, but also not much of a break if you ask me. We technically have school until the 24th of December, then about a week, the have a staff party on the 3rd of January. I am not complaining about having a party to attend, but it would be nice to just sort of shut off from work for awhile. I am coming to realize that on a small island community such as this, there really isn't any shutting off. It's like trying to fool myself into thinking that I can somehow "get away" from it all, even for a day, that's an illusion. There is literally nowhere to "get away" too (ok, that's not entirely true, but without a double engine boat, a car, and tons of cash, it's nearly impossible)

A few things that I have been growing accustomed to include:
taking every opportunity to ride in the back of a pickup, particularly on nice and days, but especially when it's twilight and clear in the skies. There isn't much that can compare to driving along the edge of the island with the moon overhead and the tropical twilight air in you lungs.
learning how to take flexibility to a whole new level and also gaining an entirely different view of what a schedule means, or doesn't mean. If its raining, the schedule is adjusted, and dealing with classes and school when busses arrive after school has supposedly started, staff meetings in the middle of the day, and a plethora of other little nudges and changes to how school goes.
a total lack of resources for education. a systemic waste of resources for eduction.
roosters crowing, dogs mating, and dogs barking.
a usual pace of walking that would make even a midwest or southern pace look ridiculously speedy.


Matt bought a canoe, which is thrilling, really really thrilling. It will make the water that surrounds this place much more of a reality. Sometimes it feels like we are being mocked, its hot, we are on a pacific tropical island, and without a beach to speak of, getting into the water to just cool off, or swim, is a much bigger ordeal than one would ever imagine. so a canoe is going to rock the world that we live in.
I am working on still acquiring a car, it's coming along and I may have one in the next few days. It's been a process and a half, and often times really frustrating, but it will end well I believe, it's just a huge test of my patience and keeping my sanity. I've been a bit stir crazy as of late, add on the fact that the holidays are here and it feels strange and distant to be removed from my friends and family, all that has been familiar up until now. And it's summer in perpetuity here, and that is really really odd, I'm not used to it at all, I'm not complaining though or trying to gloat.

A bit of snapshot of the Pohnpeian language from a learner (sometimes frustrated and slow). or just my impressions, some of them

there are some letters and sounds that english uses that pohnpeian do not use, included in these is the "H" sound in english. english "T, like tea" is a pohnpeian "tch/sh" sound to me. some sounds in pohnpeian are not used in english, like a sort of "ng" sound that's not super throaty or anything, but sometimes hard to get for myself.
tangentially, when we were still in our orientation process a few months ago, our instructor, Johnny, taught a lesson that came off more like a SNL skit than anything else here so far (I think, yet), about that very letter combination and sound, "ng" "and the" "regular" "n" "sound" "in" "english". it was amusing, partly because of the amazingly awesome qualities that surround the teacher in this instance (maybe a bit smurfish, not blue at all though...is that a nice thing to say? what's the deal with the smurfs anyway, anyone have an idea?)

a few vocabularies:
hello/goodbye greating --- kaselehlia
man --- ohl woman --- lih
what's up/going on/what are you doing --- dakot, damenkewiwia, and more
ihmw --- house

Madolenihmw means "space between the houses"ish and it draws it name from the Nan Madol ruins which lay on Temwen island, about a ten minute walk from my house.

There isn't a "be verb" which throws an native english speaking brain for a loop, at least mine. It makes me realize things about language and how it shapes our thinking of the world though. english does an awful lot of describing how something "is" and how you are "being" is very important. Given my limited exposure to Pohnpeian (and lack of "formal" linguistics education, of sorts), it seems that it is more centered around where you are placed in the world than how you are being in the world. who knows though, not me, it's just an observation

So instead of searching for something, like, meaningful or something to say/write, I thought I might just give a brief update about my comings and goings.

School goes along, nearer and nearer to Christmas (which I guess officially starts Dec. 1, at least the "merry christmas's"). Classes are good, the schedule is still chaotic often, and things are still a challenge at times, but things there are well. Students are endless sorts of entertainment as well as work (like reading an endless stream of papers of a huge variety of topics with some interesting responses and phraseology). What will we do for the Christmas party one wonders...?

I've seen some pretty cool fresh water river eels as of late. Some were as large as about four feet long and as thick as my wrist and forearm that came to a sort of fishy flat back. I can get some pictures and post them soon, which I will. In a "frenzy" for some canned mackerel, they were slithering and swimming around the rocks on the shore of the river. The eel is a clan animal and sort of a sacred creature of some sorts, so most people don't eat the eels.

I've returned to Nan Madol a number of times and hopefully will again soon as well as dive there. Matt is about to get a canoe, probably sometime next week, so we'll be able to access the water a whole hell of a lot easier (it'll be really really nice) can I say that?

Thursday (thanksgiving) there was an uhm (that's a Pohnpeian rock/earthen oven) turkey, of which I did not imbibe, but I did make some gravy from the giblets. I had some canned tuna, rice, and uhm yams (local food). Saturday a number of folks (expats and volunteers) had a "traditional" thanksgiving dinner (i.e. the food, right?). We went out after that, it proved an interesting evening...

Last week we ventured into the local dance club "The Flamingo", it was late, smokey, and loud, but we all ended up dancing for a few hours. It's of course inevitable to be seen by someone who knows you or who you know (and not see them) and deal with any 'consequences' about your character that may/could arise.

I got a random package without a customs sheet or return address. It was a flat rate box, filled with things like spices, coffee, and such. Who it's from remains a mystery, any leads?