12-7-10
Two facts of life here: 1) planning doesn’t really exist in Chuuk, especially on outer islands and 2) even when there is a plan, nobody pays too much attention to it and therefore it is rarely followed. I have been here for over three months now, and I would like to think that I have adopted “island time,” in many capacities. I know that I cannot control the schedules of other people or companies and I acknowledge and accept that. In a way it is very freeing to be on island time. Don’t worry about it, whatever it was that you had to complete today can probably be completed tomorrow.
In general, island time and American time do not mix. When talking with other volunteers, you have to be specific about what kind of time frame you are operating on (e.g. “Please be there at 2:00, American time.”). There are, however, instances when island time and American time have to intermingle. This tends to causes problems.
My December 6th, 2010:
Today is a Monday, but school has been cancelled because there is a funeral on the island. Funerals take precedence over everything, work and school included. However, the funeral is on the other side of the island and the deceased is not related to my family, so nobody in my family is planning (there’s that word again) to go. Therefore, I have nothing to do today except have radio conference with other Peace Corps Volunteers at 4:00 pm (American time). I have already talked to one of the teachers at the high school, Thomas, and he said that I could use the radio at the school. All set, right?
7:20—I wake up and am immediately told that I sleep very late. My host father has apparently been up since 4:00 for some church function. I eat a leisurely breakfast, knowing that I have nothing to do for another eight hours.
8:15—I go swimming/fishing with my host father and a couple of other guys.
10:30—I get out of the water and go take a shower. Afterwards, I lie down, listen to some music and do some reading.
11:30—I eat lunch.
12:00—I call the Peace Corps office in Weno using my Satellite Phone. I have questions about the School Improvement Plan (SIP) that I am working on for my school and would like some help from another volunteer. I talk to my friend Porter, and while he gives me some advice about the project, it is mostly nice to just hear another American voice.
12:15—Having nothing else to do, I take a nap.
2:00—I get up and begin to consider this radio conference. This will be the first time that I have used one of these radios. Also, I have no idea what I am supposed to talk about or even who is going to be on the other end.
2:15—Thomas, the teacher at the High School who has agreed to let me use the radio, says he wants to meet with me about their school’s SIP. I remind him about the radio conference at 4:00, but I tell him that I can meet with him after that.
2:18—I learn that the ship carrying all of my belongings (oh yea, did I mention that because I came on the plane I was only allowed to bring 20 pounds of stuff… so I’ve been living out of the contents of my small backpack for a week now) is due to arrive at the dock around 4:00. This is a problem. I need to get my stuff off that ship, but I also need to use the radio. I ask my host father if he will help me. He says that he is going to the burial (remember that funeral?) but after that he will get my stuff from the ship.
2:45—My host father and I walk to the burial. It’s only about a 10 minute walk from out house. I run into Thomas there and remind him (again) about the radio conference.
3:30—Thomas and I leave the burial. We have to stop at the principal’s house to get the key from him so that we can get in to the school and use the radio.
3:35—We arrive at the principal’s house and are told that he is at a canoe blessing ceremony down the road.
3:40—We arrive at the canoe blessing ceremony. The principal is there, but he is somehow involved in the ceremony and is unavailable at the moment.
3:45—Food is served. Thomas and I are given a huge plate of rice and three sizable fish to eat. I remind Thomas that I need to use the radio soon and that we still haven’t talked to the principal about the keys. He nods and says that we should probably eat quickly.
3:53—The ship arrives. My host dad, who is also at the canoe ceremony, leaves to go get my stuff.
3:57—Thomas and I finish eating (he has eaten the vast majority of the food) and finally talk to the principal about the keys. The principal leaves to go get his keys.
4:07—The principal still has not returned. I go to his house and find him sitting on his porch eating a banana. When he sees me he gets up, goes into the house, and returns with one key and a hammer. He tells me that he lost one of the keys so he will just pry the lock off.
4:12—We finally get to the school. The principal pries off the outside lock and unlocks the inside door.
4:14—I finally get to use the radio. I turn it on, call for any Peace Corps Volunteers, and hear nothing but static and Chuukese in return. For 15 minutes I call for Peace Corps and get nothing. I am either too late or the radio is not working. Great.
So, to recap, I had one thing to do all day, and it didn’t happen because everybody on this island operates on island time and not on American time. I was pretty upset that I missed the radio conference, but now that I think about it, I really didn’t miss anything important. I’m sure that there was nothing discussed that we can’t talk about next week. All of the volunteers that I would have talked to know how island time works, so none of them will be pissed that I wasn’t on the radio.
Island time, baby. Take a breath. Relax. Everything's OK.
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