Believe it or not, the FSM is a big country. In terms of the area of the globe it occupies, it is almost comparable to the US. That being said, the land area of the FSM is tiny. If you put all of the islands in the FSM together, the land area would still be smaller than Rhode Island. So, in a huge spread out country like the FSM, travel becomes pretty important. Below are four of the most frequently used means of travel in the FSM.
*note to my parents and other concerned parties: the following stories and anecdotes are not meant to scare you. I really do feel safe traveling here, but writing about all of my safe experiences would not make for a very interesting blog post.
Car—The nature of car travel depends greatly on what island you are on. Let’s start with Pohnpei. In Pohnpei, there is a fairly nice paved asphalt road that goes all the way around the island. Unfortunately, the presence of a nice road does not necessarily mean that car travel is…oh what’s the word?...safe. Factors that contribute to unsafeness of car travel in Pohnpei:
• Most of the cars in Pohnpei come from Japan, meaning the steering wheel is on the right. However, the cars still drive on the right side of the road like they do in America. This means that rather than sitting near the middle lane, drivers sit near the edge of the road. I should also mention that while the road is nicely paved, it is not very wide and doesn’t have any lines painted on it. You can probably see where this is going… When going around hairpin turns (of which there are plenty), the driver has pretty much no idea whether or not a car is coming the other way because he or she just cannot see.
• Seatbelts don’t exist. Rather, they do exist but nobody uses them. Furthermore, riding in the back of pickup trucks is very normal. My host family in Pohnpei owned a pickup truck, so I found myself in the back on many occasions. My best (worst?) pickup truck ride was going from Kolonia to Kitti (about a 45 minute drive) sitting in a purple folding chair in the back of the truck holding on for dear life as my host dad careened around the corners. The reason I was sitting on the folding chair and not on the bed of the truck was that there were two severed dog heads rolling around back there and I didn’t really want one to roll into my lap.
• People drink, and I’m not talking about apple juice. The beer of choice in Pohnpei—Milwaukee’s Best. If you’re unfamiliar with Milwaukee’s Best, or “the Beast” as it is affectionately known, it is a beer so far down the beer pecking order that most underage college students won’t touch it. There is also sakau (also known as kava in other parts of the world), which is a semi-narcotic root that is pounded into mush and then drank. It tastes like mud and makes your lips and tongue go numb as if you’d just gotten out of the dentist’s chair. Also, after a couple of cups, you get very lethargic and your reaction time diminishes significantly. While I wouldn’t say that drinking and driving is common, it’s probably best to avoid being on the road as a pedestrian or a driver after dark.
All this being said, I never actually witnessed a car accident in Pohnpei. There is however, evidence of car accidents all over the island. Broken, abandoned cars bespeckle the side of the road like a kind of jalopy graveyard. Sometimes they have been pushed off the road and into a ditch, but sometimes the just sit right where they fired their last piston. In the near constant rain and humidity, these cars turn into veritable ecosystems in their own right, housing all sorts of exotic plants, mosses, and animals.
The driving situation in Chuuk is pretty much the same as in Pohnpei with one major difference: the road. The road is dreadfully bad, with giant potholes everywhere and massive ditches and trenches all over the place due to construction. The only upside to the terrible road is that it is impossible to drive more than about 15 mph, so it’s hard for diving to be too dangerous. That being said, Chuuk is the only place I have actually seen a car accident. A few nights ago, I was sitting at my host family’s house chatting with my host brother when we heard a huge crash. A minute later a guy covered in mud ran through the yard being chased by another guy covered in mud wielding a large rock and screaming Chuukese obscenities. I never did figure out exactly what happened, but I’m pretty sure that the “chasee’s” car crashed into the “chaser’s” and pushed it into a construction trench. Subsequently, they apparently fought in the mud and then took to the streets of Weno. Yea…welcome to Chuuk.
Fiberglass boat—Probably the most common form of transportation in Chuuk, the fiberboat is used for transportation in between islands in the lagoon or between islands in the Mortlocks. These boats are generally between 18 and 24 feet and have a single outboard motor. Some have “seats” of a sort, but most just have a plank of plywood to sit on. A fiberboat ride on a calm day is a very pleasant experience. It’s nice to get out on the water and enjoy the fact that you really are in a spectacularly beautiful island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. On the other hand, a fiberboat ride on a rough day is anything but fun.
On a recent ride from Kuttu back to Satowan, I had without a doubt the worst fiberboat ride I’ve had so far. It’s about an hour boat ride from Kuttu to Satowan, and when we left the skies were clear and it looked like it was going to be a nice day out on the water. Then the clouds started moving in we got hit by a massive storm. It was only my host brother and I in the boat, meaning the boat was light and we got tossed around by the big waves like a couple of Raggedy Anns. I was sitting on my bucket (which, by the way, is the best travel accessory—it’s watertight, it floats, and it’s a seat!) and holding on to the anchor rope trying not to get tossed out of the boat. We were going over 5-7 foot waves and then slamming back down onto the water. If this doesn’t sound so bad, try jumping off a table and landing on your butt. Now, continue to do that about once every 10 seconds or so for 45 minutes. Also, it was pouring rain, which when your traveling in a boat feels like little needles piercing you all over your body. When we finally got back to Satowan, my back was killing me, my hands were rope-burned from hanging on so tightly, and I was completely soaked.
Continental Airlines—Continental is the only airline that services the FSM. As such, it is outrageously expensive to fly to and from the island or even in between the islands. Being a reputable airline, flying on Continental is quite safe. However, landing a 737 on an island with a short runway is not an easy maneuver and looking out the window during the landings is a bit nerve-wracking. Also, this being one of the rainiest places on Earth, the island-hopper flights also have a tendency to be delayed an/or cancelled due to weather.
Caroline Island Airlines—CIA is the official name for the “tin coffin,” the eight-seater twin prop that goes between Weno and the Mortlocks. Going on the plane is actually pretty fun. It’s much nicer than the ship (see below) and, despite the fact that it was built in the ‘70s and looks like it’s made out of tin foil, it’s relatively safe feeling. The pilot is a bit of a flake and has a tenancy to change the schedule whenever he feels like it, but that’s pretty much true with everything in Chuuk. The best way to describe the plane schedule is that you don’t know when it’s going to arrive until it is already there.
The one thing about the plane is that it’s loud. Really loud. In a plane that size, you are not very far away from the engines, and when the pilot turns on the props for the first you think “wow, it’s pretty loud in here.” Then he starts to power them up and you think “damn, it’s really loud in here.” Then he begins to take off and it gets even louder and you stop thinking because you can’t even hear your own thoughts.
Ship—The ships are the other way to get to and from the Mortlocks. To be clear, these are not cushy cruise liners. They are tiny fishing vessels with no cabins, no amenities, and no seats. You sit on the deck, on the cargo hatches, or on the roof—wherever you can find some space. There is a toilet of sorts, but it is unspeakably filthy and should be avoided at all costs. Depending on which ship you’re on, the ride is typically between 19 and 26 hours.
And so you sit and you wait. You sit next to the seasick woman vomiting over the side of the ship. You sit next to the mother breastfeeding her child. You sit next to the pigs and chickens wallowing in their own filth. You sit next to the men smoking countless cigarettes and cutting up the countless fish that they have caught. You sit on the roof and get cut up by the fiberglass hull of the ship. You sit on the railing and come inches from being pushed overboard when a very large lady lurches into you (true story). Reading is out of the question unless you want to join the women throwing up over the side. At night, you do your best to find a spot to lie down but the ship is crowded when everyone is sitting, so you can imagine the mass of bodies when everyone tries to lie down…generally sleep does not really happen.
My longest ship ride was 4 days. Due to ship schedules, I had to make a tour around all the islands in Morlocks before making the trek in. That’s right, 4 days of that all that ^. Not a fun experience, but definitely a good story.
June 3, 2011
May 27, 2011
Challenges
I can see it now: about two years from now I will be interviewing for a job and the fact that I was a Peace Corps Volunteer will come up. The interviewer will ask, “What kinds of challenges did you face as a Peace Corps Volunteer?” Here’s the answer: May 16, 2011.
Things that I found out/had to deal with on May 16, 2011:
1. I’m recovering from a lovely 101 degree fever, all-over body ache, and diarrhea. (The euphemistic Peace Cops term for diarrhea is “homesickness.” During the first week of our training, one of the volunteers spent almost the entire evening on his host family’s local toilet. When he finally came out, his host father took one look at him and said, “You’re probably just homesick.”) Weeks upon weeks of eating essentially nothing but canned meat, grease, and salt seems to have caught up with me, and although I feel considerably better than I did yesterday, I am by no means feeling 100 percent well. I am hoping for a quiet, physically and mentally undemanding day.
2. The Peace Corps Volunteer on a neighboring island enlists my help to do something about the state of the high school which services out two islands. This high school, as it turns out, is located on my island and while neither of us teach or work there, both of us know many of the teachers there on a personal basis.
This school is not doing well. This is not the venue to discuss the shortcomings of a school, particularly a school that I do not work at, but suffice it to say that there are some serious issues. Unfortunately, I really can’t write/explain much more about this situation in this public venue but let’s just say this is an issue that’s weighing on my mind and might require some action in the near future.
3. I have just found out that one of my very good friends, a Peace Corps Volunteer on another outer island here in the FSM, may have to be pulled out of his site and sent home. This has nothing to do with his own actions, but rather a lack of support from his community and school. (In his words: “I essentially don’t have a job. I’m supposed to be a teacher but we’ve only had 5 full days of school in the last 5 weeks.”) While this does not directly affect me, I feel really bad for him because he has already moved sites once and is so close to the end of his service that it would just be a huge bummer for him to have to go home at this point. It also is not helpful to the overall status of outer island volunteers…
4. …which is challenge number four of the day. I just found out that Peace Corps officials have some serious issues to discuss about the status of outer island volunteers. While this is again not the venue to discuss these issues, the long and the short of it is that we (the outer island Volunteers) need to essentially defend the Peace Corps Program operations in the outer islands. If Peace Corps determines that the issues cannot be ignored, there is the possibility that new volunteers will not be placed in the outer islands or, worst case scenario, we will have to change sites, which is not something that I want to do.
5. Now the worst one of all: my host dad’s brother, Opich, died this morning. As you might expect, the family is devastated. I had met Opich several times and he was a great guy and a vocal leader in his community. I will come in to Weno for the funeral to support the family and show my respects. Unfortunately, this is really not a good time for me to leave Satowan. I will miss the last 3 weeks of school, final exams, and will miss all of the final planning for the summer camp that will happen in June.
All of these are on top of the everyday challenges I face: teaching, fumbling my way through a language I am still not totally comfortable with, and generally living on an island the size of a couple of city blocks. But…challenges are just part of the job. The way I see it, the toughest challenges make for the best stories later. I’m certainly going to have a lot of stories…
Things that I found out/had to deal with on May 16, 2011:
1. I’m recovering from a lovely 101 degree fever, all-over body ache, and diarrhea. (The euphemistic Peace Cops term for diarrhea is “homesickness.” During the first week of our training, one of the volunteers spent almost the entire evening on his host family’s local toilet. When he finally came out, his host father took one look at him and said, “You’re probably just homesick.”) Weeks upon weeks of eating essentially nothing but canned meat, grease, and salt seems to have caught up with me, and although I feel considerably better than I did yesterday, I am by no means feeling 100 percent well. I am hoping for a quiet, physically and mentally undemanding day.
2. The Peace Corps Volunteer on a neighboring island enlists my help to do something about the state of the high school which services out two islands. This high school, as it turns out, is located on my island and while neither of us teach or work there, both of us know many of the teachers there on a personal basis.
This school is not doing well. This is not the venue to discuss the shortcomings of a school, particularly a school that I do not work at, but suffice it to say that there are some serious issues. Unfortunately, I really can’t write/explain much more about this situation in this public venue but let’s just say this is an issue that’s weighing on my mind and might require some action in the near future.
3. I have just found out that one of my very good friends, a Peace Corps Volunteer on another outer island here in the FSM, may have to be pulled out of his site and sent home. This has nothing to do with his own actions, but rather a lack of support from his community and school. (In his words: “I essentially don’t have a job. I’m supposed to be a teacher but we’ve only had 5 full days of school in the last 5 weeks.”) While this does not directly affect me, I feel really bad for him because he has already moved sites once and is so close to the end of his service that it would just be a huge bummer for him to have to go home at this point. It also is not helpful to the overall status of outer island volunteers…
4. …which is challenge number four of the day. I just found out that Peace Corps officials have some serious issues to discuss about the status of outer island volunteers. While this is again not the venue to discuss these issues, the long and the short of it is that we (the outer island Volunteers) need to essentially defend the Peace Corps Program operations in the outer islands. If Peace Corps determines that the issues cannot be ignored, there is the possibility that new volunteers will not be placed in the outer islands or, worst case scenario, we will have to change sites, which is not something that I want to do.
5. Now the worst one of all: my host dad’s brother, Opich, died this morning. As you might expect, the family is devastated. I had met Opich several times and he was a great guy and a vocal leader in his community. I will come in to Weno for the funeral to support the family and show my respects. Unfortunately, this is really not a good time for me to leave Satowan. I will miss the last 3 weeks of school, final exams, and will miss all of the final planning for the summer camp that will happen in June.
All of these are on top of the everyday challenges I face: teaching, fumbling my way through a language I am still not totally comfortable with, and generally living on an island the size of a couple of city blocks. But…challenges are just part of the job. The way I see it, the toughest challenges make for the best stories later. I’m certainly going to have a lot of stories…
April 15, 2011
Back Blogged
I’ve been dreading writing this blog post. It’s not that I don’t want to write it, it’s that I don’t know where to begin. For the past four months, I’ve been living a life that is, in a word, indescribable. From the food I eat to the things I do to the way I interact with people, every little thing is just totally different from anything I have ever experienced before. So rather than trying to give you an overview of my life here, I will give you a few little anecdotes that you can piece together for yourself and fill in the gaps in-between with whatever you like.
The Time I Swallowed a Spider (well, almost)—So it turns out that spiders like to hang out in dark, wet places. It also turns out that if you fill your water bottle half way and then forget to put the top on it, it becomes a perfect little dark, wet spot.
Picture this little hypothetical situation: You’re already having a bit of a crappy week. The damn chickens outside your window have been waking you up before 5 every morning and you’re taking antibiotic pills twice a day because you sliced your arm open on a piece of rebar earlier this week and it got all green and infected. After peacefully dreaming of dead chickens, you wake up, pop an antibiotic pill in your mouth and take a swig of water out of your water bottle. Unfortunately, there’s more than just water in your water bottle and before you know it, you are shocked to find an equally shocked spider in your mouth.
Pause. You are now faced with a challenge: spit out the spider but not the pill all the while trying not hose down your bedroom with water or wake your host family.
Well, this hypothetical situation was not so hypothetical for me, but you will be proud to know that I accomplished the feat I spitting out the spider but not the pill with expert aplomb. The spider, I’m afraid, did not survive the ordeal.
The Time a Giant Breadfruit Tree Fell and Came within Feet of Demolishing My School—Breadfruit trees are not big, they’re enormous. A good sized breadfruit tree can easily be 12 feet around and over a hundred feet tall. As you might imagine, when one of these trees starts looking a little ill, people get pretty worried that they are going to fall on someone or something. The trouble is that every tree belongs to someone, and a tree is a valuable commodity. If it’s big enough, it can be made into a canoe, and I not, it at least represents quite a bit of firewood. So, you can’t just chop down a tree whenever you feel like it, even if it’s about to fall on your house.
Well, there was a giant breadfruit tree right next to the school that was not looking too good. The principal was pretty worried that it was going to fall, so he decided he would start up a collection so that the school could buy the tree from the owner and then chop it down. But, before the principal had collected any money, there was a big storm and the tree fell down.
To say that our school came within feet of being demolished is an understatement. I don’t know if there’s a stronger word than demolished—razed, perhaps—but had that tree fallen at a slightly different angle, fully one half of our school would have been turned into dust. I don’t even want to think about how long it would take to get funds together and build a new school. Probably decades; centuries, probably. And had it happened during the school day, God knows how many students and teachers would have been killed. But, the tree missed the school and everyone was elated—now we don’t have to pay for it! Sometimes, I guess you just have to have some good old fashioned dumb luck
The Time a Random Girl Showed Up at My Window at Night and Asked Me to Let Her In—This one happened pretty much just like the title says. Random girl + my window + “Ben, let me in!” This is actually not as weird/creepy as it may seem. “Nightcrawling” is rather common here in Chuuk, although it is usually the guys who nightcawl the girls. Dating, as we know it in the states, is a big no-no, so young people just sneak into each other’s windows at night…to, you know, chat…and have Bible study.
And by the way, the answer to your question is no.
The Time I Met the President of FSM—I took a trip to the neighboring island of Lukinioch in February because there was a massive celebration there for the 100 year anniversary of the Catholic church in Chuuk. It was awesome to see a couple of the other volunteers and just have a little change of scenery for a weekend. The celebration was enormous—thousands of people came from all over Chuuk and Pohnpei and every island had prepared songs and dances to perform for everyone. Perhaps this is a good time to mention the incredible ability of chon FSM (people of FSM) to endure marathon meetings sitting cross-legged on cement. The meetings at this celebration easily went 5 hours, and there were two every day. I couldn’t take it, so I walked around the perimeter on the guise of trying to get a good look at each group when they were singing.
Anyways, after church on Sunday, I was hanging out on the lawn and who should happen to walk by? Many Mori, President of FSM. Perhaps “meet” isn’t exactly the right word, but he came over shook my hand and said hello. And then he was off. In terms of population ruled, meeting President Mori was about equivalent to meeting the mayor of Topeka, Kansas, but hey, still pretty cool to meet a head of state.
I'm heading back to the Mortlocks this afternoon. Right now I'm trying to psych myself up for the 22 hour ship ride on a tiny fishing vessel. At least there will be a couple other Peace Corps Volunteers on the ship with me, and it has to be better than the four days it took me to get in to Weno three weeks ago. But that's a story for another time.
One more time let me say how much I appreciate all the love and support. Thank you to everyone for sending the letters, packages and good vibes my way.
Catch you all in another 3 or 4 months,
Ben
The Time I Swallowed a Spider (well, almost)—So it turns out that spiders like to hang out in dark, wet places. It also turns out that if you fill your water bottle half way and then forget to put the top on it, it becomes a perfect little dark, wet spot.
Picture this little hypothetical situation: You’re already having a bit of a crappy week. The damn chickens outside your window have been waking you up before 5 every morning and you’re taking antibiotic pills twice a day because you sliced your arm open on a piece of rebar earlier this week and it got all green and infected. After peacefully dreaming of dead chickens, you wake up, pop an antibiotic pill in your mouth and take a swig of water out of your water bottle. Unfortunately, there’s more than just water in your water bottle and before you know it, you are shocked to find an equally shocked spider in your mouth.
Pause. You are now faced with a challenge: spit out the spider but not the pill all the while trying not hose down your bedroom with water or wake your host family.
Well, this hypothetical situation was not so hypothetical for me, but you will be proud to know that I accomplished the feat I spitting out the spider but not the pill with expert aplomb. The spider, I’m afraid, did not survive the ordeal.
The Time a Giant Breadfruit Tree Fell and Came within Feet of Demolishing My School—Breadfruit trees are not big, they’re enormous. A good sized breadfruit tree can easily be 12 feet around and over a hundred feet tall. As you might imagine, when one of these trees starts looking a little ill, people get pretty worried that they are going to fall on someone or something. The trouble is that every tree belongs to someone, and a tree is a valuable commodity. If it’s big enough, it can be made into a canoe, and I not, it at least represents quite a bit of firewood. So, you can’t just chop down a tree whenever you feel like it, even if it’s about to fall on your house.
Well, there was a giant breadfruit tree right next to the school that was not looking too good. The principal was pretty worried that it was going to fall, so he decided he would start up a collection so that the school could buy the tree from the owner and then chop it down. But, before the principal had collected any money, there was a big storm and the tree fell down.
To say that our school came within feet of being demolished is an understatement. I don’t know if there’s a stronger word than demolished—razed, perhaps—but had that tree fallen at a slightly different angle, fully one half of our school would have been turned into dust. I don’t even want to think about how long it would take to get funds together and build a new school. Probably decades; centuries, probably. And had it happened during the school day, God knows how many students and teachers would have been killed. But, the tree missed the school and everyone was elated—now we don’t have to pay for it! Sometimes, I guess you just have to have some good old fashioned dumb luck
The Time a Random Girl Showed Up at My Window at Night and Asked Me to Let Her In—This one happened pretty much just like the title says. Random girl + my window + “Ben, let me in!” This is actually not as weird/creepy as it may seem. “Nightcrawling” is rather common here in Chuuk, although it is usually the guys who nightcawl the girls. Dating, as we know it in the states, is a big no-no, so young people just sneak into each other’s windows at night…to, you know, chat…and have Bible study.
And by the way, the answer to your question is no.
The Time I Met the President of FSM—I took a trip to the neighboring island of Lukinioch in February because there was a massive celebration there for the 100 year anniversary of the Catholic church in Chuuk. It was awesome to see a couple of the other volunteers and just have a little change of scenery for a weekend. The celebration was enormous—thousands of people came from all over Chuuk and Pohnpei and every island had prepared songs and dances to perform for everyone. Perhaps this is a good time to mention the incredible ability of chon FSM (people of FSM) to endure marathon meetings sitting cross-legged on cement. The meetings at this celebration easily went 5 hours, and there were two every day. I couldn’t take it, so I walked around the perimeter on the guise of trying to get a good look at each group when they were singing.
Anyways, after church on Sunday, I was hanging out on the lawn and who should happen to walk by? Many Mori, President of FSM. Perhaps “meet” isn’t exactly the right word, but he came over shook my hand and said hello. And then he was off. In terms of population ruled, meeting President Mori was about equivalent to meeting the mayor of Topeka, Kansas, but hey, still pretty cool to meet a head of state.
I'm heading back to the Mortlocks this afternoon. Right now I'm trying to psych myself up for the 22 hour ship ride on a tiny fishing vessel. At least there will be a couple other Peace Corps Volunteers on the ship with me, and it has to be better than the four days it took me to get in to Weno three weeks ago. But that's a story for another time.
One more time let me say how much I appreciate all the love and support. Thank you to everyone for sending the letters, packages and good vibes my way.
Catch you all in another 3 or 4 months,
Ben
December 12, 2010
Little Reminders
12-12-01
I was in a bit of a funk today, so I decided it would be a good idea to decorate my room with all the pictures of my family and friends that I brought with me and all of the letters and postcards that I have received so far. I’m not sure why this hasn’t hit me until now, but I am unbelievably lucky to have such incredible group of friends and family. I’m not really sure how to put this without sounding dramatic and overly sentimental, but all the love and support has not gone unnoticed and is greatly appreciated.
I may be “roughing it” by American standards, but I’m definitely living well. I’m physically comfortable and healthy, I’m surrounded by good people here, and I have the greatest friends and family I could ask for. That’s pretty much all I need to be happy.
Lots of love,
Ben
I was in a bit of a funk today, so I decided it would be a good idea to decorate my room with all the pictures of my family and friends that I brought with me and all of the letters and postcards that I have received so far. I’m not sure why this hasn’t hit me until now, but I am unbelievably lucky to have such incredible group of friends and family. I’m not really sure how to put this without sounding dramatic and overly sentimental, but all the love and support has not gone unnoticed and is greatly appreciated.
I may be “roughing it” by American standards, but I’m definitely living well. I’m physically comfortable and healthy, I’m surrounded by good people here, and I have the greatest friends and family I could ask for. That’s pretty much all I need to be happy.
Lots of love,
Ben
Campaignin'
12-8-10
Today there was a “campaign rally” the incumbent candidate running for Senator At-Large for Chuuk State. By campaign rally I mean that the guy showed up on the island and the whole island had a meeting. This is not a post about Chuukese politics, but rather just a few interesting observations I made during the meeting.
1. The set up—This is clearly a big event for the people of Satowan. I guess it’s not every day that a senator comes to visit a tiny island 180 miles from the state center. The meeting was held in a large, well, meeting hall next to the Catholic Church. The municipal government of Satowan only owns a handful of chairs, so everyone except the important people (i.e. the senator, the senator’s posse, the mayor of Satowan, myself) sat on the ground. The chairs were arranged and rearranged no less than 12 times before the ceremony began—apparently they had to be perfect.
2. The police presence—I don’t know whether they came with the senator or if they were already here on Satowan, but there were at least 20 police officers present for the ceremony. The best part was when the senator was marching in to the meeting hall, and all of the police officers did a military-like heel turn and salute. This kind of precision is something rarely seen in FSM, and it almost made me laugh out loud. After the senator walked by, the police officers carried on with what they had been doing, namely smoking cigarettes and lounging.
3. The jacket--The senator wore a heavy winter jacket throughout the entire 2 hour meeting. Keep in mind that while it is cold in the States right now, it is decidedly not cold here in Micronesia—it was easily 85 degrees today. It was clear that he wasn’t wearing it because he was cold as he was sweating bullets and fanning himself the whole time. I don’t know if it’s a sign of authority or what, but he looked totally ridiculous and pretty uncomfortable too.
4. The cigarettes—In the middle of the meeting, one of the members of the senator’s posse got up and started passing out cigarettes to everyone in the audience. Here on Satowan, there isn’t a question of whether or not you smoke, just how often you smoke. The reason for the handing out of cigarettes was simple: the senator wanted votes. What the Chuukese call “campaigning,” Americans would call “bribery.” Before he left the island, the senator had given out some 30 bags of rice, cases and cases of canned meat, and countless cigarettes.
5. The breast feeding—Picture this: you’re at the DNC. Barack Obama in in the middle of a moving speech defending some policy decision that he made, and a woman in the second row lifts her shirt and begins breastfeeding her son. Well, I wasn’t at the DNC and it wasn’t Barack Obama defending his policy decisions, but the rest it true. I guess this should stop surprising me by now—I’ve seen women breastfeeding in church, watching basketball, and, my favorite, while driving (yes, I mean operating a motor vehicle not just riding in one). That’s just impressive.
Ben
Today there was a “campaign rally” the incumbent candidate running for Senator At-Large for Chuuk State. By campaign rally I mean that the guy showed up on the island and the whole island had a meeting. This is not a post about Chuukese politics, but rather just a few interesting observations I made during the meeting.
1. The set up—This is clearly a big event for the people of Satowan. I guess it’s not every day that a senator comes to visit a tiny island 180 miles from the state center. The meeting was held in a large, well, meeting hall next to the Catholic Church. The municipal government of Satowan only owns a handful of chairs, so everyone except the important people (i.e. the senator, the senator’s posse, the mayor of Satowan, myself) sat on the ground. The chairs were arranged and rearranged no less than 12 times before the ceremony began—apparently they had to be perfect.
2. The police presence—I don’t know whether they came with the senator or if they were already here on Satowan, but there were at least 20 police officers present for the ceremony. The best part was when the senator was marching in to the meeting hall, and all of the police officers did a military-like heel turn and salute. This kind of precision is something rarely seen in FSM, and it almost made me laugh out loud. After the senator walked by, the police officers carried on with what they had been doing, namely smoking cigarettes and lounging.
3. The jacket--The senator wore a heavy winter jacket throughout the entire 2 hour meeting. Keep in mind that while it is cold in the States right now, it is decidedly not cold here in Micronesia—it was easily 85 degrees today. It was clear that he wasn’t wearing it because he was cold as he was sweating bullets and fanning himself the whole time. I don’t know if it’s a sign of authority or what, but he looked totally ridiculous and pretty uncomfortable too.
4. The cigarettes—In the middle of the meeting, one of the members of the senator’s posse got up and started passing out cigarettes to everyone in the audience. Here on Satowan, there isn’t a question of whether or not you smoke, just how often you smoke. The reason for the handing out of cigarettes was simple: the senator wanted votes. What the Chuukese call “campaigning,” Americans would call “bribery.” Before he left the island, the senator had given out some 30 bags of rice, cases and cases of canned meat, and countless cigarettes.
5. The breast feeding—Picture this: you’re at the DNC. Barack Obama in in the middle of a moving speech defending some policy decision that he made, and a woman in the second row lifts her shirt and begins breastfeeding her son. Well, I wasn’t at the DNC and it wasn’t Barack Obama defending his policy decisions, but the rest it true. I guess this should stop surprising me by now—I’ve seen women breastfeeding in church, watching basketball, and, my favorite, while driving (yes, I mean operating a motor vehicle not just riding in one). That’s just impressive.
Ben
Island Time vs. American Time
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.
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.
That Satowan Post
12-5-10
Well, here I am.
Satowan is a small island—it only takes about 40 minutes to walk from one end to the other. All the people live on the lagoon (west) side of the island and there is one main road that goes the length of the island. The road is made mostly of packed sand and is pretty well maintained. One thing that I never considered before coming to the FSM is how much of an impact a good, clean road has on the aesthetics of a place. It makes the entire area feel safer, cleaner, and like that people care about their island. I live about 100 yards from the ocean and can go swimming whenever I feel like it. To be honest, I haven’t really taken advantage of this yet, but I’m sure that I will once I get a little more comfortable. My house and living conditions are very comfortable. I have a real queen sized mattress, a wardrobe-ish thing to hang my clothes and some cubbies to store my things, and a manual flush toilet (as in, you dump a bucket of water in the bowl).
My first two weeks have actually been pretty busy. The Department of Education in Chuuk mandated that every school in the state complete a School Improvement Plan and turn it in to the DOE by December 15th. This is a large document that schools and communities were supposed to work on all semester. Well, I arrived on December 1st and quickly discovered that my school had done pretty much no work on their SIP and expected me to essentially write it for them. I did my best to throw together some meetings so that this would be as much of group effort as possible, but I still ended up writing pretty much the whole thing. Also, the principal of the high school on the island asked me to “help” write their SIP as well. I kind of put my foot down about that because that isn’t my school. I told him that I would minimally help correct it, but that I wouldn’t write it because it isn’t my job to do that. I’m not here to do anyone’s job them. I am happy to help you do your job better, but I will not do it for you.
The whole SIP fiasco and just school in general has been a bit frustrating. I will save my ranting for private emails and letters, but suffice to say that there are a lot of issues with the school. The principal clearly sees me as an all-inclusive fixer of everything and defers to me on pretty much everything even though I have made it clear that I work for him, not the other way around. Hopefully things will improve the more we work with each other.
Other than the school situation, pretty much everything else is good. My Chuukese is coming along, albeit slowly. I have met some people in the community and I meet more every day. I have gotten into a routine of playing basketball with a bunch of the guys every afternoon for about an hour, which has been really nice. I do end up spending quite a bit of time alone, which has taken some getting used to. I am not a solitary person at all, so living even a partially solitary lifestyle is a bit tough. I find that I often think about friends and family back home and my fellow PCVs who I won’t see until March. I have learned, however, to see the benefit in being alone at times as it gives me time to process what I am doing and why I am here. As it turns out, the answer to those questions is much more complicated now than they were before I left. I guess it’s all part of the adjustment.
Happy holidays everyone! Christmas and New Years are supposedly the two biggest holidays of the year here, so I’m sure I’m in for a good old time.
Lots of love,
Ben
Well, here I am.
Satowan is a small island—it only takes about 40 minutes to walk from one end to the other. All the people live on the lagoon (west) side of the island and there is one main road that goes the length of the island. The road is made mostly of packed sand and is pretty well maintained. One thing that I never considered before coming to the FSM is how much of an impact a good, clean road has on the aesthetics of a place. It makes the entire area feel safer, cleaner, and like that people care about their island. I live about 100 yards from the ocean and can go swimming whenever I feel like it. To be honest, I haven’t really taken advantage of this yet, but I’m sure that I will once I get a little more comfortable. My house and living conditions are very comfortable. I have a real queen sized mattress, a wardrobe-ish thing to hang my clothes and some cubbies to store my things, and a manual flush toilet (as in, you dump a bucket of water in the bowl).
My first two weeks have actually been pretty busy. The Department of Education in Chuuk mandated that every school in the state complete a School Improvement Plan and turn it in to the DOE by December 15th. This is a large document that schools and communities were supposed to work on all semester. Well, I arrived on December 1st and quickly discovered that my school had done pretty much no work on their SIP and expected me to essentially write it for them. I did my best to throw together some meetings so that this would be as much of group effort as possible, but I still ended up writing pretty much the whole thing. Also, the principal of the high school on the island asked me to “help” write their SIP as well. I kind of put my foot down about that because that isn’t my school. I told him that I would minimally help correct it, but that I wouldn’t write it because it isn’t my job to do that. I’m not here to do anyone’s job them. I am happy to help you do your job better, but I will not do it for you.
The whole SIP fiasco and just school in general has been a bit frustrating. I will save my ranting for private emails and letters, but suffice to say that there are a lot of issues with the school. The principal clearly sees me as an all-inclusive fixer of everything and defers to me on pretty much everything even though I have made it clear that I work for him, not the other way around. Hopefully things will improve the more we work with each other.
Other than the school situation, pretty much everything else is good. My Chuukese is coming along, albeit slowly. I have met some people in the community and I meet more every day. I have gotten into a routine of playing basketball with a bunch of the guys every afternoon for about an hour, which has been really nice. I do end up spending quite a bit of time alone, which has taken some getting used to. I am not a solitary person at all, so living even a partially solitary lifestyle is a bit tough. I find that I often think about friends and family back home and my fellow PCVs who I won’t see until March. I have learned, however, to see the benefit in being alone at times as it gives me time to process what I am doing and why I am here. As it turns out, the answer to those questions is much more complicated now than they were before I left. I guess it’s all part of the adjustment.
Happy holidays everyone! Christmas and New Years are supposedly the two biggest holidays of the year here, so I’m sure I’m in for a good old time.
Lots of love,
Ben
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