Garbage Bag Sails

When Andrew's parents were visiting, we were on a boat ride in the ocean. We noticed sailboat in the distance, whose sails were fashioned from garbage bags, and whose base was a canoe carved from a tree trunk. I just want to make sure I remember that for a while.

Andrew and I are spending some time looking for jobs and daydreaming about when we move back to the states. Last Friday, I had a staff development day at school - no classes but 8 hours of meetings. I talked another teacher (who knits), into sitting next to me and discretely showing me how to knit throughout the day. Over the weekend, I bought some cotton yarn and made a few wash clothes for the kitchen.

The College of Micronesia, National Campus

During December last year I had a chance to snap a few pictures of COM. I took these as we walked from the faculty offices to the staff Christmas Party.

The two large builidings pictured below are the main classroom buildings. Each building has 10 classrooms. They are simply titled A and B. The building on the right is the faculty building...



The building on the right in the below picture is the administration building the one on the left is one of the two large classroom buildings...


The below picture was taken in the opposite direction of the one above. On the left is a dorm building and on the right the bookstore. The large building in the distance is the gymnasium...


This picture was taken 90 degrees to the left of the above picture. The building on the right is the chow hall.


That concludes our tour.

Random comment:
One funny cultural thing about Pohnpeians is how they conduct themselves at a large gathering that includes food. We have witnessed this at church and also at work gatherings where there is a buffet style meal. Here is how it usually goes. The first people to eat are always men, with the eldest going first. Each man takes quite a bit of food but probably not more that he can eat. Then the women and children get their food. By the time all the women have gone through the line there is no more food. The table is completely empty. At the Christmas party I took very small portions of a lot of different foods because a lot of it looked mysterious. After I had finished I decided what I like so I went to get some more. Here is what the table looked like...



What we learned is that if you go to a large gathering you bring a lot of food and then you take a lot of food home. When the women go they are actually getting food for their entire family for the next few days, maybe even a week. Personally I think this is great way to do things because I'd rather bring a varitey of food home then one large portion of whatever I brought that didn't get eaten. However it is funny to watch and also a funny thing to get used to.

I snapped this picture after I went back for seconds. You can see the large boxes of food and the double plates of food...

More Pics From Last Week

I had a few pictures on my other camera and thought I'd like to share them with you. On my parents first day on the island we went for a drive to find a few waterfalls. Surprisingly the road to find these two was really well maintained. Not surprisingly there were not signs showing you what road to take. We found them with a little help from the locals and a free tourist map...


We hiked to the top of Sokehs mountain...


This is a large AA gun placed on Sokehs Mountain by the Japanese during WWII...


The view here shows Kolonia and its harbor. On the far left is the back of Sokehs Rock and on the far right is the interior of the island. You can click on it for a little bit bigger picture...

Mom and Dad Visit

On Wednesday February 6th my parents arrived in Pohnpei. Megan and I took most of the time off from school so we had a mini vacation too. We borrowed a car from some very generous friends here, so we were able to see some new things too. One thing that was really eye opening for me was that nearly everything here is interesting to an American. Especially an American who has never visited a warm, wet tropical island. The first day we mostly just drove around and made dinner but to my parents it was an exciting experience. Every plant in Pohnpei seems to have super sized leaves. I've noticed it myself but when you come here to live the first things you worry about are getting some food, finding out how to get to work, and learning to get around town. But when your a visitor you can just observe and stand in awe at the beauty. So it was really refreshing to see Pohnpei through a tourists eyes.

Here is a rough timeline of our doings.

• Wednesday: Arrived Wednesday 6 February at 1300. Sushi and Sashimi Dinner.
• Thursday: Saw two waterfalls in Kitti and visited COM. Dinner at The Village.
• Friday: Hiked up Mt. Sokehs. Visited Kapinga Village (An area of Kolonia that makes local crafts.) Dinner at PCR.
• Saturday: Went on a boat tour via The Village. Visited Nan Modal, Manta Road, "The Bowl" (a snorkeling spot), sandy beached island, and Keprohi Waterfalls. BBQ ribs local style for dinner.
• Sunday: Church in the morning. Pohnpaip Petroglyphs in the afternoon. Dinner at the Joy Resturant
• Monday: Shopping at local stores in the morning. Visited Micronesian Seminar and water falls in the afternoon. Dinner at Dave and Ruth Anne's House, celebrated Megan's B-Day.
• Tuesday: Relaxed in the morning. Watched "Micronesians Abroad". Had fresh mangrove crab picnic lunch on the causeway. Waved goodbye at 1400.

For most of the visit I just enjoyed my parents company and didn't take many pictures. It was nice not living the days through the lens so to speak. Unfortunetly for you that means I didn't get a ton of pictures. Here are a few that I did take.

Here is our gang on the hike to Keprohi Waterfalls...


Here is Megan and Andrew in front of Keprohi Waterfalls...


Here are some underwater pics...




Who wants to visit next?