Megan and I arrived at PDX around 0700 last Saturday. The weather in Oregon was spectacular. We shivered a little bit, but were very grateful for the absence of humidity. Oliver arrived a few hours later but we weren't able to take him home until 1400 because he never went through customs.
***Culture Shock***
In Hawaii, Megan and I had breakfast at small touristy diner whose name escapes me at the moment. The waitress arrived to take our drink order and said, "What can I get you guys to drink?!?" The energy that poured out of her overwhelmed us. For a full five seconds Megan and I stared at each other with blank, semi-startled faces. After those long, painful seconds had passed I uttered "Water" in a barely audible tone. Megan added "Yeah, lots of water". The waitress probably thought we were stoned afterall, we were sure she was on crank. Our reaction was a mix of a long flight, culture shock and the fact that the waitress was extremely bubbley. In Pohnpei servers were very relaxed so our eating experiences were also very relaxed. We had a hard time enjoying our meal due to the waitresses energy and efficiently.
On monday I accompanied my mom to costco. I ended up driving home. At one point my mom said "why are you going 25?". I was in fact going 25mph in a 45mph zone. I never drove over 30 mph on Pohnpei.
On our flight to Pennsylvania we were more than shocked when the plane hooked up to the terminal after landing. As soon as the captain turned off the Fasten Seatbelts sign it seemed as though everyone exploded. Megan and I sat there stunned as people frantically grabbed for there bags in the overhead bins.
This isn't really culture shock but really shocking. Pohnpei lays about six degrees north of the equator. Throughout the year the number of hours of daylight only changes by about thirty minutes. The sun would set at about 1820 in December and about 1840 in June. We learned that if the sun is setting then it must be about 1830. This is no the case here, 45 degrees north of the equator. Not only do are the days longer but I also feel as though I have no concept of time.
That's all for now, I'm sure there will be other shocking things as the days go on.
Sidenote: I wrote this entire post from my new cellphone. Although it does have a full keyboard I'm sure there are more typos than usual.
22 May 2008
16 May 2008
So much news it hurts!
Honolulu, HI Friday 16 May 2008 0408 - Megan and I left Pohnpei on Friday 16 May at 1400. We arrived in Hawaii ten hours earlier (man, that international date line messes with your head). So for the first time since the end of July I have truly lightning fast internet, for free no less. It's pretty amazing, especially for a guy who spent the last 10 months looking at a computer screen for a large part of his income and an even larger part of his livelihood. Below are some short paragraphs about what's been happening in my life over the past few weeks.
On Monday 5 May I went to the veterinarian to get some papers for Oliver and get his second set of shots. While there I picked him up to find out that he weights about 60 pounds. I then walked home, about 2 miles, took a shower and got ready for school. When I was putting on my shorts my back decided it didn't want to bend over. The rest of the day I was in excruciating pain and that pain lasted for over a week. Except for the bare essentials I spent an entire week in bed. On Monday the 12th I finally started moving around and visited the doctor. She prescribed me some drugs that helped mildly. It's basically a stronger Ibuprophin, which I had already been taking. My current condition is that I can walk around without any discomfort but sitting in any way causes me discomfort. During our long plane ride I paced the aisles whenever possible. (Sidenote: if you're looking into getting a new MP3 player or Personal Media Player a good way to learn about them is to pace up and down airline aisles for an hour in the middle of a long, packed flight. It maybe a good way to become a suspected terrorist though too. Use with caution.)
Our first farewell party was on April 26. Since then we have had five other farewell parties of varying degree. Don't get me wrong, I love all the free food and the good company, but we spent more time with these friends in the past few weeks then we did during our entire stay in Pohnpei. We got to know people better because of these events just in time to wave good bye to them at the airport. We'll never know if, had these parties been thrown earlier, this could have drastically changed our experience in Pohnpei. This works both ways of course, we are not incapable of throwing parties or inviting people to dinner, so I take full responsibility for this. The unique thing about farewell parties is that people have an sense of urgency about them. After all, a farewell party is kind of a drag if it's thrown the week after the honorees have left.
As you may or may not know we've decided to bring Oliver to the states with us. He's a great dog and we consider him part of our family so we really couldn't leave him behind. Taking a dog from a developing country like the FSM to a developed one like the US actually isn't all that complicated. What is complicated is the fact that the dog's veterinarian plays a vital role and Pohnpei has no full time vet. There is one vet that comes to the island about once every other month for a day and a half or two days. He is the only vet to come so can pretty much charge whatever he wants. His prices weren't outrageous but his customer service left much to be desired, and we did plenty of desiring. Below is what is required and a vague recollection of how much it cost.
The day we chose to fly home ended up being Continental Micronesia's 40th birthday. This is celebrated by giving it's guests a ton of free food. And the food was REALLY good. Some of the best pastries I'd had in Pohnpei. Now I know where the $900 one-way ticket fare goes! (Sidnote: A one way flight from Pohnpei to Honolulu is about $900. A one-way flight from Honolulu to Portland is $240 and a one-way flight from Portland to Philadelphia is $120. Continental is the only carrier that goes to Pohnpei.)
We arrived at the Airport very early today(yesterday?), about 4.5 hours before our flight. This was due to the fact that Oliver was coming with us and we were told that this can take some time. One of my favorite things about Pohnpei is that everybody you know will probably come visit you to say goodbye. It was kind of like a seventh going away party but this time Continental catered it. We received quite a few thoughtful gifts, by the time we got on the airplane Megan had four necklaces around her neck two flowers in her hair and two crowns on her head. These crowns, made out of local flowers, are a local decoration much like a flower lay would be in Hawaii. In true island style there were quite a few people just showing up as the loud speaker was giving us a last warning to go through security. It was wonderful to see all of the smiling faces there to see us off.
One of the last days in Pohnpei I carried my camera around for a whole day and took some pics of life on Pohnpei. They are below with some descriptions.
On Monday 5 May I went to the veterinarian to get some papers for Oliver and get his second set of shots. While there I picked him up to find out that he weights about 60 pounds. I then walked home, about 2 miles, took a shower and got ready for school. When I was putting on my shorts my back decided it didn't want to bend over. The rest of the day I was in excruciating pain and that pain lasted for over a week. Except for the bare essentials I spent an entire week in bed. On Monday the 12th I finally started moving around and visited the doctor. She prescribed me some drugs that helped mildly. It's basically a stronger Ibuprophin, which I had already been taking. My current condition is that I can walk around without any discomfort but sitting in any way causes me discomfort. During our long plane ride I paced the aisles whenever possible. (Sidenote: if you're looking into getting a new MP3 player or Personal Media Player a good way to learn about them is to pace up and down airline aisles for an hour in the middle of a long, packed flight. It maybe a good way to become a suspected terrorist though too. Use with caution.)
Our first farewell party was on April 26. Since then we have had five other farewell parties of varying degree. Don't get me wrong, I love all the free food and the good company, but we spent more time with these friends in the past few weeks then we did during our entire stay in Pohnpei. We got to know people better because of these events just in time to wave good bye to them at the airport. We'll never know if, had these parties been thrown earlier, this could have drastically changed our experience in Pohnpei. This works both ways of course, we are not incapable of throwing parties or inviting people to dinner, so I take full responsibility for this. The unique thing about farewell parties is that people have an sense of urgency about them. After all, a farewell party is kind of a drag if it's thrown the week after the honorees have left.
As you may or may not know we've decided to bring Oliver to the states with us. He's a great dog and we consider him part of our family so we really couldn't leave him behind. Taking a dog from a developing country like the FSM to a developed one like the US actually isn't all that complicated. What is complicated is the fact that the dog's veterinarian plays a vital role and Pohnpei has no full time vet. There is one vet that comes to the island about once every other month for a day and a half or two days. He is the only vet to come so can pretty much charge whatever he wants. His prices weren't outrageous but his customer service left much to be desired, and we did plenty of desiring. Below is what is required and a vague recollection of how much it cost.
- Shots $60
- Health Certificate $25
- Examination $25
- Flea and Tick Meds - $15
- Heartworm Pill $8
- Vet Fee $45
- Dog crate $145
- Certificate of Origin $3
- Continental Shipping Price $608
The day we chose to fly home ended up being Continental Micronesia's 40th birthday. This is celebrated by giving it's guests a ton of free food. And the food was REALLY good. Some of the best pastries I'd had in Pohnpei. Now I know where the $900 one-way ticket fare goes! (Sidnote: A one way flight from Pohnpei to Honolulu is about $900. A one-way flight from Honolulu to Portland is $240 and a one-way flight from Portland to Philadelphia is $120. Continental is the only carrier that goes to Pohnpei.)
We arrived at the Airport very early today(yesterday?), about 4.5 hours before our flight. This was due to the fact that Oliver was coming with us and we were told that this can take some time. One of my favorite things about Pohnpei is that everybody you know will probably come visit you to say goodbye. It was kind of like a seventh going away party but this time Continental catered it. We received quite a few thoughtful gifts, by the time we got on the airplane Megan had four necklaces around her neck two flowers in her hair and two crowns on her head. These crowns, made out of local flowers, are a local decoration much like a flower lay would be in Hawaii. In true island style there were quite a few people just showing up as the loud speaker was giving us a last warning to go through security. It was wonderful to see all of the smiling faces there to see us off.
One of the last days in Pohnpei I carried my camera around for a whole day and took some pics of life on Pohnpei. They are below with some descriptions.
14 May 2008
24 Hours in Pohnpei
Tuesday
1600: Sitting in front of the fan after getting home from the park where Oliver gets his exercise.
1700: Our friends Ray and Sheffy stopped by to chat. Sheffy really likes Oliver, the feeling is mutual. Ray is a teacher at CCA, the high school megan briefly taught at, and Sheffy is his son. On their way to school in the morning Sheffy will regularly call out "Mr. Boes!" or "Mrs. Boes!".
1800: Sunset at The Village. Bruce and Joanne wanted to buy us dinner so we went to our favorite place in Pohnpei, The Village.
1900: Sorry no pic. I had the Macadamia Nut chicken, it was delicious.
2000: Stopped by Genesis Hospital to stock up on drugs!
Wednesday
0600: Slowly waking up, Oliver can be really calm in the morning. He can also be really crazy.
0700: Rice Crispies and Granola. My Grandpa C. taught me the joys of mixing cereals.
0800: 200 mg Celebrex. It's better than Advil, but not by much.
0900: Watching "Manufacturing Dissent". The laptop is set up right next to the bed on top of Oliver's crate. Over the past week I've probably watched more than twenty movies here due to a bad back.
1000: On my way to Pohnpei Utilities Corporation. The rain finally let up a bit so I can run my errands.
1015: I've always wanted a picture of this tank. It's Japanese from WWII.
1100: PUC. This is the building where we pay our water bill and buy power. I wish I could say the building looked better on the inside. I can't. Our water bill has never been above $5. We don't have a power "bill" but rather,we buy kilowatt hours from PUC. When we left the rate was about $0.44/kilowatt hour.
1200: Telecom. All telephone and internet communications are through the satellite on the right of the above pic.
1300: Lunch! Today we have scrambled eggs with sausage on a terrible looking but delicious tortilla and an orange.
1400: Finished movie. No pic. Not sorry.
1500:Oliver getting his afternoon workout.
Thats all. If you have a blog you should think about doing this. I don't know interesting it was for you the reader but from my point of view it was fun. I felt like I needed to do something interesting every hour or everyone out there would know how truly boring I am : )
1600: Sitting in front of the fan after getting home from the park where Oliver gets his exercise.
1700: Our friends Ray and Sheffy stopped by to chat. Sheffy really likes Oliver, the feeling is mutual. Ray is a teacher at CCA, the high school megan briefly taught at, and Sheffy is his son. On their way to school in the morning Sheffy will regularly call out "Mr. Boes!" or "Mrs. Boes!".
1800: Sunset at The Village. Bruce and Joanne wanted to buy us dinner so we went to our favorite place in Pohnpei, The Village.
1900: Sorry no pic. I had the Macadamia Nut chicken, it was delicious.
2000: Stopped by Genesis Hospital to stock up on drugs!
Wednesday
0600: Slowly waking up, Oliver can be really calm in the morning. He can also be really crazy.
0700: Rice Crispies and Granola. My Grandpa C. taught me the joys of mixing cereals.
0800: 200 mg Celebrex. It's better than Advil, but not by much.
0900: Watching "Manufacturing Dissent". The laptop is set up right next to the bed on top of Oliver's crate. Over the past week I've probably watched more than twenty movies here due to a bad back.
1000: On my way to Pohnpei Utilities Corporation. The rain finally let up a bit so I can run my errands.
1015: I've always wanted a picture of this tank. It's Japanese from WWII.
1100: PUC. This is the building where we pay our water bill and buy power. I wish I could say the building looked better on the inside. I can't. Our water bill has never been above $5. We don't have a power "bill" but rather,we buy kilowatt hours from PUC. When we left the rate was about $0.44/kilowatt hour.
1200: Telecom. All telephone and internet communications are through the satellite on the right of the above pic.
1300: Lunch! Today we have scrambled eggs with sausage on a terrible looking but delicious tortilla and an orange.
1400: Finished movie. No pic. Not sorry.
1500:Oliver getting his afternoon workout.
Thats all. If you have a blog you should think about doing this. I don't know interesting it was for you the reader but from my point of view it was fun. I felt like I needed to do something interesting every hour or everyone out there would know how truly boring I am : )
01 May 2008
Automotive X Prize
Today I'd like to plug the Automotive X Prize. This competition will award $10 million to the team that can create the best vehicle that is commercially viable and get over 100mpg. The best part of it is you can already buy a few really neat vehicles that will be in the competition.
Here is an article about the top ten competitors.
Want an electric truck?
Here is an article about the top ten competitors.
Want an electric truck?
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