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.
1 comment:
Phew!
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