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.
26 February 2008
20 February 2008
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...
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...
18 February 2008
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...
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...
12 February 2008
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.
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?
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.
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?
27 January 2008
Dreams of Embarassment
You know that dream you have where you went to class and forgot to get dressed? And you sit there trying to cover your private parts hoping no one will notice. (If you've never had a dream like this, please just nod and smile so I don't feel weird.)
Well, the other night I had a similar dream. Some background info. first:
Here females wear long skirts. Some ladies wear pants/long shorts (myself included), but they always cover to your knee. Although people are very comfortable with women's upper bodies, from the knee to hip is a big deal.
I have a short skirt (by local standards) that I wear around the house to keep cool. But I would never wear it anywhere else.
Now my dream: I forgot to change from my short skirt to a long skirt and then went to school. In my dream I had that same nervous feeling as if I had nothing on, and just hoped no one would notice. (Turns out the sheet came off my legs.)
I'm ready to come home and feel comfortable in my clothes again!
Andrew's parents are coming to visit us WEDNESDAY!!! Woo hoo! AND they're bringing CHEESE!!
Well, the other night I had a similar dream. Some background info. first:
Here females wear long skirts. Some ladies wear pants/long shorts (myself included), but they always cover to your knee. Although people are very comfortable with women's upper bodies, from the knee to hip is a big deal.
I have a short skirt (by local standards) that I wear around the house to keep cool. But I would never wear it anywhere else.
Now my dream: I forgot to change from my short skirt to a long skirt and then went to school. In my dream I had that same nervous feeling as if I had nothing on, and just hoped no one would notice. (Turns out the sheet came off my legs.)
I'm ready to come home and feel comfortable in my clothes again!
Andrew's parents are coming to visit us WEDNESDAY!!! Woo hoo! AND they're bringing CHEESE!!
Gas Guzzler? How about Meat guzzler...
So what if you're car doesn't get 50 miles per gallon. According to a recent New York Times article about meat, meat production produces 1/5 of the worlds greenhouse gases, more than transportation. Here are a few more highlights of the article.
One of the reasons for all of this energy is that it takes a lot of grains to grow a cow. It takes somewhere between 4 and 10 pounds (depending on your source of information) of grains to produce 1 pound of actual beef. Here are some other meat to grain ratios:
Fish: 1.5-2.0:1
Chicken: 2.1- 3.0:1
Pigs: 4.0-5.5:1
That's a lot of grains to grow and transport...
- "if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius."
- .0098 gallons of gasoline to produce 1 cup broccoli, 1 cup eggplant, 4 oz cauliflower, 8 oz. rice or .1597 gallons of gas to produce a 6 oz beef steak. Both dishes have about 320 calories each (though not nutritionally equal).
- Americans eat about 8 ounces of meat per day, Twice the global average.
One of the reasons for all of this energy is that it takes a lot of grains to grow a cow. It takes somewhere between 4 and 10 pounds (depending on your source of information) of grains to produce 1 pound of actual beef. Here are some other meat to grain ratios:
Fish: 1.5-2.0:1
Chicken: 2.1- 3.0:1
Pigs: 4.0-5.5:1
That's a lot of grains to grow and transport...
23 January 2008
Oliver is a new dog
When we got home from Bali the first thing we wanted to do was see our dog. We had left Oliver in the hands of some locals and even though we had complete confidence in them we still had nagging thoughts about the fact that they were locals. So we were happy to see that Oliver was not only okay but rather he'd gained quite a bit of weight and was really healthy looking. I looked up an old picture we'd taken of him and compared it to the new Oliver. Here he is...
The other difference is that he's become great friends with Rocky, the neighbor's dog. When we left they tolerated each others company but never interacted in any way. Now they are virtually inseparable. In the morning we go for a walk and Rocky accompanies us. Usually he is waiting for us by our front door. In the evening we let Oliver out and they play continuously for hours. Tug of war with some random piece of garbage is our favorite...
This was a great relief to us, as we were afraid they wouldn't get along. However new complications have arisen. Usually if Rocky hears or sees another dog he darts after it without regard for anything that is in his way, such as cars. About 50% of the time Oliver will follow along with the same reckless abandon. The other complication is that Oliver humps Rocky incessantly. This is extremely embarrassing. Many times we have been talking to a neighbor or friend and they start to do it. During one such conversation Mayleeza, our neighbor, said "They need a woman". At first we discouraged it, calling Oliver or physically separating the two. But now we've learned to accept it, though we still make an effort when we're talking with visitors.
We see this sight very often. Rocky gets the rag that they were fighting over and Oliver jumps on top. Who is the real winner?...
Overall we are still really glad they get along so well. It just going to take quite a bit of adjusting. Oliver is worth it...
The other difference is that he's become great friends with Rocky, the neighbor's dog. When we left they tolerated each others company but never interacted in any way. Now they are virtually inseparable. In the morning we go for a walk and Rocky accompanies us. Usually he is waiting for us by our front door. In the evening we let Oliver out and they play continuously for hours. Tug of war with some random piece of garbage is our favorite...
This was a great relief to us, as we were afraid they wouldn't get along. However new complications have arisen. Usually if Rocky hears or sees another dog he darts after it without regard for anything that is in his way, such as cars. About 50% of the time Oliver will follow along with the same reckless abandon. The other complication is that Oliver humps Rocky incessantly. This is extremely embarrassing. Many times we have been talking to a neighbor or friend and they start to do it. During one such conversation Mayleeza, our neighbor, said "They need a woman". At first we discouraged it, calling Oliver or physically separating the two. But now we've learned to accept it, though we still make an effort when we're talking with visitors.
We see this sight very often. Rocky gets the rag that they were fighting over and Oliver jumps on top. Who is the real winner?...
Overall we are still really glad they get along so well. It just going to take quite a bit of adjusting. Oliver is worth it...
20 January 2008
We Loved Bali
After leaving Ubud we traveled to Tulamben, on the northern coast of Bali. There is a WWII ship that sunk just off the beach. According to the guidebook you can see it while snorkeling. The waves were really rough, so we didn't get to enjoy any snorkeling.
From Tulamben we traveled to Lovina Beach. We checked into the Lovina Beach Hotel on 29 December. The hotel was about $7.50 per night, and that included breakfast. The hotel was right on the beach and had a beautiful pool...
During our stay in Lovina we befriended a family from the Netherlands. Every day we'd end up swimming at around the same time as there children, aged probably 4 and 7 years. If Megan and I were swimming together or just talking the children would start to chant "Yule sin ver leafet". Which we found out translates to "You're in Love".
While in Lovina we visited a hotel that had their own pet dolphins and advertised "Swim with our dolphins". Megan and I thought this would be really neat to see and maybe do. When we got there we saw a short dolphin show, it was terrible. The dolphins didn't do anything the trainer wanted and the trainer was visibly upset the whole time. At one point he left the pool for 5 mins while some music blared in the background. After the show we walked to the dolphin pool and saw that a tour group was getting ready to swim with the dolphins. They each got some short instructions and were given a lifevest. They weren't actually allowed to swim with the dolphins rather they layed on their backs and were pulled around the pool by a 'trainer' with fins on. When the first group of three people started the dolphins really weren't interested in swimming near them. After a few minutes the dolphins started to take interest, they started calmly swimming with them and around them. After a few more minutes the dolphins started to get more aggressive and were swimming over the legs of the visitors. Now we know why they had to wear life vests. About a month ago I posted about crazy dogs if you thought that story was too graphic you might want to skip the rest of this paragraph and just look at the pretty pictures below. When the dolphins started to get more aggressive the tourists let out a little scream followed by a laugh. The trainer would then scold the tourist, telling them to be quiet. By the time they had made a circle in the pool and it was the next groups turn. This time when the tourists got in the pool the dolphins were not calm. They were really aggressive with the swimmers, swimming over their legs and thrashing a little bit. One kid let out a scream and the 'trainer' shook the kid and said "BE QUIET". All the while there is this therapeutic sounding music playing in the background. This went on for quite a while, maybe 10 minutes, when Megan and I noticed that the dolphins had erections. That's right. The dolphins were humping the tourists. The tourists paid twenty bucks to get humped by dolphins. We decided we would not be swimming with the dolphins. We were thinking that the kids were probably enjoying this, oblivious to the reasons for the thrashing but what about the adults? Especially if you weren't the one to go first. There were a few tourists that went several times. I'm sorry, I might be culturally closed minded but it's weird for someone to knowingly get in a pool with a horny dolphin. Then another though hit us, what if you were a parent and your kid was in the pool with one of the "excited" dolphins?
Besides the crazy dolphin hotel Lovina was extremely pleasant. The prices were a little cheaper and the beach not crowded at all. One day we rented motor scooters and drove all around...
We found some waterfalls. This one is called Sing Sing...
This one is called Gitgit...
Here is a pic of me...
After Lovina we headed back to Kuta for out last few days in Bali. We checked in on the 3rd of January and our plane departed on the 7th. In Kuta we did American type things, we went to see movies, went to the mall, ate at Pizza Hut and so on. And we finally got to see a Kuta sunset...
Here are a few other pics of Bali. A motor scooter with a family on it...
This mountain is over 10k feet. This was very impressive as most of the time when we saw it we were around 0k feet. Mt Agung...
Here is another view of some rice terraces...
Megan and I arrived home on Monday, 7 January 2008. And Oliver was very excited to see us...
From Tulamben we traveled to Lovina Beach. We checked into the Lovina Beach Hotel on 29 December. The hotel was about $7.50 per night, and that included breakfast. The hotel was right on the beach and had a beautiful pool...
During our stay in Lovina we befriended a family from the Netherlands. Every day we'd end up swimming at around the same time as there children, aged probably 4 and 7 years. If Megan and I were swimming together or just talking the children would start to chant "Yule sin ver leafet". Which we found out translates to "You're in Love".
While in Lovina we visited a hotel that had their own pet dolphins and advertised "Swim with our dolphins". Megan and I thought this would be really neat to see and maybe do. When we got there we saw a short dolphin show, it was terrible. The dolphins didn't do anything the trainer wanted and the trainer was visibly upset the whole time. At one point he left the pool for 5 mins while some music blared in the background. After the show we walked to the dolphin pool and saw that a tour group was getting ready to swim with the dolphins. They each got some short instructions and were given a lifevest. They weren't actually allowed to swim with the dolphins rather they layed on their backs and were pulled around the pool by a 'trainer' with fins on. When the first group of three people started the dolphins really weren't interested in swimming near them. After a few minutes the dolphins started to take interest, they started calmly swimming with them and around them. After a few more minutes the dolphins started to get more aggressive and were swimming over the legs of the visitors. Now we know why they had to wear life vests. About a month ago I posted about crazy dogs if you thought that story was too graphic you might want to skip the rest of this paragraph and just look at the pretty pictures below. When the dolphins started to get more aggressive the tourists let out a little scream followed by a laugh. The trainer would then scold the tourist, telling them to be quiet. By the time they had made a circle in the pool and it was the next groups turn. This time when the tourists got in the pool the dolphins were not calm. They were really aggressive with the swimmers, swimming over their legs and thrashing a little bit. One kid let out a scream and the 'trainer' shook the kid and said "BE QUIET". All the while there is this therapeutic sounding music playing in the background. This went on for quite a while, maybe 10 minutes, when Megan and I noticed that the dolphins had erections. That's right. The dolphins were humping the tourists. The tourists paid twenty bucks to get humped by dolphins. We decided we would not be swimming with the dolphins. We were thinking that the kids were probably enjoying this, oblivious to the reasons for the thrashing but what about the adults? Especially if you weren't the one to go first. There were a few tourists that went several times. I'm sorry, I might be culturally closed minded but it's weird for someone to knowingly get in a pool with a horny dolphin. Then another though hit us, what if you were a parent and your kid was in the pool with one of the "excited" dolphins?
Besides the crazy dolphin hotel Lovina was extremely pleasant. The prices were a little cheaper and the beach not crowded at all. One day we rented motor scooters and drove all around...
We found some waterfalls. This one is called Sing Sing...
This one is called Gitgit...
Here is a pic of me...
After Lovina we headed back to Kuta for out last few days in Bali. We checked in on the 3rd of January and our plane departed on the 7th. In Kuta we did American type things, we went to see movies, went to the mall, ate at Pizza Hut and so on. And we finally got to see a Kuta sunset...
Here are a few other pics of Bali. A motor scooter with a family on it...
This mountain is over 10k feet. This was very impressive as most of the time when we saw it we were around 0k feet. Mt Agung...
Here is another view of some rice terraces...
Megan and I arrived home on Monday, 7 January 2008. And Oliver was very excited to see us...
07 January 2008
Fat Yogi's
In this trip report I will be giving a short post about all the hotels we stayed at.
The Hotel we stayed in in Kuta is called Fat Yogi's. It was had the nicest room out of all the rooms we stayed in. We checked in on 20 Dec and checked out on 24 Dec. Our room, 209, was very nice and had recently been renovated. It had a 12-15 ft ceiling and nice big ceiling fan. It was $16 per night and that included a modest breakfast of 1 egg, 2 pcs of toast, fresh fruit and coffee or tea. The service was average. There was a very nice pool and dozens of resturants within 500 meters. Below are some pics.
Our room...
The view from the roof...
The Hotel we stayed in in Kuta is called Fat Yogi's. It was had the nicest room out of all the rooms we stayed in. We checked in on 20 Dec and checked out on 24 Dec. Our room, 209, was very nice and had recently been renovated. It had a 12-15 ft ceiling and nice big ceiling fan. It was $16 per night and that included a modest breakfast of 1 egg, 2 pcs of toast, fresh fruit and coffee or tea. The service was average. There was a very nice pool and dozens of resturants within 500 meters. Below are some pics.
Our room...
The view from the roof...
Winter Break 2007
This year for winter break Megan and I went to Bali, Indonesia. We had a completely wonderful time and I plan on telling you all about it here. I am going to make posts as if we were there in Bali, for example we arrived on the 20th but I will write about it on the 8th of January. This is mostly for Megan and I so we can remember what days we did what.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
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