Water...in many forms

Last Saturday was our first day out on the water.  We did a water safety training in the morning, and then headed out on a boat for the afternoon to test out our skills.  We took the boat out in the lagoon, which gave us incredible views of Sokehs Rock and many tuna boats.  We each got to start the boat and then drive it around a bit for practice.  

That's a view of Sokehs Rock

Super hard engine to start!

Now we're cruisin'!

 After we had each had our turn we anchored for a while and just swam around.  The water feels wonderful!!!!  Not too hot and not too cold, just right!  And it’s so salty that you can effortlessly float for hours.  Luckily Scott had brought his mask, so we each took turns checking out the amazing fish living in the coral.  I swear I’m living on the Discovery Channel.  It rained on our drive back and all evening.

Sunday was another fun-filled day.  I got to try another church with my friend Lori (it makes it really easy every time we meet new people).  It rained all during church and after.  This time we went to an English speaking service and it was great.  I’m so excited to find a place that I like and can get to know some more people there.  They were so friendly and welcoming.  I even briefly met another couple from Colorado.  Being there made me love the island even more.  It’s like a little piece of heaven on earth with people from all different nations and tongues worshiping the Lord together!  So awesome!

In the afternoon Kate rented a bus for us to ride around the whole island.  With stops and everything I think we made it around the entire island in about 3 hours.  It was exciting to see even more of what the island has to offer.  In one word I would describe it as…green!  We made it out to Madolenihmw (pronounced Mad-o-len-eem) and Kitti (the tt makes the ch sound) where 4 WorldTeach teachers will be moving to after orientation.  

The Kitti House

The Madolenihmw House

Awesome views around the island

Awak Marine Park

In case that wasn’t enough excitement, Kate took us to the Awak Marine Park to do some more swimming with views of the mountains, mangroves, and thousands of fish darting in and out of the coral.  Again, I think this is where Discovery Channel gets some of their footage.  I need snorkel gear ASAP!!!  Oh, and it rained as we were leaving and the rest of the night.

Monday started week 2 of training and quite an experience of how the island operates.  It rained ALL day!  We started our first Pohnpeian language class that morning; instructor Tony is a Pohnpeian native who lives in Kitti and writes textbooks for Pohnpeian schools to preserve their history, culture and language.  Pretty cool!  He’s so great to us and really works to improve our basic communication skills.  I’m slowly picking it up.  The funniest thing was that he explained to us that morning that he was in a hurry getting dressed and didn’t realize until he got to the school that his shirt didn’t have buttons :D  After that was when island time really took effect: Tony decided he was done at 10…it was suppose to go til 11.  CSP was suppose to do a presentation at 11…never showed.  We headed to PICS high school for lunch…the cafeteria is locked.  We do a couple of teaching lessons until we’re suppose to have a teacher panel…it’s canceled and moved to Thursday.  So basically we accomplished maybe half of what we should have, and that’s all too typical of this place.  You learn to be very flexible.  It meant we got out early, so we took advantage of the time to hang out at Emily’s place and then tried out a new place called Coco Marina.  It was another great find!  It’s a big thatched hut overlooking a lagoon and they serve some of the best “American food”.

Coco Marina

 Tony just continued to become more and more of a character over the past couple of days.  He came in Tuesday and stated that he knows our Field Director Kate has plans for us, but he has his own plans.  He wants to take at least 2 field trips for us to try our Pohnpeian skills out in the community with Pohnpeians.  “We will leave in the morning and come back late at night.”  Tony has a high title in the community, so what he says goes.  Like Wednesday, he decided we all needed to go the governor’s office to mingle and practice Pohnpeian.  We checked out all the offices; the governor has quite the office with a view.  I can see how you wouldn’t get anything done in there for all the distractions.  Because Tony is Tony he also got us into the youth conference going on and he gave an impromptu speech.  I wish my words could do him justice.

Sittin' at the governor's desk!

 We’ve gotten out of training a little bit early a few days, which has allowed me to explore the town a little more.  Our ACE Hardware offers it all.  (Oh, it poured down rain on me as I made the mile trek back to my house from there.)  I’ve scoped out what’s available, prices, and where you should buy different items.  I’ve come to the conclusion that you can buy just about anything you want if you’re willing to spend the money.  It’s just that everything’s about 5 times more expensive than it would be in the states.  Killer for a girl as frugal as me! 

Did I mention that it’s been raining?!?!  Haha, I write it all in a joking manner, but it really does rain all the time.  I just don’t think you can even imagine.  I know I certainly couldn’t even as much as they tried to warn us.  Good thing we live on an island where it all just runs off in the ocean!  And now I will leave you with a little conglomeration of various views as I’ve walked around town exploring…

I'm about to head off for quite an exciting weekend, so definitely look forward to the next post!

Kasalehlie!!!

Kasalehlie!

I can’t believe I’ve only been here a week. It’s hard to imagine that I could experience so many things in hardly 7 days. I’ll try to start from the beginning…

The island hopping was quite interesting. From Hawaii we landed in:

First taste of the Pacific Islands

This is how it works :) Off and on at each island.

Then we landed in Kwajelein, but absolutely no pictures are allowed there due to all of the military activity. And we weren’t allowed to step off of the plane there either.

Kosrae - saying bye to the WorldTeachers places there

Until finally after many hours flying with the lovely Continental Airlines (which treats you much better once you go international we noted)…

Pohnpei!!!!

We were absolutely thrilled to be standing on our home for the next year and seeing all the green around us. After making it through the long immigration line and claiming our luggage, we were greeted by our Field Director, Kate. She had beautiful head pieces for each of us.

Traveling buddies - Becca & Laurel

We were quickly loaded onto a bus to be taken to our host families. I was the first to be dropped off. It was such a whirlwind; I couldn’t believe I was being left in this foreign land. But my host mom, Paula, welcomed me with a hug and lei. I could tell right away that she was going to be super sweet. My brother, Pilly, helped me with my ridiculous amount of luggage while little Gradley shyly peaked around to check out this new white girl. Paula took me right to my very own room.

My very own room!

Maybe one of the more shocking discoveries to me :)
Gotta love the bucket shower!

Paula!
(I apologize for the sideways pictures, but I haven't
figured out how to flip them and it costs way too much
to try uploading them again)

 I actually call her Nohno because she is my Pohnpeian mom. She keeps a very nice house, is a great cook, and has beautiful flowers in the yard.

Paula's beautiful work in our yard

My leis made by Paula to greet me!

My first meal was tuna (like fresh caught in Pohnpei), rice and bananas. Very Pohnpeian and a nice change from the airplane food for sure. The afternoon consisted of Gradley and I playing with the left over flowers:

Such a cutie!  We've bonded so much!

So that was all Saturday. Sunday brought church at the Catholic church Paula goes to. The two of us went and I enjoyed a mass totally in Pohnpeian. I understood 2 words: Yesus (Jesus) and kahlangan (thank you). But it was still great to experience and hear the beautiful singing with natural harmonizing.
 Monday we started WorldTeach training at the local high school, PICS.  It was quite eye-opening to see what a typical school is like here.

PICS - looking down the building of classrooms

Our classroom

The demands of training have been nothing compared  to TFA institute :)  But it has been great and helpful nonetheless.  It has really made me realize how much I have learned as a teacher in just 2 years.  The week has included setting up a bank account and getting a cell phone, which made me feel so much like a local!  We got to go to go to a big Pacific Education Conference that happens every 2 years and just happens to be in Pohnpei this year.  Such a cool opportunity to gather with other teachers from all over the Pacific - Palau, Kosrae, Majuro, Guam. 

The conference was at the National Campus of COM
in Palikir.  Beautiful campus and views!

That afternoon we also got to watch the Upward Bound students put on a talent show.  We guest starred as white people dancers ;)  We even got to go to the US Embassy and meet with the ambassador on Friday.  He was a very interesting guy with so much insight on the island that he was eager to share with us.  Plus he seems overly willing to do anything to help us out while we are here and I'm sure at some point we'll get to go to The Residence! One night we decided to try out a good place we had heard of - Cupid's.  So glad we did!  The view was awesome and reminded us that we really are living in paradise!

This is the life!  View from Cupid's!

When I get home each night from training my Nohno (mom) has a delicious meal cooking.  It seems as though everything is quite an adventure here, and eating is certainly an adventure in itself.  I feel so fortunate to live with a family who is really big on eating the local foods.  We have had fish (scales on, eyes looking at me), pig, fried bananas, boiled bananas, bananas smashed with coconut milk (probably my favorite), steak (that's right I ate the first steak of my life), breadfruit (functions much like a potato).

Not the first of my whole fish eating adventures, but
probably my favorite - fish, coconut soup, and boiled
bananas.

The Karat Banana - the banana adventure begins.
This is said to be the most nutritious banana possibly
in the world.  It's like eating custard!  We don't even
know what a good banana is in the states.

 After dinner I almost always make a trip to the store with Grace.  Then I come back and play cards with Gradley.  We have 2 favorites (matching and what I would call the Gradley Game) but I have also taught him war and Go Fish.  A deck of Colorado cards happen to be one of my thank you gifts to my family.  Best gift ever! 

One of our nightly games of Match

And a week wouldn't be complete in Pohnpei without trying the Sakau.  I had turned it down several times, but I finally gave into Grace's pleading on Friday night.  I'd say it didn't taste as bad as I expected, but I could only do little sips.  I was glad I experienced something so important in their culture, but I don't have a burning desire to drink some more! :)

There it is...Sakau!  A bit like drinking slimy dirt.
Drunk out of a coconut cup with your eyes closed.

Me & Grace

My first sip!  I hadn't yet learned about shutting
my eyes.  Oops!

 So week 1 has wrapped up and more has happened than I could ever think would fit in a week.  It's amazing how quickly you adapt to a new place.  I already prefer being outside because air conditioning feels too cold.  I feel like I understand my surroundings much more and really enjoy walking around town.  I can walk anywhere in Kolonia.  I pick up more and more Pohnpeian words each day.  And I find myself loving it here more and more everyday.  It is a land of high highs and low lows (I'll expand on that more later), but I find it to be an absolutely fascinating place to be.  I'm so thankful to be here and I'm looking forward to even more to come!

I am amazed at the things that grow here!!!

 I'm excited to share so much more!  Thank you for your prayers and support; it is felt around the world!

Pikes Peak or Bust!

I just couldn't leave Colorado without one last adventure!  We're not even sure exactly how we decided to do it, but Wendi, Dustin, Justin and I decided to hike Pikes Peak by Barr Trail.  I couldn't resist the opportunity to hike 1 more mountain.  The weather has not been so good in the afternoon, so we made sure to get an extra early start so we could summit before the clouds rolled in.

Here we go!  4:45am start

You can see the summit pretty early in the hike, which
is pretty nice!

The trail is really well marked to let you know exactly how
far you've gone and how far you have to go.

Everyone's still looking great at 3.5 miles in - only 9.5 to go!

The hike offered some gorgeous views!

Making progress - 7.8 to go...

the team is still looking strong!

You can tell I liked the signs; they were so informative :)

They hike on as I take pictures of the many signs ;)

At just over half way up the trail there is a great stopping place called Barr Camp.  A wonderful couple has built an area with a cabin, sleeping shelters, places to pitch a tent, and a necessary room.  They were super friendly and helpful.  I think it would be great to just hike up to there and camp for a night or two.

The main cabin where you can buy snacks, read an outdoors
book, sign the log book, or chat with the owners.

Yes, it is necessary!

This is pretty luxury on a hike

A great way to sleep in the great outdoors.

 So after a nice stop at Barr Camp we continued up the mountain, still quite aware of the potential for storms to roll in if we hung around too long.

So many signs!!!

We opted for the peak, not the bottomless pit

At Barr Camp, we met our new friend Jay.  He's summited Pike's
Peak about 50 times.  As you can imagine, he was a wealth of
information!

Another great feature of the trail - there's a shelter right below
treeline just in case you need it.

A-Frame!

The view from A-Frame

Treeline means we've made it 10 miles and 3 to go.  Time was
flying!

I continue to have a strong attraction to the
various flowers I only see on mountains.

The chipmunk decided to pose for us - this is
just for you Nikki :)

My personal favorites - the Marmots!  3 of them chillin' on the
rocks.

Lovin' the views above treeline!

It seems like you can see forever

Just 2 miles to go!

Now 1 mile...

but the clouds are building!

So comforting!

16 Golden Stairs...we're not sure what is so golden about them,
but it does mean you're near the top.  And were we thankful!
Those clouds were getting quite creepy.

And we made it!  Great job team!

The crew in front of the original summit house

Gotta have the classic Pikes Peak picture!

 It was pretty chilly at the top since the clouds had rolled in.  You couldn't see a thing from the summit, which was kind of disappointing, but we were happy to be there nonetheless.  But it was quickly time to head inside the summit house along with the hundreds of people that just poured out of the cog.

The summit house is known for their World Famous Doughnuts.  Dustin and Justin game them a try; I didn't get the impression from them that they should earn the title of best doughnut ever, but we're all pretty happy just to get some fuel after a long hike.

Can't beat a good PB&J!

Fortunately we were only doing the hike UP this time.  My dad was so wonderful to drive all the way up to pick us up and bring us down the mountain!!!

Can you tell it's a little colder than we expected?! ;)

I was so thankful we got hike the original 14er I came to 5 years ago.  A big check off the bucket list!  And with that...so long for now Colorado!

Now look forward to updates from across the ocean!!!  My departure is in just a matter of hours!