Seriously, my life seemed unreal this weekend. We started off the weekend Friday night by going to Gabrielle’s host family. They own a sakau bar, so we went out there to see how the sakau is made and participate in a sakau ceremony. It’s quite an intense process of pounding the sakau, mixing it with just the right amount of water, and then squeezing it with a certain leaf to get the juice that everyone drinks. Since we were doing a ceremonial sakau, it was placed in a coconut that we all passed around.
The pounding of the sakau
Squeezing the juice with the leaves
Drink up! Eyes closed!
As a bonus to the trip we got to go out to their sunset spot. It was gorgeous! But I might have enjoyed the wonderful crowd of children that congregated around us. They scaled trees like it was nothing to get us guava!
The kids are SO cute here!
I'm envious of their climbing skills!
Amazing!
Being at the sakau bar also gave us the chance to meet more people and get even more connected with the island. I met a great young girl from Yap; we have decided to be friends and go hiking together and cook local food. It’s pretty cool how quickly you can get to know people on an island.
Then Saturday we were treated to a trip organized by Tony, our wonderful language instructor, and the DOE (department of education). The head honcho of PICS high school, Solpisio, agreed to provide a bus and come along to share more history on Pohnpei. Both Tony and Solpisio both have high titles in the traditional Pohnpeian culture. Solpisio is actually a chief. Because of their high titles they were able to take us straight to the paramount chief. He’s called the Nanmwarki of Madelonihmw, which is the highest position in the island. We were honored to approach him and greet him in Pohnpeian. Then he even allowed us to pass through his property to take a boat out to Nan Madol. Nan Madol is the historical highlight of Pohnpei. It’s put in the same category as the pyramids of Egypt and the structures on Easter Island. They can’t figure out how humans would have been able to transport these massive stones and build this civilization. I felt quite lucky to see such a sight.
Approaching Nan Madol - that's Tony in front!
Can you imagine transporting these massive stones without
modern machines?!?!
Starting in back - Becky, Joseph, Emily, Gabrielle, Kate, Scott, Mike
Front - Me, Tony, Lori, Becca
After Nan Madol we visited Tony’s home in Kitti. We hung out in his market and just got to be part of the culture. It was really nice to be surrounded by basketball games, families going to market, kids playing with the puppies, and just getting to enjoy each others’ company. By the time I got home I was starving, and luckily ahi Nohno had cooked a meal for me. I’m about to shock many people…it was the most delicious steak of my life!
So we’ve done a sakau ceremony, visited the Nanmwarki, seen Nan Madol, hung out at the market; the weekend couldn’t get more Pohnpeian right? Wrong! Sunday we got up early and hired a boat for the day to take us out to Ant Atoll. Everyone always raves about Ant, so we had to go. It was AMAZING!!! Seriously some of the most amazing sights I’ve seen in my life. Ant has sandy beaches, palm trees and coconuts galore, a coral reef, and crystal clear water. There were points in the trip where you weren’t sure where the water ended and the sky began. As we came near Ant, our driver let out a fishing line to see if he could catch anything. Pretty quickly he was reeling in a gray snapper, and I bet you can imagine what comes later.
Gray Snapper - lunch!
As soon as we anchored we hopped out with our snorkel gear and explored the reef. Indescribable!!! I saw coral of many shapes, sizes, and colors. The yellow was my favorite! I saw thousands of different fish also of endless shapes, sizes, and colors. Just when I thought I’d seen the coolest fish ever, I’d swim a little further and think “Oh no, maybe that’s the coolest!” To make life even more of a dream I came back to shore to find our driver taking the fish off the fire (made with coconuts husks) to serve up to us. It doesn’t get any fresher than that! So there I was with delicious fresh fish, drinking out of a coconut on an island in paradise. Really?!
Our boat driver serving up the fish!
We devoured it!
Eating fish just caught and cooked and washing it down
with coconut juice...so delicious!!!!
And of course I took mangoes to savor on the island too!
After enjoying the island is whatever way we pleased until about mid afternoon, we hopped back in the boat to head out to a pass with even more spectacular snorkeling. Oh my!!! I just couldn’t believe my eyes. The coral was endless…the fish amazing…a huge manta ray went skimming by…a shark was in the distance, and there I am taking it all in.
You can just barely see our manta ray friend.
This is the life!
What a day! And of course, being me, I move to an island on the equator without any sunscreen. And, being me, I think I’ll be ok just borrowing a little to put on my face and shoulders about half way through the day. When will I ever learn? I’m a lobster! Haha! And if I didn’t bring sunscreen I obviously wouldn’t have brought aloe. What was I thinking?!
Even cooler, my journal has a quote and verse for each day. I opened to journal at the end of the day and they couldn’t have been more perfect for the day if I had planned them. I’ll end by sharing them with you:
“Around me when I look, His handiwaork I see; This world is like a picture book to teach His love to me. – Jane E. Leeson
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen.” Romans 1:20
I’m not sure how you could see what I saw and not praise God for the mighty, indescribable creator that He is!!!
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