After living out of a suitcase for a month I've finally moved into my home! I couldn't be happier to unpack and settle in. I really like my new place and throughout the week I've been able to clean and organize to my liking to make it feel like home. I have a wonderful roommate named Laurel. She has taught math and science for quite a few years, so she has a lot of ideas and experience to share. She's always full of energy and keeps life fun. And she loves to cook so we're going to be eating good this year :)
Laurel trying out her Ube "Purple Yum" the guys got her
for her birthday
We live in an apartment above a family, the Samuels'. I absolutely love them and they are so good to us! Pahpa Samuels is the dad, Mariana is his daughter, and Maloney (17) and JJ (8) are Mariana's kids. Even though we're technically living in the apartment above, they have taken us in like family. The place itself can best be explained and understood through pictures of course, so here we go.
The family store is directly below my room. You can buy quite
the variety of items from their little place.
This is our place as you walk up on the road
This is the other angle walking up the other side of the street.
Here's a better view of the store; you just walk up and buy
what you need. That's my bedroom window on the top left.
You walk in to the kitchen/dining area and the living room
is on the far side.
Looking back at the kitchen you can see that we have a
big refrigerator and an oven with a stove top!
From the living/dining area you walk into the bedrooms -
a door on the left and right.
Here's my bedroom!!! The essential fan, luggage as a night stand,
bags as wall decorations - pretty great! :)
Yep, I thought you might want a closer look to confirm that my
sheets are indeed too small for the bed. An emergency set has
been shipped by my wonderful mother :)
The most exciting part of my room...the closet!!!
I no longer live out of a suitcase!!!
We have an extra room on the opposite side of
our bedrooms and the bathroom is in that room.
I am a big fan of our bathroom. Let me tell you why...I started off in a home with a bucket shower. I came to really like it but it took a little more time. Then I spent a week in a house with a full shower and it was great to be able to stand under a shower again, but the water feels even colder when you can't get away from it. So now I have the perfect in between: the shower hose. It's faster than the bucket, but not as cold as the shower. It's juuusssst right!
Walking out our front door, we have a GREAT porch!!!
We call it The Porch and it has been the location of
choice for many of our hangouts.
On the back side we have a place to hang
clothes and towels.
We also have our own rooster - that's a sound that's going
to take a little time to get use to.
Yes, this is the view I have any time I want!
This is looking down into the yard from our porch. The tin-
covered area is for cooking and behind to the left is ...
the pwihks (pigs)!
oink, oink
cute little piglets with the momma
if only they stayed this cute
"Just imagine how good we all smell!" Haha!
We have a rushing river just across the street
behind us.
Dog #1 - Brownie
Dog #2 - Lassie
Momma cat & 2 week old kitten.
Those of you who know me well know my lack of love for animals in the house. I often walk in to find 1 of the 3 cats in our house trying to get our food. I am not very nice to them. I shoo them out as quickly as possible. I even had one surprise me by jumping out of my closet as I was picking out my clothes for the day.
Well I think that is a pretty thorough overview of the new place. I'm loving it and happy to have a place to call home. Mariana takes good care of us. I came home for lunch one day and she provided me this "very balanced Pohneian meal":
Blue reef fish caught right here in Pohnpei, breadfruit picked
right off the tree and cooked in the umw, and a papaya that
I selected off of the tree across the street. It was
udahn yo! (very delicious)
More to come soon about actual teaching too! And now I leave you with your flower of the post:
I've never been at such a loss on how to begin a post. As most of you know, we suffered a great tragedy and loss just over a week ago. It was terrible and my prayers still go out to her family and friends. We will always miss Becky as a vibrant and ambitious member of our WT family. Even through grieving and heartache there is always good that comes out too. I have been blown away by the response of both the people here and back home. People at home immediately responded with prayers and e-mails of comfort and support. That meant more than you could know.
The community here showered, and continues to shower, us with love and generosity. It has given us a unique insight to more Pohnpeian customs. Clara was Becky's host mother and took her in as her own daughter. It is custom to keep the body company; so every night Clara organized a service for her. We would gather together to sing Pohnpeian hymns, pray and read scripture. It is also custom for the family to bring food every night so that no one leaves empty handed. It just blew me away every night to see the generosity of Clara and her family. They prepared so much, and insisted that we take several plates and drinks. All of the host families have really been incredible. They didn't even think twice about doing anything they could to help and support us. The people are wonderful and we have a lot we can learn from them. Family comes first no matter what and they exude love and generosity.
The Exexutive Director of WorldTeach also came out in light of all that has happened. It was really great of her to come out and spend time with us. I now feel much more educated on the workings of WT and how it has come to be what it is today. She made me feel much more connected to WT and I'm now even happier to be part of the organization. She is more than willing to do anything thing she can to make the program even more successful and effective.
So we have pulled together as family. I am so thankful for the group I am here with. We are all quite unique, but it's been really cool to see how close we've become in such a short time. God has been faithful as always. He has given me strength and comfort all the way through. I love seeing how He works!
So what have I been doing? Well, I moved out of my host family home and I've been out on my own for the first time. My family sent me off with love, yams, and bananas! They were super sad to see me leave, but I will literally be living about a mile down the road so I'll visit frequently.
We were blessed with a new box of crayons - 24 colors!
I miss hanging out with this kid every night :)
Gradley & Billy
Ahi Nohno sending me off with hugs!
Nohno Namiko - she is actually Paula's sister-
in-law, but she became my 2nd Nohno towards
the end while Paula took care of her dad in the
hospital. She was wonderful to me!
We finally made it out to the Village! It's a great little escape not too far from Kolonia. It's probably the most resort style place to stay on the island and they have one of the best restaurants. Kate took us out there for our end of orientation dinner.
We dressed it up for a change! We actually do clean up well ;)
When you stay here you get a little thatched bungalow. So cool!
Great sunsets
The menu comes on a fan blade!
I got to go a second time today actually. A couple from church offered to take Lori and I out to brunch and they ended up taking us there. So wonderful!
Walking back into the main dining area
The view during the day
We ate our brunch out there in the little cabana area
So many great views
Being on my own has given me the chance to try my hand at cooking on the island. It's been quite a success so far.
Gabrielle & I's 1st lunch for the group - Yakisoba!
And Gabrielle made Mango Cheesecake to finish it off.
Yes, that's fresh mango glazing the top. Amazing!
Local food is my favorite. I love that there is just fruit growing everywhere! I can literally walk out and pull something off of a tree. People randomly give you fruit that they've picked off of their land. Or you can go to markets and get great deals on all the local produce. Right up my alley! I found my favorite market just yesterday. Most bananas are $.25/lb and the fancy ones are $.35/lb.
Fresh picked papaya; I'm still trying to figure out the fine line
between letting it ripen as much as possible on the tree but
getting it down before the birds get to it.
Part of my mission to try all the bananas on the island. They're
both boiled with fresh coconut milk but each quite different.
The left is sweet and delicious; the right is more like a potato
and wouldn't care to try it again honestly.
The highly applauded Karat Banana - packed
full of nutrients.
The inside is like custard!
I also got to go garage saling! That's something I didn't get to expect to do in Pohnpei. I got some good deals to help stock the new home I'll be moving into in just 2 days.
Mom, aren't you proud ;) We'll be makin' some fresh fruit
smoothies!
And we ended the week with a retirement party for the director of COM Pohnpei Campus. In Pohnpiean style there was of course a feast! Take a look at the main course:
Love the island style...
oink, oink!
Well, that is all for now. Tomorrow is the first day of classes. Ahh!!!!! I can't believe it! Just call me Professor Eastup :)
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!!!
