This past Saturday was packed full of fun! There were 5 fun events to be exact; I don't think we could have possibly handled any more fun.
The day started off with the monthly fun run. May was the annual COM FSM 5k with special entry and prized for COM students, faculty, and staff and money raised going towards student scholarships and endowment funds. I thought it was quite fitting for this to be my final Pohnpei 5k.
There was a really great turnout of students, faculty, staff, and general support from the community. It's always fun to see friends and students.
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| The wonderful Yamadas |
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| My Sunday School boys |
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| Currie kids |
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It makes me so happy every time I see him
wearing this shirt! |
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| Fellow COM faculty and friend |
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My new little running friend who claimed
he would "beat me down" at this race ;) |
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| Always fun to be around these 2 friends |
There was a noticeable change in temperature with the sun coming up earlier these days. It makes for quite a warm run, but everyone still finished strong.
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| Beating dad for the first time! |
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| Go Laurel! |
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Lori & Cori Jo drastically improving their previous 5k time!
Woo woo! |
After the race, we were of course re-energized with a wide variety of Pohnpei bananas.
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| What will I do when my only choice is Chiquita?!?! |
Possibly the most exciting part of the run, for me, was that they were giving away banana plants to plant!!! I actually got my very own karat banana plant. Dream come true!
We took them home and planted them that very afternoon in the Samuels' yard. Every time our bananas bear fruit, they will remember us. It's the gift that will keep giving even after we're gone.
There were quite a few other great prizes that day as well. All finishers receive a nice t-shirt. The top 10 student finishers were each given a bag of rice with a bag and t-shirt. Top faculty and staff were also given awards of a trophy with a bag and t-shirt. I walked away with a 40 pound bag of rice, which went straight to Maryanna. She was so excited! What cracked me up the most was when I gave it to her, she said, "Oh kalanghan, I won't have to buy rice for a month!" 40 pounds of rice in one month? "Ok, maybe two months." Pohnpeians love their rice!
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Oh, and an umbrella. I think that puts the umbrella count
up to about 6, but hey they are being put to use! |
Immediately following the race there was a breakfast fundraiser organized by Maggie. She is a teenager living on the island who apparently does an annual breakfast to raise money so that she can go to her tennis tournament in Guam. Lori, Cori Jo, and I decided we should go support and enjoy a delicious breakfast! It was far more impressive than I was anticipating. Tables were set up around the house and the was totally homemade.
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| The Cinco de Mayo |
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| The Grumpy German - includes homemade yogurt!!! |
After a leisurely and delightful breakfast in good company, we split to get ready for the rest of the day. We still had a whole day of fun ahead of us!
The rest of my day was devoted the double birthday. Yes, Jay-Jay and I have our birthdays just 2 days apart. This year he is turning 9 on the 9th, so it's his golden birthday. Ever since I found out that we have such close birthdays I had hoped we could celebrate together. Saturday seemed like a good day for it since our birthdays our in the middle of the week this year.
We started with lunch. Jay had never eaten at a restaurant. He had gotten takeout from a restaurant but had never actually gotten to sit down and be served at a restaurant. Maryanna requested that we go to a restaurant for lunch, which we were so happy to do. We chose Coco Marina because we knew they had some of his favorites like hot dogs and hamburgers plus a really cool atmosphere.
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| Birthday buddies! |
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| The whole gang at Coco Marina |
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Cheeseburger, french fries, sweet tea, and chocolate milkshake
What more could a 9 year old want?! |
It was another long, leisurely meal as we enjoyed our time in the open air right on the water. So that took us into the afternoon. Once home, I told Jay Jay to go gather all of his friends for some games. The group started out with just 4 boys because they wanted all the prizes, but the group soon grew to about 20 kids from our neighborhood. I assured them that there were plenty of prizes for all; not to worry. I have accumulated quite a box of prizes between people so thoughtfully sending things for the kids and random things that I get here. Amongst ourselves, we had come up with a short list of games that would be fun and possible for the range of kids we had. The games included: balance the egg on the spoon race, hula-hoop pass, hula-hoop contest, dizzy bat race, the limbo, and concluded with a water-balloon toss/fight. They were so great to watch! They were laughing so hard, cheering each other on with all their might, and so excited we often couldn't get them to stop when the game had ended.
Everyone was a winner at Jay Jay's party! When we couldn't get them to stop the dizzy bat race we decided that amazingly both teams finished at the same time. Hooray!!!
Then it was time for everyone to gather in the nahs for a little singing and birthday cake!
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It doesn't get better than Funfetti - decorations courtesy
of Mom |
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| Huddle, block the wind! |
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| Happy Birthday dear Jay Jay |
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| Make a wish! |
If you're keeping count, that was only fun event #4. We still had one to go. Since it was also Cinco de Mayo, I decided to invite my friends over for a fish taco night. Earlier in the week I was totally surprised to see some decent looking fresh mangoes in the grocery store. As a birthday treat to myself, I bought them so that we could have mango salsa with our fish tacos. What a treat! Melody helped me get fresh fish from the market. Imagine how funny it was trying to explain to the man at the market that I needed a good fish for fish tacos. Not something you often eat in Pohnpei; although he said he would like to try them one day. Maryanna got a fire going for us since the rain thwarted the plans of a bbq on our porch. Of course she said it was "no problem", happy to do it! When it was all said and done we had fish tacos with guacamole, black bean salsa, and mango salsa. I guess fish burritos might be a more appropriate name for what we ate. On top of that, B-more had climbed a nearby coconut tree and picked tons of drinking coconuts. He husked them all and brought them up. We had more than enough for everyone to have their very own uhp. What a guy!
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| Yes, it is possible to have Mexican food in Pohnpei |
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| Mango salsa!!! |
Then my friends made me feel extra special. Mike and Joseph brought be a local purse filled with Dois Mangoes and a karat. That's my kinda purse!
Last, but certainly not least, it was time for my cake. Cori Jo and Lori had made a MANGO CAKE!!!!!!!!!!! Think pineapple upside-down cake, but with mango. Also think most delicious cake you've ever put in your mouth.
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| Mango Upside-down Cake |
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| Kalanghan kempoakepahi! |
That was a great way to end the night for sure. Little did I know that this was only the beginning of possibly the best birthday ever. Stay tuned for birthday part 2!
