I’ve been in Pohnpei for just over a week and I’m already in love with this place. The people are unbelievably welcoming, the views are absolutely breathtaking, and my fellow WorldTeach volunteers are great company. I know that teaching high school here is going to be very difficult (the system is even more dysfunctional than I could have imagined), but I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’ve been here for eight days, but it feels like much longer. I don’t envision myself staying here forever (I can’t imagine staying in any place for that long), but I can’t wait to explore every corner of this tiny island—and a year might not be enough time. However, it’s surely too soon to tell.
I said goodbye to my mum, dad, brother, dog, and two rats on Thursday the 15th and flew from BWI to LAX, where I met the other six Pohnpei volunteers and ten volunteers destined for Kosrae, a nearby island. At 6:00ish our flight took off and we flew over the Pacific for about five hours before landing in Honolulu, Hawaii. We had an overnight layover on the island, so after collecting our luggage we took a shuttle to our hotel near the airport. I had never been to Hawaii so I was hoping to have a late night beer on the beach, but our driver told us that the nearest beach was a $25 cab ride away, so we settled for a couple of drinks in the hotel bar (which was complete with blinking Christmas lights and cheesy karaoke courtesy of two vocally talented native Hawaiians). We didn’t celebrate for too long though, because we had to leave the hotel at 4:00 the next morning for our 6:00 flight.
Our journey from Honolulu to Pohnpei was technically a direct flight (we never changed planes), but we made several stops along the way. After the first five hour stretch, we landed in Majuro, in the Marshall Islands. Landing on this narrow atoll was somewhat shocking, as the island is hardly wider than the runway itself—as we prepared to touch down, I had to peer out the bottom of the window to make sure that we were truly going to land on solid ground. We were allowed to disembark here, so we spent twenty minutes on Majuro, snapping photos and gazing at the ocean. An hour later we stopped at Kwajalein, a US Army base in the Marshalls; here we were not allowed to get off the plane. Next stop: Kosrae. I was sad to say goodbye to the Kosrae volunteers, but relieved to be approaching our final destination. Perhaps we’ll reunite during our winter break, although the cost of flights between the islands is outrageous. Kosrae is smaller and less developed than Pohnpei, with a population of about 6,500, compared to Pohnpei’s 35,000.
At about 2pm on Saturday, July 17th (we crossed the dateline), our plane landed on Pohnpei island—my home for the next year. The view as we descended was incredible—photos coming soon. The seven of us collected our bags (nothing lost along the way, thank god) and I hefted my two 50-pound suitcases to the airport’s arrival gate. Here we were met by our field director, Amy Delyla Ulm, and her assistant Jonathan, who were both volunteers last year. My host mum, Clara, was also there to greet me; she placed three flower wreaths on my head (called “mar-mars” in Pohnpeian, for warding off evil spirits while traveling). After tossing our belongings into the back of a pickup truck—I was glad to see that I didn’t have the most luggage of all the volunteers—we left the airport and headed to our homestays in Kolonia.
Clara’s house is small and old, but very cozy. The ceiling is falling down in a few places, so I hope I have the chance to help her fix it before I leave. Upon arrival at her home, I was introduced to my two host sisters, Clara’s nieces Letecia (age 8) and Destiny (age 6). Although I was warned that most Micronesian children are very shy around menwai (westerners), these two girls are anything but timid. They seem to be a little bit obsessed with me, despite my fairly intense aversion to children. They’re very interested in everything I do and everything I brought with me, especially my jewelry and makeup. I just try not to lose it when Destiny slathers my favorite Chanel eyeshadow all over her face (an item that I certainly cannot buy on island).
After meeting the kids and depositing my heavy bags in my room, Clara fed me a delightful spread: papaya, pineapple, breadfruit, coconut milk, fried bananas, muffins, and sweet rolls. Needless to say, I’m going to have to exercise a lot while I’m here if I don’t want to leave Pohnpei 50-pounds heavier. Food is a huge part of Pohnpeian culture and refusing it is a great insult (this is one place where taking candy from strangers is recommended). Tired after my mini feast, I went to my room to rest. I lay down on my very comfortable king-sized bed, which is totally unnecessary but great nonetheless. My heavy eyelids closed and didn’t reopen for 14 hours; I woke up at 7:00 the next morning, very confused about what time and day it was.
I was a little embarrassed that I had spent the whole day sleeping rather than spending time with my host family, but Clara didn’t seem to be fazed. She prepared me a huge breakfast of white rice, ramen, eggs, muffins, and fruit. (Diabetes and obesity are a huge problem on the island now, especially since most of the food is imported and highly processed.) I ate as much as I could, but there was still a lot of food on my plate when I finished. Then I unpacked my suitcases. In the second bag, I noticed a white grainy powder on some of my clothes. As I removed the neatly folded items (thanks, mum) from the suitcase, I realized that this grainy substance was covering everything. I hesitantly lifted a shirt to my face and licked it. Shit—all of my clothing and brand new SCUBA gear was coated in a thorough dusting of Crystal Lite, which was quickly becoming lemonade in the Pohnpeian humidity. I think everything else in my suitcase was packaged neatly in Ziploc bags (again, thanks mum), except I had tossed the Crystal Lite packets in last minute—so it goes. Clara kindly helped me rinse off my gear and promised that she would wash my clothes later. I insisted that I would do my own laundry, but she wouldn’t hear it. Clara is truly incredible; she takes care of Letecia and Destiny, her 91-year-old mother, and her 40-year-old son. She’s also an OBGYN nurse at the Kolonia hospital.
At noon, the WorldTeach volunteers gathered at Amy Delyla’s house for lunch and an introduction to our three-week orientation. We met Liz Terk, a former WT volunteer who served during the program’s pilot year and now lives on island with her Pohnpeian boyfriend. After pizza and cucumber salad, we went on a tour of the entire island (which is about 120 square miles of land, not including the outer islands). We visited each of our teaching and living sites, where we’ll reside after the end of orientation. I’ll be living in a neighborhood called Porakied with a girl named Leora, who graduated from Colby College in 2007 and has been working in healthcare consulting for the last three years. We didn’t get to go inside our new house, but apparently it has four bedrooms, new appliances, and one air conditioning unit. Both of us will be teaching at PICS High School; she’ll be teaching English and I’ll be teaching math. Two other volunteers, Matt and Maureen, will also be living in Kolonia; they’ll be teaching health science and math at the College of Micronesia, Pohnpei Campus (COM).
We finished our tour of Kolonia (which is very small) and headed to Kitti, an outer municipality. Two WorldTeach volunteers, Jen and Tim, are stationed here; they’re a couple who met in the Peace Corps in Malawi. We did go inside their house, which was, frankly, a mess. One of the rooms was filled with at least six inches of water and there were huge spiders everywhere. (But, good to know, there are no poisonous spiders or snakes on Pohnpei.) Their landlord has promised to fix everything before they move in, but if not they’ll be relocated to another house in Kitti. We visited their high school down the road, where there was a neighborhood baseball game and a group of children climbing on the school’s roof. Kids here seem to be pretty resilient—they’re always hanging out in the middle of the road and waving machetes at each other (no joke, I saw a kid wearing a diaper and wielding a machete).
Another WorldTeach volunteer, Will (a surfer/snow boarder from southern California), will be living and teaching in Madolenihmw, on the eastern side of Pohnpei. He was supposed to be living with a volunteer who dropped out of the program, but he chose to live by himself in Madolenihmw, rather than relocating to Kolonia. I for one am very happy to have a roommate—I might go insane if I was living in an outer municipality by myself. At the end of our tour we stopped at Awak Pah Marine Park to swim and snorkel. The water was very clear and shockingly warm for ocean water. There were lots of colorful fish and enormous sea cucumbers, some at least four feet long. We stayed long enough to watch a gorgeous sunset, my first sunset in Pohnpei. It was absolutely beautiful (as most sunsets are). When I got back to Clara’s, I had dinner and then a dance party with Letecia and Destiny—we grooved to Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and Rihanna, although they were very disappointed that there wasn’t any Justin Bieber on my iPod.
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