I’m still alive!

So, it has been way too long since I updated this blog, and I’m very sorry for my long absence. A lot has been going on since I last posted, but I’ll try to more or less briefly cover everything with a summary of the past few months.

November– Nothing really specific for this month, actually; it was mostly just school and life as usual. I celebrated my 24th birthday, which wasn’t too remarkable (except for the shocking realization that yes, I actually am that old). Thanksgiving was celebrated with a group of American friends (Peace Corps and Jesuit Volunteers); no traditional Thanksgiving food, but good times and good company nonetheless.

December– An eventful month! We said goodbye to Ben and John, two Volunteers who finished their service and headed back to the States. Then all the Volunteers from my “class” flew to Pohnpei for our mid-service conference. It was the first time we’ve seen all the Volunteers from the other states and Palau since pre-service training, so it was a fun reunion. It was also a good time to share stories, successes and struggles, to reflect on our time here so far and prepare for our remaining months in Micronesia.

After the conference, as everyone was heading back to their sites, I hopped onto an eastbound plane–home for the holidays! The journey itself was quite an experience. We landed in Honolulu in the middle of the night, and flying down over the city, with all its bright lights, was like landing on a different planet. After a year and a half in Chuuk, where rolling blackouts are the norm and everything is shut and darkened by sunset anyway, seeing all that power and light was more than a bit overwhelming. Getting off the plane and walking into the airport was a whole other experience as well: Carpet? Central air conditioning? Inside-air? Where am I?? Another Chuuk volunteer friend who’d gone home for Christmas commented later that you’ll only have that experience once in your life, of stepping back into America for the first time after such a long time in such a vastly different world. Thinking about if from that perspective, I do wish I’d made a bigger effort to appreciate the wonder of the moment. And it’s something you really have to go through for yourself to understand it.

Anyway, I finally made it to Michigan, and it was SO GOOD to be home and see my family. My parents had moved since I’ve been in Chuuk, so coming “home” to a house I’d never seen before was kind of strange. Not to mention the culture shock in general. There was the cold, for one thing (visiting Michigan in December after living so long on the Equator = not the best decision, physically speaking); and the kitchen, with a pantry and fridge bursting with all kinds of amazing foods (cheese! milk! vegetables! pie!); real electricity (it took me a couple nights to remember I could just flip up a light switch instead of wandering around the house in the dark waiting to see if someone will turn on the generator); cars, traffic (driving home from the airport on the highway was somewhat terrifying–moving faster than 30 mph is unheard of in Chuuk); TV, radios, computers with working internet, microwaves, DVD players; movie theaters, restaurants, businesses and employees that actually function in a timely manner…America is a truly miraculous place. At the same time, it often overwhelming, even frustrating. Having to go into a shopping mall the day before Christmas Eve was a nightmare, and I never realized before how much of the news on TV is devoted to celebrity gossip or completely useless information. Hearing people complain about little inconveniences (the movie started 10 minutes late, the roads weren’t plowed quickly enough, there were coffee grinds at the bottom of the cup from McDonalds) also made me realize just how much my perspective on life has changed since joining Peace Corps. That fact that such luxuries like cheap brewed coffee, quality entertainment, and any kind of road maintenance are even available in America is not the norm in much of the world. Certainly not in Chuuk, at least.

January– I flew back to Chuuk with mixed feelings–it was great to be back, but 3 weeks in America had spoiled me a little. I returned to school to discover we had lost a teacher; he had to go back to college to take classes to get his teaching certification. (if you’re wondering why the Dept. of Education hires uncertified teachers in the first place…that’s an excellent question.) Which meant we were down to 4 teachers, plus me, for 8 grades. They’d had to readjust the schedule while I was gone, which means I am no longer teaching science; I’m back to just 7th and 8th grade English.

February– This was a kinda tough month, mainly due to an unusually high number of funerals. Since returning to Chuuk, I’ve been to 7 funerals; 5 of those were in February. Three of them were people I knew personally–two of them were in my host family. Funerals are a huge deal in Chuuk, so they pretty much took over the entire month. I was also having some frustrations at school, mainly with my 7th graders, who had basically stopped coming to school. This was partially because many of their families were involved with the funerals, which always interrupts school to some extent, but attendance had been on a downward trend despite that. Out of 18 students enrolled, I haven’t seen more than 10 since November, and since returning from Christmas break, I’ve been lucky to have more than 5 on any given day. These days, 3 or 4 is the average. The more annoying thing is that it’s a different 3 or 4 kids who come every day; no one ever shows up consistently, which makes actually teaching them anything extremely difficult. I’m constantly reviewing, never moving forward. Their poor attendance is reflected in their grades, of course, and the students know this, but they just don’t care, and neither does anyone else. And I’m not in a position of enough power to be able to do much about it.

March– 7th grade attendance still down, but other things are looking up–mainly my library efforts. I’ve been receiving TONS of donated books (thanks Aunt Linda, and Darien Book Aid!), and they’d been sitting in the Peace Corps office for months and months, waiting for a good opportunity to be transported out to Romanum. That finally happened at the beginning of March, so my job for the past few weeks has been opening boxes, sorting books, and trying to figure out how the heck to organize everything. It’s gonna be a big job, but I’m so happy to have something to work on, and I’m planning to recruit some students to help me once I have a better idea of how I’m actually going to set things up. The main problem is a lack of bookshelves, although my principal has requested supplies from the DOE to build some; I’m actually hoping we’ll have that when I return to my site today.

April– Not much to say yet, obviously. I have big plans, though: Me and my friend/fellow Volunteer, Andrea, are hoping to travel down to the Mortlock islands for Easter, to visit some of the Volunteers living down there. It’s about 1-2 day ship-ride south of Chuuk Lagoon, depending on how many stops the ship makes. Micronesia’s outer islands (including the Mortlocks) are the most remote placements in Peace Corps, and the culture is more traditional out there than it is in the Lagoon, where there’s more American influence. I’m really looking forward to going out and seeing what it’s like for myself–despite horror stories of sea-sickness on the ship-ride out. It should be a good time.

That’s about it for now; at least, that’s the bare bones of it. I promise I’ll be more regular with my updates in the future!

Keeping busy

It’s been over a month since my last update, and I’m sorry for the long absence; I haven’t had much free time, or internet time, since school started on September 6. And I definitely have a lot to update on. But I also apologize if this post’s a little disorganized; I’m running on about two hours of sleep right now and am a bit fuzzy.

I’ll start with school. Like I said, we started on September 6–on the actual start day, miraculously (many schools started a week or more late). We even had an orientation day the week before to welcome the students back. As inefficient as things can be here sometimes, I have to say I was pretty proud of my school.

Classes have been going well. I feel much more prepared and in-charge than I did last year. My 7th graders have more discipline problems than last years’ class–they were angels last year–so my current challenge is coming up with an effective rewards system for positive behavior, completing homework, etc. On Friday I had to break up a fight between two girls (one had apparently torn a piece of paper out of the others’ notebook). It was the first time I’d had to do that. Luckily a couple other students also stepped in to help calm them down, which was great. And the class got a lot better after that, because I took them outside for a game of “sharks and minnows,” which was a busload of hilarious fun, even if I did nearly get trampled to death by the kids (I made myself the “base”–not a good idea!).

8th grade science is also going great. The complete lack of supplies and materials is a big challenge, especially as I’ve been trying to introduce the students to the scientific method; it’s hard to do interesting labs and experiments with no equipment to work with. It’s also slow-going. I don’t have a counterpart, and while my Chuukese and the kids’ English are good enough for us to effectively communicate most information, a lot still gets lost in translation, especially with vocabulary definitions, so I have to spend a lot more time covering each concept. It’s frustrating at times because I’d like to get a lot more in-depth on some topics, but the kids just don’t have any of the basic science skills or knowledge. Plus my hands-on, American approach to science is very different from what they’re used to from their other teachers–basically, sitting and listening to the teacher talk and occasionally copying down in their notes a paragraph that the teacher writes on the blackboard from the textbook, typically in English too advanced for them to understand. Getting them to relate science to the world around them has not been easy–although it’s been very rewarding to see them actually make those connections.

For the past couple weeks we’ve been covering ecosystems, food chains, and food webs. I’ve been working hard to emphasize the importance of how every organism in an ecosystem is connected; if you take one organism out of the chain or web, everything else changes too. From there I’m planning to move on to marine ecosystems, how tides work, and eventually to pollution and how human activities affect the ocean. Depending on how well the students do with all that, I’m really hoping to work in some kind of service-learning activities; doing beach clean-up, giving a presentation to the school or community about trash management, or something along those lines.  The other nice thing about teaching science is that it allows for a lot of cross-curriculum tie-ins with English. Overall it’s been fun, and I’m looking forward to seeing what else I can do with it.

In other exciting news, the new group of incoming Trainees is arriving in Chuuk this afternoon. We’re getting 7 new volunteers, which will more than double the current size of PC Chuuk, which is a little overwhelming. All us current folks are looking forward to meeting and greeting our new friends. It’s crazy to think it’s been a whole year now since I was in that position myself, stepping off the plane to start my life here. How the time has flown!

Some less happy news is that I attended my first Chuukese funeral last week. Funerals are usually a very big deal in the culture, and while of course it’s a sad event, I was also interested to finally experience it for myself. An older woman from my neighborhood passed away; she was a prominent member of the community and the church, and also belonged to one of the largest and most prominent clans on the island, so the funeral was a pretty big deal. Because of school I actually only attended a small part of the week-long event, on the first night after the death. The family had the body laid out in their house for people to come through and pay their final respects. The family also provided food for all the visitors (because every kind of gathering here always includes food). After a couple speeches and prayers from family members and various church leaders, the rest of the night was dedicated to singing–singing to the deceased, as my host mom explained it. I only stayed for a couple hours, but the singing went on into the early hours of the morning–I could hear it from my bedroom, just a couple houses away. There was a lot of weeping and wailing of the demonstrative kind of which it’s often hard to tell how much is truly authentic grief, and how much is just show, as expected by the culture (not to disqualify the real underlying sadness, of course). In Chuukese culture, people rarely openly express their deeper emotions, except for anger. Sadness in particular is never shown; the few times I’ve seen students cry (not because of me, I promise!), their tears are always a big cause for embarrassment. With that in mind, I had to wonder how much of those big shows of grief are really some sort of catharsis–built on real sadness over the death, but also an opportunity to release some of that pent-up emotion that the culture doesn’t allow people to express elsewhere. It’s a theory, at least.

But the really meaningful part of the experience for me was watching some of my students, who were related to the woman who died, during the singing. Many of them–and some other people as well–were clearly very broken up, unable to sing, openly weeping and comforting each other. It was heartbreaking, but also something of a breakthrough moment for me to see the kids revealing such deep emotion, which is rarely ever glimpsed. It made me realize just how much I really love and care about my students–as frustrating as they can sometimes be–and about my community as a whole.

I’m afraid I can’t think of anything else worth sharing at the moment. I should have more, considering how long it’s been since my last update, but since school’s started life has fallen into a pretty normal routine, and there’s not much to say that I haven’t talked about before. Plus I’m exhausted and my brain has decided it’s pretty much done for the moment. So I hope you enjoy what I have and I promise I’ll try to be more regular with my updates in the future!

 

 

 

School Daze

A couple people have commented that my blog has been pretty sparse lately, and while I don’t feel like I’ve been writing any less than I always have, I agree that it’s about time for an update.

I just returned to Romanum (and am back on Weno now just for the day) on Tuesday after spending a week on Weno for the Department of Education’s annual Education Symposium. It was a week of ups and downs, plus a few lefts and rights. I’ve realized that my tolerance for life on Weno doesn’t carry me much further than a week; any longer than that and the general ridiculousness of the island starts to become unbearable. For the sake of not making people unnecessarily concerned for my well-being, I’ll skip over some details here, except to say that it really is astounding how little respect some men—and even young kids—have for women. I mean really, maddeningly astounding. But apart from that, Chuuk’s main island presents all kinds of challenges. It’s been raining a lot recently, which means the roads, which are more pothole than pavement in the first place, have turned into rivers and pools of mud. Add to that the apparently endless road construction (which seems to only be causing more problems instead of solving any), and trying to walk anywhere becomes a monumental pain. Almost every day I had to trudge from where I was staying with the JVIs (Jesuit Volunteers) at one of the island’s Catholic high schools up to the Dept. of Education for the symposium, which is a half-hour uphill hike on muddy, disemboweled roads littered with construction equipment and workers who spend more of their time standing around harassing mud-splattered Americans than actually working. Other challenges include power that only comes on in four-hour shifts (because they don’t have the money to keep it on 24 hours a day); a bank that closes at 3pm on business days (no ATM, of course); and of course the general dirtiness and decrepit state of many of the island’s buildings. More than anything, the week made me a hundred times more thankful for the fact that I live on an island like Romanum: small and clean, with sand instead of mud, a close-knit community with kids who shout out “I love you” (even if they don’t know what that means) instead of “Can I have a dollar?” when I walk by, and no rolling blackouts because there’s no power to begin with, except for our generator which we only turn on after sunset. Life is simple. It’s the side of Chuuk that I love.

Anyway, about the symposium. Let me start by saying, to put it simply: Chuuk’s school system leaves a lot to be desired, on all levels. I’ve witnessed (and felt) a lot of frustration: directors and administrators frustrated with principals and teachers who seem apathetic towards their job; principals frustrated with the administration for not listening to their needs; teachers and faculty frustrated in general by understaffing, lack of resources, and the feeling that the DOE is often fighting against them instead of working with them; volunteers frustrated with, well, everything. And of course, the students are the ones who come out on the losing end.

There is change in the air, however. Chuuk’s DOE got a new director earlier this year, and she is hell-bent on whipping the school system back into shape. They’re pushing to get all schools in the state accredited, cracking down on teacher performance and accountability, and raising the standards for high school entrance exams, among other changes. There’s some concern that the new director is expecting too much too soon, that she’s demanding 110% when the system is barely pushing 50%. But it’s also just what Chuuk needs. I just suspect there’s going to be a lot of growing pains, especially in the upcoming year.

Most of the sessions and workshops held during the symposium focused on different aspects of how to bring the schools up to speed, from how to “unpack” the national curriculum standards to effective long-term planning and classroom management. I personally didn’t find most of it very helpful; a lot of it was stuff we’d covered in Peace Corps training. Not to mention the fact that I grew up in a school system that actually works (say what you will about the state of education in the US; spend a few months in Chuuk and you’ll never complain again). But hopefully it’ll be the start of better things to come.

So while the symposium wasn’t exactly thrilling, there was still a lot of fun in the week. All seven of the PCVs in Chuuk, including the outer islanders, were in for the symposium, and it’s always a treat to have the whole team together. Since this was most likely the last time all of us would be together before Ben and John, the two outgoing Volunteers, leave in December, we celebrated with a night at Blue Lagoon, one of the two hotels in Chuuk that cater mainly to diving enthusiasts who come for the world-class shipwreck diving. We got a couple rooms, treated ourselves to an overpriced meal in the restaurant, and had an overall good time. I was also reminded again what a blessing it is that we have such a close-knit group of Volunteers here, that we not just support each other as coworkers, but that we’re all real friends as well. This isn’t common, at least not based on what I’ve heard from friends doing Peace Corps in other countries. It’s one thing that makes me thankful to be in Chuuk, despite the challenges.

I’m back on Romanum now, and my energy is currently focused on preparing for the upcoming school year (which is supposed to start September 6^th, assuming the school passes its sanitation inspection). I’m really excited for the new year; unfortunately, the past two days have been something of a planning nightmare. One of the requirements for accreditation, which the DOE is pushing for all schools, is that all students will receive between 5 and 6 hours of instruction every day. This is a challenge for many schools, including Romanum Elementary School, because of understaffing. Romanum has 8 grades and only 6 teachers (or 7, if you include me). In past years, they’ve solved the problem by having a split schedule: grades 1-3 coming in the morning, 4-5 in the afternoon, and 6-8 having a full day. Since this doesn’t meet the new standard, we’ve spent the past two days trying to work up a schedule that will allow all 8 grades to be in session for the full day. And what an ordeal it was. I wish I could have taken a picture of the various attempts we had mapped out on the chalkboard, so you could all see for yourselves what a colossal mess we had. It seemed to me that the only workable solution would be to combine two grades, but when I made that suggestion, none of the other teachers seemed very interested in the idea. In the end it was decided that for the time being we’d just stick with the same split schedule used last year, until another solution comes along. The only other solution I can imagine would be hiring at least one new teacher, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Anyway, now that the scheduling nightmare has been put on the shelf for the time being, I’m ready to shift my attention to lesson-planning for my classes. I’m especially excited for 8^th grade science, which I’ll be co-teaching with my host mom, Stella. Of course my main job is to teach English, and I’m looking forward to that as well, but it’ll be nice to have something different on my plate as well. My biggest goal for the year is to prepare the 8^th graders to take the JHET (Junior High Entrance Test) in the spring. Students must pass the test to continue to high school. This past year’s test results were both disappointing and surprising (it definitely didn’t reflect how the kids actually did in school), so I’m determined to get this year’s 8^th graders as well-prepared as I can.

Well, that’s the latest news from the education world in Chuuk. Like I said, lots of ups and downs, lefts and rights. It’s going to be an interesting year. Please keep us all in your prayers.

World Map Project

Last week my hard-working students and I finished work on our World Map Project, and it looks pretty great. I’m so proud of the students, who did a splendid job of drawing, painting, and labeling, despite the tedium and my control-freak tendencies. They did a great job.

On Tuesday we had a small get-together at the school to celebrate the project’s completion. It was humbling to realize just how grateful all the teachers are to have the map as a resource for teaching social studies and geography, and as a way to remember me even long after I leave. I’m just thankful I’ve been able to give the school an important teaching tool, and hopefully a new awareness and appreciation for the world.

We’re actually not quite done with the project yet; we’re also planning to add a map of Chuuk Lagoon next to the world map, to provide a more local focus. Hopefully we’ll be starting that in the next week or so.

And now for your enjoyment…pictures!

Help us out!

I want to take a quick moment to ask your help in supporting the work of another Chuuk PCV and friend, Ben. Ben is in his second year of service on one of the other lagoon islands, and is currently trying to raise money to support the construction of a water catchment system to serve a new church and a number of families in the community. The project is being supported by the Peace Corps Partnership Program. This program provides grants for a variety of community-initiated projects, with the agreement that the community will contribute at least 25% of the project’s total cost. The rest of the money is provided by donors –aka, you!

I’ve visited Ben’s site and seen the location and some of the people whom this water catchment system will benefit, and I know it’ll make a big difference for the community. Ben is expecting to finish his service in November or December, and as of my writing this, they still need to raise over $2500 before they’ll be able to begin construction. I hope some of you will be able to help, even if it’s just a small donation. A little bit of money can go a long way here.

Follow this link to read more about this project and to make a donation.

Thanks for your support of PC Chuuk!

What a Wonderful World

Well, this summer has really been flying…I can’t believe July is almost over. It’s been a good month. I was a little homesick for the 4^th of July, the fireworks and barbecues and everything; but I had a good holiday weekend here too. A few of us Volunteers spent the weekend on Weno with the JVIs (Jesuit Volunteers International), who teach at a couple of the Catholic high schools there. That Saturday we all went for a hike up one of the mountains on Weno (I can’t remember the name of it now…). There was hardly any path to follow, so most of the way up we were weaving and thrashing through forests and hillsides of nasty sharp grass that was often over our heads. Halfway up, one of the JVIs who’d hiked the hill before with a couple locals informed us of a tradition that any visitors, on their first visit on this particular mountain, should smear a little mud on their faces as a sign of respect to the local spirits. Not wanting to cause any karmic discord – especially since we were more or less guessing on what was the correct way to reach the top – we all stopped to apply a little mud before continuing. Also on the way up we passed an little cave that had been used by the Japanese during WWII, which still had big old anti-aircraft gun in it. There were also a few other old guns scattered around the hillside. From the top of the mountain we could also see a few circular indentations further downhill where bombs had been dropped. Living in Chuuk, one is constantly surrounded by reminders of the war. There are a couple rusted out, half sunk Japanese ships just off the west coast of Weno – not to mention the many underwater wrecks, which now make Chuuk one of the best spots in the world for shipwreck diving. Most of the lagoon islands still have some remnants from the Japanese occupation: guns or tanks or other equipment; roads, caves, or building foundations. There’s not much Romanum, although the PCV who was at my site before me told me that when he was here, some of the kids actually came across some old bones, presumably from Japanese soldiers.

 Anyway, back to the hike. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me, so you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say that the view was absolutely stunning. From the peak, which was mostly bare volcanic rock and some scruffy grass, we could see most of the islands in the eastern half of the lagoon (the view to the west was blocked by a higher peak), as well as the entire eastern edge of Chuuk Lagoon. It’s hard to adequately explain what this looks like to someone who hasn’t actually seen it for themselves. There’s just a narrow barrier of shallow reef and a few tiny islands, constantly battered on the outside by the surf – as if that thin line of coral and sand were trying to hold back the enormity of the entire Pacific Ocean. In a way it feels like looking past the edge of the world, especially from that height. It definitely makes you realize just how small Chuuk really is, and how vast the Pacific is.

 July 4^th itself was a bit more low-key; we celebrated by going out for pizza at Lei-Side Restaurant, which has the best pizza in Chuuk – and not too bad by American standards either – and sharing all the things we miss about America. The most popular items on the list included live music, long open highways, and a variety of good foods.

 I’ve been back on Romanum since then, and have been busy working on our World Map Project at the school with a handful of students. It’s looking really good, and I’m really excited about it. A number of the kids dropped away after the first couple days when they realized how much painstaking measuring and drawing there was to do before they would actually get to paint, but the ones who have stuck around have been really dedicated and diligent. This week we finished the outline of all the countries, and we’re going to paint everything in next week. I’ve been taking lots of pictures, and will be posting them up here when the project’s done.

 When our country director came to visit my site the other day, he said that I’m the first Volunteer to do the World Map Project in Micronesia (it’s most popular in Central America, where the project first developed). Which I guess is something to be proud of. But the further I get, the more convinced I become that this is an ideal project for the islands – and an important one. The lack of knowledge – geographical or otherwise – about the “outside” world here continues to stagger me. I was aware of this before we started the project – it was the main reason I chose this project in the first place – but even during the mapmaking process, the issue has become more vivid. A few examples:

 One day when I was organizing some of my materials at home, my 23-year-old host sister came in and picked up a piece of paper sitting on my bed that had an image of the whole world map on it. She asked me what it was, and I said it was a map; at first I thought she was asking what the English word was (even though it’s also called a map in Chuukese). Then she asked me what it was a map of, and I realized she didn’t even recognize what the world looks like. I’ve had similar questions from a few other folks who have wandered by the school to watch us work…

 Nearly all the students refer to all landmasses – countries, continents, everything – as “islands”. Even the 8^th graders, who I know have learned the difference between such basic geographic terms, don’t understand the difference… 

While drawing the map, one of my students found the Red Sea on the page she was copying from, and asked me if the sea is actually red…

 I don’t say all this to make the people here seem ignorant of ill-educated, but just to illustrate how big of a gap there is in this area of education. Mainly it’s because of a lack of resources; how do you teach geography without globes, or maps, or anything? And of course, when your entire worldview consists of a few tiny specks of land surrounded by endlessly vast amounts of ocean, it’s pretty hard to comprehend huge continents and rivers and mountain ranges, or why things like shape and scale and the borders between countries are very important on a map. This made the actual drawing process a bigger challenge than I expected. It never occurred to me beforehand how much the students’ lack of prior knowledge about geography would actually affect things. Even though we had pages of the entire map printed out in very detailed sections, and a carefully measured grid system to follow, without any prior knowledge or a mental image of what the world is supposed to look like, much of the kids’ work ended up awfully distorted. I also had a surprisingly hard time getting them to understand why it was important for things to be in the same position on the wall as they are on the paper, or for countries’ borders to actually match up. I tried not to interfere too much, but I still ended up having to go back and fix up quite a few parts. I’ve always liked maps, and I’ve drawn and labeled quite a few in my day (thank you 7^th grade geography class and Mr. Bakke); I guess I never really considered before just how much  of a person’s grasp of basic geography is actually learned, and not just an innate understanding. Though of course that seems obvious now.

 It was also interesting, though more expected, to see the kids’ reactions when we finished drawing the map, when I pointed out where Chuuk is – just a little speck near the eastern edge of the map – and they realized just how small the islands are compared to the rest of the world. They were surprised, but even now I don’t think most of them fully grasp just how big the globe really is. But that’s what this map project is supposed to help with. Hopefully it’ll end up being a great teaching tool.

So, that’s where I am now. I’ll be back with pictures as soon as I can…

Summer Days

The time has been flying lately, and I can hardly believe it’s already the middle of June. The last day of classes has come and gone (a relief), and so has our second in-service training (a good time). Graduation is this Thursday, and then I’ve got about two months of summer to fill. And I think I’ll be filling the time rather nicely.

But before I get to my summer plans, a couple other notes:

First, graduation. They take it seriously here. Classes ended on Tuesday, and every weekday since then has been spent in preparation for the commencement ceremony. Mostly this means having the entire student body of 100+ kids (depending on how many actually show up) sit in rows in the biggest classroom to practice the two songs they’ll be singing during the ceremony. Each song is sung through two or three times. They’re long songs. Then we run through the entire ceremony, starting with the processional. And if you thought the processionals at huge commencement ceremonies in America can be tedious, you have no idea. The eleven 8th graders march into the room to an electronic keyboard remake of “Pomp and Circumstance” (whoever introduced the electronic keyboard to Chuuk needs to be severely punished), and they march as slow as humanly possible. I mean, really painfully slow. I think my college graduating class of 500+ made it through our processional in about the same amount of time as it takes these eleven kids to march across a 30-foot-long classroom. Anyway, we then run through the rest of the ceremony, which is basically a bunch of speeches given by different important individuals, from the PTA chairman to the director of the Dept. of Education. The valedictorian and salutatorian (yep, they have those for 8th grade here) also have speeches. Curiously, the two students don’t write their own speeches; two of the teachers wrote the speeches (in Chuukese) for them, and the students just memorize them. Doesn’t that defeat half the point of even having a valedictorian and salutatorian? Oh well. And all through this big long process, the whole student body is sitting cross-legged in rows, with the teachers roving around pulling at the ears of any kid who starts making too much noise, or fighting with a neighbor, or swaying in the wrong direction during a song. I guess it’s good for the kids to have the practice of sitting still for the length of the ceremony, but still…they’re kids. Even I start to get antsy halfway through the morning.

Oh, yeah–and since being a Peace Corps Volunteer sometimes means taking on jobs that you’re maybe really not totally qualified for, I agreed at my principal’s request to teach the 8th graders two songs in English to sing during the ceremony. I’m not much of a singer and was nervous about how well the kids would be able to pick up a song based on my shaky voice alone, but thankfully the Chuukese have a good ear for melody (even if their idea of strong singing leans more on the side of shouting than singing), so it turned out pretty well. I couldn’t think of any songs specifically related to graduation (except for that Vitamin C song that was so popular back in junior high, which isn’t exactly teachable), so I taught them “Lean on Me”–a classic–and also the short worship song “Sanctuary” (the principal had asked for a religious song; they’re not exactly strict about separation of church and state here). The kids, and the teachers, all loved “Sanctuary,” and were so disappointed by the fact that it only has one verse that they actually asked me to compose more verses. I wouldn’t have really minded this, except that half of the song’s strength is the fact that it’s so short. So instead, I worked with my host mom to translate the song into Chuukese, so the kids can sing it in both languages. It turned out sounding really nice. If anyone’s interested, I can pass on the translation. I’ll also try to take a video during the ceremony so you can see what it sounds like.

Also on the subject of jobs that I’m probably not so qualified for…It looks like I may be teaching science next year, in addition to English. Since I only have two English classes next year, my work load’s been pretty light. I asked my principal if there was any other area I could help with, and he said they could really use help with upper-level science. I’ve sat in on a few 8th-grade science courses, and he’s right. They desperately need help. The class is basically just the teacher repeating information out of American textbooks; most of the language is completely over the students’ heads–not to mention the teachers’. I think all six of the school’s teachers have asked me, at one point or another, to explain or translate something out of the books. I don’t know what the kids are actually learning. There’s no lab work done, no experiments, nothing in the way of observation or application. Most of the textbook material is completely irrelevant to island life (learning about the difference between gamma rays, UV rays, and microwaves isn’t super helpful on an island that only has a handful of generators to supply any kind of power; there isn’t even a single microwave on Romanum). And of course, there’s such a wealth of opportunities just outside the classroom door, in the forest, and the ocean…as much as people here depend on the land and the water for their food, there’s a very small understanding of how the earth’s processes work, or the food chain, or anything related to the environment. And that’s the kind of science people here really need. So I’m kind of looking forward to the opportunity to expand the horizons of the science curriculum–even if my knowledge of the local environment is as limited as the students’. At least I’ve taken enough real lab science classes that I know how to run an experiment. I think it could be fun.

But before that, we still have the summer. I have a couple projects on the table that I’m excited about. The first is called the World Map Project. The project was first done by a PCV in the Caribbean back in the 80′s, and has been done at hundreds of locations around the globe since then. The goal is to paint a large map of the world on a wall of the school, bringing students together to complete the project, hopefully building a sense of community and teamwork. The map’s also meant to be a tool for teaching geography in a place where few other resources are available (like Romanum). I’ve been continually amazed, and saddened, at just how little the students here actually know about the world beyond Chuuk, even basic things like the fact that America is a continent, not an island. When life is so limited to a few square miles of land surrounded by vast amounts of water, it’s so hard to imagine how different the rest of the world is. I’m really hoping this map project will help with that. We’re planning to start in the beginning of July (there’s a huge volleyball tournament happening at the end of June, which has basically consumed everyone’s lives until then), and I have no idea of how long it’ll take to finish. I’m kind of hoping it’ll stretch out for most of the summer, if only to keep me from getting bored and having nothing to do.

My other project, for which I’ve yet to work out all the details, is to conduct a sort of high school prep class for the graduating 8th graders, and also the incoming 8th graders (who will be taking all the state tests and high school entrance exams next year). It’ll review the basics of different subjects, mainly English and math; I also hope to include some review of basic study skills, test-taking tips, etc. I’m planning to do that later in the summer, probably August.

I also have some bigger plans in the works for the school library, but I’m still kind of in the “dreaming” phase with that, so I’ll wait to talk about that until things get more stabilized…

And that’s about it for my summer, so far. I was also really hoping to get Scuba certified (Chuuk’s one of the best spots in the world for shipwreck diving), but it’s uber-expensive, and I also don’t really have any spare vacation days right now, thanks to the fact that…

I will be flying home for Christmas!! Well, I’m planning to at least; I haven’t had the trip officially approved by Peace Corps yet. But there’s no reason it shouldn’t be approved, and my tickets have been purchased. I’ll be home (home now being Kalamazoo, Michigan) from December 16 through January 6. And I’m so excited. This past Christmas was tougher for me than I expected, and though I’m sure the second year is easier, I still decided that if I was able to, I’d rather go home. I’m already looking forward to the snow…

And I’m a vegetarian in a different life…

Here’s an amusing story for you:

A few weeks ago, I was eating dinner with my host mom, when out of nowhere (I think from under the table) she produced a plate with a couple chunks of bone and meat (cooked). She said that it was dog, and asked if I wanted to try it. I said sure. It’s eaten here on occassion, and I hadn’t had it yet, and I’m generally open to trying new foods. (Except pig-blood soup. That one was a bad idea.)

It didn’t taste too bad.  It kind of reminded me of beef, actually, at least in the texture. However, I hadn’t even thought to ask where the meat had come from. It wasn’t until after I finished eating that it occurred to me.

My host family has a few dogs, including one which is (or was) the most unfortunate looking animal I’d ever seen in my life. It was more mange than dog, really; practically no fur, open sores all over, and on the brink of starvation since the day I arrived on Romanum. I’d been expecting the poor thing to die basically every day for the past six months. Now, I had just returned to Romanum a couple days ago from spending a weekend on Weno, and as I was swallowing my last bite of dog meat the thought crossed my mind that I hadn’t seen that sick little dog since my return…Oops. It didn’t make me sick or anything, though.

Here’s the other funny thing. While, like I said, I’m generally open to eating most different foods here, one thing I will not eat is pig. My family also owns a number of pigs and will slaughter one on occassion, for a birthday or some other celebration. But the way they cut and prepare the meat here, every piece is more fat and skin than anything else. Or maybe the pigs are mostly just fat to begin with (they certainly don’t get fed anything very good). It also isn’t flavored at all, and in order to eat it you’re basically just tearing plain fat right off the bone. I’m okay with the idea of pork in general, but not this stuff. Not appetizing at all. Even Anthony Bourdain wouldn’t enjoy it.

So, I don’t eat pig here, and my host family knows this. Except now, after happily eating dog meat, my family now thinks that I like dog, but not pig. My host parents even asked me about five times, to clarify, after I ate the dog meat: “So, you don’t like pig, but you like the dog?” Well…honestly, yes. The couple bites that I had were good, at least. ‘

I’m sure all you dog-lovers in America are blanching as you read this. I probably would’ve too, at one point, but my working relationship with all animals in general has really changed since being here. I still think of myself as a vegetarian at heart (though I’ve never actually told my host family that I didn’t eat meat in the States; the concept of not eating meat is completely unfathomable here). But all animals here are thought of strictly as food.

Kilisou, Chuuk.

Thank you, Chuuk.

It’s been an interesting week. I would say it’s been a bad week, but right now I’m in a predominantly positive mood. Have been all week, actually. Maybe my brain has finally learned how to filter all the craziness and occassional tragedy of Chuuk.

So. I’ll start with Monday. I was eating breakfast (bread and tea, the usual) with my host mom, Stella, when she informed me that a student at our school had passed away the night before. The girl was a 5th grader (not one of my students, and I’d never really met her). Apparently she had started bleeding out of her ears one day, and was dead a week later. How scary and tragic is that? Her family didn’t take her to the hospital; most people here never make it to the hospital, unless they have an identifiable long-term condition or a life-threatening injury (and even that doesn’t always ensure a hospital visit). Not to mention the fact that many families don’t have easy access to a boat to reach the hospital on Weno, or money to pay for the gas. A mysterious symptom like sudden bleeding from the ears is the kind of thing that most people would generally treat with local medicine.

As small as it is, the school wasn’t as shaken by the tragedy as American schools tend to be following the death of a student. Death is kept a lot closer to home here than it is in the States, so even when it comes so suddenly and tragically, it’s still not as much of a shock. The only noticeable impact on the school was that afternoon classes were canceled on Tuesday, the day of the funeral, to allow the teachers to attend.

I didn’t attend the funeral myself, because that was also the day my bowels decided to rebel against me, and I spent probably 80% of the day sitting on the toilet. I wasn’t going anywhere without access to a real toilet where I could sit comfortably and at least somewhat privately to let my intestines express themselves. So, I was stuck at home. It wasn’t as bad as when I had amoebas (no nausea or vomiting this time, just stomachache and major runs), but it was enough to keep me home from school on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Actually, my staying home Wednesday wasn’t so much from my actual sickness as it was from a run-in with local culture. My host mom had offered to have one of my host sisters, Myleen, prepare a local medicinal treatment for diarrhea for me, and since there wasn’t anything else to be done, I agreed. It turned out to be an interesting cultural experience. The medicine was this brownish, interesting-smelling liquid concoction (I’m not actually sure what it consisted of) mixed in a big bowl-shaped shell. A small stone was heated up until it was red-hot, then dropped into the liquid to make it bubble up and steam. Then I had to stand over it with the shell between my feet and a sheet wrapped around my waist to keep the smoke…well, in. Hey, it seemed like a good direct way to approach the problem of diarrhea…

Anyway, I received this treatment twice on Tuesday: once in the morning, and once in the afternoon. Later that night (when I was feeling considerably better) Stella explained that the treatment required four sessions, to be done in the morning and evening for two days (earlier one of my other sisters, Charolyn, had told me that I’d have to stay home from school all week to finish the medicine, but apparently only two days is the requirement). And then she realized that I wouldn’t be able to go to school that next day: One of the taboos attached to the medicine is that the person is not allowed to touch salt water while undergoing treatment (I think this is a taboo with many, if not all, local medicines; I’ve heard of it on a few other occassions). There are two different paths that lead to the school; coincidentally, both paths have areas that are submerged by the tide in the morning, and one has to wade through a few inches of water to get through (it often reminds me of UE after periods of heavy rain, actually). So, I was pretty much stuck. Sure, I probably could’ve insisted that I don’t believe in such superstitions and gone to school in spite of the taboo, but if there’s anything I learned from all those anthropology courses I took in college, it’s to always show respect for the indigenous beliefs of a culture. And after taking seven anthro classes, Dr. Berry’s voice is eternally stuck in my head (somebody thank him for me). Those of you who know Dr. Berry know how that can be.

I was still feeling pretty crappy — no pun intended — on Wednesday, so staying home was still the best option. But then, Myleen ended up giving me both of my two “treatments” in the morning, one right after the other. Apparently the rules weren’t so strict as everyone had made them out to be, and if I’d really insisted on it I could’ve gone to school anyway. So, the lesson learned here is to always make sure I understand all the stipulations of a local medicine before I agree to any treatment.

And did the medicine work? It’s hard to say. I was feeling as good as new by Thursday morning, but I don’t know how much the medicine had to do with it, or if my sickness had simply run its course. That seems to be the catch with most local medicines, from any culture; undoubtedly there are many that truly do work, but how often is it an extraneous measure for a condition that will simply resolve itself over the course of a few days?

To continue…I was back in school on Thursday, which was actually a really good day. I had a visit from our Chuuk PA, Imauo, along with some of Peace Corps’ safety & security officers — one from Micronesia, one who oversees the whole Pacific region, and one from Washington. It’s always nice having visitors, especially Americans.

Unfortunately Thursday night/this morning didn’t turn out so well. I was woken about 3:00am by the sound of somebody pawing around outside my bedroom window. I knew immediately — nightcrawler. I just lay still, listening. Then the bastard (pardon the language, but I know who the guy was, and he’s a 100% bonafide creep) started whispering my name, and the next thing I know he’s shining a flashlight into my room. My bed sits right up against the window, so he was basically right above me. I jumped up and banged on the window frame, yelling at him as loud as I could to go away, and he took off running.

I went and woke up my host sister and told her what happened, and she woke up my host mom, who was naturally pissed off when she heard the story. Especially when I told her who I’m pretty sure the guy was — Mr. Love-magic, who I wrote about before, who has also turned into the biggest nuisance of my life here. I haven’t mentioned it on here because I haven’t wanted to concern people (I don’t feel unsafe, just annoyed mostly, at least until now), and because I don’t want to give the impression that all Chuukese men are as awful as this one individual. Many of the men I know here are among the most decent people I’ve ever met in my life. However, this one (whose name, I kid you not, is Casanova), is at the top of a whole different list. I won’t go into all the details, but basically he’s been making repeated propositions to me for months and acting like he’s my boyfriend, despite my constantly telling him to back off. My host mom, sisters, neighbors, students, and even a couple of the other teachers have also told him, with varying degrees of politeness, to shove off, but apparently this guy doesn’t understand the word “no” in any language. He even approached my host mom once while we were sitting together in front of the house, after sunset, in an attempt to talk to her about me (while I was sitting right there). Culturally, this was extremely rude; even in actual, consentual dating relationships, everything is conducted in private between the guy and the girl. Parents are generally never involved, unless you’re to the point of a marriage proposal. Needless to say, Stella (bless her heart) told him off very soundly, telling him not to ever talk to her about me; if he wanted to be my boyfriend, he should buy a plane ticket and find my own parents in the States to ask them. (so, parents, if a creepy Chuukese guy ever shows up at the house…)

All that happened about a week ago, and that was the last I heard from him until last night’s nightcrawling incident. (“Nightcrawling” is the term, used throughout Micronesia, for when a guy sneaks around a girl’s house at night to get her to go out for a romp together. Since dating relationships aren’t acknowledged or conducted publicly, this is generally what young folks do to spend time with their significant others.) He seems to be getting more aggressive in his attempts, which I’ll admit concerns me. Let me emphasize that I don’t feel unsafe — I never go anywhere by myself, and my room is completely secure. Nevertheless…before I left to come in to Weno this morning, my host mom said she’d hunt him down today and give him a good public chewing-out. I’m praying that will be the end of it. And how ironic that all this should happen just the night after I met with all the safety & security folks…

So that was my week. I’m in Weno now for a day or two, and am very happy for the break. Other than the series of unfortunate events that most of this week turned out to be, things are good overall. Just hoping next week will be more positive…

When you’re sliding into first and you’re feeling something burst…

Amoebas! Amoebas!

So a few weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible stomachache, and that awful “oh-god-I’m-gonna-puke” feeling. I managed to make it to the benjo (outhouse, but with a real water-seal toilet) in time to puke up all the contents of my stomach (canned mackerel and kimchi–tasted about the same coming up as it did going down). Then I felt a different urge, and spent another five minutes expelling all the contents of my bowels (“peeing out of the butt” is the official medical term, I believe). Then I continued to puke some more, mostly bile because there was nothing else left in me at that point…and then I lay sweating on the concrete floor of the benjo for about 10 minutes before I could build up the strength to stumble back to bed.

Anyway, I woke up in the morning still feeling like death and called the PC Medical Officer, who told me to go in to the health clinic on Weno; luckily I was able to get a boat in that day (that boat ride was MISERABLE). I had to give a stool sample (a truly enjoyable experience made even more entertaining by a lack of toilet paper), and was soon given the prognosis: amoebas.

It’s a parasitic infection, common among Volunteers here, caused by drinking bad water. Not life-threatening, just miserable. I got some antibiotics, and even though I ended up having an allergic reaction to the medicine (just my luck), I was all better within a week and only had to miss two days of school. The first 12 hours were really the worst. Still, not a fun experience at all.

It actually ended up being a nice bonding opportunity for me and my host mom, Stella (who is the most wonderful woman in the world, by the way). She came with me to the health clinic, and when we were waiting for our boat to return to Romanum and I felt like I was going to puke again, she accompanied me to the single most disgusting bathroom (at an old ice plant) in the world; the toilet was clogged with all kinds of disgustingness, so I had to crouch over a drain on the floor, and Stella stood next to me holding me up by one arm and my hair so I wouldn’t fall over when I started gagging. She also suggested I stick my finger down my throat to make myself throw up, saying I’d feel better once I just “get it out,” but I didn’t take that piece of motherly advice (and I didn’t end up puking again). Actually, that story’s kind of funny in retrospect…

In other news…

Anyway, I’m in fine health now, and things are going well in general. School is good. We just started 4th quarter. I still like all of my students (most of the time). One of my favorite 8th-grade girls just passed the entrance exam for one of the good private schools here in Chuuk–I’m so proud of her! But she’s also supposedly moving sometime in the near future to live with relatives in Oregon…both promising options for her.

I’m starting to feel a little burnt out on teaching, and I’m glad summer is fast approaching. Although I’m also a little worried about how I’m going to fill my time over summer break, with no school to occupy my time. I do have a couple project ideas in mind that I’m planning to discuss with my principal and co-teacher this week. I’ve been thinking about doing some kind of summer school/camp, or maybe some kind of high school prep with the 8th graders (if enough of them will actually be going to high school…). I’ve also talked to my principal about starting to work on building up the school library; it was put together back in the 90′s by a previous volunteer, but there’s not much left now except some old encyclopedias and a few other really outdated books. I’m planning to get some newer books donated, and hopefully get new shelving and other materials. I’m really excited about it, and hopefully that’ll keep me somewhat busy over the summer. I’m still keeping my eyes open for other project ideas as well.

Oh, and the drought seems to have finally let up. We got a lot of good rain at the end of March, and it’s been raining more often over the past couple weeks. It’s still relatively dry, but much better than it was. Unfortunately, the heavier rains have also lead to a plague of mosquitoes, which I don’t even have to tell you has NOT been fun. Fortunately, there’s no malaria in Micronesia.

Well, there’s plenty more I could share but I have to run and catch a boat back to Romanum in a few minutes, so I’ll have to stop here for the time. I’m sorry my updates have been so brief and scattered; I’ve lost my motivation for writing posts from home on my laptop to publish en masse when I come in to Weno. I’ll try to get back at it–I feel like I’m always leaving so much out with these at-the-moment updates.

Prayer Requests

I have been having a nightmarish time trying to get my student loan deferment application approved, for multiple reasons, and if I don’t get things worked out by the end of April I’m gonna be slammed with bad credit. Not really the reward I want for offering up two years of my life in the Peace Corps…so please pray that my loan provider gets a brain, and that things will get worked out quickly.

For health and sanity and good progress in general, for myself as well as all the Volunteers here.

And I think that’s it for now.

Peace– Kirby