The Little Drummer Boy...

So now that school is over, Malem is focused on one thing and one thing only: Christmas Marching (Mas in Kosraen). I am staying buisy working on secondary projects during the day but each evening I have marching rehearsal with my fellow Malemites. There are three divisions of Malem: Yatta, Midtown, and Walunga. I am marching with Walunga since it is the zone that I live in. A relative of mine is the president of Walunga. We gather around 7:30 Kosraen time (which translates to around 8 or 8:30) and practice singing and marching at the church until around 10 pm. This pictures given you an idea...

And The Money Keeps Rolling In (And Rolling Out)

So having been in Micronesia for 3 months now and Kosrae for 14 weeks here are some observations I have noticed:

The US is sustaining the island communities of the South Pacific. Here on Kosrae the Dept of Education receives 90 million dollars a year as a flat rate due to the Compact between the FSM and US. That does not include all the special grants and arrangements applied for which is an extra sizable amount of money. The Chinese government has subsidized the building of a new high school which is in the process of being completed. All teachers salaries including the College of Micronesia are being paid for by the US. Any government position is paid for by the US. Yet when you ask Kosraen's about this they are completely perplexed do the situation. If you ask them who is giving money to the Island they say the Chinese.

Kosrae is completely dependent upon foreign aid. There is no priate industry for ecenomic development on the island. The most prominent company KCSO, is a Conservation NGO, which Madison Nena, my boss, happens to be the Chairman of.

Money is spent with no accountability and without a sense of self-ownership. Once funds simply dry up Kosraen's simply apply for other grants. I have been barraged with a number of projects that has kept me buisy since school has ended. Lots of research with little resources. Welcome to the Peace Corps! Stay tuned.

Beetlenut

So a couple weeks ago I experineced another cultural phenomenon very important here to Kosraen's: I chewed beetlenut. Throughout all of the South Pacific, Micronesian's chew Beetlenut. Like being offered a peice of gum or a cigarete people are always offering me beetlenut. Here's how it goes:

You take an actual "beetlenut" from the tree. You crack it in half with your teeth. You then pour in limestone powder, which is melted down from limestone rock. You add a piece of cigarete and then close the beetlenut. Then you wrap a leaf taken from the beetlenut tree around the whole thing. It is certainly an interesting experience. Perhaps not my favorite Micronesian custom however I can now always say to the locals I have tried it.

Thanksgiving

So it has been a couple weeks since I have been able to check in to this blog. Thanksgiving here was an interesting event. Instead of celebrating with a turkey and gravy, Kosraen's all gathered together for a church service in Tafunsak. Each village sang 3 songs. I was thrown into the Malem choir the night before Thanksgiving. We had a rehearsel at 11pm that went until 1 am. It was the first time I had performed since the March of Dimes music event that was hosted in New Mexico. While I was singing (bass by the way...males don't sing anything higher) instead of drumming it was a great feeling. I was given the words and hearing the song once was able to fill right in on the second run through. I guess I have to thank CCM for that...

While in Kosrae I have also been reading at a prolific pace. These are the books I have read to date.

Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life by John Lee Anderson
Chronicles: Volume I by Bob Dylan
The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
Schindler's List by Thomas Kennelly
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortinson and David Oliver Relin
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
The Kite Runner by Khaled Houssaini

We Don't Need No Education...

So I just finished teaching for the 4th week in a row now. We have a break until January 4th when school resumes. This is a picture of Malem Elementary School where I teach. The top floor are the 8th and 9th grade classrooms. I roam between three classrooms in the middle right-hand corner. I have roughly 50 students. I have learned most of their names by now and am coming to learn their personalities as well. I see them on the streets walking. I play with them. During the break a couple of the kids are going to take me out and show me how to surf kosraen style.

More Photos from Walung

Here are some more photos from my trip to Walung a few weeks ago. While in Walung I made a stupid mistake of eating a Kosraen pepper and then touching my eye with the same finger. Some of the chili dust got caught in my eye and then a river of pouring hell insued...Ten minutes later after pouring about a gallon of water in my face and fanning my eyes out (all with the help of Hilman George who was crying with laughter at the same time) I regained my eyesight. Lesson learned: When in Kosrae, Chili is for eating. Not for putting in eyes.

Me cooking hot dogs Kosraen style...

A bucket of fish I helped catch...

Swearing in Ceremony...At Last!

So the big day finally came last Tuesday and I was offically sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer. The Peace Corps Country Director from Pohnpei, Kevin Carley flew in to swear us in. To my right is Michael Wang. He is from San Diego and is working at Tafunsak Elementary School. We unfourtunately lost a trainee who decided to go home to Indiana so now we are the only new volunteers. This brings the total number to 4 on Kosrae. We are the smallest main island staff but boy are we motivated...

Teaching has gone smooth. For the past 9 days I have been teaching 3 Sections each of 8th grade Reading and Writing. There are only 6 sections in a day so I have certainly been kept buisy. Things are always in influx and it turns out I will also be teaching 9th grade Writing. Not sure how I will be in two places at once yet. Things will work themselves out.

As it turns out Kosraen's celebrate Thanksgiving. There are no turkeys, only turkey tail. There is lots and lots of singing in each village. I am part of the Malem Choir belching away some base arpegios. (In Kosrae all women sing soprano, alto, and tenor and all men sing only bass. There is no exceptions.) To do otherwise I would be labeled an Elahn Muhtan which in Kosraen is to call me a sissy.

I continue to pick up the language. Kosraen is not as complicated as English or Spanish. However pronounciation is the trick. Some of the worst curse words in English form the foundation for about 90% or Kosraen words. Till next time...Kuht Fah Ohsun

Some More Pictures

The following are some pictures my fellow trainees and I have snapped over the past couple of weeks.

I last week took a three day trip to Walung. Walung is the smallest village in Kosrae. Here Madison is teaching me how to make a Kosraen plate out of two sets of Palm tree leaves.

The following three pictures are from the Kosraen state games that have taken place over the past two weeks. Each village has had teams participate and it has been very exciting. I have gotten to meet a lot of new members from the community at the various events. Tonight is the final evening with Malem's girls volleyball team playing Lelu for the championship.

One of Malem's canoe racing teams when it rained for a little while on the first day of competition. Canoe Racing in Kosraen is called Koal.

Malem's big entrance at the start of the first day of the canoe racing.









On Water Safety Day Madison cought a big "Wahoo" fish.

Moving On

So today I passed the big language proficency exam. I was evaluated as an intermediate. My swearing in ceremony is this coming Tuesday. I will begin teaching next week at Malem Elementary School and start meeting with some community leaders to propose some ideas/projects they might be interested in and see what happens. The above picture is where we had our training. The majority of out sessions were on the beach, however if it rained we would go inside the building pictured in the background.

Foxy Lady

So the most common question I received from people writing me letters here on Kosrae is why is it called "The Island of the Sleeping Lady?" Driving from my home in Malem towards the east of the Island is a mountains area that really looks like a sleeping lady. It is quite a site...

Many more pictures and stories to come. I am wrapping up training this week and hopefully (knock on wood) will be sworn in next tuesday as a Peace Corps volunteer. I begin teaching at Malem very soon. Over the past week the island has been at a stand still over the Kosraen games. Each village participates. There has been an Olympic athmosphere throughout the events. Singing, dancing, and lots and lots of eating. Barbequed Chicken, Fish, Tuna, Taro, and lots and lots of Coconut milk. The first two days were Canoe Racing, followed by Basketball, then Track and Field, Baseball, and will be closing tommorow with the volleyball finals. In Canoe Racing Lelu and Utwe dominated the event. Both Malem and Tafunsak do not have marinas or harbors but are looking to improve for next year. I have already been drafted for next year and hope to learn how to Canoe Race very soon. Much more to come. As they say in Kosraen, Kuht Fah Ohsun (We will meet again)

Some Oldies But Some Goodies...

While I was staying in Pohnpei here are a couple pictures that I was able to take that I thought you might enjoy. Above I was making Sakau with my host brother Paulis. Sakau is a very popular drink in Pohnpei made from Habiscus roots and pounded on like a rock. Sakau was origionally invented in Kosrae but most Kosraen's don't drink it because of their strong religious beliefs. You mix the roots with water and squeeze them through a shred cut from the Habiscus tree. I am holding the cup that the Sakau is caught in. Directly below is a picture of my host sister, See, and her 1 year old Isha. The next two are taken from a trip my family and I made to a waterfall not very far from my house. The water was intense. In the first picture I wasn't even able to stand up with my host brother and peek my head out at the camera. The second shows the size and scope of the waterfall. As a precaution I had to take medicine before going in the water to avoid contracting Leptosperosis.

It's getting better all the time...

Today we had a half day water day safety excursion. I was able to find my way back into the 21st century world and stop at the Telecomunications facility on Kosrae. The above picture is my house where I live. My room is the farthest on the left and to show the hospitality I have received it is the biggest room in the entire house. I am not allowed at the present time to move into a smaller room however I am still asking. Across the road about 10 feet is the Ocean, which I am pictured standing in front of in the top picture.

In my previous blog I mentioned the fact I learned how to climb coconut trees. The picture below is my first introduction which took place two weeks ago at the Kosrae Village Resort. For some reason that day I felt like Mogley from the Jungle Book...

Welcome to Kosrae!

I arrived in Kosrae 3 weeks ago and have been studying the language and culture as I await the beginning of my service coming in 3 weeks. Madison Nena, the program assistant along with Hilman George, our language and cultural instructor conducts all the sessions. We have learned a lot of great things so far: husking coconuts, climbing coconut trees, running away from ruthless and angry dogs. The perception of dogs here are not as pets but more as defenders of property and the road. They are also eaten during big celebrations. Biking while being chased by them growling has certainly been a exhilirating experience. Food is very important. I eat 3 to 4 meals a day and usually by myself with other family members watching me. The ocean is literally 20 feet from my house. It rain's everyday sometimes for a few minutes most of the time for hours and days at a time. Malem, the village I live in typically runs out of electricity and running whenever there is a terrential downpour. Also, the concept sleeping with bed bugs has given me a new meaning to living as a typical Kosraen. Stay tuned. There will be much more in the future.

For those who have checked this site consistently over the last month I apologize for my infrequent updates. In 3 weeks when I start teaching you will be able to hear from me more...

Keep on Moving!

I found out last week that I will be teaching at an Elementary School in the village of Malem on the Island of Kosrae! My address will be:

PO Box 98

Lelu, Kosrae

FSM 96944

It's just like sending mail in the US. Standard rates apply. Send me a letter and let me know how things are going. Kosrae is known here around the FSM as "The Island of the Sleeping Lady." Kosrae is the second largest island on the FSM. The population is very small, just over 8,000. I will have a bike and could be able to bike around the entire island in about just over 4 hours. I am pictured with Madison, the Peace Corps Kosrae Program Assistant. Stay tuned...

One Morning...I Woke Up..And I knew...A New Day...A New Way...A New How...

Well it has been a few weeks since I could get to the internet. We moved from the main city of Kolonia to a part of the country in the south named Madalenemihw. I am living with a host family in the Village of Telour (pictured above) and walk from their house to the PATS technical training institute (pictured below) for training. They have been amazing and have welcomed me into their family with open arms.

Current Reading List: Che: A Revolutionary Life

Music Listening List: Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Shania Twain Beyounce

(courtesy the girls in the family)

The Times They Are A-Changin'

I flew in yesterday from Honolulu and arrived in Kolonia, Pohnpei. I was met with a warm embrace of humidity and a kiss of rainfall. Tomorrow I leave the town of Kolonia and will head to Madolenihmw where I will continue my Pre-service training. Stay tuned.

Current reading and listening materials:

Che A Revolutionary Life

Peace Corps Emergency Action Plan

Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde

Beethoven 6 and Brahms 4

All my bags are Packed- I'm ready to go.

Ok so this blog thing is a great concept yet sitting in front of a computer screen to pour your thoughts out to the world can almost instantly become quite a challenge. I am in Hawaii preparing to leaving tomorrow morning for Micronesia. To what awaits me stay tuned and hopefully I can provide some interesting tails along the way.