After about 24 hours of being in the air, airport food, tiny bathrooms, and a sleepover in Hawaii, we have finally arrived in Chuuk, Micronesia. We dropped off Rachael and Molly on the ‘island hopper’ in Ponphei. The ‘island hopper’ is a Continental flight (Continental is the only airline that flies to Micronesia) that left Hawaii and flews to Mujaro, Koasea, Ponphei, and then Micronesia. Totally airtime it took about 12 hours, not including layovers, however, the layovers at the various islands were so amazing-and great introductions to island life. The islands are not only filled with beautiful oceans, but amazing mountains, waterfalls, and palm trees.
When we arrived in Chuuk we were immediately greeted by our second years, Caroline, Jessica, Mike, and Tyler, as well as an FJV who is staying on as an independent, Steph. We thankfully we got all of our luggage and then went to the Saramen Chuuk house. Saramen is another JV community on the island and hopefully we will be sharing many community and spiritually nights with them. When we got to the house they presented us with our first of many coconut’s and fruit salad. It was so good, and since then we have been eating lots of coconuts. Then they took us on the roof to watch our first Chuukese sunset. There are really no words or colors to describe how amazing these sunsets are and the colors that make them up.
We then ate dinner with some of the neighbors who made us a BBQ filled with Chuukese dishes including turkey tail, bread fruit, and rice….lots and lots of rice. The next day we headed up to my new home, St. Xavier Academy, which is described as the ‘country club’ of the JV’s on the island. The view is so wonderful, from the roof you can almost see the water from all views. The whole day we chilled at Xavier to prepare for our hikes the next two days. One cool thing about Xavier is the main building is an old bomb shelter from WWII so its almost indestructible, so no matter what happens, we are pretty much safe from everything.
The second day at Xavier we went to the light house which is on one of the ends of the island. It took about an hour and we saw so much of the island from the top. We also passed many homes and families along the way. During the walk we passed a couple WWII bunkers, which was really cool. WWII sadly really hurt the island in so many ways but the historical things that are still apart of the island really remind you of what happened here.
Another interesting thing about the island is everyone on the island owns all of the land, there isn’t any public or government owned land. Therefore every time we walk through somewhere or go somewhere we have to get the owners permission to cross and walk on their land. According to the second year JVs sometimes they will ask for money since we stick out among the population, but since we are teachers we are usually allowed to walk by for free.
That day we also swam at the Japanese docks for a little bit. The water was so warm but so refreshing after our long walk. After it started raining we started heading back up. We had a picnic planned for the next day on other island but the boat wasn’t working so we stayed and relaxed at Xavier. The Saramen JV’s had been staying with us and they left to go back into town the next day. Though were are only about 6 miles apart it takes about an hour drive because the roads are so bad.
The next couple days we have just been relaxing and learning our schedule at Xavier. We finally found out what classes we are teaching!! I will be teaching CHEMISTRY and SENIOR ENGLIGH/LIT. I am so excited! Though I am not an expert in either fields, I am really looking forward to working with the students, especially the juniors and seniors.
Everything has gone above my expectations, except the language barrier. When researching it seemed as if every website said Chuuk’s first language was English. But only to us and in the classroom will we be speaking English, everyone else speaks in Chuukese, their own native language. So knowing that I am really looking forward to learning Chuukese.
I have also really become really good at ‘bucket flushing.’ That is when we use a normal toilet but when we go to flush we fill up the bucket with water and dump it down the bowl. It can be tricky because if you don’t get enough water or hit the right spot it wont work. I think that is one thing that I have mastered.
Another interesting thing about the island is the time when electricity and internet are available. The island shares power so half the island will have power for 4 hours and they other half will not. Then it will switch. At my work site, sometimes they will have the generator on, but it really depends on who is there to start it. When it switches from generator to island power or vis versa the internet goes out for about 10 mins. I think after about a week I have finally gotten used to the schedule of when I will and wont have power. According to the second years when school starts we should have generator power during classes, but again, much of it is up in the air.
We have also already had a couple spirituality nights. One with just Xavier and about two with Saramen. I am really looking forward to the intentional community that we are building. I can really see this community going really far and sharing so much. We have also had so much fun!! Peaches brought the game Werewolf, in which we have played almost ten times every night we spend with Saramen. We also got to meet some of the Peace Corp boys when they came into town while we were staying at Saramen. They also joined in the festivities of Werewolf. Its really cool to see so many perspectives of life on Chuuk from the second years as well as on the outer islands, with individuals being truly immersed from the Peace Corp.
I know many people have asked me about tsunamis hitting our island. Our island is actually surround by a lagoon which will protect us if anything were to happen. We also work at St. Xavier, which is the highest point on the island and an old bomb shelter during the war. So no matter what happens to us we are pretty same and out of harms way. So no worries on that front.
I am so thankful for this experience and for what God has provided me with. I am really looking forward to seeing what these next two years bring me. Please keep all of us here in your prayers as well as pray for those late departure JV’s who are still going through the process of leaving.
Love and Peace from MICRO,
Em
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