Girl Power!

One really great opportunity we have as Micronesian JV’s is the opportunity to have a summer placement. For the summer, Peaches and I are in Pohnpei for Xavier’s Higher Achievement Program, a summer school-like program for soon to be 7th and 8th graders who want to go to Xavier. They are the top students at their schools and we practice English, Reading, and Math skills with them in order to prepare them for the Xavier Entrance Test they will take in January. We also get to live in community with the Pohnpei JV’s Rachael and Molly and live as they do for the summer.


Pohnpei is about an hour plane ride away, but much more developed then Chuuk, and we saw this immediately when we got off of the phone. One of the first signs of this was the automatic door. I was about to push the door open when it, almost magically opened by itself! It seems so strange, I have seen many of these throughout my life, but was somehow blown away but how this door. We have heard all about Pohnpei and how much more developed it is, but this was something I really had not expected.

Moving out of the airport, and still today, little things amazed me. Sitting right now, Rachael and I are at Coco’s Resturant, while the Hawaiian (granted it is 2 weeks late) is playing and we are sipping Iced Coffees! The roads, are drivable and we can even go over 25 miles an hour! In the stores they have what seems like a surplus of fresh fruits, veggies, and even yogurt. There are ten times more restaurants, a movie theater (were going tonight!), and a field for baseball, soccer, and ultimate Frisbee leagues.

Power is something else I have grown pretty used to not having in Chuuk. Even we when did have it, I knew it was only seconds, minutes, or if the power company was being nice, an hour before it would go out. We had gone days without power in Chuuk. Now in Pohnpei is experiencing power problems (not having power for maybe 3 or 4 hours), but it still seems so much better then what is going on in Chuuk. Here I am always expecting the power to go off, and when it doesn’t, it’s still really surprising! It’s really crazy how much of a difference power, roads, and food can have on a person!

Another thing, and this will be really tough when I go home, is I am not used to seeing so many white people. For the first time in my life I am the minority. It’s something I have grown really used to and not really thinking too much about. I think total in Chuuk I have seen between 20-30 white people. Here they are all over the place; working at for Embassy, World Teach, Peace Corp, college teachers, or just ex-pats who own local bars, restaurants, or hotels. Its really crazy, I am still the minority, but not used to having so many people look like me.

One of the great things I have really come to enjoy about Pohnpei is not something that can be seen downtown were all of the action is. Rachael has been able to take me out to her host family and I have also seen a couple of my Xavier students families houses as well. Even though there is so much infrastructure on the island, there is still something so great about experiencing the local setting at a real Pohnepian families house. It looks very similar to Chuuk and they still live on the bare necessities; no beds, no furniture, a TV or two, a cook house, and enough clothes to share amoungst the many family members who live there. Its really great to see that when it does come down to it, it’s just a more glamorous version of Chuuk, just with fruit, veggies, power, and roads. The true Micronesian is still there underneath it all.

There are so many other things I could say about how Pohnpei and Chuuk are different and all of the culture shock I am experiencing just an hour away from Chuuk, but this summer has not been all about the how Pohnpei and Chuuk are different. I have also loved working and being with my community.

Working is very different, then the typical Xavier lifestyle. Instead of teaching 15 hours a day and dealing with teenagers, I only work 3 ½ hours and teach soon to be 8th graders. In the afternoons we have a chance to experience the Pohnepian culture and get to know the island and our students a little bit more. Even though I am teaching Math, I have found it to be a lot of fun and much more interesting then say an English skills class. The 8th graders are also a lot more fun. I feel more like my “goofy camp counselor” self with them, as opposed to the eye rolling I get from the high school students. And I really do love the high school students, but I have really enjoyed the innocence and immaturity that these kids bring. I also really miss all of my high school students, especially the ones who just graduated and the soon to be seniors. They are wonderful and this experience has taught me how lucky I am to get to build such a strong relationship with those who I am serving.

Other then work and Pohnpein life, one aspect of my life in PNI has outshined everything and made my summer one of the best yet. The community of girls I live with Molly, Rachael, and Peaches has been so life giving and wonderful. Immediately have been calling ourselves the “Girl Power Summer Community” and have been having so much fun. Whether we are being silly and dancing to our favorite jams, shopping at thrift stores, watching the baseball games with the locals, dance parties with the host family, sleepovers with Princess movies, or just being our goofy selves, which ends up in all of us laughing until it hurts. We have been blessed to also have deep, meaningful conversations that bring us closer together both intellectually and spiritually. This is what I have always wanted out of community in JVC and I want to bring all of this hope and joy for community back to Xavier as our newbies, Jay and Gabe. Community reall has been the biggest blessing for me this summer and I cannot imagine myself being any happier.

I have also been doing a lot of self-growth here. Prior to summer, I have had so much trouble being myself. At Xavier and in Chuuk, I don’t really feel like I am able to be myself. With the students, fellow faculty, and Chuukese eyes on me, I am the opposite of what it is to be Micronesian. I am loud, talkative, emotional, and a girl who can’t get enough sports! Here, especially with the community, I finally feel like I am more of myself then I have ever been in Micronesia. I not only feel accepted for who I am by the community around me, but I also feel as though my students, and the local people are more excepting of who I am as well. I feel like I am finally getting my grove back, just in time to go back and live up my final year here, the best way possible.

My summer goals have been going strong, even though I know I could practice the guitar a lot more. But I do try and practice Chuukese a couple times a week and have really explored Pohnpei, jumping off waterfalls, hiking, visiting host families, and just exploring. There is a whole lot more to see here, and I have really tried to make the most of it (by still living simply of course)! And on Wednesday, Mom and Dad arrive! I only hope they are ready for PNI and the adventure it will bring!!