Step Right Up to the Jesus Kissing Booth

Christmas Dinner... Served on a Coconut Palm Plate

(The Crab is a Coconut Crab brought from the Outer Islands of Yap)

This beautiful old turtle was sitting on the lawn of a neighbors house still alive.... and then.... well... he became food
A Very Disco Christmas Mass
Interesting Fact: After midnight mass on Christmas Eve the people attending all go up and lined up to go to the little nativity native house covered in christmas lights where a tiny Jesus figurine was. One by one the people filed up and kissed baby Jesus. When my family motioned me to go, I stood up and got in line empty handed. That is when I realized there was a offering basket in front of the Nativity scene and each person who kissed Jesus had money they put in the basket first. Well... I had left my basket on the floor where I was sitting, so I didn't have money. So, I guess I stole a kiss from baby Jesus, but then afterwards I snuck in a buck.

Sunburned Christmas

Merry Christmas! School is out now, all is well. I've got a sunburn... certainly is different from Christmas in the U.S. No snow.. .not even a slight chill in the air. In fact, it's darn hot... and my nose is pink. Friday was a fun day at school for the kids, no classes, just games and activities. Over the next two weeks I'll be going in on occasion to do more work at the library and basically staying in the village. Christmas Eve will include midnight mass wearing my grass skirt at church. Then Christmas Day I'm making spagetti for a party that my neighbors are having. So Spaghetti and Grass Skirts and Sun Burns... just another Christmas in the Pacific.

Much Love, Joy, Laughter, Peace, And Happiness to all of you on the other side of the world!

Merry Christmas!

Children reading makes me giddy with joy..... (and it's recess time too)

Kids looking through the library book piles, since we're repainting the shelves and walls
I love these kids!

This is my Christmas Present... smiling kids with balloons and tinsel on their heads

Drinking the Water with Low Caste Bananas

When you first come to any developing nation, usually you are bombarded with warnings. DON'T DRINK THE WATER! Of course, Micronesia is no exception to this. Part of our medical training showed us no less than 4 ways to safely treat drinking water before consuming. Then we learned about all the parasites and other diseases that can happen to us if we fail to do as we're told. One in particular included pictures of the worms that you would actually puke up after they grow in your intestine for weeks... or months.. EEEK! Of course, I was really good about this, boiling my water, drinking the water Peace Corps provided for us during training, and avoiding water from the tap and rainwater. And...unlike others in my original training group... who drank lots of Sakau made with untreated water... I didn't get sick in Pohnpei.

Then training ended, and I'm on my own in my village. Well, luckily my host mom normally boils drinking water and puts it in our freezer, so i thought I was doing pretty good. Of course, then I have to go to a party with huge things of ice water and koolaid (think it's boiled?) probably not. And then there are the times I go to neighbors and they make me a big glass of water or tea mix or koolaid.... not boiled either. But it's rude to refuse, so I drink it happily...if not cautiously. I still felt pretty good about not drinking too much untreated water... and most days my tummy seems pretty happy.

Now, I should have been suspect at the fact that my school has one of those great water cooler/heaters... with the big 5 gallon water drums. Wow, fresh water... of all the things the school lacks... like when we sometimes run out of printing paper... we always seem to have those big water containers. Awesome! So I make sure every day to fill my water bottle before going home, just incase we're out of boiled water, and I drink lots at school. I don't want to be dehydrated now do I?

Well... funny thing happened the other day... I'm sitting outside on a break between classes and I see one of the teacher with the empty water drum...... and what does he do? Goes straight to the tap outside, fills it, and puts it back on the water dispenser. Hmmrph? So, you mean all this time I've been drinking untreated water? YUP... looks like it.

Luckily, I don't yet seem to be vomiting worms, which is always a plus. So, I guess I have a pretty tough tummy after all.

On a different note: I ate a fantastic banana today... It was red on the outside, shaped kinda like a mango, and neon yellow and squishy on the inside. And now my pee is also neon Yellow. Fantastic! Lots of Vitamin A! Yummy Yummy.

I heart Neon Yellow (Low Caste) Bananas! p.s. They're low caste because they grow up, not down like most others.... so only the low caste look up, and refuse to look down... or something like that. Low Caste Bananas Rock!

Beneath the Beauty

Looking around, ideal, bliss
Tropical paradise it seems
Bathing in Equitorial Sun
Lush vegetation, smiling faces
Ahh, the beauty of this place

Rub your eyes, look closer
take off the shades
to see the scars
Tongue bleeding
from months of biting it

Coconut palms hide drunken messes
The pain of alcoholic hell
Jobs suffer, families suffer, bodies suffer
Budweiser profits and smiles
Even granting us special cans...
Bud Nation

Hibiscus flowers hide violence
Drunken fights and domestic scars
women bracing themselves
voices halted by years of tradition
South meets North, high meets low,
Husband meets wife, drunk arms swinging

Grass Skirts hide failing bodies
chew rotting teeth
tobacco granting cancer
diabetes robbing kids of parents
Spam profits, Pepsi profits, Yap loses
Imported addictions thriving
Learning how modern influence can kill

So come, with your cameras ready,
capture the beauty, watch dances,
enjoy the view
But know this....
what you see is only the surface
For even in paradise, an iceberg lies below

Sitting With Chiefs

Another week in the rollercoaster that is my life now in Yap. It's up and down, up and down.... yaaaayyyyy... and then... ahhhhhhh... as I go swooping downward, only to find myself trucking back up minutes later. So is life.
Village life certainly is different from the routine of training. In training I was busy from morning untill 6pm when I went home.... now I'm still busy, but it's a very different kind of busy. Now my days are filled with writing lessons, planning things for the library, researching book donations, keeping calm when teachers fail to show up or even call, painting, gutting fish, learning Yapese dance, and of course sitting with chiefs.

Now it isn't everyday that you sit with a chief, but it happens quite a bit for me. And when a chief says sit... you sit. So, the other day I was walking back from the place where I do my laundry, a 10 minute walk, with a giant bag of freshly dry clothing across my shoulder when I noticed an old man sitting in front of the road that leads to my home, facing the driveway, in the middle of the road. Interesting? (Did I mention it was 7pm, and in minutes would be completely dark) So, one of the men in the village said "V, do you have time.... please sit." So there I sat in the middle of the road and met the eldest man in the village... our village elder and the High Chief of a neighboring municipality. He didn't speak any English, but another man was there to translate what I couldn't understand. The men in my village had just had a meeting where they discussed my presence in the village and how they had to keep me safe and secure... punishment "beheading....joked one of the men"... actually the punishment if some of the young men in the village bother me is Stone Money, Shell Money, and possible banishment from the village, Wow! So, our elder, this tiny old High Chief sat in the road (slightly intoxicated) asking me how I felt here, if I wanted to help... and repeating "Siro...Siro... Siro... " over and over... which means "excuse me or apologies" Did I mention cars drive down this road?... where we three were all sitting in the middle of... in the dark! But, like I said... when chiefs say sit... you sit.. and that's just what I did. I sat, talked, and pondered about all the things my village must think about this young American living up the dirt hill in their village. Just another day in the village

I'm getting better at village work now also, cleaning, gardening, cooking. I know when Americans hear those three words certain images pop into your head.

*Cleaning... Mrs. Clean with her mop and shining floor, dusting shelves....
*Gardening... Kneeling in a 10 by 10 patch of tomatoes and flowers, wearing a big hat and gardening gloves, pulling weeds...
*Cooking... Preheating the oven for garlic bread, going to the refrigerator to get veggies and butter... boiling water for pasta.. sauteeing onions.... or if you're in a rush.. just pop leftovers in the microwave... all in your kitchen, bright and full of appliances...

Now do me a favor... WIPE AWAY EVERY PRECONCIEVED IDEA ABOUT WHAT THOSE THREE WORDS MEAN IN AMERICA... in Yap... they are VERY different.

CLEANING IN YAP... First things first... get out your machete. Cleaning here involves machetes.. Last weekend I worked from morning until evening cleaning a taro patch... knee deep in mud, cutting (or trying to cut) overgrowth in an abandoned taro patch that the jungle had reclaimed. I came home, dirty, covered in mud, sweaty, and sore... kinda makes me wish for that Mr. Clean image with a mop

Back from the Taro Cleaning
GARDENING IN YAP.... SEE ABOVE

COOKING IN YAP.. Well, without stoves, ovens, microwaves, toasters, and all the other little conveniences of modern kitchens, cooking can be quite interesting. Steps to making a Yapese meal.

Step 1: Use coconut husks to build a fire in the kitchen house
Step 2: Scrub the mud off the taro or yam, then using large knives to cut the outside of the taro off
Step 3: Clean the fish (Yes that means descaling and gutting.. I know dad would be proud)
Step 4: Go to the garden/jungle to gather greens
Step 5: Husk, cut open, and grate one copra (mature coconut)... squeeze with water with your hands to make coconut milk
Step 6: Combine the fish, coconut milk, and greens for a yummy soup.. while the taro boils.
Step 7: Relax..... it's hard work....
Step 8: finally eat and enjoy

My favorite time of day these days involves the time I spend working on the library at school. I've got a ton of work to be done, but things are beginning to happen. I've been writing everyone and every place I can think of to find books. I have managed to clean out most of the junk that was being stored in the library, and we've started repainting all the book shelves. Over the holidays I'll start recatologing what we have and dusting the books and donating so many of the books that are no use for my english language learners.... Some rotary club in California thought it would be a great idea to ship the elementary school cases of Very Old, Falling Apart, Adult novels from the 30s through 50s...

If you were a little kid learning to speak english... would these books look appealing? I think not!The kids helping me repaint the book shelves.. they want a library so bad!
The Library/Storage Space here at school

Thanksgiving Reflections

In the spirit of Thanksgiving (which they obviously don't celebrate here), I thought I would write a list of some of the many things that I'm thankful for.... So here goes

I'm thankful for the children laughing and singing outside of this room right now

I'm thankful for my Dad, Mary, Sabina, and the rest of my family that have been so supportive during this journey.

I'm thankful that I have a wonderful man in my life, who loves me and cares for me so much despite the fact that I decided to follow a life goal and move half a world away.

I'm thankful that I've been given the opportunity to have another family right here on my little island, who care for me, watch out for me, feed me, shelter me, and rub tumeric all over me :)

I'm thankful for the Parrot fish, angel fish, snapper, lobster, tuna.... and the list goes on.... that I get to enjoy as a regular staple in my diet here.

I'm thankful that I get to live in a place where I am learning how to live off the land for the basic necessities.

I'm thankful that there are no longer 8 cases of budweiser in my classroom... and there is a pencil sharpener

I'm thankful that despite my isolated location, the wonders of the internet have given me the opportunity to share stories and exchange email with the people I love back home

I'm thankful that Kimmy B's suggestion of rubbing Oil of Oregano on my plague of ringworms... even though it burns like hell.... seems to be working better than all the other stuff combined.

I'm thankful for all the kids and adults throughout Gagil that pop out of places like trees, behind bushes, and near the waters edge to shout...."HeY V....Kefel" with smiles as I'm walking the 40 minute walk home after school.

I'm thankful that I was placed somewhere with such an amazing culture full of color and dance, and that I'm being given the opportunity to join the women of the village as they dance.

I'm thankful for my mom...my gaurdian angel, who I know is watching after me and keeping me from harm while I'm here.

I'm thankful for so very much here... including all of you who read this... Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Eat twice as much...just for me :)

Love,
V

Budweiser, Ping Pong, and Butcher Knives...another day at school

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but there are certain things that I foolishly expected were somewhat constant throughout most schools worldwide. Especially U.S. public schools after the many school shootins, schools have adopted strict policies against weapons (even butter knives aren't allowed). Also, most schools are alcohol, drug, and tobacco free.

Imagine my surprise on the first day of teaching at my school when sitting on the teachers desk is a large butcher knife for pencil sharpening, and two of my students also had their own knives that they were using and playing with at their desks. Wow! Can you imagine a class full of eighth graders in the U.S. passing around the class butcher knife? Even sometimes picking it up and running around playing with it when the teacher isn't looking. Well, this is what I saw my first day. (P.S thank you George for the pencil sharpener, I'm bringing it tommorow!)

I also found it interesting that the student's desks are in rows facing a homemade ping pong table made with two teacher desks and plywood. I always thought the debate was teacher-centered or student-centered classrooms, what about ping pong centered? I don't know how to begin to address that this may not be the best learning environment.

Finally, to the Budweiser. In the corner of the classroom on one of the book shelves are EIGHT cases full of Budweiser cans. What?! I asked why they were there and I was told that they were probably left over from a carnival this weekend. Storing them in the classroom, Oh My!

And this, my friends, is why I'm here. I think I've got my work cut out for me. The knives are one thing, but maybe I can find someway to delicately suggest that Budweiser and Pingpong tables really should stay in bars and pool halls, and out of childrens classrooms.

Besides this, I really think I'm going to enjoy working at the school. There is a lot to be done. I'm basically totally fixing the library, which now sits locked and used as a storage space, with dusty old books that are absolutely not appropriate for a children's library. Today I'm pricing paint and possibly a rug and cleaning supplies, so that my principal can put in a request for some extra funds from the Educ. department. It will take a long time, but hopefully I can get it up and running, and make it a warm inviting place where children learn to go and love reading.

Teaching is another thing, most teachers here lack qualifications, formal training, and some even certification. Often, teachers fail to show up without leaving lesson plans, and even if they did, there is no substitute teacher plan here, so the students are either alone or another teacher has to fill in. (Guess who that will be now?...me) Teaching also comes straight from old grammar textbooks that are filled with ideas and concepts completely foreign to these students (ex. snow, escelators, squirrels...).

So, wish me luck everyone, I've certainly got a lot to work on, and hopefully I can make some positive change, even if right now it is completely overwhelming. My access to internet and mail is much more limited now that I'm in the village full time. Sadly, after recieving a new AC adaptor for my laptop, I found out that this wasn't the problem, it's just broke, so no internet at home for me. Also, the school's internet is very unpredictable and often the server goes down and I may not have internet for quite a while. I plan on going into town once a week to check the mail, send letters, check email, and do my errands (banking, shopping, etc.) So, if you write and don't hear from me in a while, no need to worry, I'm just in the village working my tail off at my new school...trying to get the beer, pingpong tables, and knives out of there, while adding good books, teaching skills, and smiles.

Much love to everyone, and thank you all for commenting on my swear in ceremony, I couldn't have made it this far without all the support. THANKS!!!!

Swear-In... I'm a volunteer!!!!

I'm officially a volunteer now, no more trainee, change the T to V because now I'm a PCV! The swear-in ceremony was an amazing event. The chiefs, principals, lt. governor, trainers, our families, and other community members all gathered to watch the event. I was nervous and excited all at once. First, we all introduced ourselves and talked about where we were from, where we would be working, and gave thanks to the community in YAPESE! Then there were speeches by the lt. governor and country director for Peace Corps, and finally we took the oath. The oath that we took to become volunteers is similar to the oath all government employees must take, and I must say while I said the words it really hit me. Wow! What a pledge! What an honor to be a part of this, and what a challenge. As I said this I had to hold back tears that came out of nowhere. This is really it, it's official, I did it!

Below is the official Peace Corps oath.

I, [state your name], do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, domestic and foreign, that I take this obligation freely and without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge my duties in the Peace Corps by working with the people of [the host country] as partners in friendship and in peace.

To finish the ceremoney we performed our dance, ate, and performed it again. When we first said we wanted to perform a dance none of us had any idea how big a deal this was. We knew dance in Yap was important, but noone knew the extent. Every detail is important, the making of a dance involves ceremony, and before we could perform it chiefs had to present shell money, lava lavas, and betel nut as an offering to make the dance official. Then after finishing the dance, we had to do it again to "hang up" the dance, which means that noone else can do the dance without the approval of our trainer who wrote the dance. Bamboo dance is a type of warrior dance, it's fun, energetic, and really wears you out because to do it properly you spend the entire time with your knees bent to almost a squating position. Before starting my family brought me over and six hands began fixing me. My host mom rubbed a combination of tumeric and coconut oil all over my body which made me glow orange while my aunties tied young coconut leaves around my arms, wrists, and head while others fixed my nunu (leis). Then I was given a very special necklace made of whale teeth also covered in tumeric and oil, and a belt made of pretty black and white beads. I felt like a princess being fixed. Yes, I am part of this family, I'm their daughter, neice, sister, and friend and sitting there with all the hands fixing me made me so happy.

Ready for swear-in, before getting dressed with the dance decorations...

censored with extra leis for the picture

Enjoying the breeze, waiting to begin the dance
Chanting at the beginning of the dance

Dancing in the moment... bamboo dance is fun
I'm a volunteer! and Yapese Warrior Bamboo Dancer!!
The New Micro 75s and our Program Assistant, minus our 1 outer island volunteer
Loving the way my family decorated me

PICTURES... weaving, practice, and dress rehearsal

All of this... and it's just the dress rehearsal... my friend Devin and I showing off the thus, skirt, and nunus

Dress Rehearsal.... in grass not hibiscus Before Practice Some of the girls showing off our bamboo and our practice skirts
Weaving thatch for a roof Weaving is fun!

Training is complete... the language test is finished... woah.. now only the Dance left! Crazy how fast time passes when you're attempting to learn a new language and culture and stay sane while living half a world away from home.

Now let's talk a bit about Yapese and my ability? to speak Yapese. You see, I really do know quite a bit, but using it is another story. I'll give you a typical example. So, I'm sitting at home outside and the mosquitos are starting to come out. I want to light a mosquito coil but I don't have a lighter. Wait... I know how to say this. I'll ask for the lighter in Yapese.

And then this is what happens in my head "ok... so the verb for 'to have' is what... but it's a question...so maybe it's different... It's present tense so it's Gu be.... but I'm asking for theirs so i have to say rom after lighter... but wait isn't a question different.. i don't think...wait isn't p' the word for have or is that give?.... ummm.... ahhh...should I just go get my own lighter from my roomm... oh no they're walking away"

Nina, Ga be p' e lighter rom?........and then she looks at me like I'm crazy and laughs...
I mean, I try again "Ba e lighter rom?" ... oh yeah that's right

"Danga" she replies which means no.... so I've just spent ten minutes of contemplation on one phrase... a phrase which I'm using a borrowed word too and it still is difficult. Hopefully I learn to be less concerned and just start blurting out Yapese phrases and let them correct me later. Obviously I've got a lot of work to do. I think I'm going to search for a tutor soon.

I've added a book list to the blog (bottom right) so I can keep track and share some of what I'm reading while I'm here. If you see anything you're interested in send me a note and I can share more. I've been lucky so far in having read all books that I found both interesting and well written. My latest book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" strikes close to heart now since I'm experiencing first hand the challenges and benefits of living off local, but I'll save that for another time.

much love,
V