School’s Out For Summer

I can honestly say that I do not know where April and May (and now June) went. April disappeared and May went almost too fast. With finals finishing around the 20th and graduation on the 23rd, there was a lot to celebrate – 32 graduates, the completion of my first year teaching, 10 (now 11) months away from home, etc. Let’s just say that with all of the boys heading back to their homes, as well as about half the staff, the hustle and bustle of Xavier quickly turned into a quiet boredom with lots of board game playing and reading. I’m still trying to appreciate the boredom, knowing what it could be if school was in session or if I was elsewhere. I finished reading the Pillars of the Earth – 973 pages. So if you know me well, you probably know that the longest book I read before coming to Micronesia was about 400 pages. My poor mother used to have to lock me in her room to read my summer reading growing up and I still wouldn’t read it. Ha ha somehow I always still did well. But to say the least, reading has never been my most favorite of hobbies. I have really tried to motivate myself here to read and I am starting to like it more. I am now reading its sequel – A World Without End. And with that book, once I finish it, I will finally be able to claim I have read a book longer than 1000 pages. (I recommend the Pillars of the Earth if you are looking for a good book).

Graduation was a great experience. Besides trying to keep ourselves blind to any seniors being stupid the last week, I truly enjoyed the graduation festivities. The week before graduation the staff prepared a dinner for the seniors. It was special in the sense that they got to eat in the “staff area,” all of the food was prepared by the staff, and we served them. Some of them asked for multiple cups of water just to capitalize on the notion of us tending to their very needs. It was great to sit down and enjoy their company. It’s sad to think I will probably not see many of them for a long time, if ever again. Then we presented the 2009 Bad Azz Awards – it was a big hit. They were basic superlatives written on paper certificates each attached to a roll of toilet paper. They loved it.

The Wednesday before graduation all of the seniors’ parents were invited up to campus for a barbecue prepared by the rest of the students. It was pretty cool to see the students dig up huge holes and make fire pits to cook long links of hot dogs strung through coconut “rope.” Remember, I live in Micronesia so allowing our students to play with fire isn’t received the same way it would be at home. These kids walk around with machetes only a daily basis. Ha ha In Pohnpei parents have to give written statements if they don’t want their students using machetes. Ironic, eh?

The Baccalaureate Mass was held at the cathedral since Xavier’s chapel isn’t large enough to fit everyone. Because of transportation the staff got dropped at the church about 3 hours early and then the mass started, oh say, 1 hour late so it was just one long afternoon. But the students looked pretty sophisticated with their silver and black suits and dresses. Graduation was the next morning. If only I could convey to you what graduation was really like. It was an overcast rainy day – and half of the staff still got burned. I swear this must be the only place in the world that you can sit under a tent on a rainy day and still get burned! Anyway, the seniors convinced the director to “roll” in to the ceremony on the school’s bus. Half of them wearing shades, they entered to the traditional graduation hymn after the bus honked enough to indicate their “esteemed arrival.” I just recall my own high school graduation and how strict it was. We weren’t allowed to wear flip flops – of course that didn’t apply here and our shoes were not even supposed to have a certain size heel. We definitely weren’t allowed to wear sunglasses. Anyways, the attire lended itself to a comfortable atmosphere. At any point in time during the ceremony, people would approach the graduates and “mar mar” them. The mar mar phenomenon was incredible – I mean really big time J. By the end of the ceremony some students must have had 50 or more mar mars around their neck, literally covering their entire face. And the ones made of money were the coolest. Although the money ones were rare, most of them were made of $1 bills. However, one student had one made of $5 and $10 bills. I looked at her and said, “Be careful with that. That’s more than most of us make in a month!” She just giggled and nodded. The two student speakers were the valedictorian and the salutatorian. They both did well – except for at the “end” of the valedictorian speech, she invited the salutatorian back up to help her “introduce” individually all of the other graduates. So one by one they took turns talking about each person. It was nice I guess for maybe the first three or four, but then it turned into – “This is ________. He is the cool guy…” And 40 minutes later, they finished. Wow! That was exhausting, although entertaining. I would say at least 3 students broke out into dancing when introduced – apparently very typical of a Micronesian graduation. I would have never had the guts to do that at my graduation. The reception wasn’t until night– to give the families (host families in most cases) of the graduates time to prepare food. Oh my gosh, there was soo much food! I think Josh talked about how big the graduation feast would be for weeks before graduation, but never did I expect a 60 foot food line. I would say the best part of graduation would have to be that we got to eat turtle multiple times. If you know anything about me, you know I am not a seafood eater, but turtle is delicious.

The week before the 2nd year JVI’s headed out, Katie, Josh, Meg and I decided to go snorkeling. Meg decided to “test” whether or not her camera was really waterproof and it worked so we got some decent pictures of the sites we saw. Although they aren’t the best pictures of the underwater life I have seen, they give you a taste of the wrecks from WW2. It’s crazy to think that I have passed over the wrecks multiple times in boats and had no idea. But we got to see an overturn boat, a submarine, and a plane. The boat was snapped in half and we could only see about half of it since the other half was too deep to see. The overall visibility was great. The boat driver drove us over a tanker as well. He told us it was a little secret since normally you have to pay more to go over that spot. I think he said it was 30 meters deep but we could see it pretty easily. It is supposed to be the best site for divers to go to since it is easy to swim through.

Then the big event to start off June was the ordination. I think I heard about the ordination for at least three months before it actually happened. One priest from one of the outer islands of Chuuk (Polowat) was being ordained and it was a big deal – really big time J. I have never seen so many Chuukese people in one spot. It was a neat Mass to watch, with Micronesian-style processions and such. After the mass was another feast with dancing. I didn’t get to see any of the dancing because I headed to volleyball and there were too many people to see anyway. But some people voted the feast the best they had had in Micronesia – all you can eat lobster is pretty good for seafood lovers I guess. So the picture of the nice and crisp pig is from the feast. I’m not actually sure how we got invited into the feast. It was announced as a lunch for special guests, but being a JVI on the island somewhat makes you a “special guest” wherever you go – even if you don’t want that label. Anyways, Polowat is a more traditional island and the guests from Polowat stayed at Saram while they were on island. So some of the men still went shirtless and only wear thuu’s – the wrap that looks somewhat like a skirt – when they were hanging around Saram.

The same day as the Ordination was a musical festival downtown. This might have been one of maybe a couple possible public social events through out the year. It was pretty cool – 4 local bands played a mixture of Chuukese and American music. A good night of dancing and time to hang out with local friends – on that note, its nice to say I finally have a mini social life among locals. While that in essence means something very different than what I am used to at home, it is still a good feeling to know I have made some true connections with local people that are about my age.

Last week was Re-O/Dis-O, the annual JVI retreat for either mid or end of service. It was held on Pisar – the paradise island if you remember me mentioning it previously. Well a hidden paradise that is. Not many tourists know about it – nor do many locals even make it there in their lifetime of living in the islands. I have had the great opportunity to visit Pisar a couple times. Re-O/Dis-O was 5 days and focused on spending time with the other JVI’s in Micronesia to reflect on the year and how we had struggled and grown. It was relaxing and a good time for reflection and renewal. While I truly have loved my experience thus far in the Nesia, it is always helpful to set aside time to think about why I am here and what I am doing here. It is a much more complicated issue than “to teach Biology and Chemistry” - I guess one that after 5 days of thought still leaves me with great questions.

Two of the JVI Program Staff, ie my bosses, visited to lead Re-O/Dis-O, and I invited them to watch my volleyball game on the day we got back from Pisar. Hence, it was the perfect time to get pictures at volleyball. I am usually shy to bring my camera down to Penia. The kids love it when I do, but it just brings me too much attention since there might only be one other person in the whole village who has a digital camera. Not to mention, then I always get this feeling that they want me to develop the photos for them. But the “tourists” taking pictures at the game would be acceptable and almost expected. I guess Robin said it well when he said it’s okay to take pictures on the first and the last day, otherwise its sufficiently awkward. So I passed my camera off to them and they took pictures of me playing with my local team. I actually played really well that day, which was nice since it was the first time I brought guests. And my team won. This week is playoffs so we will see how my team does.

To say the least, the last month has been summed up with countless trips to the airport and A LOT of goodbyes or “see you laters.” The 2 Jesuit scholastics finished their 2 year tour and headed out, along with the Peace Corp, the principal (a former JV), the 2 JVI’s and all of the students. There’s a lot of come and go at Xavier. Right now, I am one of 9 people living on campus so now we feel like a comparably small group. It’s kind of exciting that come August and September we will get a whole new group of volunteers.

And I guess I can’t head out without giving a note on my summer plans. As of right now, I plan on heading out to an island called Moch in the Mortlocks within the next week or so. Its over a day to get there by boat – but most likely that’s the way I’ll go at least one of the legs because it is much cheaper. I am really excited about the boat ride, although I know parts of it won’t be great. It is generally crowded and most people get seasick. But I can only imagine how beautiful a trip it will be. I will be teaching English to the summer school at the high school. There is only one high school out that way and no native English speakers at the school. The island is much more traditional and less developed than Weno i.e. no power and no internet. So throughout July, I will pretty much be out of contact. But don’t worry. There are satellite phones and such in case of emergencies. I will be staying with a family and probably thinking and reading A LOT! J So Happy birthday a little early Dad!! I love you! (And Happy Father's Day!)

Moch will be a great experience and I can’t wait to share it with you. I am really enjoying my time here as I near the finish of my first year. But I miss you all and welcome updates anytime! I hope everyone is doing well and I’d love to hear from you.

P.S. A shout out to June birthday’s – Maddie, Becca, Urse, and Kelly – I have surprises in route but not on American time.