Chuukese girl: “Bun iea”
Me: “Burn ire”
Chuukese girl: “Bun ieea”
Me: “Burnn ieea”
Chuukese girl: “Bunnn ieea”
Me: “Bunnn ieea.”
That’s pretty much what it sounded like when a bunch of local girls tried to teach me how to say “flower” in Chuukese earlier this week. I was seemingly hopeless to mimic their accents, but none the less I tried my best, and the conversation ended with all of the kids giggling and wanting to teach me more words. It was excellent. The whole thirty minutes I spent with these kids probably left me feeling the happiest I have felt since I have been here. Learning the word for “flower” was only a very small piece of the experience. Let me tell you more.
It was Monday afternoon, the first afternoon I went running after participating in the local volleyball game (see below for more on it). I had already run through the village of Penia once and was headed back to Xavier. The kids threw a volleyball at me as I ran past them and in their minimal, broken, yet very enthusiastic, English said, “Stephanie, practice, practice.” The ball, which was literally falling to shreds, was more like a kickball than a volleyball. As I “peppered” with the kids for about 10 minutes, a group of older teenagers played a game in the street. The net was held across the street and if a car came through, they just lifted part of it so that the car could clear the net (Try to imagine this happening on the one main street of where you live with a bunch of little kids running all around. It still gets me). At one point when I was chasing the ball, I fell on a huge metal pipe that happened to be right next to the road, of course making a couple kids laugh and then later leaving a huge bruise on my butt. It’s always okay if I laugh with them so having a sense of humor helps. If you know me at all, you know I am used to falling. I wouldn’t have survived this long had I not developed a sense of humor around it, so I laughed also.
Then I saw one of the little boys that typically pesters me when I am running. He’s probably 4 and his name is Dumber (pronounced Dam-bear). He’s a little shrimp, but he has the personality of a “big kid” on the streets. I decided it would be a good time to actually try to “meet” him. So I walked up to him and tried to give him a high five (which I learned nobody does here and had to end up teaching some of the kids). Now that I was actually giving him attention, he ran away from me. Even though last week he was bold enough to pinch the back of my thigh as I ran by, he was all of a sudden the shy one. I ended up sitting down Indian style talking with some of the girls, ranging from age 10-early 20s. They are all really nice to me and somewhat look out for me. While I was sitting, Dumber came up and threw a flower at me. The girls around me got angry with him and said something to him that I didn’t understand. I put the flower in my hair and thanked him anyway. Then one of his side kicks came up and gave me another, which I also put in my hair. Now, Dumber wasn’t as scared of me anymore and nicely handed another one to me. I put this one at the top of my head and he laughed. With time, the mood seemed to lighten. While I am still a spectacle, I think that the people are slowly coming to see that I want to become a part of their community, rather than an outsider. In general, I think that the overall reputation of volunteers and students at Xavier is the opposite. The physical location of Xavier (on the top of Mabuchi hill in the “jungle” of Weno and away from the “downtown”) and the fact that it is for the most part an English only environment separates or isolates it a lot from the local community. Essentially, a large effort has to be made to overcome the obstacles of geographical space and language. Continuing on with the story…
As the sun was starting to set, I decided it was time to head back. Running up Mabuchi hill in the pitch black would not be fun. It’s not as if there are street lights even if the island power is on nor are they paved the way we are used to. Plus, while the locals knowing me by name is a positive for my personal safety, it’s still smarter to take precaution when I am alone. So I started to head back. Here comes the best part of the encounter. I had been running for about 20 seconds when I heard little screams behind me. I looked back and Dumber and his sidekick, Ansoor, were running toward me. “Stephanie! Stephanie!” I stopped and as they ran towards me, they both held out their hands to shake mine. I shook their hands, smiled, and said good bye. Now while it might not mean much to you to earn the respect of four year olds, I believe the encounter as a whole was symbolic of much more. I ran home at ease, listening to random calls from other neighbors, “Good morning, Stephanie,” (Yes, good morning at sunset…It makes me smile also.) It is not easy to enter into a place where you are the stranger. Although you may be educated or “American,” you are not familiar with Chuukese life or the culture and language of Weno. If I have to say one thing, this experience has challenged me to be confident and outgoing thus far- to continue to demonstrate to the people here that I want to learn from them as much as I want to teach them. It was memorable and I don’t think I will ever forget that afternoon with the red “bun iea.”
Now I know that was a long story, but hopefully you enjoyed it. I want to tell you a couple more things. As for the volleyball game on Sunday (my first game with the locals and the day before my encounter with Dumber)- it went well. My team won. I was pretty nervous. I knew that I would be the spectacle. So of course once I stepped foot on the court, everyone cheered and clapped. Margaret, my coach and the wonderful woman who has been so helpful to me in translating and such, assured me that they were saying good things and cheering me on. I told some of the girls on my team that I was nervous – most of their responses were “Why?” Of course, these games don’t really mean anything and are just for entertainment and local competition. I had to explain to them how I was the one that was different, the one that everyone was watching. Then, I asked them if they would be nervous if they went to the US and played in front of all Americans. They quickly shook their heads yes and smiled, understanding now where I was coming from. All in all, it was good to sit among the locals- rather than within the group of “white people.” I still have to get used to some things, such as playing in a long skirt and not following the rotation I am used to. However, with all things said, I’m really excited for this opportunity.
Some other notes:
Since I last spoke to you, we have had 2 ambassadors visit Xavier. First, the US Ambassador to the FSM and just today, the Australian ambassador to Micronesia (includes Palau, FSM, and the Marshall Islands) visited. It is a huge deal to have the ambassadors come to Xavier. Not only does the director make it a huge deal, but the students interpret it as meeting a celebrity. Last week when the American ambassador visited, one of my advisees looked at me with a giggling giddy look and literally while fanning herself, said, “Oh my gosh, Ms. Stephanie, meeting the ambassador, that’s like a dream come true.” I smiled and let her be very happy. If only she knew how many ambassadors there are in the world and that they are pretty much just people like you and me. Anyways, walking out of the presentation today, one of my sophomores turns to me and goes, “I don’t want to be rude, but I think the American ambassador was better. She made us laugh, rather than just laughing at herself.” I just smiled and agreed.
As for classes, both of my Biology and Chemistry classes have taken their first quizzes. The averages were pretty average- some A’s, mostly B’s and C’s, and some D’s and F’s. However, I have since learned the biggest obstacle my students are facing right now is knowing how to take notes. While a lot of science is taught through experimentation and demonstration, it also includes lecture. And for the most part, the students here don’t know how to or just don’t take notes. If you write a word on the board, then immediately copy it into their notes, but distinguishing what is important is apparently extremely difficult. For the most part, they have had little experience with taking notes or creating outlines. Next task- to figure out how to improve this situation without babying them! So…to say the least I am respecting teachers a lot more now. They have to work hard! (Not that I ever doubted that, but it is a lot more than I ever realized). Right now, I have about 40 lab notebooks waiting to be graded, I feel as if I just finished the last batch of 30, and I have 30 more coming in tomorrow.
And I can’t leave you without mentioning on a smaller note….The nurse at Xavier and I think that I had heat exhaustion or the beginnings of such (extreme dehydration) yesterday. I know that’s not actually a smaller note, but a big one. I had been on the roof of the school for almost 4 periods of class for a chemistry lab. Well, another lesson learned – bring an umbrella next time! The roof is covered with a silver reflector that basically resembles what “crazy people who want skin cancer really bad” use at the beach to get an ultra-tan. So, my cure was a cold pack, LOTS & LOTS & LOTS of water, and sleep. I thought I had been drinking enough water…more next time. It wasn’t so fun that island power has been terrible lately which means no fan. We went a week without any and then only had half power (randomly selected, only half of outlets work). We have been told we will only have intermittent half power until November because of the budget, so we’ll see. I know that was a long blog…hope you made it through. Miss you. Love you. Talk soon.
Peace,
Steph
P.S. I woke up this morning with this thing on my face. The nurse thinks either I got bit by a roach (on my face!!! gross!!) or that it could be a boil…ugh! perks of Chuuk.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
One week of teaching down …topped off by rainy weekend camping
What sounds better than a successful first week of class topped off by a weekend of camping? Not much. I was actually surprised how smoothly the first week of classes went. I’ve learned about three-fourths of the students’ names and am having much more fun teaching than I thought I would. Learning names isn’t as easy here as you would think. I’m typically good with names, but here students go by names that are radically different than what might be written on the roster. And when you ask them to repeat their names because you can’t understand them or move closer to hear them better, their voices get softer. Crazy phenomenon that makes all the teachers laugh somewhat. It’s almost as if they get embarrassed to say their names. I teach 2 sections of sophomore biology and 2 sections of junior chemistry. It seems that my first class everyday is a dry run – everything gets a little smoother after it, but at least the students in my first class are pretty enthusiastic. My juniors seem much more reserved, at least thus far. Plus there are fewer of them.
What better luck than to have the school generator break on the first day of school! So while Xavier is usually fortunate to have power at least during the school day, it didn’t for the first 2 days. My class room got pretty dark when it started raining. Nobody could read the chalkboard- which I barely use anyway since it doesn’t work very well. All of its surfacing has chipped off so the chalk doesn’t stay on the board. It’s a lost cause for the most part. It’s supposed to get replaced soon- but that just means it’s on a long list of future repairs and improvements. We’ll see. At least it forces me to branch out and come up with more creative ways to teach. My students are pretty eager to learn and well behaved (at least so far – I’m still new to them so hopefully I’m setting good classroom management boundaries now); however, they work much more slowly than students that would be 10th or 11th graders in the US. They also seem to struggle with basic problem solving and critical thinking skills. We are working to improve on those. I am using a textbook for both my classes. The Biology book is pretty good and updated. The Chemistry book is pretty decrepit. It seems that almost half of the books – my teacher editions included- are falling apart or missing whole chapters. So the students here are very accustomed to sharing books and it helps that the boys are boarders.
Yesterday was pretty notable for my days thus far in Chuuk. 1. It was my 1-month anniversary of my arrival! 2. I started playing volleyball with the locals. 3. I went hiking to Witipong (a nearby village) and went camping.
Now, as for volleyball, I really enjoyed it. I broke out of the Xavier bubble a little and walked down to the nearby village of Penias. The woman, Margaret, who invited me to play, is a first grade teacher at a local catholic school and she speaks pretty good English. I met her because I run through that village a lot and one day when I was wearing my old volleyball shirt, I go the courage to ask if I could join sometime. So the people only know me as the strange American who runs through the street everyday. Remember running to run is such a foreign concept here. She told me that the kids were very excited when I asked to play and asked her if I playing in the NBA or the National US Volleyball team. That made me laugh! For one, if you have ever seen me play basketball, I’m pretty terrible and for two, how are the NBA and me wanting to play volleyball in any way related. Well, I played for about an hour and a half before I had to go back to get ready for camping. It was a lot of fun, even though most of the time I didn’t know what people were saying to me. My Chuukese is coming along little by little and hopefully this will help. The court they play on would be the cause of hundreds of lawsuits in America. There are rocks – huge rocks- all over it, and since the net is tied up to coconut trees, they provide a good obstacle to dodge as well. Not to mention it is a couple feet from the lagoon so every once and a while you have to fetch the ball from the water with huge coconut leaves. At the end, Margaret cut me open a fresh coconut- a hospitality and peace offering here- and talked to me about how this will be good for everyone. I will be seen as their friend soon, rather than “the American,” and as Margaret said, “At least in Penia, people will not want to bother me.” Also, I can help them with their English as I learn Chuukese.
After volleyball, a group of us volunteers hiked to Witipong. It was about an hour and a half hike. Pretty rugged too. The machetes came in handy as we tried to truck through way-overgrown grass and shrubs that were probably a couple of feet taller than me, etc. It got even more interesting when we got to a mini-cliff we had to climb. We all made it up and back safely- but it was pretty slippery – and I did not enjoy that part of it. Although very physically uncomfortable, it was a fun night. The sun went down at 6ish like clock work and then 3 of the male volunteers built a mini-fire with the few pieces of dry wood they could find, while the rest of us broke open the peanut butter and tuna sandwiches. Not soon after the sun went down, the gray clouds rolled over. Perks of Chuuk! It rained the whole night! We came with a couple of mats and some of us had rain jackets, but for the most part we were highly unprepared. And even rain jackets can only withstand so much. So by midnight everyone was soaked. I would have never thought I would have been this cold in Chuuk, not mention within the first month of being here, but I was shivering the whole night. We counted down the hours until the sun would rise so we could start warming up and head back. Luckily the good humor and spirits of everyone kept the night entertaining. Some of the second year volunteers were just happy to be away from Xavier on the annual “Capture the Flag” night, where the boys lather themselves with coconut oil and try to scare the freshmen. Unfortunately, we could still hear their screams and laughs all the way from Witipong. Every time the rain would start, most of us would laugh followed by an uncomfortable groan. God must have been laughing at us. When we first got to the top of the mountain, we all thought that sleeping straight on boulders would be the most uncomfortable part of the night, but oh! We were so wrong. So while a couple of people took shrubs and literally built themselves a nest to sleep on, by sunrise, we were all cuddled together in an attempt to get each other’s body heat to warm us up.
At 5am, we all started hiking back to Xavier. It was a much quicker hike back since it was all down hill. I took some more beautiful photos of Chuuk. It was a new view of Weno- tall grasses and palm trees that almost remind me of Africa (except for when you look to either side you see the lagoon of endless water), some more Japanese artillery abandoned among the grasses, tapioca plants, etc. By the time I got back I was drenched and covered in mud from slowly sliding down the cliff we climbed to get there. I had small paper-cut-like-cuts from the grass all over my legs and heads. And about 100 meters from my house I slipped in a huge pile of rotten breadfruit! Disgusting! Rotten breadfruit may be something none of you ever experience, but it is gross. Just take my word for it.
So while I was supposed to make it down to Penia for the weekly volleyball games, I was too exhausted this week. I had my first official Chuukese lesson instead and planned for classes. All is well and I hope to hear from you all soon.
Take care.
-Steph
What better luck than to have the school generator break on the first day of school! So while Xavier is usually fortunate to have power at least during the school day, it didn’t for the first 2 days. My class room got pretty dark when it started raining. Nobody could read the chalkboard- which I barely use anyway since it doesn’t work very well. All of its surfacing has chipped off so the chalk doesn’t stay on the board. It’s a lost cause for the most part. It’s supposed to get replaced soon- but that just means it’s on a long list of future repairs and improvements. We’ll see. At least it forces me to branch out and come up with more creative ways to teach. My students are pretty eager to learn and well behaved (at least so far – I’m still new to them so hopefully I’m setting good classroom management boundaries now); however, they work much more slowly than students that would be 10th or 11th graders in the US. They also seem to struggle with basic problem solving and critical thinking skills. We are working to improve on those. I am using a textbook for both my classes. The Biology book is pretty good and updated. The Chemistry book is pretty decrepit. It seems that almost half of the books – my teacher editions included- are falling apart or missing whole chapters. So the students here are very accustomed to sharing books and it helps that the boys are boarders.
Yesterday was pretty notable for my days thus far in Chuuk. 1. It was my 1-month anniversary of my arrival! 2. I started playing volleyball with the locals. 3. I went hiking to Witipong (a nearby village) and went camping.
Now, as for volleyball, I really enjoyed it. I broke out of the Xavier bubble a little and walked down to the nearby village of Penias. The woman, Margaret, who invited me to play, is a first grade teacher at a local catholic school and she speaks pretty good English. I met her because I run through that village a lot and one day when I was wearing my old volleyball shirt, I go the courage to ask if I could join sometime. So the people only know me as the strange American who runs through the street everyday. Remember running to run is such a foreign concept here. She told me that the kids were very excited when I asked to play and asked her if I playing in the NBA or the National US Volleyball team. That made me laugh! For one, if you have ever seen me play basketball, I’m pretty terrible and for two, how are the NBA and me wanting to play volleyball in any way related. Well, I played for about an hour and a half before I had to go back to get ready for camping. It was a lot of fun, even though most of the time I didn’t know what people were saying to me. My Chuukese is coming along little by little and hopefully this will help. The court they play on would be the cause of hundreds of lawsuits in America. There are rocks – huge rocks- all over it, and since the net is tied up to coconut trees, they provide a good obstacle to dodge as well. Not to mention it is a couple feet from the lagoon so every once and a while you have to fetch the ball from the water with huge coconut leaves. At the end, Margaret cut me open a fresh coconut- a hospitality and peace offering here- and talked to me about how this will be good for everyone. I will be seen as their friend soon, rather than “the American,” and as Margaret said, “At least in Penia, people will not want to bother me.” Also, I can help them with their English as I learn Chuukese.
After volleyball, a group of us volunteers hiked to Witipong. It was about an hour and a half hike. Pretty rugged too. The machetes came in handy as we tried to truck through way-overgrown grass and shrubs that were probably a couple of feet taller than me, etc. It got even more interesting when we got to a mini-cliff we had to climb. We all made it up and back safely- but it was pretty slippery – and I did not enjoy that part of it. Although very physically uncomfortable, it was a fun night. The sun went down at 6ish like clock work and then 3 of the male volunteers built a mini-fire with the few pieces of dry wood they could find, while the rest of us broke open the peanut butter and tuna sandwiches. Not soon after the sun went down, the gray clouds rolled over. Perks of Chuuk! It rained the whole night! We came with a couple of mats and some of us had rain jackets, but for the most part we were highly unprepared. And even rain jackets can only withstand so much. So by midnight everyone was soaked. I would have never thought I would have been this cold in Chuuk, not mention within the first month of being here, but I was shivering the whole night. We counted down the hours until the sun would rise so we could start warming up and head back. Luckily the good humor and spirits of everyone kept the night entertaining. Some of the second year volunteers were just happy to be away from Xavier on the annual “Capture the Flag” night, where the boys lather themselves with coconut oil and try to scare the freshmen. Unfortunately, we could still hear their screams and laughs all the way from Witipong. Every time the rain would start, most of us would laugh followed by an uncomfortable groan. God must have been laughing at us. When we first got to the top of the mountain, we all thought that sleeping straight on boulders would be the most uncomfortable part of the night, but oh! We were so wrong. So while a couple of people took shrubs and literally built themselves a nest to sleep on, by sunrise, we were all cuddled together in an attempt to get each other’s body heat to warm us up.
At 5am, we all started hiking back to Xavier. It was a much quicker hike back since it was all down hill. I took some more beautiful photos of Chuuk. It was a new view of Weno- tall grasses and palm trees that almost remind me of Africa (except for when you look to either side you see the lagoon of endless water), some more Japanese artillery abandoned among the grasses, tapioca plants, etc. By the time I got back I was drenched and covered in mud from slowly sliding down the cliff we climbed to get there. I had small paper-cut-like-cuts from the grass all over my legs and heads. And about 100 meters from my house I slipped in a huge pile of rotten breadfruit! Disgusting! Rotten breadfruit may be something none of you ever experience, but it is gross. Just take my word for it.
So while I was supposed to make it down to Penia for the weekly volleyball games, I was too exhausted this week. I had my first official Chuukese lesson instead and planned for classes. All is well and I hope to hear from you all soon.
Take care.
-Steph
Friday, August 29, 2008
Cake Pancakes!!
So it’s been a while since I last wrote to everyone. It’s been a fun couple of weeks between my birthday celebrations, hula dancing shows, touring the Mercy Ship, getting ready for new students to arrive, etc.
Last Friday night (weekend before my birthday) we went down to Saramen Chuuk (the other JVI site in Chuuk) and celebrated my birthday, along with two other volunteers’ birthdays. Ellen, Katie, and Meg made delicious chocolate chip cookie cake and the birthday trio wore silly party hats we found at the grocery store for 25 cents. I picked out the Little Mermaid hat – I felt like I was seven again. I ended up sleeping at Saramen that night even though the rest of my crew went back and I’m glad I stayed. We went to brunch the next morning and then hung out, playing hearts and this crazy board game called Settlers of Catan. Even though I like all the workers and volunteers up at Xavier, it’s nice to get off the Xavier campus, see new faces, and hang out with other volunteers sometimes. As well as, the meal routine at Xavier quickly becomes routine, so brunch was nice.
To get back up to Xavier, I walked about a mile and a half to the airport to meet up with the Xavier truck picking up incoming students. After a couple minutes I noticed that I was seeing way more white people than I normally see walking down the street in Chuuk, and then I remembered the US Naval Mercy Ship had docked the day before. I talked to a couple of the Navy people and we scheduled a tour day the following week. So on Wednesday I got to tour the ship. Definitely the biggest ship I have ever stepped foot on. It was pretty cool to see. It is a converted oil tanker- now a hospital that usually tends to casualties but it currently doing a humanitarian effort in the Pacific after being denied by Myanmar. Since the beginning of June, the ship has performed a little over 900 surgeries in multiple countries in the Pacific. It has pretty new technology from what I could see and uses sea water for steam power and drinking water (purified first of course). 2 of the Xavier students actually volunteered on the ship as translators for the doctors.
Last Saturday I watched my first hula show. These girls can shake their hips! The show had about 6 women and then a little girl maybe age 4. She was lost the whole time and not very good at shaking her hips yet, but already in training. Pictures to come.
Well, as for my actual birthday- It was relaxing. I had 2 teaching workshops, ran, and then celebrated with the rest of the staff here. Now, there’s nothing like a welcome to Chuuk than cake pancakes! Yup, you heard me right. Not surprisingly the propane didn’t work to light the oven so we couldn’t bake a cake. Instead Katie had the ingenious idea of making the cake mix into pancakes. So I got to blow out candles on top of a giant stack of pancakes. I think that will make for an unforgettable birthday. They were actually delicious- topped with icing, ice cream, and chocolate syrup. You all should try it sometime if you want an unhealthy alternative to your breakfast pancakes. I.P. (Island Power) blessed me that day because it stayed on all night, making watching a movie possible, and having my fan on through the entire night! I think that was the first night that happened since I have been here so that was a tremendous gift. I didn’t wake up dripping in sweat. So while, my birthday might have been a little more chill than my 21st, the staff made me feel loved!
Switching topics a little- I want to talk about running here. You would think it would quickly become mundane being able to only run on the same road to and from Xavier every day. Well, to say the least every day brings something new and interesting – whether it be harassment from men, being offered a coconut or water along the way, smiles and laughter from children who try to have conversations with you that you don’t understand at all, being asked my name by every 3rd child I pass, finding my name spelled in water in the ground, or what has happened lately, having Chuukese people tag along while I run so that by some point in my run I have anywhere between 2 and 8 kids following behind. People don’t just run to run here so the locals think I am crazy. So now I have a little running team going. Yesterday after my run I had 3 girls – maybe ages 8, 14, and 22- ask me if they could continue to run with me. Of course I said yes. There isn’t much to promote health here, especially for females, so I think it will be a good avenue to connect with them. While I was running yesterday, I talked to the girls about how it is healthy and good for their bodies. Louisa, who is probably 15 or 16 understands me pretty well, and translates to the younger kids. The 8 yr old impressed me the most. While I ran about 4 miles, and probably only had the girls with me for about half the run, the youngest kept up the whole time. What’s even more amazing is that they all run either barefoot or in sandals. We worry about not having enough treed on our running shoes in America - we wouldn’t think to go out for a run barefoot.
Now I’m just putting on the finishing touches to my office, classroom, and planner before the school year starts. I put up 2 bulletin boards in my classroom yesterday and then several others around campus. Hopefully they will be respected for the majority of the year. From the looks of the ones I took down from last year, they are a prime spot to tag “So and so was here,” etc. I tried to put up laminated posters instead of paper as much as I could in my classroom to deter such, but we’ll see.
Today, the Navy band is playing downtown and the ex-pats are meeting at the Oriental restaurant so we will go “downtown” for that. All is well, but missing everyone. Keep in touch.
-Steph
Last Friday night (weekend before my birthday) we went down to Saramen Chuuk (the other JVI site in Chuuk) and celebrated my birthday, along with two other volunteers’ birthdays. Ellen, Katie, and Meg made delicious chocolate chip cookie cake and the birthday trio wore silly party hats we found at the grocery store for 25 cents. I picked out the Little Mermaid hat – I felt like I was seven again. I ended up sleeping at Saramen that night even though the rest of my crew went back and I’m glad I stayed. We went to brunch the next morning and then hung out, playing hearts and this crazy board game called Settlers of Catan. Even though I like all the workers and volunteers up at Xavier, it’s nice to get off the Xavier campus, see new faces, and hang out with other volunteers sometimes. As well as, the meal routine at Xavier quickly becomes routine, so brunch was nice.
To get back up to Xavier, I walked about a mile and a half to the airport to meet up with the Xavier truck picking up incoming students. After a couple minutes I noticed that I was seeing way more white people than I normally see walking down the street in Chuuk, and then I remembered the US Naval Mercy Ship had docked the day before. I talked to a couple of the Navy people and we scheduled a tour day the following week. So on Wednesday I got to tour the ship. Definitely the biggest ship I have ever stepped foot on. It was pretty cool to see. It is a converted oil tanker- now a hospital that usually tends to casualties but it currently doing a humanitarian effort in the Pacific after being denied by Myanmar. Since the beginning of June, the ship has performed a little over 900 surgeries in multiple countries in the Pacific. It has pretty new technology from what I could see and uses sea water for steam power and drinking water (purified first of course). 2 of the Xavier students actually volunteered on the ship as translators for the doctors.
Last Saturday I watched my first hula show. These girls can shake their hips! The show had about 6 women and then a little girl maybe age 4. She was lost the whole time and not very good at shaking her hips yet, but already in training. Pictures to come.
Well, as for my actual birthday- It was relaxing. I had 2 teaching workshops, ran, and then celebrated with the rest of the staff here. Now, there’s nothing like a welcome to Chuuk than cake pancakes! Yup, you heard me right. Not surprisingly the propane didn’t work to light the oven so we couldn’t bake a cake. Instead Katie had the ingenious idea of making the cake mix into pancakes. So I got to blow out candles on top of a giant stack of pancakes. I think that will make for an unforgettable birthday. They were actually delicious- topped with icing, ice cream, and chocolate syrup. You all should try it sometime if you want an unhealthy alternative to your breakfast pancakes. I.P. (Island Power) blessed me that day because it stayed on all night, making watching a movie possible, and having my fan on through the entire night! I think that was the first night that happened since I have been here so that was a tremendous gift. I didn’t wake up dripping in sweat. So while, my birthday might have been a little more chill than my 21st, the staff made me feel loved!
Switching topics a little- I want to talk about running here. You would think it would quickly become mundane being able to only run on the same road to and from Xavier every day. Well, to say the least every day brings something new and interesting – whether it be harassment from men, being offered a coconut or water along the way, smiles and laughter from children who try to have conversations with you that you don’t understand at all, being asked my name by every 3rd child I pass, finding my name spelled in water in the ground, or what has happened lately, having Chuukese people tag along while I run so that by some point in my run I have anywhere between 2 and 8 kids following behind. People don’t just run to run here so the locals think I am crazy. So now I have a little running team going. Yesterday after my run I had 3 girls – maybe ages 8, 14, and 22- ask me if they could continue to run with me. Of course I said yes. There isn’t much to promote health here, especially for females, so I think it will be a good avenue to connect with them. While I was running yesterday, I talked to the girls about how it is healthy and good for their bodies. Louisa, who is probably 15 or 16 understands me pretty well, and translates to the younger kids. The 8 yr old impressed me the most. While I ran about 4 miles, and probably only had the girls with me for about half the run, the youngest kept up the whole time. What’s even more amazing is that they all run either barefoot or in sandals. We worry about not having enough treed on our running shoes in America - we wouldn’t think to go out for a run barefoot.
Now I’m just putting on the finishing touches to my office, classroom, and planner before the school year starts. I put up 2 bulletin boards in my classroom yesterday and then several others around campus. Hopefully they will be respected for the majority of the year. From the looks of the ones I took down from last year, they are a prime spot to tag “So and so was here,” etc. I tried to put up laminated posters instead of paper as much as I could in my classroom to deter such, but we’ll see.
Today, the Navy band is playing downtown and the ex-pats are meeting at the Oriental restaurant so we will go “downtown” for that. All is well, but missing everyone. Keep in touch.
-Steph
Monday, August 18, 2008
13-mile Walk
So, this past weekend was pretty awesome. On Friday, a couple of us hiked about 4 miles to the top of the Japanese lighthouse. It was incredible! Check out the pictures! Breath taking for sure. Well, we attract attention wherever we go because we are not Chuukese. So while climbing the lighthouse, we gained a following of about 12 Chuukese kids. These kids are fearless. Now, I'm slightly scared of heights so as I climbed up the shaky ladder that led to the top I was a little nervous. Chuukese kids- they hang off the sides of the lighthouse- dropping about 10 feet to the lower levels. They also would jump into the center area without any qualms. I guess these kids do climb coconut trees on the daily, but the whole time I just kept thinking how bad it would be if one of them fell. It was fun to play around with them. Learning our names is the most exciting activity for them, which means when they see us on the road next, they can scream it out as if they really know us.
Then, on Saturday we decided to walk around the whole island for entertainment. Its about 13 miles. We had great intentions and woke up at 6am but didn't really head out until about 7:15. Katie really wanted to be able to make it to Blue Lagoon- the nicest resort on the island mostly reserved for foreign divers- for banana pancakes before they stopped serving them at 11am. Blue Lagoon was at about the 9 mile mark. Pretty much the whole island was up and cheering at 7:30. The 1-mile marathon relays were going on- actually they had just finished. By 7am here, it is hot! So we walked along the streets saying "Nosoor annim" (Good Morning) to just about everyone we passed. It's customary here. So is asking people "Where are you going?" Traveling is such a strange concept here because people mostly stay in their village unless they need something from the "downtown." And our response being we are walking around the whole island left people even more puzzled, but that's okay. That would never happen in the crowded streets of the US, but it send a cheerful vibe so I don't mind it.
It was a good opportunity for me to take pictures outside of a bumping moving vehicle. I saw several cool things along the walk- Chuukese apples (see picture), a kid about 35 feet high climbing a coconut tree, a swing set up on the side of a mountain, a coconut tree growing out of a coconut, and a shark! Yup, we saw a shark. It was small and only about 10-15 feet off the shoreline. A little frightening, but still really cool. I found a couple of sand dollars and met these 3 kids that helped guide us through the backside of the island- which is considered the "jungle" area of Weno. Since communication is pretty hard still, we drew in the sand and taught each other our names. You could tell that the kids really enjoyed hanging out with us even though we barely spoke. The sad part of the day was we didn't make it to Blue Lagoon for the banana pancakes so Katie was upset for a couple of minutes. But lunch was still delicious. We actually made it there by 10:45am but they had started lunch early that day.
By the 13th mile we were all pretty exhausted. We pretty much came back and collapsed. But it was well worth the walk. Now, I mentioned pictures several times. I finally uploaded about 80 photos- however, I couldn't figure out how to think them to my blog through snapfish yet. So I sent out an email to most of the addresses I had (I have more to add, I know since my journal with the rest of them was back at my room). If you would like to be added to the list, just shoot me a comment that you are interested with your email address.
Hope all is going well with everyone. Today we started meetings for school and are continuing to clean out the classrooms. Good luck to everyone starting school in the next week or so. Talk soon.
-Steph
Then, on Saturday we decided to walk around the whole island for entertainment. Its about 13 miles. We had great intentions and woke up at 6am but didn't really head out until about 7:15. Katie really wanted to be able to make it to Blue Lagoon- the nicest resort on the island mostly reserved for foreign divers- for banana pancakes before they stopped serving them at 11am. Blue Lagoon was at about the 9 mile mark. Pretty much the whole island was up and cheering at 7:30. The 1-mile marathon relays were going on- actually they had just finished. By 7am here, it is hot! So we walked along the streets saying "Nosoor annim" (Good Morning) to just about everyone we passed. It's customary here. So is asking people "Where are you going?" Traveling is such a strange concept here because people mostly stay in their village unless they need something from the "downtown." And our response being we are walking around the whole island left people even more puzzled, but that's okay. That would never happen in the crowded streets of the US, but it send a cheerful vibe so I don't mind it.
It was a good opportunity for me to take pictures outside of a bumping moving vehicle. I saw several cool things along the walk- Chuukese apples (see picture), a kid about 35 feet high climbing a coconut tree, a swing set up on the side of a mountain, a coconut tree growing out of a coconut, and a shark! Yup, we saw a shark. It was small and only about 10-15 feet off the shoreline. A little frightening, but still really cool. I found a couple of sand dollars and met these 3 kids that helped guide us through the backside of the island- which is considered the "jungle" area of Weno. Since communication is pretty hard still, we drew in the sand and taught each other our names. You could tell that the kids really enjoyed hanging out with us even though we barely spoke. The sad part of the day was we didn't make it to Blue Lagoon for the banana pancakes so Katie was upset for a couple of minutes. But lunch was still delicious. We actually made it there by 10:45am but they had started lunch early that day.
By the 13th mile we were all pretty exhausted. We pretty much came back and collapsed. But it was well worth the walk. Now, I mentioned pictures several times. I finally uploaded about 80 photos- however, I couldn't figure out how to think them to my blog through snapfish yet. So I sent out an email to most of the addresses I had (I have more to add, I know since my journal with the rest of them was back at my room). If you would like to be added to the list, just shoot me a comment that you are interested with your email address.
Hope all is going well with everyone. Today we started meetings for school and are continuing to clean out the classrooms. Good luck to everyone starting school in the next week or so. Talk soon.
-Steph
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Snorkeling and Car Crashing
So its been a couple of jam-packed days since I last blogged. Haha huge exaggeration actually! It's pretty low-key around here with the most eventful thing of most days being the trip to pick someone up at the airport or to go shopping for dinner. However, I have be able to do some cool things. Last Saturday we walked down to the Japanese dock and went snorkeling. Pretty incredible- certainly much better than the times I went scuba diving/snorkeling in Europe. Better yet, the second-years (volunteers) said that it is not even the best snorkeling on the island. I'm pretty excited to do more. Plus, it's free and only about a 20-25 minute walk from where I live. There is even a spot in the lagoon where you can see wreekage from WW2 so that's the next snorkeling expedition on my list.
Sunday was my first experience of the Chuukese Mass. It was a weird mix of conservative and informal. They still rang the bells during the consecration and the altar boy held the plate to put under everyone's mouths while they received communion, yet everyone sat on the ground and the dress code was pretty diverse. The women all wore Mumu's, myself included. There didn't seem to be much of an expectation for men. That kind of follows the typical attitude towards men here- they pretty much can do whatever they want while the women must follow pretty conservative standards. It made me laugh and I know some people from home will enjoy this- the altar boy wore a Cubs jersey. Otherwise, the Mass was pretty similar. Although I had no idea what was being said, at least the homily was translated.
Monday and Tuesday we spent most of the day cleaning out and reorganizing the library. It was a much bigger job than we expected when we started, but it was good to get the whole fiction section organized. We somewhat slacked and only organized the books by the first letter of the author's last name figuring alphabetizing them fully could always be a punishment for the students during their detention. The great discovery was the preserved frog skeleton that we found behind one of the bookshelves. Since I'm teaching biology everyone thought that I should have the privilege of determining what to do with it. If you know me well, you know I didn't touch it. I did curiously look at it and I have to admit it was pretty cool.
Early Wednesday morning I woke up with my first terrible upset stomachs. Luckily they only lasted all of Wednesday and today I seem pretty cured. We cooked a good meal yesterday- macaroni and cheese and cooked vegetables. Doesn't sound like much, but it was! The cheese sauce was homemade and we had chips ahoy cookies for dessert. Dessert doesn't really exist at Xavier so it was a nice treat and most of the food here is canned/not fresh since it is shipped in. However, of course we couldn't have the nice meal without some obstacles. We learned the hard way that you can't buy pasta from the store TTC because it has bugs! So a good bit of it had to be thrown out, while the bugs were cleaned out from the rest. I'm pretty much becoming immune to them at this point because they are everywhere!
Now for the excitement of today- Well, everyone on Weno (the island) knows the Xavier pick-up truck. We call him Indigo because of his color but he is a trooper. He's been manuvering the potholes of Weno for about 5 years, makes a lot of weird noises, and has a lot of dents. Today, after we had picked up 2 other Aussie volunteers from the airport and were driving back to Xavier with a full-load- 2 people in the front and 6 in the bed- this crazy man decided to hit us practically head on. We think he was going about 40 mph and for a place where everyone drives between 10-20 mph because the roads are so bad, that's fast. He never tried to swerve and our driver tried to avoid him so he ended up hitting the back of our left side pretty badly. Luckily everyone was okay. It drew a pretty good Chuukese crowd pretty quickly- probably for 2 reasons. 1. That doesn't happen often in Chuuk and 2. It was a pick-up truck full of the Xavier volunteers (there aren't many white people on this island you could figure). So once we figured everyone was okay and the Indigo was driveable we decided to keep going wanting to not attract too much attention. We ended up stopping a Chuukese cop later down the drive to explain to him what happened and he said we would have to file a report tomorrow. I just hope the car didn't end up hitting any other people later down the drive. The little white honda never even slowed down after he hit us. Hopefully we will be able to determine later who did it based on the damage to his car, but who knows, the cars down here in Weno aren't kept up too well. All of this happened right after we had changed a flat as well. Drunk driving has been a problem here but usually it is after dark and we don't drive after dark. This was in broad daylight. So either something was wrong or it was intentional, either way, a little unsettling.
A couple of good notes-
I really like Micronesian bananas, which is funny because I used to hate bananas in the States. Bananas grow up here instead of down and apparently taste slightly different. Tonight we had fried banana in this dough that's like egg rolls. It was delicious- my favorite local food thus far.
This morning I played with these 4 local girls. I guess they were all either 5 or 6 based on their teeth- which were mostly rotted out. But we made up handshakes and they just wouldn't stop giggling, looking at me like I was this alien. The kids are adorable here. Although they all seem very happy, they also make me sad because I see what they endure.
On Saturday, we are doing a walk around the whole island- about 13 miles, so I will post a bunch of photos after that.
I saw the most beautiful bird today. I tried to take a picture but it was too fast. It was fire engine red.
And I finished reading 1000 Splendid Suns today. Great book!
Ok, that's all for now. Talk soon.
-Steph
Sunday was my first experience of the Chuukese Mass. It was a weird mix of conservative and informal. They still rang the bells during the consecration and the altar boy held the plate to put under everyone's mouths while they received communion, yet everyone sat on the ground and the dress code was pretty diverse. The women all wore Mumu's, myself included. There didn't seem to be much of an expectation for men. That kind of follows the typical attitude towards men here- they pretty much can do whatever they want while the women must follow pretty conservative standards. It made me laugh and I know some people from home will enjoy this- the altar boy wore a Cubs jersey. Otherwise, the Mass was pretty similar. Although I had no idea what was being said, at least the homily was translated.
Monday and Tuesday we spent most of the day cleaning out and reorganizing the library. It was a much bigger job than we expected when we started, but it was good to get the whole fiction section organized. We somewhat slacked and only organized the books by the first letter of the author's last name figuring alphabetizing them fully could always be a punishment for the students during their detention. The great discovery was the preserved frog skeleton that we found behind one of the bookshelves. Since I'm teaching biology everyone thought that I should have the privilege of determining what to do with it. If you know me well, you know I didn't touch it. I did curiously look at it and I have to admit it was pretty cool.
Early Wednesday morning I woke up with my first terrible upset stomachs. Luckily they only lasted all of Wednesday and today I seem pretty cured. We cooked a good meal yesterday- macaroni and cheese and cooked vegetables. Doesn't sound like much, but it was! The cheese sauce was homemade and we had chips ahoy cookies for dessert. Dessert doesn't really exist at Xavier so it was a nice treat and most of the food here is canned/not fresh since it is shipped in. However, of course we couldn't have the nice meal without some obstacles. We learned the hard way that you can't buy pasta from the store TTC because it has bugs! So a good bit of it had to be thrown out, while the bugs were cleaned out from the rest. I'm pretty much becoming immune to them at this point because they are everywhere!
Now for the excitement of today- Well, everyone on Weno (the island) knows the Xavier pick-up truck. We call him Indigo because of his color but he is a trooper. He's been manuvering the potholes of Weno for about 5 years, makes a lot of weird noises, and has a lot of dents. Today, after we had picked up 2 other Aussie volunteers from the airport and were driving back to Xavier with a full-load- 2 people in the front and 6 in the bed- this crazy man decided to hit us practically head on. We think he was going about 40 mph and for a place where everyone drives between 10-20 mph because the roads are so bad, that's fast. He never tried to swerve and our driver tried to avoid him so he ended up hitting the back of our left side pretty badly. Luckily everyone was okay. It drew a pretty good Chuukese crowd pretty quickly- probably for 2 reasons. 1. That doesn't happen often in Chuuk and 2. It was a pick-up truck full of the Xavier volunteers (there aren't many white people on this island you could figure). So once we figured everyone was okay and the Indigo was driveable we decided to keep going wanting to not attract too much attention. We ended up stopping a Chuukese cop later down the drive to explain to him what happened and he said we would have to file a report tomorrow. I just hope the car didn't end up hitting any other people later down the drive. The little white honda never even slowed down after he hit us. Hopefully we will be able to determine later who did it based on the damage to his car, but who knows, the cars down here in Weno aren't kept up too well. All of this happened right after we had changed a flat as well. Drunk driving has been a problem here but usually it is after dark and we don't drive after dark. This was in broad daylight. So either something was wrong or it was intentional, either way, a little unsettling.
A couple of good notes-
I really like Micronesian bananas, which is funny because I used to hate bananas in the States. Bananas grow up here instead of down and apparently taste slightly different. Tonight we had fried banana in this dough that's like egg rolls. It was delicious- my favorite local food thus far.
This morning I played with these 4 local girls. I guess they were all either 5 or 6 based on their teeth- which were mostly rotted out. But we made up handshakes and they just wouldn't stop giggling, looking at me like I was this alien. The kids are adorable here. Although they all seem very happy, they also make me sad because I see what they endure.
On Saturday, we are doing a walk around the whole island- about 13 miles, so I will post a bunch of photos after that.
I saw the most beautiful bird today. I tried to take a picture but it was too fast. It was fire engine red.
And I finished reading 1000 Splendid Suns today. Great book!
Ok, that's all for now. Talk soon.
-Steph
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Geckos Geckos Everywhere
So Chuuk...I would say that if you think you're feeling the effects of the gas crisis, Chuuk is feeling it worse. Gas is almost $7/gallon here and that means that island power is very sporadic because the fuel is too expensive. I think we have had island power for a total of 9 hours since I have been here, but it is pretty easy to adjust to no power here when already there are no TV's or AC, etc.
Yesterday I was awakened by the chanting going on at the nearby elementary school- Sapuk. It is the worst elementary school in all of Chuuk (and if you looked at the pictures I had out at my Send-off, it was the school where the kids were sitting on the floor with the water). They had organized a huge running competition. So after listening to the chanting for a couple of hours, Josh, Katie, Meg, (other volunteers) and I decided to go check it out. The Chuukese quickly pulled out some of the few 20-some year old desks they had for us to sit. The competetion was pretty fun. There were 4 different teams from different villages on the island-white, yellow, blue, and red. The kids wore whatever articles of clothing they had in the color so nobody really matched and some of the girls even ran in skirts. Everyone ran barefoot, which is very common here. The track was just a grass field with cones outlining a track. The Chuukese had a lot of energy and after each kid finished their race (maybe .5 mile), the mothers (and other women) came running out to pour water on each child and hold both of their arms as they walked. It was pretty dramatic. Then again these kids are sprinting in the hottest weather I have ever experienced. No doubt at least Code Red by DC Standards. I certainly was stared at by a lot of the children as if I was an alien. So while, there have been white people on the island for over 50 years, we still stick out like a sore thumb and look out of place or novel.
I'm lucky that school related meetings don't start until the 18th so I have until then to get adjusted. My internal clock is still pretty wierd- wanting to go to bed at 8pm and wake up at 4am. I haven't really been able to sleep past 8am because it gets so hot. Yesterday we went downtown and picked up 2 local combs. They are colored plastic combs that the local women use to keep their hair up (without any hair ties, my hair isn't quite long enough for it yet). I learned that culturally you are considered sloppy if your hair isn't pulled up. We drive the Xavier (the high school I teach at) pick up truck to get downtown since we live up in the "jungle" of Weno. Pretty much everyone on the island knows that it is the Xavier truck so we can lots of hellos. We seem to be well respected by the Chuukese people because going to Xavier is a very noteable accomplishment for any Chuukese person, even if you don't graduate.
Now, I can't end the blog without mentioning the bugs! Yes, I live with bugs. Lots of them. Geckos and ants mostly, but no doubt the spiders, cockroaches, termites, and other little suckers peek their heads out too. The geckos are weird at first, but I think they are the easiest to adjust to personally. They are more scared of me than I am of them and they are harmless. Plus, they eat other bugs and spiders!! The ants, which pretty much stay in my bathroom, are my allies. Last night I was about to jump in the shower and saw a swarm of them eating at a dead cockroach (which seem to only come out at night). Since I wasn't dressed, I decided to take care of it after my shower. Well, when I came back, they were all mysteriously gone. Gone! So, the ants are cool in my boat if they clean up cockroaches and leave no mess.
The cold showers aren't bad at all. I kind of look forward to them to cool me off a little. So I'm glad to say that since that was one of my bigger worries when I left. And despite the bugs, the nature is absolutely beautiful here. Since I have now been in Hawaii as well, I can say Chuuk is as beautiful as Hawaii. There are mango, banana, coconut, and breadfruit trees in my backyard. Now the shacks aren't so beautiful, but they remind me why I am here doing what I am doing.
As for everyone that still has the luxury of watching the Olympics, please do! I wish I could. Apparently, 3 or 4 Micronesians will be represented at them, so keep me posted. I love you all.
Peace,
Steph
P.S. Dad, you will be happy to know I am teaching Sophomore Biology and Junior Chemistry.
Yesterday I was awakened by the chanting going on at the nearby elementary school- Sapuk. It is the worst elementary school in all of Chuuk (and if you looked at the pictures I had out at my Send-off, it was the school where the kids were sitting on the floor with the water). They had organized a huge running competition. So after listening to the chanting for a couple of hours, Josh, Katie, Meg, (other volunteers) and I decided to go check it out. The Chuukese quickly pulled out some of the few 20-some year old desks they had for us to sit. The competetion was pretty fun. There were 4 different teams from different villages on the island-white, yellow, blue, and red. The kids wore whatever articles of clothing they had in the color so nobody really matched and some of the girls even ran in skirts. Everyone ran barefoot, which is very common here. The track was just a grass field with cones outlining a track. The Chuukese had a lot of energy and after each kid finished their race (maybe .5 mile), the mothers (and other women) came running out to pour water on each child and hold both of their arms as they walked. It was pretty dramatic. Then again these kids are sprinting in the hottest weather I have ever experienced. No doubt at least Code Red by DC Standards. I certainly was stared at by a lot of the children as if I was an alien. So while, there have been white people on the island for over 50 years, we still stick out like a sore thumb and look out of place or novel.
I'm lucky that school related meetings don't start until the 18th so I have until then to get adjusted. My internal clock is still pretty wierd- wanting to go to bed at 8pm and wake up at 4am. I haven't really been able to sleep past 8am because it gets so hot. Yesterday we went downtown and picked up 2 local combs. They are colored plastic combs that the local women use to keep their hair up (without any hair ties, my hair isn't quite long enough for it yet). I learned that culturally you are considered sloppy if your hair isn't pulled up. We drive the Xavier (the high school I teach at) pick up truck to get downtown since we live up in the "jungle" of Weno. Pretty much everyone on the island knows that it is the Xavier truck so we can lots of hellos. We seem to be well respected by the Chuukese people because going to Xavier is a very noteable accomplishment for any Chuukese person, even if you don't graduate.
Now, I can't end the blog without mentioning the bugs! Yes, I live with bugs. Lots of them. Geckos and ants mostly, but no doubt the spiders, cockroaches, termites, and other little suckers peek their heads out too. The geckos are weird at first, but I think they are the easiest to adjust to personally. They are more scared of me than I am of them and they are harmless. Plus, they eat other bugs and spiders!! The ants, which pretty much stay in my bathroom, are my allies. Last night I was about to jump in the shower and saw a swarm of them eating at a dead cockroach (which seem to only come out at night). Since I wasn't dressed, I decided to take care of it after my shower. Well, when I came back, they were all mysteriously gone. Gone! So, the ants are cool in my boat if they clean up cockroaches and leave no mess.
The cold showers aren't bad at all. I kind of look forward to them to cool me off a little. So I'm glad to say that since that was one of my bigger worries when I left. And despite the bugs, the nature is absolutely beautiful here. Since I have now been in Hawaii as well, I can say Chuuk is as beautiful as Hawaii. There are mango, banana, coconut, and breadfruit trees in my backyard. Now the shacks aren't so beautiful, but they remind me why I am here doing what I am doing.
As for everyone that still has the luxury of watching the Olympics, please do! I wish I could. Apparently, 3 or 4 Micronesians will be represented at them, so keep me posted. I love you all.
Peace,
Steph
P.S. Dad, you will be happy to know I am teaching Sophomore Biology and Junior Chemistry.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
First Day!
I wanted to let you all know that I made it into Weno safely. I'm going to keep this short for tonight for 2 reasons: 1. I had just written an entry when the power went out and I lost it (and am frustrated) so I guess that's my welcome to Chuuk! The island power just came back on after being out for about a week and flickered, and 2. The time difference is 14 hours for Eastern time (MD) and 15 hours for Central time (STL) so my body is royally messed up to say the least. So I am headed to take my first cold bucket shower and sleep. I have spotted about 10 pet geckos in my room thus far (and took some pictures for Chris!). I had my first coconut today, which I didn't really like, but the view from the roof of the school is beautiful and hopefully I can post photos soon. Talk soon.
-Steph
-Steph
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