Nan Madol and Kepirohi Falls

Nan Madol  One of the must see historic sites on Pohnpei is the Nan Madol ruins.  I signed up for a tour with an interesting young man who grew up on the island, attended college in Japan, returned with a French wife to start a Raman food restaurant, and does guiding on the side—sort of like a typical Adirondacker who does whatever it takes to make a living.  Although I didn’t know it until I arrived at the restaurant, the four other members of our group included the Australian ambassador and Australian volunteers who I had met at a dinner several days earlier.  We drove about an hour to the site.  It is located on private property owned by three families; we paid $1 to enter a driveway leading to the ruins, $3 at the home of a family whose land you cross to get to the ruins, and $3 at the conclusion of the tour to pass out of the site. (Interesting side note:  I asked our guide why I had seen no real estate offices or land-for-sale signs on what I assume would be valuable shoreline property.  He noted that the land is owned by families and it is illegal to sell land on Pohnpei.  That said, land does pass from people to people and may be given or traded, but any money exchange is “under the table.”  He spoke of his brother who traded a couple of fishing boats and nets for a remote piece of inland property.)

You can google Nan Madol and find out much about the ruins.  Briefly, it is a large 1.5 x.5 kilometer site built on coral reefs with buildings connected by shallow canals.  We were there at low tide and could easily walk across one of these canals to get to the major site.  Construction supposedly started around 1200 AD and continued for another four centuries or so.  The site has been abandoned for centuries and many of the buildings have been over-run by jungle.  Given no written language and no art or carvings on the site, the history is as much mythology as fact.  What no one seems to have figured out is how they were able to build what they did.  The rocks used are not indigenous to this island so had to have been transported from another island.  Although they often weighed many tons, these rocks were somehow brought to the island and lifted into place to create high walls.  The Pohnpeian explanation is that the rocks were levitated into place by magic.  They speculate that the ruins were mainly for royalty and priests and used for ceremonial purposes.  The site is not well located in that food and water had to be brought in from the mainland, which is perhaps why it was abandoned.  Anyway, pictures provide a better explanation of what we saw.

Kepirohi Falls  Part of our tour was a stop at Kepirohi Falls, just a few miles from Nan Madol and perhaps a 10 minute walk from the main road.  Here again, we paid the family who owned the property $3 a piece to enter their land.  It was a pleasant walk to the falls.  Some of the pictures below show the plants and flowers encountered in route.  Pictures again tell a better story.  Some of our party who had swim suits jumped into the pool created at the base of the falls.  One of the pictures shows our intrepid tour guide jumping in from part way up the wall incline.  After people got out, he threw chunks of bread into the water, which brought the biggest, ugliest eels I have ever seen to the surface.  Not sure I will get Lin to swim here after seeing the picture of the eel.

Odds and Ends

Sakau  Shortly after I arrived on the island I was asked by a couple of my local education colleagues to join them in drinking sakau.  So far, this has happened on three different occasions. You can Google sakau and find out more about it than I can share here.  But briefly, it is a thick, mud-brown, gloopy, mildly narcotic concoction made from the roots of a pepper plant indigenous to Pohnpei.  It tastes about like it looks—very earthy, not horrible, but not tasty either.  Perhaps it’s an acquired taste….  Anyway, the effects are interesting.  I personally didn’t seem to experience much more than a kind of tingling sense in my mouth and perhaps a sense of relaxation throughout my upper body.  The effects on a guy I was with, however, were more dramatic.  He was a lively conversationalist at the beginning of the evening, but his speech progressively slowed to the point where he was pretty much asleep before we left.

As interesting as the effects on individuals, the cultural aspects of drinking sakau are equally fascinating—the when, where and why it takes place.  I went to three public locations where drinking sakau was taking place, almost exclusively by men, although I understand it happens in homes as well, with women involved.  The first location was pretty unsavory—enclosed dark, dank, cement walls, dirt floors, puddles of water with crude tables and chairs.  Not some place I will suggest to Lin when she arrives.  The centerpiece was a large stone surface where the root was pounded by young men with large rocks.  Once prepared, the brew was scooped up and poured into cocoanut half shells and taken from table to table where each individual took a sip and passed it on to the next person at the table.  The second and third places I went had pretty much the same process, but were in outdoor settings—essentially someone’s yard.  These places seemed more congenial with people greeting others, all of whom seemed to know each other, often as relatives.  On both occasions my host pointed out notable men who were legislators in Pohnpei State or who were cultural leaders by virtue of family or clan associations.  We had a interesting conversation with one Senator who was particularly interested in educational issues. 

Gradually my host filled me in on the intricacies of drinking Sakau.  There are dos and don’ts involved in who gets served first at the table, how you pass the coconut shell to your neighbor, how you hold the shell when taking your swallow, etc.  Mind numbing in more ways than one….  At any rate, the whole purpose seems to provide a way for people to unwind with others in a congenial atmosphere designed to lessen rather than heighten tensions.  I asked some Peace Corps folks whether there was any negative or legal connotations in consuming this narcotic.  Apparently not—quite the contrary, it is a staple at ceremonies, festivals, funerals, etc.  Below are a couple of pictures of the kava plant root balls destined to become sakau.

Japanese Ambassador  Earlier this week the Peace Corps volunteers were invited to a dinner hosted by the Japanese ambassador to FSM.  Along with Peace Corps volunteers and the U.S. Ambassador, the invitees included both Japanese and Australian volunteers who are in programs in their own countries that are similar to our PC.  The setting was spectacular.  The ambassador’s house sits on a bluff facing the coast and features a large coastal land form that juts hundreds of feet into the air.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have my i-phone to capture it.  Anyway, the ambassador and his wife know how to throw a party, in a very diplomatic, dignified way, of course.  It’s interesting how times change.  This island was controlled (and heavily fortified) by the Japanese during WW II and was bombed extensively by U.S. forces.  One of its tourist attractions are areas where Japanese artillery and tanks remain, rusting in the jungle.  Of personal interest is the fact that my father was stationed not too far from here on the island of Biak during the war.  I wonder what he would think of the fact that 70+ years later his son was invited by the Japanese ambassador to applaud joint volunteer endeavors on this island.

People  During our PC orientation we were provided with some stats, most of which were discouraging.  Pohnpei has about 35,000 people of which 34% live below the poverty line (although I don’t know what that is).  The infant mortality rate is 15%; even more disturbing, the under-five mortality rate is 21%.  76% do not have internet and 4% of the population leave the island annually to seek a better life elsewhere.  Although it is no longer a protectorate of the U.S., it retains a special status that allows all FSM citizens to migrate freely to the US without the immigrant hassles experienced by other nationalities (no doubt much to the chagrin of the likes of Trump or Cruz). 

Despite the obvious hardships, these are really friendly people.  When I am out and about, nearly everyone makes eye contact, smiles, and greets me.  I have managed to say “Kaselehlie” (Pohnpeian version of Aloha) without generating too many chuckles, although the rest of the language eludes me.  Everybody speaks at least a little English.  In fact, English is supposed to be the only language spoken for all classes in high school.  That’s not really happening, but that’s the goal.  Even the teenagers in school are unfailingly polite, although they are still teenagers and manage to bug their teachers.  Not unlike the U.S., way too many people are overweight and suffer the health consequences.  I passed a large billboard today that warned of the health dangers of salt—suggesting not to salt Kool-Aid??  Apparently much of their diet is imported and consists of canned goods, soda, etc.  One habit that is especially prevalent is chewing betel nut.  Many, many people have teeth and gums stained red, including many teachers.  I often see teachers with a wad of betel nut, typically including some lime and tobacco, stuck in their cheeks.

I have read much about the Pohnpeian traditional culture and its inevitable clash with modern Western ways.  This entry is already sounding too much like a textbook, so I won’t bore you with details you can read elsewhere—just a couple of examples that I have run into.  When people speak of families they are referring to extended families, not just the nuclear family we think of.  Invariably when I am introduced to a Pohnpeian by another Pohnpeian he or she will add the fact that they are related—brothers, aunts, cousins, etc. abound.  Everybody is related to everyone else, and they take these extended relationships very seriously.  It is one of the problems in the schools—family ties and the respect demanded often get in the way of sound educational judgment as to who is qualified or who needs to be reprimanded.  Another example—funerals.  They are a BIG deal, often lasting for 3 or 4 days.  I stopped briefly with the Elementary Education Chief at a funeral of a special education teacher.  There was probably 200- 300 people sitting around outdoors—under trees and under a tiki bar kind of setting.  No one appeared to be mourning—quite the contrary—nor were people dressed in funeral finery.  Men were bringing in the Kava roots for sakau.  I’m sure there was mourning going on somewhere, but what I saw looked more like a giant picnic.  Anyway, these kinds of cultural traditions are becoming a problem, both for schools trying to reform and for businesses tied to a money economy.  There is no such things as substitute teachers or principals, and people can be absent from work for days at a time.  Absenteeism is a major problem for both students and teachers, but more about that at another time.

Dress  I add this to inform Lin who keeps wondering what clothes to bring.  There are (typically) older women who wear the moo-moos (sp?) pictured, but more common are the fancy skirts.  You see women and girls of all ages wearing these.  That said, young people are just as likely to wear western styles.  Other than wearing the uniform shirt, kids in school typically dress the same as their western counterparts.  Flip flops rule as far as footwear.  In most classrooms, the kids remove their flip flops at the door and are barefoot in class.  The women pictured below is standing at the counter of the neighborhood store located next to my apartment.  The large bags on the floor to her right are filled with rice.  People buy a lot of rice!

Cars and trucks  As I mentioned before, dead cars and trucks are all over the place.  What came as a surprise is the fact that there is no consistency with regard to which side of the car the steering wheel and controls are located.  While people generally drive on the right side of the road, there is an equal number of left and right hand drive vehicles.  That became obvious early on when I tried to get in a taxi with shaded windows—almost sat on the driver’s lap.  Nor are there any regulations with regard to seat belts, child restraints, etc.  Little Japanese pick-up trucks are often loaded with 6-8 people in the back.  Little kids hang out windows, etc.  Below is a much improved section of the road that encircles the island.  The Japanese did a big road project, improving this section of road located in the Madolenihmw province.  The last picture was taken along this road.  My driver gave the Pohnpeian name for this mountain which translates to "Standing Rock."

First Couple of Weeks

I am just completing my second week as a Peace Corps Response volunteer, assigned to Pohnpei, one of four islands that make up the Federated States of Micronesia.  My year-long assignment is that of an Education School Improvement Facilitator.  My wife Lin will be joining me around August 1^st. serving in a similar capacity.  This blog will serve to keep friends and family at least somewhat informed regarding where we have landed for the next year and what we’re up to.

With only two weeks on site, my initial impressions are pretty raw and uninformed, but I’ll share some anyway…. 

Kolonia  I have been assigned to Pohnpei’s capital city of Kolonia (with a population of around 6,600, make that a capital “town”).  One of the Peace Corps folks used the word “ramshackle” to describe the city.  Seems pretty accurate to me.  Lots of cement block and corrugated tin construction, open air markets, and “mom and pop” neighborhood stores.  There’s not much evidence that anyone thought of zoning, with various businesses and homes (often one and the same) scattered about helter-skelter.  Cars in various states of disrepair line roads and driveways, seemingly left where they finally gave out.  However, as the largest population center on the island, it can surprise you.  It has an Ace hardware, for example, that has become my “go-to” place for most everything I’ve needed to furnish my apartment.  The Ace Office Supply store next door also has the best food market I’ve found—go figure.  There are also several pretty fair size hotels in town, along with a number of pretty good restaurants.  Several large buildings are under construction, and along the shoreline in and around Kolonia are several decent marinas and resorts.  So, lots of contrasts.  The pictures include a couple of shots on the causeway from the airport into town and couple of town shots (more of those to come).  Loose dogs, by the way, are everywhere.  Most of the females look as though they have a litter of puppies nearby, while the males obviously scoff at the idea of neutering.

My apartment  I actually feel a bit guilty—Peace Corps volunteers are supposed to be roughing it in remote locations.  Well, Pohnpei qualifies as remote by most standards, but my apartment in Kolonia has most of the conveniences you could hope for—wi-fi and air conditioning to name two.  I think I will also get cable TV, although that seems to be slow in coming.  There are some oddities like the only hot water is in the shower and there’s only one overhead light bulb for the apartment.  But, all-in-all, I’m very comfortable.  As noted in the picture, I am located in an apartment above a used clothing and electronics store, next door to a Laundromat.  Life is good.

The Schools  I have been assigned to the three high schools on the island.  The largest, Pohnpei Island Central School (PICS) is the largest with about 1,500 students and is located in Kolonia and within a 15 minute walk from my apartment.  The other two are much smaller, and both are located about an hour from Kolonia, but in opposite directions.  The plan is for me to spend at least a day in each school each week.  Transportation is a bit of a challenge since PC volunteers cannot drive.  I will have to rely on any rides I can arrange from within the school system and/or take taxis.  Around town, taxis have proven to work pretty well.  They usually come fairly quickly and only charge a dollar to go anywhere in Kolonia.  

Last week one of the Department of Education “Chiefs” took me to the three high schools, as well as most of the elementary schools.  It was an all-day trip taking the road that completely encircles the island.  The road is now paved.  Picture a 1-2 lane road turning and twisting through jungle.  Most of the time you can’t see much beyond the vegetation, although there are a few sections with some pretty impressive views of ocean and outer islands.  There is much evidence of rural poverty, with only a few mom and pop roadside stands selling bread, drinks, and canned goods.  At any rate, I met the two principals in the rural schools and will spend my first full day with them next week.  

For most of the first week I concentrated my time at PICS.  By any measure, this is a school in need of change.  The irony for me is that I’ve spent much of the last several years as an expert witness in a case several New York State small city school districts have brought against the State, arguing that they are underfunded.  Any of the schools here would feel overwhelmed with gratitude for just a small fraction of the plaintiff’s level of funding.  All relative, I guess.   

The reason for PC Response volunteers in the schools in Micronesia is to help them meet national accreditation standards.  The standards address expectations in the six areas of leadership, teacher performance, data management, curriculum standards and benchmarks, the condition of the school campus, facilities and classrooms, and the quality of the schools’ improvement plans.  Given what I’ve seen so far, there is significant room for improvement in all areas—but of course, that’s why we’re here.  Some pictures of PICS will help tell the story.

The last picture in this series is the entrance to the main office.  I am not sure you can get a sense of the size of the campus, given individual pictures, but it is large, with a dozen or more buildings. I did not highlight issues like the library, bathrooms, trash, or graffiti, but hopefully these can be dealt with sooner rather than later. 

As for me, I’m doing fine.  The Peace Corps training stressed something they call the “Cycle of Vulnerability and Adjustment,” which stresses the crossed-cultural issues and shock volunteers typically experience in the first couple of months.  In other words, ups and downs are to be expected.  Along with my family (and family dog), I miss things like good friends and good bread, wine and cheese. But, it is pretty amazing to suddenly realize you are really on the other side of the world, hoping and expecting to do some good.  The next 12 months (and hopefully this blog) will tell the tale.  Next time, more about the people and customs.  Much to tell!