Odds and Ends (4)

Pohnpeian Olympian  In my trips to the track to run a few laps I’ve gotten to know two coaches who are often there with young runners.  Since the Micronesian track meet I wrote about several weeks ago, these athletes have continued to train for an upcoming Oceania Athletic Association track meet.  This larger association controls a much wider area of the Pacific, including Australia, New Zealand and a lot of island groups around the FSM.  Even more impressive, a couple of the young people have earned bids to compete in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this summer.  Anyway, one of the coaches introduced himself as Elias Rodriguez, the Pohnpeian marathoner who ran for the FSM at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.  As noted in one of the reports of this race, “Rodriguez finished last in the marathon but was cheered on by tens of thousands of spectators and watched by millions of television viewers as he entered the Olympic stadium for a final lap immediately prior to the closing ceremony which was delayed to allow his finish.”  When I talked to him he described how cold and windy it was that day in Sydney.  Having lived in this heat and humidity, I can believe how difficult it must have been for him to run in the cold.

Indigenous Crafts  One of the Peace Corps Response volunteers who is leaving the Island later this week took me to a small out-of-the-way Kolonia neighborhood which is inhabited by a group of people who are from one of the outer islands.  They have chosen to live together, and a number of them continue to carry on native crafts.  They are primarily known for intricate weaving of grass or reed and shells or for wood carving.  We visited a couple of houses, the front rooms of which were stores displaying these items.  Of more interest to me was an outdoor wood shop in which a half-dozen men were using a variety of handmade tools and files to carve objects out of various hardwoods.  They were skilled craftsmen of the folk art variety.  Most of their work was decorative, although one gentleman was making a fish trap.  I asked another man if their designs and images were traditional.  He indicated that they carved what they knew, but allowed that the designs were mainly influenced by the interests and desires of the few tourists who wandered through here—a pretty pure example of supply and demand.  At some point, if Pohnpei becomes more of a tourist destination than it is now, I can envision these craftsmen moving “downtown.”  Hasn’t happened yet.  Anyway, before I leave there will be a wood carving or two in my suitcase.

This will become a fish trap.

Peace Corps Pre-Service Training  A new group of 13 Peace Corps two-year recruits have arrived.  They will live with families and teach school on islands throughout FSM.  They are in their fourth week of a 12-week training regimen before their placement begins.  They are living with families in Medolenihmw and attending classes daily in an old Catholic School.  During this period they are receiving crash courses in culture, language, and teaching.  The latter is where I come in.  I am one of several Peace Corps Response Volunteers who have assisted in the education training segments.  Yesterday, I taught a lesson on “assessment” and teamed up with a Peace Corps volunteer who is in her second year to present a lesson on building professional relationships with host country teachers.  For the next several weeks I will also be observing their teaching in a model school that has been established to both provide summer school to students and teaching experience to these new teachers with little or no experience.  As I watch and listen to them, there is a piece of me that is pretty envious.  They are about to embark on two years living in remote areas with host families—an experience far more intense than what I am experiencing here in Kolonia.  If only I were a half-century or so younger!

The new recruits.  Above is my co-presenter, a PC volunteer in her second year in the Mortlock Islands.

Hair  I don't pretend to know fashion, but I have to believe a new hair style is sweeping the island.  Young fashionistas are dyeing just the hair on the top of their heads bright colors.  Red seems to be the most popular, followed by a sort of coppery orange--which I assume is as close to blond as these very dark-haired folks can get.

Sunset  Taken from the roof of my apartment this evening.  I have to admit, it rivals some of those seen from the deck of Spruce Point.

PICS Graduation

I have attended a lot of high school graduations in my day, but none more exuberant than the one for PICS’s 65^th Commencement.  There were 307 students who graduated with academic, business, or vocational degrees and several thousand mothers, fathers, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who came to celebrate the moment.  Looking out at the crowd after the ceremony it was hard to imagine anyone from the island who wasn’t there.

Unfortunately, during the 2-3 hour ceremony, the skies opened up three or four times, drenching everyone who was not fortunate enough to be under cover.  When the first storm hit, the graduates were marching from the high school to the track and field, a distance of around 300 yards, so they were pretty much soaked. They were under cover for the rest of the ceremony, as were dignitaries who were seated under a tarp and close family members who had their own assigned covered area.  The majority of the attendees, however, just endured the rain.  It came down so hard at times that it was difficult to hear the speakers.  All that said, however, the rain didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm.  Rain is just a fact of life here—getting wet is not a big deal.

The graduation ceremony was what you would expect—speeches by the salutatorian and valedictorian and young graduates proudly marching across the stage to receive their degrees.  The entire graduating class also sang a couple of hymns—there is absolutely no separation of church and state here.  They sang beautifully, with enthusiasm and feeling that we might not expect from our own adolescents in the States.  There was no keeping the little brothers and sisters and family members with cameras from approaching the area where the degrees were conferred.  Eventually, no one even tried to keep them back. 

The speakers were a “who’s who” of local dignitaries, including school officials, local ministers who provided an invocation and benediction, an elected Senator, the Governor of Pohnpei, and a gentleman known as the Iso Nahnken en Nett—described to me as the traditional leader or “King” of the Nett Municipality.  Most had lengthy speeches, which I wish I understood.  I did catch one phrase by the Governor, which he expressed in English—“You can take a Pohnpeian out of the country, but you cannot take Pohnpei out of a Pohnpeian.”  I suspect he was referencing the fact that there are many graduates who leave the Island for higher education and better futures—unfortunately, there is not much here to hold them back.  All speakers were given a traditional “mwaramwar”—the flowered (or knitted) head-band to wear.  Also, toward the end of the ceremony all of us sitting in the dignitary’s section were given food trays to take home with us.  Mine is pictured below. 

In short, it was a great send off to an excited bunch of young people.  Everyone is happy at a graduation ceremony.  Unfortunately, the graduates may find in time that their education was less than it should have been—but that’s a blog post for another time.

PTA Officer

Ever-present pooch

The Iso Nahnken en Nett.  Note the woven "man bag," which typically contains fixings for a betel nut chew.  You can see the rain coming down.

Pohnpei Governor, Marcelo K. Peterson

Valedictorian

The Principal handing out diplomas--couldn't catch him in a smile.

Members of the junior class handing out a woven lei to all graduates.

Handing out food baskets to all the dignitarites

The Governor with his food basket

My food basket

Lehnpaipohn Waterfall

Last weekend another Peace Corps Response friend and I had the opportunity to visit yet another waterfall (I would have to live here for much longer than a year, I think, to see them all).  Our guides were the same two World Teach teachers at PICS who were gracious enough to include me on a previous hike.  I was glad to get in one more trek with them before they leave the island in a couple of weeks.  This, they say, is their favorite hike.  I can see why.

Lehnpaipohn Waterfall is located in Kitti, which is the municipality in the southwest quadrant of the island.  It took us 45 minutes or so to drive from Kolonia to the access road, which runs out of pavement in about a third of a mile.  From there you hike a mile and a half on a muddy jeep track.  When the jeep track petered out, we headed along a foot path for another half mile or so, downhill to a river.  This was the most interesting part of the hike—a narrow path through thick jungle.  We forded a small stream, and once we got close enough to hear the river, the trail got noticeably steeper.  The guidebook says, “The final descent to the pool is exposed and a bit sketchy.”   I would agree with that—some steep rock ledges to negotiate to get down to the water.

The waterfall is not high, but the pool it creates at the base of the falls is large and impressive.  One would be hard-pressed to find a nicer swimming hole.  The day was perfect—not oppressively hot—just hot—and the water was cool.  A nice combination.  AJ (our friend and guide) did a pretty impressive jump from the cliffs above into the pool.  We all enjoyed the opportunity to sit and enjoy the setting before heading back.

Our timing was perfect for a hike as the ground was littered with fresh mangoes that had just dropped from the trees.  You can easily peel the skin off with your fingers and eat the pulp from around a large flat oblong pit.  The fruit is very juicy, but fibrous.  The result is juice dripping down your chin and strings caught between your teeth.  Delicious!

Pohnpei has some challenges to overcome before it becomes a world-renowned eco-tourism destination, not the least of which is distance—it is not easy to get here.  But, there is a small band of folks on the island who would like to see that happen.  If interested, check out the website www.pohnpei-adventure.com.  There is a lot more that I hope to see and do.

AJ and Kathryn, originally from Buffalo, NY

Friend John, another Peace Corps Response Volunteer

Two palm ivory nuts found along the trail

2016 Micronesian Championships

It is a big week on Pohnpei Island.  The Oceania Athletics Association is holding its Micronesian Track and Field Championships here with the six nations of Guam, Palau, the Marshall Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Nauru, and the Federal States of Micronesia competing.  Not sure how many hundreds of thousands of square miles of the earth’s surface is included within the boundaries of these nations, but the total land area is less than that of Rhode Island (it’s true—I was bored on a rainy afternoon and googled it).  And the total population is more like that of an upstate New York county.  So, if nothing else, you have to be impressed by the logistics of getting a couple hundred athletes, coaches, team managers, etc. all together in one place and time in this vast area of the ocean.

The meet took place a couple hundred yards from the Pacific Island Central School where I am now spending my days. Competition took place from Thursday through Saturday.  The principal reduced classes to a half-day schedule on Thursday and Friday, which was pretty much inevitable.  Given the very loose attendance patterns for both students and teachers under normal circumstances, there was little chance that classes would hold under the pressure.  Besides, the PA system at the games pretty much knocked out classes on that side of the PICS campus.  

I spent several hours at the games, taking it all in.  Like all track meets, there is a bunch of things happening all at once.  The races were fun to watch.  FSM Pohnpei had by far the most athletes, so the cheering sections were enthusiastic (although, I think Guam took away most of the medals).  I had a front row seat to watch the javelin throw.  Well into the competition, the javelin they were using broke in two.  Apparently that was the only javelin on the island, because the competition ended.  However, all seemed satisfied that the winners of the event had been well established, and they proceeded to the awards ceremony.  I am not enough of a track and field aficionado to assess the level of competition, although I suspect Shenenedehowa High School’s varsity team would have been competitive.  There was some mini-Olympics pageantry involved.  The medal winners were all escorted to the traditional three-level platform by pretty island girls with palm woven hats and baskets containing the medals.  All the island nation flags were lined up in front of a reviewing stand, with an impressive backdrop of mountains in the distance.  

As much fun as the competition was all the action along the road bordering the track.  Front yards sprouted food and drink booths where you could buy mangoes, betel nut, rice and meat dinners, ramen noodle packets, soft drinks and other snacks.  Police were present, but no one seemed particularly concerned with parking, traffic, or other public order kinds of issues.  There was no admission fee.  People were all pretty mellow, standing on the tops of vans and in the back of pick-ups so they could see.  There was a seating area trackside under a roof.  I went there to take some pictures.  I wondered what dignitaries were allowed to sit here, but no one was there to stop me or question me about a pass (I’ve found that just being an old white guy buys you some consideration here).  Some pictures....

This young man won style points, if not races

These are the young ladies who accompanied the winners and carried their medals in the baskets

Betel nut for sale