Pisariarts

Hey all! I just arrived back after my vacation on a deserted tropical island paradise - can you beat that? Since we have spent the entire summer break at Xavier Fr Arthur decided to give us a break on Pisar. This small island sits on the edge of Chuuk Lagoon, a 1 hour boat ride from Weno Island. Pisar has a clear advantage over other Chuukese islands. The first thing you notice when you arrive is that it is clean. There’s no car wrecks or broken bottles. A Chuukese family lives on the island and keeps it in perfect condition. Pisar has beautiful sandy beaches and is surrounded by reefs and sandbars. The island is smaller than a football field and covered in palm trees and shrubs. You can actually walk around barefoot safely, feeling soft, normal sand under your feet.

The Pisariarts, as we called ourselves, were made up of Diego (the 20 yr old son of Mike in charge of maintenance at Xavier), Texter and Kevin (senior students at Xavier), Jeremy and me.

We arrived at Pisar on Friday morning and were greeted with gloomy skies and rain. The family were very nice and offered us fish and a unique dish – it was sea cucumber mashed and cut into tiny, slimy, very chewy pieces. It was a bit hard to swallow, but I swallowed it. Our accommodation was luxury. We had a nicely built house with tiled bathroom and shower, wooden floors, a nice balcony and a double bed – a proper bed!

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, which we spent snorkeling and swimming all day. This sun disappeared at lunch and did not appear until Thursday, the day we left Pisar. Instead the whole week was gloomy, cloudy, windy and wet. Luckily this did not dampen our spirits. The sea water was very warm and we swam everyday, rain hail or shine. Over the week we explored the reefs and walked to the very edge of Chuuk Lagoon. It was really cool seeing the waves crash on the rock shelf that stretched for miles on either side. We also explored the other nearby islands. There were 4 small islands linked by sandbars which were covered in hermit crabs. Texter taught me the art of hunting for and removing hermit crabs from their shells. We used them for bait and fishing was very successful (until we ran out of hooks and line).

The family cooked our first meals and then left to go to Weno for the week, leaving us totally alone on the island. We lazed around in hammocks or on the double bed and cooked our own meals (mainly corned beef, luncheon loaf and tuna). Since there was no power, we ate early and relaxed on the beach (if it wasn’t wet) under a full moon (if the clouds didn’t cover it). It was early to bed and early to rise most days. We played plenty of cards and games, and Jeremy also taught the guys wrestling moves. They are now all fanatical WWE fans. My only complaint was the flies -- there were thousands of them that pestered us until nighttime.

On the final night the skies cleared and the beautiful full moon lit up the island. We swam in the warm water watching the silhouette of the Chuuk lagoon islands behind us. The next morning was stunning – the clear water sparkled and so did Pisar. We swam and took in as much sun as we could before we had to leave.

When we arrived back home, Xavier was waterlogged. It was also very busy – all the new JVs had arrived and all the old teachers had come back. One of the JVs actually arrived in Chuuk in a wheelchair after slashing her entire knee open on a rock while playing soccer in Pohnpei. It may be a month before the stitches heal and she can walk! I missed everyone, but I also found it very strange having so many people around. Things seem so much louder and busier and I wish it was quieter again. Power is fairly regular now and the internet is variable. The JVs are struggling to cope after having such luxuries in Pohnpei. Dinner time is more interesting now as there are plenty of stories to tell.

Yesterday the Pisariarts crew helped paint one side of the interior of the dorm. After working with my Dad, I was shocked to see the way the boys paint – ‘careful’ is not one of the things they think of when painting. Paint was splattered on the floors and the beds and the lockers, but at least the walls got coated in it.

Planning for lessons begins next week. I am officially teaching freshman algebra this year and may also be helping Jeremy and Buddy with the computer courses as well. Life is sweet and I hope yours is good too. Take care.

Uman

Summer Chillin'

Hi all! This is just another update of summer break in Chuuk, and I have been reminded recently (by my mum of course) that I’ve passed the halfway mark of my stay here!!!

Summer break has had its ups and downs on Chuuk. Weno Island isn’t the most exciting island, and many of the local students leave the island because they find it too boring! But Jackie, Lily, Jeremy, Kevin, Fr Arthur, Diego and I have kept each other company and the time has flown by.

Power has been unreliable as usual. The generator is still broken and island power goes on and off. It is ironic when we sit in the dark without power at Xavier and talk about the Chuukese governor’s latest expenses. For example, spending $9,000 chartering 3 flights for his family to another island for a relative’s graduation!

XEP (Xavier Entrance Preparation) started 2 weeks ago and I’ve been having a great time. I enjoy teaching the kids math and making more contacts downtown. I have a real mix of kids to teach – some are smart, some are painfully slow, some don’t speak English, some speak too much, some refuse to speak at all and most just want to play basketball all day. I had to relearn some math methods to adjust to the US system including adjusting my accent for them (my family noticed I had a slight American twang – shock horror).

There’s a first time for everything here on Chuuk. Two days ago I made my first student cry and I don’t even know how I did it. She was dozing off on her desk so I dropped an eraser on her desk to wake her up. She threw it back at me and everyone started laughing. I started laughing because it was a joke and everyone was happy and then she burst into tears. She wouldn’t budge from her desk and buried her face in her hands. One of the girls had to take her outside and talk to her for ½ an hour. I felt horrible.

Jackie returned from Saipan after a successful Micronesian games. The team did pretty well considering there was no funding. Efforts to raise money in Chuuk failed due to poor organization. The team even asked Xavier to borrow the Chuuk flag for the games, since there was no flag on island, not even with the government. Jackie returned just in time to welcome her friend from America who stayed for a week. We took Vinnie camping up on the local mountain and showed him the local sights.

We often organize small events to keep ourselves occupied. These photos are of a picnic at Annas resort where we went kayaking for the day. There is an actual swimming pool there, with large turtles swimming in a smaller one beside it. Every now and then we cook up a storm in the kitchen or go downtown for ‘Sunday cruising’. I haven’t been diving recently because XEP has kept me busy. This weekend we plan to go to Uman to stay with the Xavier secretary, Antonia and her family.

On a more negative note, a boy was stabbed outside the local supermarket at night recently. He was a drunk 17 yr old who got stabbed in the neck. The village fights are very violent here and Chuukese are renowned for using knives. It’s safe enough for me but you don’t go walking around downtown at midnight because, as a rule of thumb, any drunk Chuukese is bad news.

Now the summer break is coming closer to an end. All the teachers return to Xavier by Aug 5 to start planning for the new year. The weather here has been up and down lately, but the rain has been fairly constant. It doesn’t sound anything like Sydney’s temperatures though. I hope you’re enjoying the chill down under. Ha ha!