So looks like I’m averaging about an entry every 2 months. They said that people staying on an outer island would probably only have access to internet once every couple months...you would think, therefore, that I was living on an outer island. But I’m not...just very busy – which is a good thing. I thought, therefore, that 2 entries in 1 day was only fair...
Since last I wrote, my projects are going very nicely. Wally is still alive and growing very quickly. He is very loud and very strong with big paws...I think he’ll probably be a big dog, if he lives to adulthood, that is. He already had one near-death experience earlier this week. I swore I saw him go completely underneath the tires of a car, but somehow he just limped away with a sore back leg and a small cut. It was traumatizing nonetheless –probably more so for me than for him, he was running around 2 hours later. So it’s back to being tied to his rope, which my host father likes to call prison. I talk about him in class with my students, so now they always ask about him, and want me to bring him to school. I think mostly everyone just gets a huge kick out of the white girl (or mataan ahset) with the dog she treats like a person. oh well...goal 3 of Peace Corps Mission: Bring American culture to host country community. Check.
Paddling is going great. I know so many more people in my town now that I’ve been paddling for a couple months. We’re getting closer to the final races at the end of this month. We practice twice a day (once at 5:30 am, again at 5:00 pm), I usually only go in the afternoon. I’m definitely not a morning person and it’s really hard for me to socialize and be peppy that early in the day – I’d rather not expose the whole town to my grumpy morning self.
My garden is...not doing so great. It’s finished and we planted some cabbage, but they aren’t thriving like I imagined they would when I first thought of starting a garden. Out of the 20 or so we planted we’re down to about 7. I joked around with my host parents when we first started the garden that I hoped I hadn’t inherited my mother’s black thumb of death...I’m trying to nurse the poor little guys back to health, but I may very well be doing more harm than good.
We are about to finish the third quarter at school. My students are now completely comfortable with me in the classroom...their behavior has been more difficult to manage lately because of it. I’m tossing around the idea of trying to start an after school program of sorts for next school year. I haven’t done anything more than just talk with some other teachers about the idea, but they seem to think it would be good. It would be a way to incorporate some art, sports and maybe even music into the curriculum. Like any development project, it should strive to be sustainable – meaning it would still be here after the person who initiated it (me) leaves. I read somewhere that development workers should strive to put themselves out of business. Great quote; it should be a prerequisite mission statement for all development organizations around the world.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Travel Skills 101
It may seem a somewhat self evident observation, but in my opinion of all the problems a visitor encounters in his or her travels the most difficult is the utter foreignness and inevitable conspicuousness he or she faces on a daily basis while traveling abroad. Although people like to romanticize the experience as the “joys of traveling,” I believe it is at these times when a person’s real “travel” skills – patience, creativity, acceptance, and daring – are put to the test.
Haven’t we always been told, “Patience is a virtue?” This is nowhere so true as in a foreign country. Between conquering language barriers, bartering the price of the fish you need to cook dinner, navigating foreign streets without getting lost (or maybe while already lost), waiting for everything – buses, taxis, people, animals – it’s good to be able to take a deep breath and practice the art of patience.
I have always said that creativity is not one of my strengths – but after joining the Peace Corps I’ve reconsidered this assumption, perhaps I have always been too hard on myself. As any traveler can attest to, replicating even the easiest recipe from home can be a test of a person’s creativity. After all, how does one make chili without chili powder? Answer: lots of hot sauce, some salt and a little hot pepper.
Before embarking on any sort of adventure – the big ones across the world, or the little ones down the street to the store – it is best to accept the fact that you will forever be conspicuous in everything you say and do. Unfortunately, there is no hiding for the weary traveler. Seeing as the visitor is at all times susceptible to attention in all its forms – the good, the bad, and the really, really annoying – it is best to adopt a “go with the flow” attitude. Accepting now that those people in the market will follow you for blocks and blocks trying to sell you the ugly monkey-head statue that you’ve already said, a hundred times, you didn’t want, will save some unneeded stress in the future.
Upon taking that first step out of the front door the traveler must recognize his or her spirit of adventure. This is unquestionably the universal travel skill that will be called upon infinitely more often than all the others combined. It takes daring to jump into unknown and, almost certainly, uncomfortable situations. But, as I’ve found in my limited traveling experience, a good sense of humor and the ability to laugh at oneself are the best recipes for a successful adventure experience.
I recently began my sixth month living in Kosrae. Although I am far from being considered any sort of “local”, every day I am getting better and better at blending in: my language skills are improving every day; my wardrobe is slowly morphing into those of other Kosraean women – I have enough skirts to clothe a small feminist army; my food preparation skills are amazing – I can gut a fish, slice it, salt it and fry it with the best of em. And though I may never escape the visitor status while I’m here, the skills I have learned, the people I have met, and the friends I have made more than make up for the conspicuousness of the title Peace Corps Volunteer.
Haven’t we always been told, “Patience is a virtue?” This is nowhere so true as in a foreign country. Between conquering language barriers, bartering the price of the fish you need to cook dinner, navigating foreign streets without getting lost (or maybe while already lost), waiting for everything – buses, taxis, people, animals – it’s good to be able to take a deep breath and practice the art of patience.
I have always said that creativity is not one of my strengths – but after joining the Peace Corps I’ve reconsidered this assumption, perhaps I have always been too hard on myself. As any traveler can attest to, replicating even the easiest recipe from home can be a test of a person’s creativity. After all, how does one make chili without chili powder? Answer: lots of hot sauce, some salt and a little hot pepper.
Before embarking on any sort of adventure – the big ones across the world, or the little ones down the street to the store – it is best to accept the fact that you will forever be conspicuous in everything you say and do. Unfortunately, there is no hiding for the weary traveler. Seeing as the visitor is at all times susceptible to attention in all its forms – the good, the bad, and the really, really annoying – it is best to adopt a “go with the flow” attitude. Accepting now that those people in the market will follow you for blocks and blocks trying to sell you the ugly monkey-head statue that you’ve already said, a hundred times, you didn’t want, will save some unneeded stress in the future.
Upon taking that first step out of the front door the traveler must recognize his or her spirit of adventure. This is unquestionably the universal travel skill that will be called upon infinitely more often than all the others combined. It takes daring to jump into unknown and, almost certainly, uncomfortable situations. But, as I’ve found in my limited traveling experience, a good sense of humor and the ability to laugh at oneself are the best recipes for a successful adventure experience.
I recently began my sixth month living in Kosrae. Although I am far from being considered any sort of “local”, every day I am getting better and better at blending in: my language skills are improving every day; my wardrobe is slowly morphing into those of other Kosraean women – I have enough skirts to clothe a small feminist army; my food preparation skills are amazing – I can gut a fish, slice it, salt it and fry it with the best of em. And though I may never escape the visitor status while I’m here, the skills I have learned, the people I have met, and the friends I have made more than make up for the conspicuousness of the title Peace Corps Volunteer.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Holiday Adventures
1/8/09
First, I must apologize for my poor blog management over the last couple of months. It is most certainly not for lack of news that I have been neglecting to post entries; since completing my training I have been very busy getting used to island life again. Since I last posted Christmas and New Year’s have come and gone, both of which were very eventful occasions involving lots of singing, eating, marching, candy throwing, water balloon tossing, sparkler twirling and dancing.
Christmas celebration is unique in Kosrae – the main activity is marching and singing. It is difficult to describe what exactly Christmas marching is (men, women, boys and girls of all ages lined up one behind the other singing and marching in patterns – some of the females carry large stars on poles, all of the males wave stars back/forth/up/down). I encourage you to uTube search Kosrae Christmas marching to see a real life version.
I spent New Year’s Eve bbq-ing with family and friends, which was started, incidentally, after the New Year mark, at around 1 am. Someone brought out the sparklers at about 3 am and at about 5 am started a small dance party. I saw my first Kosrae sunrise about an hour later and finally went to sleep at 7 am. New Year’s Day was spent watching/dodging water balloons and water guns that all kids were aiming at passing cars and trucks.
After 2 weeks of Christmas break I started back at school on January 5. I had decided with my counterpart that I would officially begin teaching at the beginning of the 3rd quarter, which began after break. So as of Jan 5 I am teaching 8th and 9th grade English lit and possibly 9th grade social studies in the near future. It has been very interesting so far. I just got done with a unit on Ancient Chinese with my 8th graders – we made paper (like the ancient chinese did) and they wrote chinese characters on them. The 9th grade is learning about metaphors, similes, and symbolism. I have no idea on any given day how much of the lesson my students actually understand. Overall, I honestly think I am learning more Kosraean from them then they are learning English from me.
On a completely different note, I have 3 new projects for the new year that are intended to try and help me stay busy during my down time.
Project #1: Garden – with the help of my host family I am in the beginning stages of starting a garden to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables including cucumbers, watermelon, papaya, lettuce, and bell peppers. So far this has entailed digging up a grove of white ginger (which I now loath not only because it is a terribly invasive plant species but mostly because of the back-breaking work it took to dig up), pouring boiling water into crab holes to ensure that no veggies will be sabotaged by hungry land crabs, and surrounding the garden with coconut tree trunks to keep out the herd of piglets that run around our yard. We still have to cover it with fresh soil and get seedlings from the agriculture center at the community college.
Project #2: Paddling – after watching for the last month, I finally started paddling this past week. It was the ultimate shock of the century for everyone in my town to see that the white person knew how to paddle. It’s been a really great way to get to know more people. The canoes are similar to those in Hawaii, the main difference being the placement of the outrigger – it is on the right side here instead of the left.
Project #3: Puppy – that’s right, I got a puppy. A few weeks ago one of our dogs died (don’t know why, he wasn’t old, general conclusion is that he ate something bad), so we were down to just 1. A fellow PCV had 4 puppies, in addition to 5 other grown dogs, so she was more than willing to send one my way. His name is Wally, he is black and white, he follows me around everywhere, and has taken to biting my feet. Even though I’ve grown up with dogs, I forgot how much work puppies are. Luckily he lives outside so no worries with house training, but between waking up at 6:00 am to feed him, finding a rope he cannot chew through, and following him around making sure he doesn’t get run over, he is quite a handful. But I love him already.
First, I must apologize for my poor blog management over the last couple of months. It is most certainly not for lack of news that I have been neglecting to post entries; since completing my training I have been very busy getting used to island life again. Since I last posted Christmas and New Year’s have come and gone, both of which were very eventful occasions involving lots of singing, eating, marching, candy throwing, water balloon tossing, sparkler twirling and dancing.
Christmas celebration is unique in Kosrae – the main activity is marching and singing. It is difficult to describe what exactly Christmas marching is (men, women, boys and girls of all ages lined up one behind the other singing and marching in patterns – some of the females carry large stars on poles, all of the males wave stars back/forth/up/down). I encourage you to uTube search Kosrae Christmas marching to see a real life version.
I spent New Year’s Eve bbq-ing with family and friends, which was started, incidentally, after the New Year mark, at around 1 am. Someone brought out the sparklers at about 3 am and at about 5 am started a small dance party. I saw my first Kosrae sunrise about an hour later and finally went to sleep at 7 am. New Year’s Day was spent watching/dodging water balloons and water guns that all kids were aiming at passing cars and trucks.
After 2 weeks of Christmas break I started back at school on January 5. I had decided with my counterpart that I would officially begin teaching at the beginning of the 3rd quarter, which began after break. So as of Jan 5 I am teaching 8th and 9th grade English lit and possibly 9th grade social studies in the near future. It has been very interesting so far. I just got done with a unit on Ancient Chinese with my 8th graders – we made paper (like the ancient chinese did) and they wrote chinese characters on them. The 9th grade is learning about metaphors, similes, and symbolism. I have no idea on any given day how much of the lesson my students actually understand. Overall, I honestly think I am learning more Kosraean from them then they are learning English from me.
On a completely different note, I have 3 new projects for the new year that are intended to try and help me stay busy during my down time.
Project #1: Garden – with the help of my host family I am in the beginning stages of starting a garden to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables including cucumbers, watermelon, papaya, lettuce, and bell peppers. So far this has entailed digging up a grove of white ginger (which I now loath not only because it is a terribly invasive plant species but mostly because of the back-breaking work it took to dig up), pouring boiling water into crab holes to ensure that no veggies will be sabotaged by hungry land crabs, and surrounding the garden with coconut tree trunks to keep out the herd of piglets that run around our yard. We still have to cover it with fresh soil and get seedlings from the agriculture center at the community college.
Project #2: Paddling – after watching for the last month, I finally started paddling this past week. It was the ultimate shock of the century for everyone in my town to see that the white person knew how to paddle. It’s been a really great way to get to know more people. The canoes are similar to those in Hawaii, the main difference being the placement of the outrigger – it is on the right side here instead of the left.
Project #3: Puppy – that’s right, I got a puppy. A few weeks ago one of our dogs died (don’t know why, he wasn’t old, general conclusion is that he ate something bad), so we were down to just 1. A fellow PCV had 4 puppies, in addition to 5 other grown dogs, so she was more than willing to send one my way. His name is Wally, he is black and white, he follows me around everywhere, and has taken to biting my feet. Even though I’ve grown up with dogs, I forgot how much work puppies are. Luckily he lives outside so no worries with house training, but between waking up at 6:00 am to feed him, finding a rope he cannot chew through, and following him around making sure he doesn’t get run over, he is quite a handful. But I love him already.
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