Two posts on the same day - sorry, but this story is worth telling. While I am here on the big island (Weno, or sometimes I just call it "Chuuk" for simplicity sake), I have a host family to stay with - mostly so Peace Corps doesn't have to pay for a hotel for a number of weeks for me (and the rest of the outer island volunteers, too). I am now living with the extended family of my new permanent Moch host family here in Weno. They live on the other side of Weno away from the busy downtown, and it is incredibly beautiful there - even a river leading up to a waterfall!
The one problem - and yes, there is only one - is a significant one, because it has to do with the bathroom situation. Attached to the house is a patio, and on the end of the patio are two rooms which adjoin. One room is the bathroom (toilet and bucket shower), and the other room is where my extended family's grandmother stays. So far, so good. Until I went to take my shower the other night.
The two rooms connect via a door in the wall. As I entered the bathroom and closed that door behind me, I turned to the second door connecting to grandma's room and pulled it shut. Only, it doesn't shut - it only goes about half way before it gets stuck on a pole that is in the way. WHY IS THERE A POLE IN THE WAY??? Oh, I forgot to tell you: because Grandma is blind, and when she needs to use the potty, she follows the railing that rests on the pole into the bathroom, where a second railing directs her to the toilet.
Needless to say, I haven't used the toilet at my new host family's house. Because from the seat, not only can I see into grandma's room, but I can see grandma, too. And even though grandma can't see me, she can still hear me. And this makes the situation a little unbearable.
Last night, my host dad told me to use the other shower room, because I think they realize that its a bit awkward for me. And barring any "emergencies", I'll probably mangage for the next week or so until I can get out to Moch.
Ha!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Movin to Moch!
Well, times they are a-changin for me here in Micronesia. When I arrived to Satowan a few weeks ago, I fell back into my groove and things were looking good. Because it is summertime, I could feel that things were different on the island. Many of the faces were either new (families visiting Satowan for the summer months) or missing (finally a chance to escape cabin-fever up on Weno). Enough people remained, though, to make it fun and worthwhile.
That is, until my host father Richard gave me the news: he would be leaving on the first boat to go up to Weno for the rest of the summer, and taking with him those family members who were still on Satowan. My heart sunk. This was precisely what I dreaded happening - having him leave, and having to repeat another month or two alone, only this time, since there would be no family left on Satowan, I'd have absolutely no support. So I shared with Richard how I felt and what my concerns were, and he apologized but said he had to go to Weno for Dept of Education matters and just didn't have a choice. I told him while he was gone, that I would start a search for a new host family for me on Satowan, and he agreed it was probably for the best.
The next day, Imauo, the Peace Corps leader in Chuuk, arrived to the Mortlocks with three of my PCV friends: Jake, Ben, and John. After talking with Imauo about the situation, we felt it was best that I move off Satowan entirely. Partly this decision was pragmatic (there weren't enough people on the island to find a suitable host family to live with on such short notice), and part of it was cultural (because Richard is the island's paramount chief, it may put a new family in a tight spot culturally to take responsibility away from the chief). By divine providence, another island was ready for a volunteer to come - and, not only that, but a family from that same island had been begging Imauo here in Weno for a PCV to come live with them!
I have met my new host family (Mathias and Carleen) and their kids and nephews, nieces, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, and everyone else under the sun who you could possible imagine that might live with us. The family is much larger than the one on Satowan, which in many ways, is an answer to my concern of loneliness. I will still be teaching at the high school level, 10th and maybe 11th grade English. The school is technically a "junior high school", but I will be helping to submit paperwork to have it host 11th and 12th grades, thus becoming a real high school, the second in the Mortlocks. Competition in education will benefit both schools in the Mortlocks (the other being where I used to teach on Satowan), as too many students and not enough teachers is really hurting the educational quality on Satowan.
I am excited to make this move to Moch. I have spent a good deal of time in prayer and meditation, talking to my parents and friends, and also with Peace Corps program officers about what to expect with the move. It is a stressful time (I can tell because I've had a canker sore for a week that won't go away...UGH), but I don't think its time for me to be finished with Peace Corps yet, so I will push through. In a few months, anyway, it will be time to come home for Christmas. So that's the news so far...
My address will stay the same; the only difference is my island of service: Moch, not Satowan.
That is, until my host father Richard gave me the news: he would be leaving on the first boat to go up to Weno for the rest of the summer, and taking with him those family members who were still on Satowan. My heart sunk. This was precisely what I dreaded happening - having him leave, and having to repeat another month or two alone, only this time, since there would be no family left on Satowan, I'd have absolutely no support. So I shared with Richard how I felt and what my concerns were, and he apologized but said he had to go to Weno for Dept of Education matters and just didn't have a choice. I told him while he was gone, that I would start a search for a new host family for me on Satowan, and he agreed it was probably for the best.
The next day, Imauo, the Peace Corps leader in Chuuk, arrived to the Mortlocks with three of my PCV friends: Jake, Ben, and John. After talking with Imauo about the situation, we felt it was best that I move off Satowan entirely. Partly this decision was pragmatic (there weren't enough people on the island to find a suitable host family to live with on such short notice), and part of it was cultural (because Richard is the island's paramount chief, it may put a new family in a tight spot culturally to take responsibility away from the chief). By divine providence, another island was ready for a volunteer to come - and, not only that, but a family from that same island had been begging Imauo here in Weno for a PCV to come live with them!
I have met my new host family (Mathias and Carleen) and their kids and nephews, nieces, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, and everyone else under the sun who you could possible imagine that might live with us. The family is much larger than the one on Satowan, which in many ways, is an answer to my concern of loneliness. I will still be teaching at the high school level, 10th and maybe 11th grade English. The school is technically a "junior high school", but I will be helping to submit paperwork to have it host 11th and 12th grades, thus becoming a real high school, the second in the Mortlocks. Competition in education will benefit both schools in the Mortlocks (the other being where I used to teach on Satowan), as too many students and not enough teachers is really hurting the educational quality on Satowan.
I am excited to make this move to Moch. I have spent a good deal of time in prayer and meditation, talking to my parents and friends, and also with Peace Corps program officers about what to expect with the move. It is a stressful time (I can tell because I've had a canker sore for a week that won't go away...UGH), but I don't think its time for me to be finished with Peace Corps yet, so I will push through. In a few months, anyway, it will be time to come home for Christmas. So that's the news so far...
My address will stay the same; the only difference is my island of service: Moch, not Satowan.
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