Ran allem!!!
Tiro me fairo aami monson... (that's: "hello, excuse me everybody" - typical salutation when you start a greeting)
Well I'm alive and in Pohnpei. Satawan is great - realllllllllllly great. I will take some time to offer some real reflections on this first leg of the journey. I will be in Chuuk tomorrow, but just wanted to take a moment now to thank you for all the love, prayers, and support you've offered me and my family. The first three months of service are definitely a very challenging period, but I feel like I've been through the refiner's fire and am stronger for the next part of my service. So thank you very, very much.
Feel free to leave comments on this with specific questions that I can answer on my next post. Killisou chappur aami monson! O le no!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
not 'bye', just 'see ya later'
Well the day has finally come (or is coming). I will be leaving on December 12 for Satawan! My host father is in Weno and has arranged for me to take the FSM Coast Guard Patrol Boat with him out to the Mortlocks. The ride will thus be faster and smoother than if I were taking one of the smaller fishing boats. Praise God!
At the present time, I am running around town buying supplies to take out, sending emails, sending mail, writing this blog, etc. The immediacy of this has given me a sudden burst of excitement about getting out there, but I am trying to pace myself because once on-island, things will be much s l o w e r...
Mortlocks HS, where I will teach, has sadly not begun their school year yet. The Chuuk Dept of Education's shipment of food was postponed to Satawan (for various reasons...) which delayed their start. Because students come to the HS from each of the several Mortlocks Islands, they have to stay with host families while they attend school. Part of the deal is that the state will provide lunchs to remove a burden from the families. No lunches = No school.
Thankfully, the HS just got solar panels which will allow for night classes. This, in addition to Saturday classes, will hopefully get us caught up and salvage some of the summer. We'll see!
I will be back in Weno in March for an in-service training of all volunteers for a few days. At that time, I will be able to give many updates about my first 2.5 months there. To everyone who has posted comments: thank you so much for you thoughts and prayers and well-wishes: I wish there were some way I could hit "reply" to your posts. I go with your support behind me!
PEACE and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Alex
At the present time, I am running around town buying supplies to take out, sending emails, sending mail, writing this blog, etc. The immediacy of this has given me a sudden burst of excitement about getting out there, but I am trying to pace myself because once on-island, things will be much s l o w e r...
Mortlocks HS, where I will teach, has sadly not begun their school year yet. The Chuuk Dept of Education's shipment of food was postponed to Satawan (for various reasons...) which delayed their start. Because students come to the HS from each of the several Mortlocks Islands, they have to stay with host families while they attend school. Part of the deal is that the state will provide lunchs to remove a burden from the families. No lunches = No school.
Thankfully, the HS just got solar panels which will allow for night classes. This, in addition to Saturday classes, will hopefully get us caught up and salvage some of the summer. We'll see!
I will be back in Weno in March for an in-service training of all volunteers for a few days. At that time, I will be able to give many updates about my first 2.5 months there. To everyone who has posted comments: thank you so much for you thoughts and prayers and well-wishes: I wish there were some way I could hit "reply" to your posts. I go with your support behind me!
PEACE and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Alex
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Some of the volunteers and myself celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday at a restaurant by our office, which served a giant buffet, complete with two turkeys, mashed potatoes and gravy, a pig, and desserts galore. Jake (VA native, serving on Romanum), Michael (OH native, serving on Ta), Suzi (OH native serving on Kuttu), and I went around and told what we were thankful for on this most delicious of holidays. Family, new friends, a great volunteer community, faith, High Tide Restaurant for providing the meal, the weather, and sharing this experience of a lifetime.
Here are some more things that I am thankful for, especially today.
1. Telephones, which allowed me to call home and talk to my extended family and find out first-hand how the Lions are destroying Michigan.
2. Rain, which comes with cooling wind, and replenishes our source of running water.
3. The internet and email, which apart from keeping me in touch with my best friends, has enabled a number of neat conversational opportunities with Kristin (PCV Benin) and the author of Scratch Beginnings.
4. My brother and this new-fangled ukulele; without Ben's know-how, I'd still be tuning it in front of the computer...
5. You, for reading this, thinking about me, and offering support in so many ways.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Love,
Alex
Here are some more things that I am thankful for, especially today.
1. Telephones, which allowed me to call home and talk to my extended family and find out first-hand how the Lions are destroying Michigan.
2. Rain, which comes with cooling wind, and replenishes our source of running water.
3. The internet and email, which apart from keeping me in touch with my best friends, has enabled a number of neat conversational opportunities with Kristin (PCV Benin) and the author of Scratch Beginnings.
4. My brother and this new-fangled ukulele; without Ben's know-how, I'd still be tuning it in front of the computer...
5. You, for reading this, thinking about me, and offering support in so many ways.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Love,
Alex
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