Man vs. Nature

Humans and nature have always fought to claim territory. Of course the battles between humans and humans have been bloodier, but the silent battle of nature is relentless and powerful. In many cases, man seeks to control nature and make it organized, subservient and to exploit natural resources for personal gain without concern for environmental ramifications. Every time I see a flower nudging up through a fissure in concrete, I am amazed at the immense will of this tiny life form.

Here on Pohnpei, the relationship between man and nature is more obvious. This transparency is due to how closely the two interact. There is, of course, a constant struggle for control, but there seems to be a more harmonious give-and-take. 

Driveways and outdoor gardens are lined with potted plants, either to control the size of the plant and keep it from spreading, or so that the plant can be sold or given away. People live closer to the land. They play and work in it.

Where there is forest, it is dense and plentiful. One day, I saw workers cleaning out a patch of dense forest from which the grave sites for the land owner’s family were revealed. I was told that the trees had not always been there, but that it grows in every year and then must be chopped down again.

There are no cemetaries here. People bury family on family land. Our landlord's parents are buried in a room attached to our neighbors' house. 

When I was little, spending summers in Traverse City, Michigan, I would make forts from natural materials. Once the fort was "constructed," I would find a swath of pine with which to sweep the forest floor to reveal a nice clean dirt floor (up to play fort standards). Most land-owners here take the same amount of care in the ground all around their home. To clear debris, they make and use 

outdoor stick brooms made of a bundle of the dried center ribs of palm leaves.

Forests take over abandoned cars, houses and the road around the island at rapid speed. 

Machetes are carried around to cut back the forest and reveal the road or path again. 

For years I've been saying that I am genetically designed to live in a tropical climate, with the length of my appendages being good for rapid body-temperature cooling. This is usually said through chattering teeth.

I am thankful. I feel blessed for the opportunity to live in this natural paradise. In terms of survival, there is no need for heavy clothes, plenty of food always in season, lots of seafood in the sea and fresh water falls from the sky daily. Nature provides everything the people here need. Meanwhile, the cargo ships provide what the people think they want, and across-the-board handouts diminish the potential for growth in an otherwise industrious society. Maybe that I why I love micro-loan programs. But I digress. Living here has made me feel closer to nature as well. I don't feel the need to cut it back, but my appreciation of the strength of the forest has intensified. Is it possible to root for both sides of opposing forces? Maybe only when the two are aiming for the same thing. 

Cutural Heritage

Some of my favorite memories from Micronesia will be the displays of cultural heritage. It makes me a little wistful for my own strong traditions, like doing the hokey pokey. No, I do have stronger and better traditions than that, but not as unified. The intricate dances, stories, chants, songs and weaving that I've seen here on Pohnpei are all truly impressive. These photos are mainly from Culture Day and Yap Day celebrations.

Nan Madol and Kiproi Waterfall

From a young age my parents have instilled in me an appreciation of "old broken stuff".
It is a goal of mine to see all the sites of the Ancient Wonders of the World and Pohnpei, Micronesia has a mysterious and monumnetal treasure. Nan Madol is a tie for second of the ones I've seen thus far, so I've added it to my own list.

Nan Madol is about 2,000 years old and made of naturally-shaped basalt columns some of which weigh over twelve tons and it is a wonder how it's 30 foot-high walls and 20 acres of buildings could have been constructed.

Walking around the temple and some of the larger fortresses is fascinating, but to see the entire complex...

a kayak tour is recommended. Contact The Village Resort for an all-day tour that includes swimming with manta rays (I swam with eight!), a private island picnic, kayaking at Nan Madol and Kiproi waterfall.  

The condensed legend of Nan Madol says that it was constructed by two brothers over two-hundred years and the stones were floated from a far away land.

 

Kiproi Waterfall… Wow! 

Check with the local EPA to see if it is safe to swim at this, or any waterfalls on Pohnpei. 

Another adventure with great memories.

The grass seems greener

Tendencies to wish for things other people have are common human attributes. In the United States there is an entire industry based on charging people with white skin to sit in a high-powered easy-bake oven to darken and damage their skin. Here on Pohnpei, where people have dark skin, there are whitening soaps and lotions. Go figure. Wouldn't it be great if we all appreciated the fact that we are all made to be unique and exactly the way we should be and we didn't try to compare ourselves to others?

Better Than the Brochure

Ahnd is a string of atoll islands outside of Pohnpei's lagoon. It is a one to three hour boat ride from Kolonia and well worth the effort. We went camping for three days and two nights with a group of friends. It was amazing!

We each took a meal slot, so I only had to prepare and clean-up from one meal and was served the rest of the time. It was pretty much like car camping as we brought coolers and chairs and had ice for our beverages.

 Kumar's boat

setting up camp 

                                                          catch and release coconut crabs

deluxe tree fort

tent with a view

hammock - the best way to sleep in the rainforest.

The interior of the island is floored with moss-covered corals.

beach butt

father daughter swim

the common kitchen

nap time

The snorkeling is unbelievably spectacular and worth the trip to Micronesia in and of itself.

There are many different crabs and one hitched a ride into the tent on my skirt only to be put off by my screaming like a little girl as it tried to pinch me in the dark. I felt the need to write large letters in the sand "You wish you were Here!", so I did.

We will take home great memories and a few seashells too. 

projects

Part of the allure for us to move to this small tropical island is that I would be able to stay at home with the kids and spend more time with them. I am not working, but have set several goals and projects for myself to accomplish while here and the following projects have allowed me to enrich my own life while interacting with local people and attempting to provide a catalyst for positive change. The following is a list of the projects I've worked on while living here for ten months:

I set up a (simple blog-like interface) website for my daughter's school.  Current progress: Last week was the third meeting in a row to be cancelled because the school administration (who asked for the meeting) forgot. In November I gave the passwords and a lengthy admin tutorial so they could populate the site with content, but they changed something and need another tutorial.  www.pohnpeisdaschool.com.

Before moving here to Pohnpei I contacted Girl Scouts to see what was available on the island for my daughter. The director of Girl Scouts of America in New York contacted me herself and we had a few telephone conversations where she told me of her efforts to get Girl Scouting going here. She has visited the island a few times and sent someone to live here for four months to work on setting scouting up, but all the efforts fizzle when they leave. I was told to contact specific women on the island who were involved but not proactive about Girl Scouting here and to not go around them. When I arrived in Pohnpei Girl Scouts was not an established organization and the women were all suspicious of each other about the missing $25,000 sent to them three years ago by Girl Scouting headquarters. I tried for many months just to gather this group of women as a board of directors, but they have varying degrees in their level of committment. Together with Whitney Hoot and Cori Jo Jahnsen we have created the Leadership training and resource guidebook, a Girl's handbook, a year full of challenges, several events and six troops. Foreigners tend to come here, try to change things quickly by throwing a bunch of money at a situation and then leave. Girl Scouts is about giving girls opportunities to try and learn new things. I have learned to slow my expectations and progress rate so that the local women involved feel confident in the system we created and want to follow through with it. We created a Peace Corps Response Volunteer proposal so the organization can have a dedicated person involved and continue.
Fingers Crossed. www.facebook.com/girlscoutspohnpei and www.girlscoutspohnpei.blogspot.com .


I am currently writing a grant to NSF (National Science Foundation) and NEH for funding to document the critically-endangered language of Mwoakillese. I connected an American organization Living Tongues  to partner with IREI (Island Research Education Initiative) in the endeavor of documenting the island language and disemminating the data through a dynamic website with a word search function, linguistic anthropology photo journal with idioms-to-direct meaning translations and an audio dictionary with wave form harmonographic display. It is a very good thing the grant will be reviewed by experts before submittal because the more I research about linguistics, the less I feel I know. How is it possible to spend five months focused on a subject only end up knowing less than before beginning?

The Rotary International Club of Pohnpei approached me to create a playground proposal: www.pohnpeiplayground.wordpress.com . From what I hear, the playground money is being raised from off-island donations and  the forecast is positive for building the only public playground. Not everyone in the menwai (foreigner) community are happy about the playground deisgn or proposed materials so hopefully there will be a community survey to reimagine the equipment and a community-based fundraiser so locals feel a sense of ownership and help to take care of it. The last time a playground was built, the entire thing was dismantled to be used for firewood and the poles for plumbing, sad.

Playschool is Monday through Friday 8am to 12 noon. My son Alexander was too young (not yet three) to attend preschool, so we invited two of his friends to join us in leaning-based play. We have morning meeting and alternating 20 minute activities with a snack and lunch break. We are adventurers and learners and friends all together. We play pretend and learn about restaurants or post offices or the bank by pretending to run one. We love to learn memorized order facts like the days, months, alphabet, ordinals, etc. with hopscotches. It is a visual, audible and kinetic way to play-learn new things. We build things (spaceships, cars, trains, houses, forts and boats) out of boxes. We go on adventures. We go on little hikes and visit the library across the street for storytime and we make yummy snacks together. It is a mess that I clean up everyday, but I love it. I have seen all three students grow and learn to use their words with each other to resolve disputes. It is pretty amazing and I get to be home with my family and raise my kids while providing social interaction too.

I suppose I enjoy being busy and I will look forward to having new projects to start on when we arrive at our next adventure. I like to think I have helped in some small way. I at least feel better when I try.



Pictured here are three two-year-olds washing local apples. We later made ice coconut-apple ice cream from the tart little apples and ate it at the birthday party we organized for our best stuffed animal friends.

 Going on a bear hunt, we're not afraid.

Girl Scouts Pohnpei troop #1 friendship circle