Freaking Out

When I see little black bugs crawling all over the water seal toilet, I freak out.

I often amuse my host family by freaking out over the various insects that like to invade my space (or my chocolate).  You would think that after being here for over a year I would be used to them by now.  Not quite.  But I am well equipped with a can of Raid to go after the little buggers.

Behold the toilet

When I see my fellow PCVs all together in the same place, I freak out.

M77’s Mid Service Training was held at the eco-friendly Village Hotel.  I slept on a water bed under a mosquito net, housed in a thatched-roof bungalow.  Volunteers from all over the Caroline Islands came back to rainy Pohnpei to reflect on the first year of service and prepare for the next.  Our training encompassed a variety of subjects, including sexual assault and intervention, communication, and content-based teaching.  More important than the training though, was the time in which we all bonded over our crazy experiences navigating through Micronesian and Palauan culture.  I am honored to serve with this incredible group of people.

Coming in after the midnight flight

When I watch my students flawlessly perform their skits, I freak out.

This quarter has kept me and my students very busy.  My freshmen practiced subject-verb agreement, learned vocabulary words, read Micronesian legends, wrote about personal memories in their journals, and created and executed skits based on both topics I gave them and topics of their own choosing.  I was stunned at how well my students did in acting out their completely English, completely memorized skits.  My goal was to give these students confidence in their ability to communicate in English, and I think together we accomplished this.

My juniors embarked on reading adventures with Island of the Blue Dolphins, Call It Courage, and The Pearl.  Thanks so much again to my family and friends who sent me copies – they were much appreciated and fully used.  They also learned vocabulary words, wrote essays about different prompts, journaled about future dreams, and faced off in engaging debates.

Some of my freshmen girls

When I think about going back to the states in less than a week, I freak out.

Not in a bad way, mind you.  My time in Pohnpei, especially at my site, has been absolutely wonderful (if you can’t tell from my previous entries, hehe).  I can only hope that I’ve given a little something in return for all that’s been given to me.  However, I know that without the support of everyone back home I would not have been successful here.  I can’t wait to see you all (especially my newest family member) but don’t freak out if I start acting a bit strange!

Season’s Greetings from Pohnpei

Feasting

Let me walk you through a typical Pohnpeian feast, or kamadipw.

Here’s the setup: Feast season in Pohnpei coincides with the harvest of yams, normally starting in September and running through November.  Feasts are entire village celebrations of the traditional leaders and of the harvest.  Food, dancing, and sakau abound.  There are two major feasts Pohnpeian villages can have.  The most important one is the kamadipw en wahu, the feast for the Nahnmwarki (king) of the municipality, of which Pohnpei has six.  I happen to live in the most populated municipality, Madolenihmw, where its Nahnmwarki is considered the highest ranking in all of Pohnpei.  So, if you can imagine, feasts get pretty intense.  The second most important is the kamadipw en kousapw, the feast a Pohnpeian village has to celebrate its Soumas (village chief).  My village, Deleur, recently held its kamadipw en kousapw.  It’s a small village, populated by 50 or so people.  However, that does not mean its feast had to be small.

Since my pahpa and nohno have high traditional titles, they are always expected to provide a lot for their village feasts.  Actually, everybody who attends a feast is expected to bring something to share because they will get something in return (except crazy mehn wai who normally have no idea what is going on).  This is no problem because Pohnpei has such a communalistic, collectivistic culture.  Everyone is ALWAYS willing to share what they have for the benefit of all.  Moving on…a day before the feast my host family and I went to town to buy food for making numerous trays (including rice, chicken, hotdogs, juice, snacks) and gifts to pass out (like shirts, mwaramwars, fabrics).

The day of the feast, my nohno and host sister got up at 3AM (!) to cook all of the food and prepare the trays to bring

My pahpa also went out to buy a pig that would be one of many to be butchered, roasted, and passed out to the feast-goers

Since this feast was in walking distance of my house, I was driven there half way and walked the other half (don’t judge).  You can tell how long a feast has been going on by the amount of people, pigs, yams, and sakau pounding you can see and hear.

The main part of a feast is held in the nahs.  Yes, that is a dead dog.

Here’s where the pigs are cooked.

 No feast is complete without music…

…or sakau.

Look at all those yams!

Just a small sampling of trays that would be given away at lunch time.

 As token mehn wai and host daughter of high titled parents, I am normally made to sit in the nahs with other women.  It’s a place of honor, but also a place where I won’t get in the way of anything.  From my vantage point I could see pretty much everything of importance.

The traditional leaders being honored sit in the front of the nahs.

The pounding and drinking of sakau goes on for the entire length of the feast.

Once the dancing starts it doesn’t stop!

 First gifts are brought up to the front then passed back out.

The MC (the guy standing up without his shirt on) dictates the pace of the events.

Food preparations are done entirely by women.

The village Soumas giving a speech thanking everyone for coming.

Next comes the passing of the food.  The MC first calls out the titles of those highest ranking who get the biggest and best trays.  Then all of the food is gradually passed out to everyone else.

Female food line!

My nohno is the one in the black and red shirt putting trays in the nahs.

 After we all eat, we watch the entertainment in the form of organized dances and speeches given by prominent community members.

My little host sister (purple) and student (red) had dance practices for a week.

The Principal of a local elementary school reminding everyone that they need to take responsibility for Pohnpei’s future and not rely solely on U.S. funds.

Last is the giving and taking of sakau, yams, gifts, and pig parts

Sakau plants being brought up

My host sister (purple) participated in passing some of the gifts out.

The Soumas really got into the swing of things!

Yes, those pigs are indeed flayed open.

Bonus visit by the Governor of Pohnpei!

My pahpa (purple) helped decide the people in which to pass out the pig parts to

Feasts are fun but rather tiring events.  I even danced a bit at this feast (sorry, no evidence).  If you, dear reader, ever come to Pohnpei make sure you attend at least one of these kamadipws!  You will surely be expected to dance but you will definitely have a good time.

The day after.