Hello, November!

UPDATE: PICTURES ARE UP! There's a link in an earlier post!

Time is really flying. It feels like yesterday that we started Phase II of training, but now we have less than a week left until we move to our permanent sites. I think everyone is eager to get started with their assignments. Our Swear-in Ceremony is on November 6th. Both our current and future host families will attend. Kevin, our country director, will give a speech, and we’ll be recognized as full-fledged Peace Corps Volunteers (instead of just trainees). After weeks of practicing, we’ve perfected our Pohnpeian stick dance that we’ll perform during the ceremony. We trainees designed and ordered shirts that say “Peace Corps Micronesia” on them, which I’m looking forward to having and wearing that day. If things work out, we’ll also wear grass skirts, but we’re still in the process of finding enough, but if not, we’ll go with local Pohnpeian skirts.

Last week went well. On Friday, we all boated over to one of the 30 small islands that surround Pohnpei proper. The tide is low in the mornings, so at one point, we all had to hop out of the boat and push it along as we stepped on the coral. The island itself was quite small, and Heather and I were able to walk around the entire thing in about 15 minutes. In the morning, we had our weekly cross cultural session, where we learned how to weave a basket using branches found on the island. Heather and I worked on one together, but ended up making our own design. The trainers were very impressed and told us that our design is actually how Pohnpeians create sails for boats! In addition to weaving, we learned how to start a fire using coconut shells and other wood. My nohno had already taught me how to do this, but it was still fun to watch. We built the fire in an area where there were a million little hermit crabs walking around! I picked a few up and watched them as they scurried across the rocks. The rest of my time was spent relaxing in the shade and listening to music. I gathered the leftover leaves from basket weaving, layed on those, and used my lifejacket as my pillow. It was peaceful.

This week, we spent Tuesday and Thursday in local Pohnpeian classrooms. Both days, we taught, but Mollie and I were only able to play a quick game with our class on Tuesday because our teacher had been out some days before, and we didn’t get a chance to talk to her about lesson planning topics and such. All went well, though. I really can’t wait to meet the class I’ll we working with for the rest of the school year!

Wednesday, my host dad’s cousin passed away, and my host parents had to go in to Kolonia for the night to prepare for the funeral. They didn’t want me home alone, so they asked Heather’s host family if she could spend the night. It was fun having her over! We had dinner, looked at magazines that my mom had sent (thanks, Ma!), and sat around talking. It was certainly different from my usual quiet nights here at the house. Heather leaves for an outer island soon, and I won’t get to see her again until March, so it was great to get some extra time together before she heads out.

I hope everyone had a good Halloween! Pohnpeians know about the holiday, but it’s not really celebrated on the island (I’ve heard some people in Kolonia take part in the festivities, though). My nohno did give me a bag of candy, which was nice!

Since so much will change at the end of the week (my host family, starting my assignment, my location on the island, etc.), I’m not sure when I’ll get another chance to update. I hope you all have a good November!