I've Arrived!

Kaselehlie, everybody! I’ve learned two words in Pohnpeian so far: kaselehlie, which means either hello or goodbye, and menlau, which means either please or thank you. I’m really liking the efficiency of this language!

Well, I’ve officially crossed the international dateline so it’s tomorrow here! This is message is coming to you FROM THE FUTURE!!!

But anyway, update since Hawaii. Our 10 hour plane trip was exhausting, to say the least. We had lots of trouble checking in at the airport and got to the gate after boarding had already started. We stopped at three tiny islands along the way, and half the plane had to deboard at each stop for a security sweep. The airports were tiny, open-air rooms with one runway. Only one flight comes in each day at most of the islands.

Kosrae airport

My favorite island we stopped at was Kosrae (where about three volunteers will be assigned). We had this amazing view flying in – it was surrounded by clouds and just had this mythical look to it. Plus, unlike the Marshall Islands we stopped at, it was GREEN!!!

View of Kosrae

I thought all the volunteers would be sitting together, but our seats were spread out. I was bummed at first, but it all worked out because I sat next to two really interesting people (unfortunately I’ve already forgotten their names!!). One guy was in the military and is stationed in the Marshall Islands (a territory of the United States just east of the Federated States of Micronesia, but still part of the geographical region of Micronesia – confusing). The other was from Kosrae, and he’s actually hosted a Peace Corps volunteer before! Plus, he serves on the PTA at his village’s school and they will probably be getting a Peace Corps volunteer this year – there’s a one in 24 chance that it’ll be me, lol!

Our arrival in Pohnpei was crazy. The weather was stormy so the plane was being blown about by the heavy winds (especially terrifying since the runway was a narrow strip of land with water on either side). It was pouring rain as we got off, but each passenger was handed an umbrella for the walk to the baggage claim – so sweet!

Then came the best part, as each volunteer passed through customs, all the current Pohnpei volunteers were there on the other side cheering our arrival. They gave us mwar mwars, which are basically floral wreaths (they serve the same purpose as leis in Hawaii). When we arrived at our hotel, we were greeted with a fruit feast – pineapple, mangos, breadfruit, and coconuts! The office’s IT guy, of all people, chopped open our coconuts for us with a machete so we could drink fresh coconut milk!

The culture here is very welcoming and family oriented. In one of my interviews with Garrison, a member of the training staff, I mentioned the fear of feeling isolated. He said I was invited any time to come over to his house and hang out with his huge family (extended families usually live together). He also mentioned that the term “cousin” doesn’t really exist – everyone is called a brother or a sister.

Move in with my host family tomorrow! Yay! Probably won't have internet for another week or two... We'll see!