Videos

Now that I have fast enough internet, I wanted to post a few videos. This first video is a compilation of lots of quick scenes that I filmed to give you a sense of my daily experience with my host family. (Lots of dancing!)

The 6th graders perform "Peace Like a River" on the last day of school:

The girls sing "Let It Go" from Frozen:

Need a book recommendation?

There’s a lot of free time in the Peace Corps. Like, A LOT. I’ve never had so much time for pleasure reading! 

Here are my top ten recommendations:

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver – I felt obligated to put one of Babs’ books on here since I read so many of them. The Poisonwood Bible is still by favorite, but I didn’t technically read it here.

En el tiempo de las mariposas by Julia Alvarez – The English version is also available (In the Time of the Butterflies). Based on the true story of four sisters who protested the dictatorship in the Dominican Republic.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving – I generally don’t like John Irving novels (they’re just so weird!), so I was skeptical when my dad sent this one to me. But this book is possibly one of my favorite books of all time. Hilarious and heartbreaking. I can’t explain it and do it justice, so just take my word for it and read it!

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin – I read the first five books (possibly a 6^th one came out while I was here…?) and the first two were my favorites. Yes, there are dragons, but the fantasy elements play a secondary role – it’s about political intrigue and scheming. I haven’t seen the tv series yet, but everyone says I have to watch it.

Columbine by Dave Cullen – A disturbing book about the Columbine shooting, but absolutely incredible, and an important read. And sadly, very timely.

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett – It kind of pains me to put a Follett book on here, since Ken Follett’s smug author photos are something of an inside joke in our volunteer lounge. But this book was just fabulous – an epic about building a cathedral.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo – This one is a beast at 1400 pages. You might want to get an abridged version, seeing as Mr. Hugo has an unfortunate tendency to go off on tangents (like a chapter about the history of the Paris sewer system in the middle of the climatic sewer escape).

River Town by Peter Hessler – A memoir of a Peace Corps volunteer in China. Fascinating and funny.

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt – So sad and touching, but also funny – just a gem.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson – A science book for non-scientists with Bryson’s fabulous storytelling. This book had me gazing up at the night sky in utter wonder. The universe is amazing!!!

And here’s the comprehensive list.

1.      Longshot by Dick Francis

2.      Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

3.      The Tortilla Curtain by T. Coraghessan Boyle

4.      La ciudad de las bestias by Isabel Allende

5.      The Testament by John Grisham

6.      The Year of Living Dangerously by C.J. Koch

7.      No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

8.      Emma by Jane Austen

9.      The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

10.  Catch Me If You Can by Frank W. Abagnale

11.  The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett

12.  Empire Falls by Richard Russo

13.  Gap Creek by Robert Morgan

14.  Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman

15.  Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat

16.  Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

17.  La sombra del viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

18.  The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost

19.  The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

20.  The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

21.  English Creek by Ivan Doig

22.  The Highest Frontier by Joan Slonczewski

23.  A Room with a View by E.M. Foster

24.  The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria

25.   Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

26.  The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

27.  Shakespeare by Bill Bryson

28.  The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

29.  The Good Thief’s Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan

30.  Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener

31.  The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

32.  Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg

33.  En el tiempo de las mariposas by Julia Alvarez

34.  The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein

35.  The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

36.  The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

37.  The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

38.  The Island of the Colorblind by Oliver Sacks

39.  The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

40.  Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi

41.  To Sir, With Love by E.R. Braithwaite

42.  Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

43.  The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

44.  The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

45.  A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

46.  Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

47.  The Valley of the Horses by Jean M. Auel

48.  Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

49.  The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

50.  The Unheard: A Memoir of Dearness and Africa by Josh Swiller

51.  Once Minutos by Paulo Coehlo

52.  Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

53.  A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

54.  A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

55.  A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

56.  A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

57.  Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer

58.  Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

59.  Columbine by Dave Cullen

60.  The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

61.  Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

62.  The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

63.  Escuadrón Guillotina by Guillermo Arriaga

64.  The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson

65.  All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

66.  Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

67.  A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

68.  A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

69.  Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

70.  The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

71.  The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber

72.  El amor en los tiempos de cólera by Gabriel García Marquez

73.  The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

74.  White Out by Michael W. Clune

75.  Moby Dick by Herman Melville

76.  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

77.  Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

78.  The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

79.  The Help by Kathryn Stockett

80.  The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

81.  Yes Man by Danny Wallace

82.  A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

83.  Home by Julie Andrews

84.  The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

85.  Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris

86.  David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

87.  When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

88.  The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham

89.  The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory’

90.  One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Marquez

91.  A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell

92.  The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein

93.  The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkein

94.  The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkein

95.  Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski

96.  The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

97.  Dune by Frank Herbert

98.  The Canterbury Papers by Judith Koll Healey

99.  I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles

100.                     Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

101.                     A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

102.                     The Pawnbroker by Edward Lewis Wallant

103.                     Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

104.                     Forrest Gump by Winston Groom

105.                     The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

106.                     La casa de los espíritus by Isabel Allende

107.                     Marriage, A History by Stephanie Coontz

108.                     Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

109.                     Into Thin Air by Jon Krakaeur

110.                     Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

111.                     Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

112.                     Slam by Nick Hornby

113.                     Empress by Shan Su

114.                     The Runner by Christopher Reich

115.                     Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Z.Z. Packer

116.                     Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

117.                     The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger

118.                     Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

119.                     Wild by Cheryl Strayed

120.                     The Edge of Paradise: America in Micronesia by P.F. Kluge

121.                     Labor Day by Joyce Maynard

122.                     The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

123.                     Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

124.                     Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris

125.                     Every Last One by Anna Quindlen

126.                     1984 by George Orwell

127.                     River Town by Peter Hessler

128.                     Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

129.                     Ape House by Sara Gruen

130.                     A Hell of a Place to Lose a Cow by Tim Brookes

131.                     Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

132.                     Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

133.                     Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

134.                     Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

135.                     Animal Farm by George Orwell

136.                     I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson

137.                     Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

138.                     The Awakening by Kate Chopin

139.                     ‘Tis by Frank McCourt

140.                     Teacher Man by Frank McCourt

141.                     The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

142.                     The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

143.                     Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

144.                     La mala hora by Gabriel García Marquez

145.                     Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

146.                     City of Thieves by David Benioff

147.                     Drown by Junot Díaz

148.                     A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

149.                     Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

150.                     Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

151.                     The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

152.                     The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

153.                     Dear Life by Alice Munro
154.          Plainsong by Kent Haruf
155.          In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

Summing up the Peace Corps Experience

Well, we’re getting down to it – only six days until my COS (“close of service” – gotta love Peace Corps’ obsession with acronyms). I dedicated two years of my life to this experience, so I’ve been doing lots of reflecting this month.

Most importantly, would I do it again? Yes and no. If I were able to go back in time and talk to myself two years ago, I would absolutely say “YES!” But looking ahead, I don’t want to do Peace Corps for a second time in my life – two years is just too long.

The best part of my experience was undoubtedly been building relationships with the kids in my host family and at school. I’ve gotten to watch babies learn how to walk, students graduate from high school, elementary school, and ECE (the equivalent of Kindergarten), plus lots of goofy dancing and singing. I don’t think I would have made it through without the kids – I relied on their smiles and laughter when I was struggling.

And to be honest, I struggled a lot. I don’t remember how many times I went down to the river to cry. I was frustrated almost daily at school dealing with cross-cultural attitudes to teaching, treatment of children, work ethic, etc. I missed home and never really found a way to discuss my feelings in a meaningful or deep way with my host family (I relied on my fellow volunteers for that). I confronted aspects of the culture that were truly horrifying to me, and came to truly appreciate America’s gender roles and attitudes. I survived some very unpleasant illnesses (and even got a free trip to Thailand as a reward for my suffering, he he).

Overall, though, it was a positive and life-changing experience (sorry for the cliché). Like many volunteers, I think I got much more out of it than I was able to give to my community. I think it’s an inevitable paradox of volunteering.

Also like many volunteers, I am constantly questioning whether or not I made a difference. Once again, I think the answer is both yes and no. I know that I had an impact on my students. Over the two years, they improved their English and, more importantly, they developed their abilities to think critically and express themselves creatively. The 8^th graders that participated in GLOW and BoyzIIMen camps learned the skills that will hopefully help them transition to healthy, respectful, confident adults. Some students started reading for pleasure and others gained a concept of world geography from our Magic Tree House/World Map project.

But helping my students was only half of my task in Micronesia. Peace Corps’ larger goal is SUSTAINABILITY, meaning that, after I leave, the progress will continue from co-teaching and “skills transfer” (Peace Corps’ favorite phrase). In that sense, I don’t know if my work will prove at all sustainable. It depends on what the teachers choose to do when I leave. One of the other volunteers described it well – we are only the catalysts for change, but the actual change is up to other people. I am very lucky that my school is receiving a new Peace Corps volunteer in August, so the progress will continue for at least another two years!

The Micro Games

I’ve missed out on two Olympics while I’ve been on Pohnpei, but this month I got to watch Micronesia’s version of the Olympics – The Micro Games!

I can’t really overstate what a big deal this is here. There’s been a countdown outside the government buildings for the past year (since I knew I would be leaving Pohnpei around the same time as the Micro Games, it was a strange reminder of my impending COS).

The four states of FSM, Marshall Islands, Palau, Nauru, Kiribati, Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam all competed here on Pohnpei. There were standard events like track and field, basketball, volleyball, swimming, etc, and also traditional Micronesian events like spear fishing, canoe racing, and the “Micronesian All-Around” that consisted of coconut husking, swimming, tree climbing, spear throwing, etc. (Pohnpei won gold in the all-around, by the way.) 

Speedy coconut husking

A rainy day for a canoe race

The crowd watching the volleyball game

Pohnpei did quite well in the medal count – I think 2^nd in gold medals after the mighty Guam. But this was little comfort to many of my family members who were focused solely on volleyball and basketball. Guam swept both of these sports in both the women’s and men’s divisions.

This being Pohnpei, the crowds always showed the most excitement for the dancing spectators during breaks in the game. The first thing my nohno would ask when I got home was not “Who won?” but “Did you dance?” They need a dancing event at the next Micro Games! 

Pohnpeian Weddings

On Sunday my host sister and her husband got married. He was already her husband by Pohnpeian standards. Sort of. The whole thing is kind of confusing, but I’ll try to explain based on what I’ve seen in my village. Things vary a lot on different parts of the island, so this post probably doesn’t represent Pohnpeian culture as a whole.

Generally, when a relationship becomes public (when the parents find out about it), a traditional Pohnpeian “wedding” takes place. The wedding is just a sakau ceremony between the families. Then usually the woman goes to live with the husband’s family (although sometimes the man moves instead – of my nohno’s five married daughters, only one lives away from her family compound). 

Since the arrival of Christianity, however, couples need to have a second wedding in the church. (One woman translated the traditional Pohnpeian ceremony as an “engagement” in English, but most people translated it as a marriage.) This second wedding isn’t rushed at all – it happens whenever the couple gets around to it. Often, the church wedding happens several years later after the couple has started a family and built their own house.

So anyway, congratulations to Padian and Jetny! (I had been putting the pressure on them to get married before I left Pohnpei .)

The family

Boyz II Men (Not the 90s band)

I made it through my third camp of the year, this time for 8^th grade boys. Surprisingly, it went better than either of the girls’ camps. This was surprising first because we planned it at the last minute, and second because it was for 8^th grade boys. I expected lots of behavior problems, but the boys were great (it helped that we had less than 30 boys, whereas the girls’ camps had 60 and 70 each). Plus, this camp was the most fun because the boys got so into the teamwork and leadership games. The enthusiasm was just off the charts.

The gang

Human knot

Acid river: cross without touching the ground!

BoyzIIMen focused on five pillars: respect, community service, leadership, teamwork, and ambition. We also had some peer educators from the high school talk about drugs and HIV/AIDS. They brought ukuleles and sang some awesome songs – the boys were singing the “say no to drugs” song on the bus ride home!

Improvised CPR lesson

Discussing goals

The best part of the camp was our evening bonfire. We introduced the all-American s’more, which was a huge hit (how could it not be?), and glow sticks (which I guess would have been more appropriate for the girls’ camp, considering it’s called Camp GLOW).

This camp served as a “pilot program” for BoyzIIMen on Pohnpei (we got the framework from the Chuuk volunteers have been doing it for several years), so hopefully next year the remaining Pohnpei volunteers will be able to expand the program to more schools. 

Summer Science

We’re halfway through my last Peace Corps project! It’s a cross between summer school and day camp that focuses on hands-on science. Unfortunately, science in Pohnpei is very textbook-focused due to a lack of materials and teacher training. My principal is trying to get more support from the Department of Education, but in the meantime I decided to give the students and some of the interested teachers an introduction to scientific experiments. It’s nothing fancy – just a very rudimentary overview of the scientific process and some fun experiments.

We’ve already conducted classes for 5-7^th grade, and during the next two weeks we’ll be focusing on 2^nd-4^th grade. I originally was going to teach a computer class for the 7^th graders, but the computers aren’t working (what else is new?). They were disappointed, so I they joined in first week and they served as my assistants the second week.

(By the way, a huge thank you to those of you who donated money for supplies!)

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the first two weeks:

Learning about density by layering liquids

Gak! Is it a solid or a liquid?

Neither! It's a POLYMER!

Landslide simulation

Egg drop experiment!

Explosive baking soda and vinegar volcano! (Probably the
most popular experiment of all)