First, I have to apologize for not posting since August, I promise I have a good explanation. Unfortunately, my computer died shortly before the end of training so I was unable to post about the LPI and swearing-in and I only just got the new one I ordered a few weeks ago. Also, I do not have internet access at my site and only have internet access when I spend a weekend at the hotel on the 'mainland'. This means that even though I now have a working computer again, I'll still only be able to update once a month at best, which is better than nothing.
For those of you who have received any letter from me during the past few months, this post might be a bit dull and repetitive, so feel free to skip this one. I obviously passed my LPI (language-proficiency interview) and was sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer. Swear-in was a bit of a blur between nerves (I was chosen by my fellow volunteers to deliver a speech from our cohort), exhaustion, and being rushed to our flight to Kosrae, the whole day seemed strangely surreal.
I have been in Kosrae now for almost 6 months, and it seems simultaneously longer and shorter than that. My village, Walung, is very small, with only about 150 people, and extremely isolated from the rest of the island and is considered by Peace Corps to be an outer island post. The only reliable way to get to Walung is a 20-30 minute boat ride that is only possible at high tide, making it challenging to get to the 'main land.' There is a road from Utwe to Walung but it is unpaved, usually very muddy, and very steep, so few people drive. My village has no electricity, we rely on solar power and occasionally a generator, though we do have running water piped down from a river in the mountains for very cold showers. Adjusting to life without electricity has been significantly easier than I anticipated and has opened my eyes to how heavily we rely on electricity in the States and how much time we spend on the internet. Without electricity I go to bed much earlier than at home, usually between 7:30 and 8 as it gets dark by 6:30, and get up earlier as well, normally before 7. Much to my shock and likely the shock of my family, especially my dad, I am slowly becoming a morning person.
Living in such a small community has so far been a great experience and the people in Walung have welcomed me with open arms. There are not a lot of people around my age in Walung especially during the week as the high school and college students live with family on the 'main land' during the week but I enjoy spending time with my host family and my students. Most people in Walung are related in one way or another, almost 6 months in and I'm still figuring out family connections, and as a result the community is very close knit. I enjoy spending time with my students as it gives me a chance to practice my Kosraean, even though they like to laugh at me when I talk, and they're willing to go on walks for no purpose, or in Kosraean-forfor muhtahta.
My school has about 50 students, we received some transfer students during Christmas but also had at least one transfer out so I'm not sure of the actually number. I am teaching 4th, 5th and 6th grade Reading and 6th grade Writing and have 4, 5, and 7 students respectively. Teaching such small classes can be nice, especially for classroom management, but it does present some interesting challenges. I do think, though, that I would talk small classes with the challenges, over larger classes any day. My co-teachers are both very dedicated to our students and want them to do well but we're still working on co-teaching/co-planning consistently. There are aspects of co-teach/co-plan that I need to improve upon and readily take part of the blame for not co-teaching/co-planning as much as we should, but I am sure that we will figure it out eventually.
One of the highlights of my service so far has without doubt been my host family. Coming to the FSM, I was very worried about living with a foreign (in more ways than one) family for two years and I am very relieved that I worried needlessly. My host family is very large and can be confusing between various cousins, adopted siblings that don't live with us, and other unexplained relatives but I love them, confusion and all. I will keep to the basics for the purposes of this blog and will try to only introduce family members with whom I spend a lot of time. During the week, it is only my host parents and me in Walung, though I have an adopted brother, Arthy, in 8th grade, he lives with his biological family right now, as I said, it's confusing. My host mom is Ninac (mom) Lyn and my host dad is Pahpah (father/dad) Gloover and they are incredible. They take very good care of me and are always checking to make sure that I'm happy. One of my favorite things about Ninac Lyn and Pahpah Gloover is that they usually only speak to me in Kosraean, which forces me to practice, and only explain in English when I'm very confused. I have 7 host siblings (one of them is a sister-in-law), but only see 5 of them regularly. Nena is the oldest, he's 23 and works for the government, he's married to Mona, who is finishing classes at College of Micronesia and will be a teacher. Widmore is 21 and works a lot so I rarely see him in Walung. Ahok, real name Clinton, is 18 and a senior in high school, Shrue, 16 is a sophomore in high school and the only girl. In addition to Arthy, there's another adopted sibling but he's older and serving in the US Army and is stationed in the States. There are also two cousins, Titania, 17, and Brad, a freshman, who live with us in Walung usually every weekend. I love how big my host family is as well as how incredibly welcoming they've been to me. I truly feel like part of the family, even with the occasional language and cultural barriers.
There is much more for me to tell about the past few months, but I don't want to make this post too long. I'll have internet access again in March, I'm hoping to get my scuba certification so I'll be in town twice that month, and I will post again then. I'll talk more about how I celebrated various holidays, Christmas deserves a post all its own, as well as more culture and my day-to-day life.
If you have any questions about what I've posted, please leave a comment and I'll try and answer as soon as I can.
