Scuba

 I was fortunate enough to finish my scuba certification this weekend while in Lelu for our monthly meeting.  I am now certified for open water, which means I can only go to a maximum of 60 ft. Over two days, I did 4 dives, the first 2 to 30 ft and the second 2 to 60 ft. The first dives were done in Lelu Harbor and had really bad visibility. The first dive was over a wreck of a WWII Japanese cargo ship and the second was over the small reef in the harbor. The third and fourth dive were both done by Okat Harbor and were done over the coral wall. I'm struggling to find words to accurately describe the experience and I figure a picture's worth a thousand words, right? A few thoughts before we get to the pictures though. I was constantly surprised by the scale of the coral, it was much larger than I thought it would be. There's also something a little surreal about floating through the water and watching large schools of fish swimming over your head or right below you. This experience is probably in my top 5 of coolest things I've done and I'm excited to dive more here and in Yap.

Now, to pictures.

These are all from the wreck dive, and as stated above, the visibility wasn't great.

The pictures below are all from the 3rd and 4th dive over the coral wall near Okat Harbor

Typical Day in Kosrae

While this post is late in coming, school's over already, several people have asked me what my everyday schedule is like, so I figured it's better late than never.

Similar to training, my day stars early, and as I said in an earlier blog post, I've become a morning person, much to my shock. So, I wake up around 6:45 and head to school by about 7:25 (yes, I do have my morning routine organized to the minute). My breakfast varies from pancakes to cereal to muffins to banana tempura (one of my favorites) depending on if my host mom is awake and cooking.

My walk to school is only about 5 minutes or so and I'm usually the first teacher at school. Whether or not I can get into my classroom depends on if I have the school keys. Some days the keys don't get to school until after school was supposed to start, which can be frustrating and make getting ready for the day a little difficult. As many of you know, I co-teach four classes - English Reading for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade and English Writing for 6th grade. My classes are quite small with 4, 6, and 6 students respectively, which has its benefits and its challenges; classroom management is easy but trying to vary group sizes or members for projects is, well, not possible. Classes are usually about 45 minutes, unless we have a special schedule, so I teach from 8 to 11:10.

After my classes are over, I hang out in the library, either reading, grading homework or tests, or planning for the next day. When school ends at 1:25, I plan with my two co-teachers for the next day. This can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes, depending on what we're going to do the next day. Co-planning is a major part of my job as a Peace Corps Volunteer because it builds capacity, a major goal for all Peace Corps Volunteers. That being said, co-planning doesn't always work and has been a pretty big struggle for this past year, and something I'm planning on improving for next year.

I'm usually back to my house by 2 and either make lunch for myself, tuna with rice, or eat whatever my host mom has cooked, which varies significantly from day to day but is all pretty delicious. After lunch I usually take about 45 minutes to an hour for myself, either hanging out in the kitchen with my host parents or reading in my room. I try to spend as much time with my community members as I can, which normally translates to playing with the kids or going for walks through the village, usually with the kids as well. I also try and do yoga or, more recently, zumba, for an hour everyday, usually in between 4:30 and 5:30.

My dinner is usually around 6:30 since it starts getting dark between 6:30 an 7, though since it's summer it stays lighter for a little bit longer than that now. After dinner, I spend more time with my host parents and am in my room by about 7:30. I read for about an hour or so and am in bed most nights before 9.

With school ending, I'll have to find a new routine for the summer, or at least for part of it. I was recently chosen to help teach Kosraean to the new volunteers coming to Kosrae and will therefore be in Pohnpei from June 20th to July 22nd. Prior to that, I'm hoping to go on vacation with Sorcha, the other M82 on Kosrae and my closest friend here, to Yap for a week. At the moment, things are still a little up in the air concerning the vacation because of the training dates, so we'll see how that goes. After training, I'll have about 2 or 3 weeks before school starts up again and am hoping to have some sort of activities for the kids in Walung, though it may be difficult to plan while I'm out of site.

It's hard to believe that I've been in country for almost a year now and new volunteers will soon be arriving in Pohnpei. I can remember how nervous, excited, and yes, slightly terrified, I was this time last year and it's amazing to see how much has changed and how much has still stayed the same. I have fallen in love with Kosrae, Walung and the people in my community, and I'm excited for the year ahead. At the same time, it's a little bittersweet knowing that the M81s will be leaving this summer and that this my last year here. I still have so much I want to do here and hope that I can get it all done in time.