Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Go Pee at 3am

I lived with just my mom and sister for a good amount of my life.  I've learned how to share the bathroom, deal with mood swings, and understand the necessity of a once a month band aid.  That was for 2 females. 

How about for more than 110 packed in a place with 3 toilets, 3 showers, and limited space?

That was Camp G.L.O.W. in the shortest of blurbs.  In all, it was a great experience where us Peace Corps Volunteers had the chance to teach 8th grade girls about the things to come in high school and with being a woman.

Some highlights were teaching some girls taekwondo, staying awake at night to make sure no Micronesian borrowing happened to our supplies, and telling multiple girls that 3am is not the time to hang out by the bathroom.

It was a great camp, but afterwards I needed a lot of sleep.  Girls are tiring.

Other news: I'm starting up my summer here in Kolonia looking for any volunteer activities to keep myself occupied.  I'm planning to do a summer reading camp at the library and coach some sports teams here, maybe even introduce Kolonia to Ultimate Frisbee!

Here's some Camp G.L.O.W. pictures.  Enjoy!

The Campers and "Staff".

Making Local Baskets.

Fun.

Dance Party.  Yes, I made a fool of myself.

The Blind Snake Leadership Activity.

Sunsets Forever.

Summertime on an Island Feels Like Winter

Well, it's officially been a year; well, almost.  Close to 11 1/2 months anyway.  Summer has just unofficially started, and that means a dilemma for a Peace Corps Volunteer assigned to an education position.  It means a huge change in my daily routine.  It means no students, no teachers, no classrooms ( *cough* Alice Cooper, it's your time to sing).  But here's what it really means:

Boredom.

To combat this brain-drain, I've been trying to find some other projects to take up my time.  I'm researching into the public library to see if I can help with their summer reading program and general library duties ( *cough* *hmmhmmm* Mr. Cooper, you can stop singing now).  I've been working on my school's library for the past month with categorizing books and helping the kids to sign-out books, so if needed I could boost my verbal resume' with that.

I also have some vacations planned.  The biggest being to Malaysia to party and see the beautiful country.

In other words, this summer is going to be a lot of downtime, but I'm going to use this opportunity to volunteer and see the world.  Oh, and it'd probably be a good time to skype with you guys more frequently than the once per never I'm currently doing.

More to come, and I hope you're enjoying your delicious hamburgers wherever you are.  Oh how I miss hamburgers.  And chicken nuggets.  And beer.  And wings.  Oh food...

Frisbee Golfin' and a Peace Corps Valley

I don't have enough time to give this post what it deserves, but I'll give you a Cliffnotes version of my past 2 weeks.

It's been difficult.  I got an awesome birthday package including a Denver Broncos SIGNED cheerleaders calendar.  I made Salapwuk into Boulder, Colorado by teaching frisbee golf to my kids.  I was reassured that I don't have TB or any other severe medical illness.  I got to see my Kolonia host sister's baby (I'm pushing her to name the boy 'Nick' haha). 

In all, it's been one of those Peace Corps lows and reevaluation points, but at the same time it's been great.

They say pictures say a thousand words, so I'll shut up now.

The frisbee golf hole constructed solely out of hibiscus branches and bark for the nets.

The almost finished frisbee golf hole.

At the dinner table.

He really likes frisbee golf with the finished product.

Volleyball in NanMand.

3 hours of free time translates into a world of possibilities.

How To Post Comments, Part 2

I've had another request of a detailed description on how to post comments.

As Mario would say, here we go!

1. Scroll to the end of any blog post to where it says "No comments" or "(some number) comment/s".
2. Click on the "no comments" or "(some number) comment/s" link
3. It will take you to the individual blog post page.  Then type your comment in the big blank box at the bottom of the page
4. Under the blank box, there is text that says "Comment as" with a selection box to its right.  Click the selection box and choose "Anonymous"
5. Click "publish" below the "comment as" seletion box.
6. It will take you to a new page where it will ask you to "Please prove you're not a robot".  Type in the jumbled picture's text into the "Type the two words" box below the picture.  If you mess up, it will give you another chance.
7. Click "publish" below.
8. Boom, you have posted on my blog.

Any questions?  Just comment below... haha

Easter Break: The Week of Plenty... Plenty of Free Time.

The Easter Bunny must have been drunk on sakau last week because I never saw him.  Anyway, he was probably doing what I was doing, which was absolutely nothing.  Since there was no school last week, my schedule was as clear as the opposite of George Bush's conscience.  This being so, I decided to do some things but not much.

I'm not a very religious man, but I actually went to church most, if not every, day last week to get to know the Pohnpeian custom of every day church during Easter.  11pm dinners, church songs, and stray dogs were ever present, and it was an experience that I won't forget.

Next... I decided to make a video of my daily life here in Pohnpei, and the video is posted below.  It was really good to make the video because it made me self-reflect on my life and purpose here in Pohnpei.  T'was fun.

I finally convinced one of the other Peace Corps to come visit my site, and my good friend came up for a couple of days to see the simple life.  Since he lives in Kolonia, he thought my digs/(insert cool name for 'home' here) was really awesome and relaxing compared to city life.  We hung out at the river, went shrimping, drank sakau, and had a relaxing time. 

Then the week was over, well..., almost.  Apparently Monday was some sort of local holiday called Micronesian Culture and Tradition Day.  For Salapwuk, we called it Monday.  In my opinion, for Kolonia, this meant a day to practice how the people of the past used to live and to celebrate Micronesian culture.  I personally used this day to start a garden.  Yes, a garden.  What?  You didn't think Nick could grow a garden?  Nonetheless, it's a pineapple garden.  Ya, a pineapple garden.  Are you tired of my short sentences asking questions?  You shouldn't be.

Here's some pictures:

The Start of it.

The Battle Wound.

The Weeding.

Down Goes the Pineapple.

The Finished Product.



Anybody want a pineapple?  Just wait about a year, and it's all yours.

So ends the post of Easter Break.

A Day in the Life

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

As promised, Salapwuk Elementary School's 5th and 6th graders performing the play last Friday.  Enjoy!