Reflections on a Week in Paradise

Pohnpeian Word of the Day: duhdu = "shower"

I thought I’d take a break from the normal format today… rather than bore you with the details of my orientation sessions at PICS, I’ll give you some snippets of what life is like here.

Although I miss my mom, Brenda, Taydy, and especially Katie, I have to admit I don’t think about home as much as I should. The days out here are long and they keep me very busy, so that sometimes I barely have the energy even to write something here. I wake up every day to the sound of roosters, or kihng as I have learned to call them, and I am asleep not long after the sun sets. In between, I spend at least an hour walking with a backpack in the tropical heat and consequently chug at least one or two Gatorades.

There are no snakes here, nor any bees or wasps – in fact, no pollinating insects of any kind. You can go trudging through the jungle (nanwel) without fear of being attacked by something hostile, excepting perhaps the occasional thorny plant – this goes against all of my intuitions about nature from growing up in Florida. The biggest threats are microscopic – Leptospirosis from the water, Siguatera poisoning from the fish, and so on.

I’ve been showering every other day with a bucket – actually, two buckets. You fill up the bigger one from the tap, then you scoop cold water out of it with the smaller one and dump it over your head. Believe it or not, after the initial shock of the first bucketful, it is really the most refreshing feeling. I relish being cool and clean for that few minutes before I start to sweat all over again.

The stores here are plentiful, and though they lack the selection I am used to, there are few things you can’t get here. Nonetheless, some of the prices will shock you – $5.98 for a box of Cocoa Puffs, $1.20 for a package of Jello, $4.25 a pound for grapes. Oh, and gas is $6.22 a gallon.

I have been lucky in avoiding both sunburn and mosquito bites, given that I have applied neither sunscreen nor bug spray on a regular basis. Even deodorant seems a moot point – I imagine it washes away after my first half-hour walk of the day. I brush my teeth with bottled water, and my electric toothbrush always amazes the kids.

More than anything, I am shocked at how easily I have adjusted to all of these changes. My definition of “clean” has, in particular, been radically altered – both by the ever-present sweaty grunge that coats my body, and by the soda cans and junk cars that litter the street – but I am still alive, and happier than I can remember in a long time.

Please know that I read each and every comment that is made on this blog, and these little glimpses of home mean a great deal to me. I love you all, and I am happy to see that I am still in your memories, even as you are in mine. Anyway, that’s my life now… stay tuned