The First Few Days

Ran annim! It's dinnertime here, but I think most of you are sound asleep or close to it!

This is officially my fifth day in Chuuk. I don't even know where to start. Weno (the island I am on) is incredible. It is one of about 150 in the state of Chuuk, which includes the Chuuk Lagoon and the outer islands. We have Peace Corps friends on the outer islands, and they just left to go back to their sites yesterday.

I can't possibly give you all we have done in the past few days; I have learned and done so much already. But here are a few highlights of my trip so far:

We spent the first 4 days at Saramen Chuuk Academy (translated "Light of Chuuk Academy," Saram for short). That is where I will be teaching, along with Jason and Mackenzie, my community mates. On our second night, we were treated to a "local feast" of fish, breadfruit, rice, and bananas pounded with coconut milk. It was delicious! I use the word "treated" loosely, because we made the meal ourselves. Our second-years (Mack, Tess, and Chris) bought the ingredients, including 5 full parrotfish, and we got to de-scale, gut and clean the fish before cooking them. It was a really cool experience! I have to say, it tasted much better having done most of the work myself. Now all we have to do is learn how to spear fish, which I have been told we can do with our host families.

The next day, we took a hike up to Octopus Head. It is a hill close to Saram that resembles, well, you can guess. It was quite the adventure. Kicho, one of the second-years' friends and the dorm moderator at Xavier High School (where the other JVs teach) came with us to be our guide, and brought along two cousins. We trekked up the hillside through the tropical jungle in the mud (because it rains almost every day...a lot of rain!). It was intense. At the top of the hill, there is a network of caves and tunnels the Japanese used during WWII, with cannons still in them. It was incredible to be able to see all of them. We all took tumbles on the way down. I caught air when I fell. It was pretty fun, but we definitely deserved nap time afterward!

Yesterday, we took a flatbed truck up to Xavier High School. It is a Jesuit school, where five other JVs live and 3 of them teach. The remaining two teach at an elementary school down the hill. Xavier is pretty incredible, with ocean views (and views of over 20 islands, some barely big enough to hold a few trees). We sat and watched the stars last night, and saw at least 10 meteors in the hour we were up there. We then got back to the JV house and battled cockroaches and spiders before settling in and going to bed.

It has been quite the adventure so far. There have been a few moments where it has hit me that this is home for two years, but so far it is completely surreal. I'm guessing when I begin teaching it will begin to become more real. Right now, I'm just soaking it in.

Missing everyone back home! Love you all!

Island Hopper

“Welcome to the Island Hopper! We are about to land at the first of seven islands on our way to Guam and the Mariana Islands, the Majuro atoll, capitol of the Marshall Islands. Next will be Kwajalein, followed by Kosrae, Pohnpei and Chuuk of Micronesia.”

The Island Hopper is a unique tradition in the Pacific, in which one plane a day acts like a “bus of the skies,” stopping at many of the islands in the Marshalls, Micronesia, and ending in Guam. Our flight attendants are awesome, and are based out of Guam. This is their route, and they love it.

As for me, I’m doing pretty well. Excited, nervous, happy, sad, you name it and I’ve felt it (probably all in the last 24 hours, too!). It was hard having a second round of goodbyes over the past few days, with family, new and old friends alike. The last two weeks at Orientation have been incredible, and the rest of the people serving with JVC, as well as the Rostro de Christo volunteers in Ecuador, are truly wonderful and inspiring people.

Now we are on our way to the first Micronesian island, and I think that’s all I have for now. Kinamwe (peace)!

Why Can't Caterpillars Trust?

Funny you should ask.

As part of our orientation for JVC, we have had many sessions on various topics alongside a 2-day silent retreat we all just got back from. The morning after our silent retreat, we had a session on how to care for ourselves while in our countries, and how to serve from a place of spiritual/emotional/mental "abundance" as opposed to serving in a state of depletion. As part of this session, we participated in a simple walking meditation, walking slowly and focusing on each step we took.

One thing I noticed is that, as we take each step, we fall (very slightly) before we take the next step. As we put our front foot forward for every step, we have to trust that the ground will be there to catch us. And we do, every time. We don't walk on the sidewalk like it's a frozen lake, testing the ground as we go. We just walk, simple as that.

In reflecting on this, I was brought back to my time on silent retreat. During lunch our last day, I looked down at my shirt to see a tiny caterpillar on it. I'm talking as long as an eyelash, maybe shorter. Being a bio major and major nerd, I just watched it for a while. And I noticed that, before it moved, it would inch out, testing where it was about to 'step' before moving a muscle. It didn't trust (or didn't have the capacity to trust) its surroundings.

And that is why caterpillars can't trust.

I know it's incredibly random, but it is important for me as I go into country and into this experience. Trust will be crucial in the next two years. Recognizing my capacity to trust myself, to trust my community, to trust God, and to trust the Micronesian people is what will help get me through, especially during the challenging times.