My Family

My family here does not have the typical family structure. Rather than having host parents, I live with three sisters. Samery, my oldest sister and host, is 30 years old. It seems very special to have a sister here the same age as my brother back home. She is a teacher at the school. Sandra is 16 and is a junior. Samery has started to call us twins, which I find quite amusing. Sasa is 10 years old and is the youngest of all the sisters (there are more I haven't met).

When I first arrived Samery was on Weno, so another sister, Maxie, was my host for the first ten days or so. I believe she is 24. Maxie is married and she has a son, Martson, who is around quite a bit. I think Martson will be three years old in a month or so. Martson understands more Chuukese than I do and I wish I knew what he was saying when he talked to me! Maxie was a great host when I arrived. I thought she lived in the house too and it wasn't until she said goodbye, after Samery arrived, that I understood she lived in a different house.

In addition to all my sisters, there are four high school students living with us, three girls and one boy. There are only two high schools among many islands, so high school students from other islands live with sponsor families for the entire school year.

Having so many people at the house is wonderful. At first I thought it might be odd to live with one of my students, but it has not been an issue. I think everyone here are so used to having people overlap into different parts of their lives that they don't even think about it. It makes me wonder if I'll live and work in same community in the future. I enjoy it here!

Every day there are many other people that visit and sleep at our house in addition to those I previously mentioned. I think most of these people are cousins. The majority of the visitors are male, ranging in age from elementary school to about 30. At any moment they might be chatting, drinking coffee, cooking, playing ping pong, relaxing, sleeping, or singing and playing ukulele. I will never have to worry about being lonely with all the people at home.

One day I asked Samery why she was willing to host so many people. She has five extra people in her home between me and the students. Her answer was simple and warmed my heart. "I like to care for people," and she does a great job. My family includes so many more people than my sisters and I am happy to be a part of the family.

My New Home

I arrived on my island three weeks ago and I love it here. I am currently sitting on the second floor balcony of my school. There are no hallways so the balcony serves as the hallway. I am overlooking the courtyard where chickens are wandering and people are sitting. The ocean is visible behind the security building. We had a little rain this morning, so it's overcast and breezy. I can hear the breadfruit leaves as they hit the ground. I still have difficulty differentiating between the sound of rain and the sound of the wind in the coconut leaves. When the leaves hit against themselves it sounds just like the pitter-patter of rain.

The view from my home new is beautiful! When sitting on the front porch I can see the ocean 75 feet away. Looking at the ocean is very different here because of being in a lagoon. The waves don't come crashing to the shore like they do in Maine. Instead, they crash on the reef far from the shore and the water inside the reef is calm like a lake. There are a number of "coral bars" between the reef and the shore (it's like a sandbar, but made of coral; I have no idea what that is actually called). We have a stone wall rather than a beach and I enjoy sitting on the wall at sunset. There are many coconut trees along the wall, finishing out the tropical view.

 

view from my porch

In my yard are two local huts made from sticks and pandanus leaves. These huts let the breezes pass through and are great places to take a nap or play cards. The volleyball net is used in the evenings when it is not quite so hot. We have a cook house in the side yard where the majority of the cooking takes place. Any cooking in the cook house is done over a fire. Much of the food prep is done there as well. I have helped to grate taro and have observed someone mash breadfriut. We also have an oven made from an old barrel in which delicious bread is baked.

My house itself is made of concrete. All of the floors are tiled and are swept every day. Houses here typically don't have a lot of furniture and mine is the same. We have one table in the main room. Sitting and laying down on the cool tile floor is how we relax. In my room I have a table and a bed frame with a foam mattress. I feel very spoiled to have a bed. The first week I was here I slept on a woven mat and had adjusted to the hard floor by the time the bed arrived. Most of our time is spent outside or on the porch. People don't need furniture in the house or windows that close when it is never cold!


 

my house

The island itself is quite small. The main road is a loop and I was able to jog the loop in ten minutes. This leads me to think the loop is about a mile around. I say the main road, but it is more like an extra wide path made of crushed coral and sand. Many paths criss-cross the island, going between houses and the taro field in the middle of the island.

Overall the island is very quiet. The first week here I felt like I was living in a campground. There are no cars and the sound of voices echo through the trees. If I hear a rustle in the leaves I look to see a hen with her chicks, a little lizard, or a pig. The pigs are typically tethered to a tree and snort a lot. Hearing the snorts always makes me grin. There are also a number of roosters around. I am thankful that no roosters live in my immediate vicinity, so they have yet to wake me up. It seems like roosters crow any time they are disturbed.

I am enjoying life here very much. It is certainly a different way of life and it is nice not to have the rush and clutter of America. I do have the internet here which such a luxury. I think it is one of three islands in the whole state of Chuuk with internet. I feel so lucky! Life is good!