Nahna Laud

 This past weekend a few of my fellow volunteers and I hiked Nahna Laud. Nahna Laud translates to "Old Mountain" in Pohnpeian. It is the second highest mountain in Pohnpei. We left early Saturday morning and met our guide Weltchin in the small village of Salapwuk in the municipality of Kitti. When we arrived Weltchin was asleep under a tree with a cigarette in his mouth. We woke him from his slumber and he quickly rallied the other guides that would lead us on our trek through the dense jungle. As soon as we embarked on our two day journey it  began to rain, and when it rains here it pours. The mountainous interior of the island receives approximately 400 inches of rainfall per year, making it one of the wettest places on earth. We hiked for a few hours and broke for lunch at one of the many waterfalls. Now hiking here is a little different from what I'm used to. There are no marked trails, and at some points it didn't even look like we were on a trail. Our guide was constantly cutting away branches and vines to continue our trek through the jungle. After a few breaks and about six hours of hiking we reached our shelter for the night. Our shelter was a large rock overhang on the side of the mountain about an hour from the summit. We set up camp for the night and our guides collected large fern leaves to use as bedding. We hung out for the rest of the afternoon, and we were treated to freshwater shrimp that our guides had caught on the way up. I retired to bed fairly early in the night but had a restless sleep, and for one of the first times I was actually cold in Pohnpei. I was awake at first light the next morning and we had a slow start to the day, not pushing for the summit until about 9 a.m. The final stage of the climb was the steepest part of the climb, and the most exhausting. We reached the summit in about two hours. The top of Nahna Laud was absolutely beautiful, I could see the entire east side of the island, and all the reefs that surround the island. We had lunch at the top and started our descent at noon and didn't reach the bottom until sunset. Nahna Laud was quite the adventure and I look forward to hiking it again sometime this year. 

One Day at a Time

 I have not posted on this blog for quite some time now, because I don't really have anything new to say. We are six weeks into the school year and I find myself very comfortable in the classroom. However this has been quite the roller coaster. Somedays I love everything about this island, and I'm really happy. Other days I get really frustrated at school and I ask myself why I ever came here. I guess thats life though, so regardless of how I'm feeling up or down I know that I have to keep going and make it through the year. I just video chatted with Cody over the internet (Cody is currently in London) and I got to show him what my classroom looked like and it was really good to talk to him. If anyone wants to video chat I'm usually on my computer before school (4pm EST) or during lunch (9pm EST). Today I'm heading into town, and a few of my fellow volunteers and I will be hiking the tallest mountain on the interior of the island. We will be spending the night in the jungle and plan on reaching the summit sometime Sunday morning I believe. Besides that life is pretty much the same as my last post. I've taught a bunch of the local kids how to play football and they love it. We're still working on most of the rules but they get the basic idea of the game. September is almost over and it has gone by pretty fast. Chris is coming to visit December 3rd. and staying for a little over two weeks and then we will be heading to Maui for Christmas with the family. Its a long time away but its something to look forward to. I was appointed assistant basketball coach at our high school and I get paid twenty bucks for the entire season. I'll try to post more often but life here is really slow and everyday is pretty much the same. I'm missing the seasons already and could use a break from the heat and humidity that never gives up here. If you are reading this blog, know that you are a person I miss. 

Endless summer

So another week has gone by and I'm starting to get into a rhythm with my classes. I find myself being less nervous and have a good time with all of my classes. The kids are grouped by their ability level so I have a really easy time with my 10A class and a really hard time with my 10d class. School here is so different from America some kids come just for free lunch or to hang out with their friends. So it is really hard to motivate and teach my 10d class who have no ambition to go to college or even pass the 10th grade. Anyway I get frustrated from time to time but try to keep my cool and be as patient as possible. The other weird thing is no other teachers or administrators check up on me. I could play games with my kids all day and no one would know. The principle is hardly ever at school and the other teachers play games on the computer in the office. So I have a lot of freedom but I have developed my own curriculum that teaches toward the COMET (college of micronesia entrance test). One day I was talking to one of my louder students who likes to joke around, and I told him in America we  would call him a class clown. He looked at me with the most serious face and said "Teacher I am not a clown, I am a person." I laughed hysterically. School is good overall and the kids make me laugh a lot. Living in Madolenihmw is quite a challenge however besides for my roommate Lucas their are no other Americans or non-islanders for that matter. Its hard to break out and meet people in the community because the tend to be a little shy. I have no television or internet and I read a lot. I play basketball with the kids usually and even brought a football up to the fields to play but that didn't go over too well. Explaining the rules to them was no easy task. So I get lonely from time to time and think about how different my life was a year ago at this time when I lived in a house with my friends and was constantly surrounded by people my age. Its okay though because I'm learning a lot too and the only constant in life is change. Last weekend I went to the surf day for kids at Nahlap island and got to hang out there all day and do a little surfing. The water was so shallow on the reef and I cut up my feet and hands. The guy who owns the surf club brought his jet ski and I got to go tubing off the back with another volunteer. Thursday is a holiday here and we have the day off so it'll be nice to have a short week. Anyone with book recommendations I would love to hear them.