Medical Evacuation

First, I will start by apologizing for not posting in a long time. I have been extremely busy with teaching, the youth group, the workout class and preparing for graduation and my family visiting. Also, by the end of each day I am so exhausted I can do nothing but sleep. Until recently I thought being so exhausted was normal. I was very busy, so being so tired was normal, right? Well, apparently I thought wrong. It all started about two months ago. I began be so tired, that one time I even feel asleep in one of my classes! A class I was teaching! After this I called my doctor. We thought it was just because I was so busy, but then things got worse. I started to get light headed and dizzy. Work outs became harder, and I was gaining weight. When I called my doctor with these complaints, she thought it might be vertigo. So she sent some anti-vertigo medication, and also sent me to Yap State Hospital to get my blood work taken. Unfortunately Yap State Hospital doesn't do all of the blood tests that my doctor wanted done, so they send the blood work to Guam to have a tech there do all the tests. In the mean time, I also had an EKG test done. My heart rate turned out to be the problem, it was only 38 the day I took the test. However, we wanted to wait to see the blood test results. We waited and waited and waited. No news from Yap Hospital. About a month after I got my blood drawn, my doctor was very upset we still did not have the results. When she called Yap State Hospital that day, the details are unclear, but somehow, my blood never made it to Guam. We waited for a whole month, for nothing. Because of this, my medical evacuation began. I was medically evacuated from Yap to Pohnpei, where the Peace Corps doctor is located. I flew in, and I was able to rest that day. The next day, the testing began. More blood work done, and another EKG. The blood work showed a small imbalance with my thyroid hormone, but not enough to be causing all this trouble. The EKG test, showed my heart rate was now at a 35, so it was getting slower. Because of my EKG test, the Peace Corps decided that I need to see a specialist. Specifically a cardiologist and an endocrinologist. Well, fun fact about Micronesia, there are no cardiologist in the whole country. So my journey to health now continues to Bangkok, Thailand.  Another fun fact about Micronesia, the only air line that flies through here is United, so finding a last minute flight from Pohnpei to Bangkok is not easy. So, I am currently waiting in Pohnpei for my flight to Bangkok. The flight leaves tomorrow. In the mean time, I feel myself getting weaker, and weaker. I am tired all of the time, and oh am I bored. I am not really aloud to walk around, so I find myself either watching T.V. on my laptop, or checking my e-mail. Still, I feel drained. If I wasn't so eager to get better, I might be scared to be going to Bangkok. I will be having the Peace Corps doctor escort me, in case something happens on the long flight over. I will then be directly admitted into the hospital there. I will be sure to keep you all posted. I have to say, the Peace Corps has been taking very good care of me, I can tell they are concerned and just as eager as I am to get me healthy again.

It has been a while

Well the title really speaks for itself, it sure has been a while since I have posted. I apologize for that, but life kinda took over. So much has happened since ny last post, I don't really know where to start, so I will just talk about the main points. 

#1- I went to Pohnpei for IST (in service training) it was great to see all the other volunteers! I did feel a bit lonely at times since there are no other volunteers on my island, which also means no one to relate to. Overall, IST was great! Great laughs, great food, and great...well okay training (I mean does anyone really like sitting in a room for 8 hours listening to someone talk) the information is very useful though! 

#2- I changed host families. Now I really didn't want to have to change host families, but it became a necessity. Also, looking at statistics, a lot of volunteers end up having to change host families or sotes for one reason or another. The reason I changed was simply because at my old host families house I was treated like a child, not a professional adult. I understand that this is part of the culture, but over time it became harder to do my job as a Peace Corps Volunteer. So, after I teturned from Pohnpei, I moved! I love my bew host family! I feel like part of the family. The house is right on the water, this means on the weekends I get to swim and every morning I get to see the sun rise! I am truly happy where I am at now! 

#3- I joined a volleyball team. I am not very good, but the bonding with the other team mayes is amazing. We have our tournament this weekend, soo good luck to us! 

#4- I am still teaching my workout/ boxing class there times a week. I have lost some students because it was tok hard for them, but I have one that comes everyday and hasnt missed one! She makes it all worth it for me! Plus it's a good workout for me! I think I am going to start another blog on my health and fitness as a Peace Corps Volunteer, so stay tuned! 

#5- I have a local boyfriend, my mom will probably kill me for talking about this on my blog, but I feel like it is a very important part of my life here and has really taught me a lot about the culture. Here in Yap, if you are in a relationship, it is a complete secret from everyone. Especially your parents and relatives. Once they find out, you are basically married. They do this as a sign of respect. They don't want to introduce their parents to multiple boyfriends or girlfriends. There is also absolutely no PDA! Men and women do most activities seperate so finding time together is a struggle. It is a miracle that this population is still procreating! My boyfriend and me are lucky, we both enjoy sports, this means we get to spend time together at the complex, which is also healthy. We are also lucky because my host mom approves of him, but he is still not aloud at the house or to even walk into my village (he lives in the village next to mine) this is also done as a sign or respect. I am still learning, but I am happy 😍. 

#6- I am soon going to be joining an organization called "women and sports" which promotes women to play sports, and all sports, even ones that target men. More on that after the first meeting. 

#7- I am going to the Outer Islands next weekend to visit another Peace Corps Volunteer. I am very excited, but a little nervous to be flying on sucha small plane. 

Well I think that's all the main points! Keep an eye out for new posts and my new blog! Miss and love you all!! 

Oh also forgot to mention, Yap Day happened, which is like the 4th of July in the U.S., but everyone dresses local! Below is a picture of me and the bf on Yap Day! 

Home for the Holidays

Different.... That is how I would explain my trip home, all in one word. I know this sounds very cliche but everything is exactly the same, but I see everything differently. Let me start from the beginning. December was a crazy month in Yap. The typhoon came in the beginning of the month, followed by the local dance performance followed by countless hours working with the youth group on their Christmas program. I was always busy, and never home. This was good because it didn't give me a lot of time to think about coming home. I knew that it was slowly approaching. It is really hard to explain my feelings on this topic. Of course I was beyond excited to go home, see my family whom I have miss so much words can't even explain it. I was excited to sleep in my big comfortable bed. I was excited to wear pants and not sweat. I was excited for SNOW(which normally I hate). With all this excitement came nerves. I was nervous that it would be extremely difficult to go back to Yap after being home. I was sad that I spent all this time helping my students prepair for the Christmas program, yet I would not be able to see them sing. Finally, I was anxious about how different things would be at home. I have traveled quite a bit, but this is the longest I have been away from home my whole life. Seven months, I mean, a lot could change in seven months, that is almost long enough for a child to be born. So, I had all this anxiety and all these nerves with no idea what to expect. I mean, people try to prepair you for reverse culture shock, but no matter how many people tell you, you just have to feel it for yourself. I thought I was prepaired.

    Affer a last minute flight change, I began my journey back home for the holidays on December 21st, 2014. I flew from Yap to Guam, Guam to Tokyo, Tokyo to Denver. Thanks to a little help from a glass of wine I was able to sleep the whole flight from Tokyo to Denver. After going through customs I finally walked through the glass doors to the greeting area. Here I instantly found my parents and sister. They were still looking for me in the crowed. I could tell they were tired. They had waited over 2 hours for me   (we can thank customs for that, or the wonderfull airline I flew on, take your pick) This is the type of moment you see in movies. You never really appreciate this moment until you live it. My mom was the first to see me, she screamed! She then came running toward me, arms wide, followed by my sister, and then my dad (who was video taping this whole incounter). This moment was exactly how I had pictured it to be. We then told stories and smiled and hugged all the way to the car. We continued talking all the way to Chilli's, where I finally ate chips and salsa and a salad (two things I missed desperatly). I was not prepaired for the effects this rich food would have on my stomach. Let's just say that my stomach hasn't been the same since being home. All food here is too rich for me. We spent the night talking and showing pictures. I explained the culture of Yap, talked about my wonderful students and went to bed early. The next day, jet legged, I woke up at 4am with no ability to go back to bed. Since I was awake, I decided to have my first cup of REAL coffee, not instant coffee. This was amazing! After the first day, I started to notice how things had changed. Correction, things at home were exactly the same, exaclty! I had changed. Physically a little bit (10lbs heavier to be exact) but mentally a lot! I am not used to wearing make-up or doing my hair. I always felt beautiful like this in Yap. At home, I found myself doing my hair and makeup for days I spent in the house. Why did I feel the need to conform to society. I still don't know the answer to this. I also noticed a change when I went to the gym for the first time. I can not believe what some girls wear to the gym! You are there to workout not find a boyfriend. Then I began to notice the little things in life that are senseless that people care so much about. Yes, having a new car is nice, and having the new I phone is cool. And yes, getting dressed up and going out with friends is still fun! But, after going through everything that I have been in the past seven months... I am different. I think listening to my students sing is nice. I think decorating the local church for Christmas is cool, and I think putting on my long loose skirt with no make up and hair in a bun and teaching my students is fun. Now, don't worry.. I still love being home, but now I am not worried about wanting to go back. I alone am the only person that knows the hardships I have faced while on this journey, but I also know now that I will come out of this whole experience with strength to do anything I want. Even though, I am not worried about my return to Yap, I do desperately wish I could take my mom, dad, and sister with me.  Well, I am going to enjoy the rest of my vacation at home, I will write again once I return to Yap! 'Till then!

Typhoon damage

Local dance practice

Typhoon

As you have all noticed my blogs have become less and less! This is because my life has gotten busier and busier. Paddling ended and I thought things would die down a bit. I was wrong. One week after paddling finished I was asked to join a local dance, which we would be performing in 2 weeks. I told them yes but I was really unsure if I was going to be able to learn this dance in time. It began to consume my life. I was practicing during all of my breaks, before school and after school. Not only was the dance moves making me nervous, but also the fact that the local dances are performed topless! We also started planning the Christmas program for the youth and we had a radio skit to do. Life as a Peace Corps became very unpeaceful. I had simple said yes to too many things and I was extremly stressed out. Then at the begining of the week there was talk about a possible typhoon headed our way. I didnt pay much attention to it because in such a small island people make a big deal about small things. However, this was not a small thing. The typhoon started heading right for us! The Peace Corps activated the emergency action plan and all volunteers were evacuated from our homes and put into a hotel. Many of the volunteers were happy to be able to get a warm shower and sleep in a real bed. I however, was not ver excited. It was very hard for me to leave my village. It was a very weird feeling saying good bye to my host family, kind of like I was abandoning them. The typhoon came and went and at the nice secure hotel we were in I could barley tell any bad weather was happening outside. The next morning when the sun came out I took a walk around town to see the damage. I saw whole trees tipped over with roots out of the ground. I saw roofs ripped off houses and I saw a lot of sea weed all over the roads. There were a couple pipes broken so extra water flooded some roads. I wanted to get back to my village to see the damage there, but I had to wait for the clear from Peace Corps. This was extremly hard for me. I sat around all day and waited and waited while I could have been helping clean my village or helping at the school (which was also a shelter) evenually at 4pm I was able to go home, but then came the trouble of finding a way home. All taxi and buses werent running. I finally found a ride from a friend. The village was a mess! Trees all over the roads! Phone lines and power lines ripped down, it was very sad to see. It is bow the night after the typhoon and the power is still out at my house. No one knows when it will be back on. Tomorrow is the offical dance and after this weekend things will die down again. Just in time for my vacation back home for Christmas! 

STRESSED

Well, one of the teachers has to leave the island for health reasons, so for the next 2 weeks we are down a teacher, the school was already down one before he left! So I offered my only off period to teach health to the 7th graders. I did this because I don't want the students running around and I want them to have a structured class, but the more I think about it the more steessed I get. I am also going to help with the kids paddling practice on Mondays. All of a sudden I have no time to lesson plan or even breath it feels like! I do best when I am busy and I know these next few weeks will fly by! It's only Tuesday and I cant wait for Friday already! I am however excited to teach health, I think I have a lot to offer the kids on the subject! Maybe the first thing I will teach is that being stressed is unhealthy 😉 

Funny little things

, Well what an interesting day I had. Let me first start by saying that last night on our way home from paddling practice the truck broke down, so the team got an unexpected workout walking home. It was only about a 30 min. Walk, but of course it broke down on the day that I had a package from home, so I had extra baggage one would say. This morning I woke up to find that ants had found a new home around my food. Ants are everywhere here and I have grown to ignore most of them, or kill them with my bare hand. But them making a new home in my food drawer really started my day off bad. When I arrived at school the internet had turned off, something that happens often, but I have learned to deal with. Well this morning, weither it was my extra walk the night before, the ants, the internet or my premenstral state, I was quite irritated. After my first class I cooled down a little bit. I am so used to formality and order that going with the flow doesn't come easy for me. Being here I have learned to go with the flow, and it is mornings like this morning that it is really important to go with the flow. After school I went for a nice run and did a workout with my host brother. After that I felt 100% better. I ate dinner (tuna and taro). After that I helped the group that works with the youth on developing a radio skit to prevent underage drinking. It was fun and I might even get to be in the skit, then I will be on the radio here! I will be famous! At least Yap famous! I am really happy to get involved with this group, and drinking in general is a huge problem here in Yap. After this I took a shower. My host mom loves to talk, and I love to talk to her and listen, but she finds the oddest times to talk to me. Like tonight for instance, after my shower, while in my towel and soking wet she stops me to have a full on conversation. It is moments like this that I smile, because looking over my day, all the way to that moment, I had to just laugh and kept the conversation going. These are the funny little things in life that people live for. 

Busy Bee

Sorry I have not posted in a while, I have been a very busy bee! Like I said in my last post, I joined the paddling team so I have something to do almost every night of the week, which really make the weeks go by fast! I am told that being a busy peace corps volunteer is much better then being a bored one, so for that I am thankful, but sometimes I wish I could have a little break. I really like paddling, and we have 34 days until the canoe festival. That is where we will be competing against the other municipalities. This is only the second year that Gagil (my municipality) has had a team and last year they took third. At the festival there will also be swimming races and local sailing. They will also have shows with local dancing! I am very excited to see the festival and even more excited to be involved in it. Last weekend I was sick, and man did that suck! I had a bad cold and it made my busy schedule seem unattainable, but somehow i managed to get through it and the sickness only lasted for about four days. And lucky for me it waa over a weekend so it didnt effect school for me much. That weekend Gagil had a Walk-a-thon where the community wakes up at 5:30am on a Saturday walks to the beach(about two miles) plays games, watches the sunrise then on the walk back they pick up trash along the road. The kids loved it, and even though I was sick, I had a great time. My Sundays are completely full now. I wait for a phone call from my parents at 8:30am then go to church at 10am then leave for paddling practice at 12:30 and we dont normally come back until around 7-8pm! They are quite the days! My students are doing well in my classes, I still struggle sometimes with lesson planning and at what level my students are at, but overall it is going well. I really like my students. I am getting closer with they other teachers too, which is nice. My host family is great. I tried betelnut because it is part of the culture here, and the locals love it when I "have a chew" with them. have found that I actually like it, and I now limit myself to only a couple a week. This past weekend we got more books delivered to the library. At the end of the day the library is a mess. I used to get upset about it, but now it doesn't bother me, it means the students are actually looking at the books. I talked to the director of youth sports, we are going to aet up a boxing club, but we are going to wait until after the new year because that is when all the new equipment is going tobe  coming in. I am happy to announce that I will be coming hone for Christmas. I didn't announce this before becauseIwanted to surprise Emily( my sister) but my loving mother let the cat out of the bag, but it doesnt take any excitement away from me coming home, I still cant wait! October had been kind of a hard month for me because i love fall time in Colorado, and the weather is exactly the same here. I got really homesick. It would be nice to sleep one noght without worrying if a spider will crawl over my face, or have one meal without ants getting into my food. But, at the end of the day these are all minor things, i can get past them, but I do miss my family more than I was expecting, but being away really shows you who is important and what is important. With having the internet, it has been easier to stay in touch and I am very thankful for that. The internet at my school is off and on though, somedays it works, others it doesn't. I have noticed on the days it doesnt work, I get a lot of work done in the library, so there are pluses and minuses to every situation, the key to mental survival is finding the pluses and thinking only about them. I think I am very good at doing this and that is why I am having a good time through this experience. I have noticed that I am very adaptable. Also since my last post, my bed broke, so now the wooden frame is being held up by one of my suitcases, it actually works quite well! Who knew I could be so handy! I got a great care package from my mom today filled with yummy food. I will sleep good tonight because we spent the afternoon paddling and when I wake up let's pray the ants haven't gotten to all that yummy food! That's all for now! 'Till next time!

Getting the ball rolling

I finally feel like I am adjusting to my new life here in Yap, it has taken about a month but I feel like I am starting to feel like I am home. I have developed a plan for the year with where I want my students to be. Teaching is not easy! We just got internet at the school so I am able to do more research and stay in better touch with my family! I am getting used to the food,  I actually like taro now. My weekends are never boring. This past weekend I went on a fun boating/fishing trip. I was able to do great snorkling! There are so many beautiful fish in the sea! I joined the Gagil paddeling team! We practice every mon. Wed. Fri. And Sun. So I have a very busy schedule which is just how I like it! My principal wants me to work on getting a school year book started. Something I know very little about but I told him I would look into it. He also wants the kids to work on a school newspaper, another great idea, yet something I know very little about. Now that I have internet I will be able to look it up! Also we keep getting books donated to the library, which is great! Yet very exhausting! I have a great little office in the library and the set up is very nice! I am making friends, although I still feel like I can't be 100% me around them, I am sure that will come with time! Well thats all for now, till next time! 

The famous stone money that Yap is known for. 

First week with the kids

Well, teaching is not as easy as I thought, to all you teachers out there, way to go!! This first week was very exhasting yet rewarding too. My students need a lot of help, but I guess that is why I am here! I am having trouble with lesson planning, but every day gets a little easier. This weekend is my birthday weekend and my host mom is taking me to a cook out on the beach! I am very excited! I do wish my family at home could be there too. Miss you all! 

The work begins

I took my first week off to explore the island and after a couple of days I felt like I could find my way around easy enough. I was eager to meet my principal, he is going to be my boss for the next two years so I was anxious to meet him and talk about his expectations for the upcoming years. My host mom is sisters with my principal so she said that on Sunday after church we could go to his house and meet him. So Sunday morning I got up, we went to church, which was beautiful. The church overlooks a beach and the view of the ocean is breath taking. The preist is from Indonesia, so the mass was half in English and half in Yapese. After church we got ice cream and hung out at the little store so my host mom could show me off to all the people in the village. We then went to the pricipals house, and his wife informed me he had gone fishing for the day. UGH is all I could think! Why doesnt the principal want to meet me? So on Monday at 8:00am I went to the school, all of the teachers had to be there because registration was happening. I met all of the 8 teachers that work at my small school. I just waited and got to know them a little. Around 11 the principal came in! Yay! I finally get to meet him. He is very nice and is happy to have me. He gave me a key to the library and told me if I had time to clean it up. Well, let me tell you something about this library, it has awesome potential, but it hadnt been used for the past 5 years, the dust and spider webs were enough to send someone into a coma! There was a huge beautiful map on the back wall that was created by a former Peace Corps member... But no one could see it because there were shelves and books everywhere! Soo many books and no one was reading them! Now, I am not a huge reader myself, but what a shame! I immediately got to work! Hair up, basketball shorts on, dust pan in hand, i was determined to make this library run by the time school started, which was a little under a week away. I worked all day Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. From 8:30-3 with a lunch break for about 20 min. I went home exhausted, and so dirty! But in those three days I turned a storage room into a beautiful library. School starts on Monday and I cant wait to show the kids it. I will also be running the library, which I dont know a lot about, but I am doing research. I also found our that I will be teaching 6,7 and 8th grade. My day will start at 8:30-10:00 with the 8th graders then I have a break from 10:00-11:00 where I will be fixing up the library or maybe I will start working on the computer lab ( they have 10 very nice computers that arent being used!!) then from 11:00-12:30 I will have my 7th grade students then lunch from 12:00-1:00. I will end the day with the 6th grade class from 1:00-2:30. Then I will have 2:30-4:00 to lesson plan for the next day. I think it will all work out. I am excited to start teaching, the first day is Monday! Oh, I almost forgot, there is no where in my village to use internet, so I have to go into town to use it, I will try to do this about once a week so you all can stay informed! I will say everything seems to be working out, but I cant shake the feeling of having no friends, I am still new and no one really talks to me. The other Peace Corps members live in town or far from me. I also feel like I am losing touch with my friends back home, leaving me feeling like I have no friends. Dont forget about me! I still miss you all so much! I talk to my host mom a lot, but sometimes I have no idea what she is saying to me. So we watch old episodes of desperate housewives and bond over that. Well thats all for now, next time I write I will have news about my first week of teaching!

First week in Yap

Well, as you all read, my last post was a little down, so I thought I should let you all know I am doing much better. Yesterday I caught the bus into town, which picks me up right in front of my house ( how nice is that) and it is only $1 to get into town. A taxi on the other hand is $5.75 one way. Because of this I am going to take the bus as much as I can into town. But, heres the catch, it only runs Mon.-Fri. 6:30 it picks up and 4:45 it takes you back to the village from town. So when school starts that could become harder to do. I spent my first day unpacking, because I am a nut when everything is cooped up in my bags! My room is very nice, I have a bed and a closet and a night stand. I bought a fan because there is no way I could sleep through the night without one, for one because it is so hot and for two I can't stand the sound of the bugs. My house is also very nice, there is a kitchen with a sink with water that is purified! So I now don't have to worry about boiling my water.(which I never worried about at my last house either because my host mom or sister would already have it boiled any time I needed water - I was their little princess, ugh! I miss them) We have an indoor shower, and although it doesnt have hot water it is very nice! We also have an indoor bathroom, but it doesn't work :(, so I have to use the one across the street at the laundry mat. Yeah! You hear right! We have a laundry mat across the street!! I did laundry today and it is the first time I have been able to dry my clothes since being here and man, that was nice! I am living with an older women (65) and her grandson (11). My host mom is very funny and nice, she loves to talk to me although comunication can be a little hard considering her english is not very good. But somehow through broken English and my broken Yapese we figure eachother out. On my second day here i walked to the very nice sports complex with Anderson (the 11 year old grandson) he doesn't talk much, but the silence was nice. It is about a 35 min. Walk to the sports complex from my house. Here they have a full court indoor basketball and volleyball court, a full outdoor track with a soccer feild in the middle, a baseball feild and a full weight room, with a boxing bag!! 😍 I met the guy who runs it and he is an ex peace corps who got married and stayed on the island. He is very nice and I told him I was willing to help in anyway possible. Hopefully later on I will be able to coach or even play some sports myself! The Yap games are going on now, which is a competition between all the villages in all of the youth sports, so later that night I walked back to the sports complex with Anderson and we watched girls volleyball all night long. We got a ride home from a women in our village who knew Anderson. She asked me if anyone had shown me around Gagil, which is the village I live in, and I said no. So she then said "tomorrow I will show you around" The next day, sure enough, she showed up at my house and we walked all morning. She took me to the beach where we watched her kids (she has two little girls ages 4 and 6) play in the ocean and we drank coconuts under the trees. It was really nice to have someone show me around who was around my age. She had a cell phone so we exchanged numbers. The next day I wanted to go explore Colonia, the town. I wanted to see how easy the bus was and find things like the bank and post office and where the grocery stores were. I was about to explore all of town in less then half a day. It is very very small. Infact the whole island of Yap is very small. I got grocerys, went to the public library got some lunch and some wifi at lunch. Which it turns out that there are not a lot of places that have internet except for the one resturant I ate lunch at. Good thing the food is good, I bet I will be back. I also met with one of our response team members and he introduced me to some other volunteers on the island. They are going to be teaching at the high school and are going through a program with their church. They all live together, there are 5 of them, but I only met 2, hopefully in the upcoming weeks I will be able to meet them all. I still have not met my principal, but he is my host moms brother, she has scheduled us to meet on Sunday after church.( my host mom found out I was catholic and was so happy, she can't wait to take me to church) school doesnt start untill Sept. 1st so I still have time to get adjusted. I am going back into town tomorrow to get some tape and meet with another Peace Corps Volunteer. I ate lobster for lunch! Thats right, lobster! The food here on Yap is much better, there are much more freah veggies and fruit ready to be eaten. I even found brown rice and wheat bread. I already feel healthier. I am feeling much better then I did before, but I am still adjusting.

New home

I have made it safely to my new home in Yap. I am feeling exactly the way I knew that I would feel, alone. We stayed in a hotel the night before our flight so I left my Pohnpein family on Friday. On Thursday they through a huge fest for me. They even killed and roasted a whole  pig just for me! It was amazing and it really showed how much they cared about me. They also spent all day sewing me 3 new skirts! They are absolutely beautiful! I realized that day that I was really a part of the family... And it was going to be so hard to leave them! Friday we spent the night in a hotel, then we left at noon on Saturday to the airport. At the airport my host family was waiting for me to send me off. This just shows how great they were. We flew all day Saturday, Pohnpei to Chuuk, Chuuk to Guam and Guam to Yap. In Yap we were greeted by a traditionally dressed women, so yes she was topless. We got our luggage, and were off to the hotel for the night. The hotel was very nice! We had a meeting on Sunday morning, then my new host mother came to pick me up. I am now living with just a 65 year old women and her 11 year old grandson. Which is very different from the last host family I was in. I spent the day unpacking and organizing what will be my new room for the next two years. Transitioning to knew places is always hard for me, but this time I find myself home sick times two. One for my family back in the states and one for my family back in Pohnpei. I will never forget them. As I start my new journey here in Yap I must remember that I was very homesick in the beginning in Pohnpei and so it is normal to be while in Yap too. The village I am living in is very small, one store, one school and thats about it. My host mom doesn't have a car so getting into town could be hard, even though it is doable, I dont know how much I will actually do it. The bugs are worse here then they were on Pohnpei, but I will just continue killing the ants as the walk across my arm, chest or legs. Today was not an easy day for me, but I have to believe it will be better. 

Discloser

To who it may concern, 

The thoughts on this blog are that only of me, Jennifer Caquelin, and do not reflect the views or thoughts of the Peace Corps. 

The end of PST

As we get closer to the end of PST ( Peace Corps Training) everything is winding down. We are done with model school and now only have one week left t of training. We will continue with our language training.  The following week we will sware in as Peace Corps Voulnteers. Then I am off to Yap to begin my two year journey. I can only imagin how much i will grow in the next two years because I have already grown so much in the past 3 months. I will lose internet starting August 1st. And I won't get it back until I get to Yap, so if you don't hear from me, that is why. Just know I am always thinking about you all at home!! Also, if you want to brighten my day and send a letter, my new address in Yap will be: 

Jennifer Caquelin

Peace Corps Volunteer 

P.O. Box 190 

Colonia, Yap 

FSM 96943

The end of PST

As we get closer to the end of PST ( Peace Corps Training) everything is winding down. We are done with model school and now only have one week left t of training. We will continue with our language training.  The following week we will sware in as Peaceyiiiiynh Corps Voulnteers. Then I am off to Yap to begin my two year journey. I can only imagin how much i will grow in the next two years because I have already grown so much in the past 3 months. I will lose internet starting August 1st. And I won't get it back until I get to Yap, so if you don't hear from me, that is why. Just know I am always thinking about you all at home!! Also, if you want to brighten my day and send a letter, my new address in Yap will be: 

Jennifer Caquelin

Peace Corps Volunteer 

P.O. Box 190 

Colonia, Yap 

FSM 96943

Water falls

This week went super fast, with model school and both went great, except one of my students, who is 11, found me on Facebook, which is a little concerning. Two days this week we went to Kolonia to watch the Microgames. These are Micronesian Olympics. It was amazing, the first day we went we didn't have a lot of time so I didn't get to see a lot of sports, just track and field warm up. The 2nd day we went there I was able to watch a full volleyball game, Pohnpei Vs. The Marshal Islands. Pohnpei won! I also got a chance to talk to the volleyball team from Yap. This gave me a good opportunity to practice my Yappese and Network a little. It turns out that there is a huge sports complex right outside the village I will be living in Yap. I talked to some people about possibly coaching, refing or even playing in some of the volleyball, basketball, and soccer leagues. This made me so excited because watching the games really made me miss boxing and just sports in general. I am very excited to go to Yap. This weekend we were going to try to do The 6 waterfall hike, which is a huge hike here on Pohnpei for tourists. It's about a 6-7 hour hike up and down the mountains of Pohnpei. There are 6 waterfalls that make the shape of a heart. About 10 of us wanted to do the hike, so we found a ride and a guide, however they say if it is raining then you should not do the hike. Well it was pouring on Saturday morning when I woke up, so I just got ready as if we were going to go. We ended up not being able to do it because of the rain, so we are going to try again next weekend, but we did do a shorter "easier" hike to the Twin Waterfalls. Now, I haven't done a lot of hiking, so I really have no comparison. But I would be willing to bet this was a more advanced hike. There were points on the hike that we were walking through rivers, doing vertical climbs with a rope, while it was raining! It was a nice reminder on why I like to have muscles. These waterfalls were absolutly beautiful, unfortunatly I have no pictures because it was pouring rain, and we had to walk through a river, so I decided not to take any electrical devices. Mom, I know you will be upset, but I have mental pictures, and I am very willing to describe them :) also, mom, when you come visit, maybe we can make  a trip to Pohnpei and do the hike so you can see for yourself. I will say that although it was raining, the hike was awesome, but very very cold. This is the first time since I have been here that I have been this uncomfortably cold before. Once I was home I took a quick freezing cold bucket shower then got into the warmest clothes I brought. I ate lunch then spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping in the living room while the kids watched Disney movies. I spent my night drinking a bottle of wine instead of Sakaw. It was great because I got to be with my family, and also drink something I enjoy. It was a lovely day. On Sunday we were going to go back to the pretty place we went swimming last weekend, but surprise, it was raining again all day. I already finished my book, so I knew the day would be long. It actually went pretty fast. I went for a run down to where our training is so I could get some wifi, but then the power went out because it was raining so hard, so I only got wifi for about 30 min. I then ran home in the pouring rain. Once I was home I took a shower and just relaxed, I fell asleep watching Disney movies again with the kids. It was a very peaceful rainy Sunday. My host sister and cousin spent the afternoon braiding my hair, I now have 10 beautiful braids in my hair. The only problem I have about the day is that for breakfast, lunch and dinner I was served the exact same dish, brown rice with pork, very very fatty pork. I couldn't eat the pork so I ended up eating mostly just brown rice, I snacked on some peanut butter m&ms so I got a little protein :-). Off for another week, it's our last week of model school! Man time is flying! 

Winding down

Now that we have started Model School, time is going fast. I only have 2 more weekends with my host family. Because of this I am trying to spend as much time with them as possible. Friday night I drank Sakaw with them. My host sister and I had a great conversation on this night about relationships. Here on Pohnpei, relationship are kept behind closed doors until the couple is ready to get married. This means everything is done secretive behind their parents and siblings back, but this is seen as respectful. Very different from in the US. I love my host sister, I would consider her one of my best friends here. Yesterday, she, along with my 2 host cousins took me to a place to go swimming. We left in kind of a rush so I forgot my camera, which I am so upset about because it might have been one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. First, we had to walk down a very steep and muddy, hill. Once we got there we were completly surrounded by huge trees, we were In the middle of the jungle. The water area was small, maybe the size of a small swimming pool, but it was deep. Because of this we were able to jump of the clif into it. It was so much fun! They told me not to worry because we can come back next weekend and I can bring my camera. The only bad part about the day was I got water in both my ears. It was very painful and nothing I did seemed to help. Thankfully when I woke up the next day it was gone. Back to school tomorrow, my class is being observed, wish me luck!