A Merman in Pohnpei: 39: Another Weekend on Pakin

Sunday, June 14, 2015

39: Another Weekend on Pakin

So the main reason Pahpa and I even came back from Pakin on Tuesday was the preparation for the Pakin Expo – everyone else stayed on Pakin, so we picked them up with the OFA boat (read: big boat) this weekend. 100% smooth sea on the way there, but somewhat choppy on the way back (still way more comfy than the little boat though).

That day we went with OFA to monitor the oyster farm, mainly the spat collector (spat = juvenile oyster). This is what Happy Monitoring Julius looks like, happy despite it being cloudy/rainy.

Lots of bivalves (junk from the perspective of an oyster farmer) but also one oyster on the spat collector, which is a basically a trash bag crunched and folded up in the right way and dangling from a string in about 3m depth. Oyster sperm floating around the lagoon loves to settle on those!

Underwater Merman with my new necklace and the spat collector string in the background. This was in the deep part of the lagoon (not the dark blue) where you mostly couldn’t see the bottom. A little freaky at first for me looking down. Maybe I’m a reef merman?

We also monitored the seaweed farm, which was pretty damaged (read: all the seaweed dead) during the storm.

When we reached the Painpwel (another islet) farm, I decided to swim back instead of taking the boat – a little exercise (maybe like 1k?) which included an encounter with a big stingray (wooo!)

On Sunday I asked if they could take me out to the chanel that (only at high tide) leads out of the lagoon into the open ocean for some snorkeling. Yes, that is what the water looks like in the lagoon on a sunny day!

More fish and more coral species than before – Idea from OFA says it’s the strong current of the chanel that makes corals grow healthy.

I especially loved the many caves and dead-ends in the reef – it’s like a labyrinth!

This little bugger is about the size of my pinky. Dunno if he counts as a moraine, I suspect not.

Speaking of labyrinth, the maze corals are real!

This is the channel at low tied (water going out). At first I was like “oh, I can just swim through the channel and have a look at the outer reef” – Pahpa said it’s too dangerous.

Instead, he proposed we walk over the reef (!). I can’t believe I didn’t incur any cuts – partly thanks to my monofin socks, partly due to my Tai Chi balance training (I’m not kidding).
When we finally got across the reef, this is what it looked like. Pahpa was like “as long as we come back with one of those waves, we’ll be fine. I decided not to take that chance and go out another time (the thought of holding my monofin in my hands + trying not to keep my balance in the waves as I climb up the reef gave me second thoughts). Lesson learned: if you’re Pahpa says something is fine, you can still decide it’s too dangerous. Declining to jump in was way easier than telling them that I’m full and don’t need more food.

Trying out a different photo Style than the “rub my chin thinking” Style that Franson taught me.

Franson found a bird with a broken wing. I think he likes birds, cause he was also fond of one of the chickens (they wanted to slaughter it, but he was like “no, I like it”).

Meanwhile, while I was back in Pohnpei, they started building a local house. Apparently ist’s for me, and they’re calling it the Julius House.

On our way through the channel back to Pohnpei (at high tide). This is not Moses, it’s Just Pahpa giving directions and punting occasionally.

Since Kodaro wasn’t in the group picture, here’s a picture of him during our trip back – he’s holding Jayheart underneath that towel. He’s making a face cause it’s a bumpy ride O.O

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POHNPEI TIAHK (POHNPEI CULTURE)

30 Rice: The rice shortage on the island right now (bad weather = no cargo ship) has led to many rice-conversations. Apparently rice is more important for Pohnpeians than bread is for Germans, perhaps even more important than meat. No, that has not historically been the case, and no, it does not grow here.
29 Driving: Pohnpeians drive so well! Appropriately slow (read: pot holes), always use their turn signals, yield to pedestrians, etc.
28 Rain: I have never experienced rain like this. The rain (and subsequent waterfall-like stream that formed next to our hose) was so loud last night and today, I could not hear my alarm in the morning, nor the sizzling of the pan that signals Julius-get-your-ass-out-of-bed-it’s-breakfast time. And our roof isn’t tin, it’s concrete. Still. Raindrops on banana leaves, people, it’s SO soothing.
27 Buddhism: Somehow with my host dad’s accent, this word sounds exactly like “pollution.” That was a tiny bit confusing, in addition to the fact that it turns out he actually meant Muslims, not Buddhists, but that’s another story.
26 Suicide Rate: I just learned yesterday from Tony that FSM, and Chuuk state in particular has had an astronomically high suicide rate since the 70s. To put it in perspective, Japan’s suicide rate is 20-30 per 100,000 (depending on what statistic). The country FSM is 27, Chuuk state (neighboring Pohnpei state) is 40, and Chuuk males 15-25 years old is 250 per 100,000 (and there are only about 50,000 people living in Chuuk).
25 Mortlockese Vowels: Lots of them actually sound like the German ö, ä, ü – score!
24 Pohnpeian Alphabet: Has 16 letters and four digraphs in the following order: a, e, i, o, u, oa, k, l, m, mw, n, ng, p, pw, r, s, t, d, w. H is only used to make vowels long, g is only used in combination (ng), and t is actually pronounced like the english “ch”
23 Sounds that do not exist in Pohnpeian: F, J (as in German), H, V, B, T.
22 Voice Level: almost everyone usually talks with low voices. However, exceptions include: when my host family talks to Jayheart, my host sister Tarla most of the time, and telecommunication. That means yelling to your neighbors, either straight from your porch of out of your car as you pass by. That doesn’t always work flawlessly, so often Pahpa responds with a loud “AAAAAA?” which cracks me up.
21 Mold: don’t use something for about a week, and mold will start to grow on it (bags, clothes, books). Lesson learned.
20 Arwen: Pronunciation Fun Part II – So for the longest time I thought his name was Arwen (pronounced elvish like Elrond says it), but now I’m pretty sure it’s Marwin. I proceeded to have a dream about Arwen killing the Mouth of Sauron in a never-seen-before extended scene. I wish. Eowyn was also in my dream. *sigh*
19 Moisturizer: Why did I bring it? Perhaps the most unnecessary thing in my suitcase followed by my old flip phone that only takes AT&T sim cards (I forgot about that).
18 Power Outage: happens a lot, probably ever 4-5 days or so. Our CSP wifi router has a backup battery though. Score.
17 Donuts: Pohnpeian pronunciation: donas. Often without any sugar/glazing, so it’s just a little sweet, but freshly made very delicious.
16 Sashimi: pronounced more like sesame here. I’m gathering they call everything raw sashimi. When I asked a lady at the market if these were cooking bananas or good for eating just like that, she said “yeah, you can eat these sashimi.” I love it.
15 Spam: (@ my German friends: it’s a type of processed canned meat). I saw Spam pretending to be a piece of nigiri sushi at the market yesterday. Take a rectangular chunk of rice, put Spam on it, wrap a seaweed leaf around it. Voila.
14 hairdos: especially for men, they’re extremely creative! Lots of interesting patterns shaved/buzzed on the backs of peoples heads, or long but thin braided strands of hair (pretty much exactly like a jedi padawan), also dying it blonde…
13 Taro: if seasoned well, absolutely delicious! Cleaning it off your hands however, is about as difficult as removing rye sourdough when I make bread.
12 Spitting and driving: people open their car doors mid-drive to spit bettle nut.
11 Gender: Kesdy says men rule and women make the decisions. I talked to two very influential Pohnpeian women at a workshop today and had built up enough of a relationship to gently ask some gender questions, and as expected, gender politics are much more nuanced than just patriarchy. That being said, I am clearly benefiting from male privilege here.
10 Spitting: Everyone does it, all the time. Spiting out bettle nut juice, or after taking a sip of sakau, or just because. And they’re really good/precise at it. I am not, so I’m not going to try.
09 Mosquitoes: There are a lot fewer of them then I’d expect. That being said, a Mosquito SWAT team somehow found its way into my room last night. Through the closed window? Sneaky little hobbitses, but I’ll get you my pretties, and your little dogs, too.
08 Island Time: Nobody is punctual, but everyone still manages to be on time. Example: Kesdy said he’d pick me up between 11 and 12. He picked me up at 4. Willy said we’d come at just the right time.
07 U: The municipality with the shortest name in the world. Apparently Willy’s father shortened it from Uh so it would get into the Guinness Book of World Records. Success.
06 Mirrors: Pahpa does not like mirrors, so there are no mirrors in the house (also not the office). Trimming my beard? Postponed indefinitely.
05 Driving on the Right Side: Almost all of the cars are Japanese/for the Japanese market, so the steering wheel is on the right hand side. But they drive on the right side of the road. That should be weird, but considering everything that’s different here, I barely notice it.
04 Seat Belts: Kesdy says it’s not appropriate to wear seat belts on the island.
03 Nahs: The name for the community gathering house (though more of a roof with very open walls). Mother’s Day celebration, sakau ceremony, community meetings, everything takes place in a nahs. Lots of houses have them on their property, or they’re next to stores, attached to sakau bars etc.
02 Meninrahn: the only poisonous animal on Pohnpei. Yay! It’s a very large centipede with a very nasty stinging bite O.O not lethal though, according to my co-worker Kesdy.
01 Bettlenut: Most of my coworkers chew it with lime powder (lime as in limestone) – think chewing tobacco, except it looks like an acorn and grows on a palm tree. Selimo says his dentist hates him.