Of course on Sunday I woke up with an appropriate
birthday-kapwohpwo hangover. I was about to declare the day a
sit-at-home-write-and-listen-to-Sam-Tsui day, but then Kesdy came by to pick me
up for a community meeting in Kiti to revise their ridge-to-reef management
plan. So I pulled it together and hopped in (forgot to bring my camera though,
so these are iPhone pictures…) Turns out going with him was the best decision
ever, and also it turns out frozen coconut pulp + condensed milk (local ice
cream, this time actually frozen) is a great hangover food.
The community meeting was held in Enepein village, in what
people called an “eco-tourism lodge” (it’s not). It actually is a really cool
initiative where they built local houses in the traditional style, teach youth
traditional skills, and do drug-awareness work. The last point is actually what
got them the funding – the compound was a no-drug zone. That means now smoking,
alcohol, and above all no betel nut – the struggle (sakau doesn’t count). The
most beautifully done thatch roof I’ve seen so far, made from ivory nut tree
leaves and mahogany and mangrove wood beams. The canoe was almost as long as
the whole nahs, and carved from a single trunk.
Captain Kirino! This is the first nahs that didn’t have a
concrete floor, but traditional wooden planks. Kirino actually lives in Kiti in
a neighboring village.
The nahs was on something like a small cliff, with a
beautiful river flowing past! Since at some point the Kiti paramount chief
ordered all pig pens to be moved away from rivers, Kiti has really good water
quality (disease wise – not sedimentation wise, that’s another story of upland
sakau farming). Kind of ironic that with all the arduous behavior change and
education work CSP does, a single word from the Namwarki (paramount chief) is
enough to instantly lead to durable change.
They fed the fish (with pancakes, lol) – a tilapia related
species.
This is what bananas look like before they actually look
like bananas O.O I kind of like the idea that at the tip of every banana, there
used to be a beautiful flower.
After the meeting, we went for sakau until well after
sundown, then to Angel’s in-law’s house (a western style wooden house made out
of mahogany!) for more sakau and beer. Then they whipped out 2 ukuleles and
sang Pohnpeian songs (I recorded them!). Angel’s father in law is a locally
famous singer, and Kirino busted out an impressive falsetto!
Fun fact about Kiti: It has Pohnpei’s only patch of savanna.
It also has a very strong dialect, that supposedly is the original Pohnpeian.
The late afternoon sun and sunset were beautiful, it was surprisingly not
humid, a light breeze, super friendly people… an excellent Sunday.
On our way back home we had more kapwohpwo (local longdrink:
vodka with water), and I had a super awesome and honest conversation with
Kesdy, Kirino, and his wife. I shared my thoughts about how much I love the
Pakin community, and how worried I am about climate change effects in the
future. That sounds very blah when I write it like this, because we hear it all
the time in the media. But it’s different when I share my thoughts out loud,
with the faces of the people on Pakin in mind. I’m dedicating my career to
working on climate change, and I’ve really made friends here (Kesdy and I have
come to call each other “brother” – a first for me with anyone). I was choking
up, and yall know me, I don’t choke up often. Except for during the 100th
episode of Smallville of course.
Now I’m just hoping for a chill evening, after 3 days late
night drinking in a row.
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