Dry Season and Other Things

Over the past few months, I've heard a lot from people back in CA about the rain that they're having. It seems that wherever I go though, drought follows. We're in the midst of the dry season, which is especially harsh this year due to El Nino. The only fresh water here comes from rain water, so as you can guess, lack of rain means lack of potable water. Right now, our million gallon tank (which we got filled to over 600,000 in November) is under 400,000. Sounds like a lot, right? Well, this tank is shared with the village (it was a gift from Chuuk govt to Sapuk, which we have been invited to also share in), plus about 90 boys, cooking, cleaning, and showering. Our goal is 30,000 a week, or less. This isn't meant to sound depressing, just factual due to the current weather patterns so that you all back home may join me in the realization that what is going on in the States (even with weather!) can effect the lives of people living on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific.

This Lent, I'm trying to eat more fish. I've been remotely succeeding in this.
My tongue has decided that my favorite local foods are: unripe mangos, Chuukese apples, and tapioca with coconut milk (although I can never eat much of it, but it tastes so good!).

And now, some pictures from Cultural Day:

Yapese Stick Dance

Pohnpeian Stick Dance

Pohnpeian Sakau

Palauan girls starting their dance

Cultural Day

Wow! It's been a crazy few weeks and the weeks are promising to get crazier.
At the beginning of the month, we celebrated Catholic Schools Week, which started off with a big Mass in Nepukos followed by games which the JVs planned and organized. Note for the future: Do not start with water games! Slipping ensued like crazy...

We received two of our three new Australian volunteers last week, Tom and Tom (Tom and Randy), who both seem pretty awesome. Lucky for them, they arrived just in time for Cultural Day, which was on Friday.

Pictures and videos to be posted eventually (hopefully be June), suffice it to say that it was a thoroughly entertaining day in which we got to see our students doing things they really enjoy doing while wearing traditional clothes. Used up pretty much my whole stipend purchasing a few things I wouldn't be able to get elsewhere, like a Marshalese necklace, and a few other things for people (sorry don't want to ruin the surprise for the person/people). I also got to try drinking some sakau (a muddy drink made only in Pohnpei) on Friday night with the Pohnpeian uppers, which was pretty cool, although I didn't stay very long due.

Saturday we took the boys down to Blue Lagoon to perform for some tourists. It was sad to see that a few of the tourists were completely uninterested as they watched and were too involved in their own conversations to watch something they may never see again, as well as because they probably didn't realize the amount of work and effort the boys took into practicing their dances. But overall, a good night and a nice chance to get off campus...the stars were amazing.

It seems like there's about a 90% possibility I'll be placed in Pohnpei in the summer, most likely helping with the HAP program.

Shout out to the men of the St. Claude de la Calumbiere house, who are celebrating their feast day today (Monday). My prayers and thoughts are with you all.