Lost at Pohnpei

Here in Pohnpei, the people use automated washing machines for their laundry. I am used to laundry shops in the Philippines, where you leave your clothes then come back to pick them up neatly folded and pressed in a plastic bag. So using a machine like this is new to me.

There are two advantages in using these washing machines. First of all, they are easy to use and second, you could make use of your time doing other things while waiting for the machines to finish.

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Sending money is one of the reasons why an over seas contract worker like myself gets his reward. It is in the giving that such promise of hard work receive satisfaction. Whatever the amount of money that can be sent to help one’s relatives in the Philippines is a valuable gift to share.

Jane and I were about to go singing on the hill with the rest of the gang, when I remembered that I was supposed to send some money to my mom. So, we stopped by a Western Union branch and made my very first transaction.

This was the procedure I followed for sending money:
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Learning a foreign language requires familiarity and repetition of words. That brings me one step closer in speaking Ponapean. But, I am far from holding a conversation in the local tongue, unless asking a few simple questions that are pertinent in the medical field, could be called a conversation.

I am very thankful that my patients recognize my efforts as I slowly combine words and they even teach me the enunciation of each syllable.

Here are some of the daily words I use:

Ia Irehmw? – How are you?

Yawasa eh medek ye? – Where does it hurt?

Ke Mwaliel? – Are you dizzy?

Eng – Yes

So – No

With the help of my friends, I have started forming sentences in Ponapean. Breaking apart sentences and learning the origin of the words helped.

I remember that when I was in school, I learned English from singing songs and this was what I thought doing; learn a Ponopean song.

This is one of the songs that Kit introduced to Jordan and I a few weeks back.

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Man and nature work best hand in hand and not against each other.

The catholic mass was usually celebrated at Our Lady of Mercy Church every Saturday at five in the afternoon, except on the first Sunday of the month. It was the first time that Jane, Jordan, and myself attended mass together.

After a quick lunch, we left for our trip to Nan Madol. It took us about forty-five minutes on the road from Nett to the eastern island of Temwen, where the Nan Madol ruins were found. Continue reading

Whenever I remind myself of an errand that I was supposed to do for the day, my mind is stuffed with the thought of it until I accomplished what I was supposed to do. Only then, would I be able to breathe in the air around me.

I woke up prepared to do two things for the day:

1. Go to the Immigration Office
2. Do my laundry

Cool! After the morning rounds I prepared my Alien Registration Form and filled out the data required. Jordan was still asleep, since it was just the two of us who needed to submit our papers, I had to wake him up from his deep slumber.

Done.

Then there was just one more thing we needed, a car.

We met Sue and I borrowed her car. I got the keys then ran to the parking for a trip to the Immigration office.

It was a short drive and the immigration office was hard to miss.

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