Lost at Pohnpei

It would have been the best four hour flight I’d ever had except for the toddler who kept crying throughout the duration of the flight. I still managed to get some sleep, but it was the worst plane trip I have ever had. The sound of the young girl crying was like an electric drill in my head.

Upon touchdown in Guam, I was not the only person relieved; the other people who were within a five meter radius almost made a sigh of relief that the auditory torture has ended.

Thinking like Dr. House, I would deduce that the kid had colds making her sinuses congested, thus causing pain. A simple pain reliever of a decongestant would have silenced her throughout that flight, then again, I am not Dr. House.

At last my feet landed on U.S. soil. Whoa!!! Unfortunately, it was four in the morning and Guam was still asleep. It would be cool to go out and have a feel of the tropical Island State (not Guam’s other name).

The duty free was American enough and frankly, most of the things I saw for sale were also sold at my humble country, the Philippines.

But, the salespersons were a mix of races. They were mostly locals of  Guam. A lady approached me while I was at the cologne section and asked what I liked. Since, my cologne ran out at the time, I thought of buying one there. But a fifty dollar worth of fifty mL of cologne wasn’t for me. Soap was enough. I needed to work foremost then spend later.

Since the plane would not depart for four more hours, Jordan and I lingered at the food court are and looked for free wifi connection. Darn! There wasn’t any, we just settled taking pictures of the establishments there. Bought water for $2 each. Uhm, a wee bit more expensive than what I was used to drinking, but that was standard in this country, so no use in converting it.

We boarded Continental Air once again, this time, ready to go to Pohnpei. Since the Federal States of Micronesia was composed of several islands, the plane had to land different airports at a time. I think the final destination was Hawaii.

The trip to Chuuk was about two hours and we taxied there for thirty or was it forty five minutes? I forgot already. I was already hungry at the time and all I wanted was to get back on the plane again and reach our destination already.

One of the flight attendants signaled for us to come back on the plane , so we did. Our final plane trip to Pohnpei and we were already tired and hungry once again.

Upon reaching the island, I was in awe of the atolls that I saw from the plane, it felt like we were landing on the sea since all we saw on our descent was water, island, and more water.

On touchdown, I felt the tires wrestle to slow down as the rubber was eaten by the cemented runway. Our plane finally stopped and we were carrying our hand carry luggage on our backs.

Last in line at the immigration, but I didn’t complain. The thought of getting off the plane was enough for me, it was a tiring trip.

The immigration officer confiscated my entry permit. (Yup, you read that right.) He was a bull of a man who looks like Filipino but with a heavy Pohnpeian-English accent. He told me that there wasn’t any real problem, it was just that the date of issue of my permit was too early, like October 2009. So, I should get a medical exam again and retrieve my Entry permit after ten days. (Uhm, don’t ask me anymore because I don’t know why they have that kind of policy.)

He returned my Visa and I was officially on Pohnpei, well, almost, I just had a bit of a road block when Stacy, the lady security asked me if I was going to sell anything on the island, I said “(Hell) no!” Of course, I didn’t really say that. She asked for my profession and she was a bit of surprised to find out that I am a doctor. I told her to visit the hospital if she needs a consult.

A familiar face greeted me when I met Cha, the nurse who I met in the Philippines. She was holding a garland necklace and I was just as eager and proud to wear my welcome gift.

After a picture at the side of Pohnpei airport, we waited for Jordan to come out and two cars brought us to the hospital.

I was seated with Cha, her friend Jane, the pharmacist, and Kit was our trusty driver. He is also the cook, the grocery boy, the driver, and the body guard of the lovely ladies who picked me up.

We didn’t go to the Hospital directly, because we went to the FSM Telecoms first to have buy a SIM card for my phone. Unfortunately, they were out of stock, so we went to Yoshie, a local grocery store where you could buy almost anything.

I got my SIM card worth $20 (at the telecoms they sell it for $24) then we finally went to the hospital.

Genesis Hospital and Pharmacy was a small hospital, only two stories tall with a fifty bed capacity. We had a late lunch then we settled in our rooms. I was a bit caught off guard when I saw that there wasn’t any cabinet for me yet, but I should be happy because Jordan did not have a bed to sleep on. The carpenters worked on his bed double time, we just had to wait a bit more to have our own cabinets made.

Once I was settled in, we were called to meet the Internist, Dra. Susan Nem Singh. She introduced us to the staff and the other doctors. Dr. Harriet Sy was the OBGYNE who was in the operating room delivering a baby, with her were Dra. Ana Lim, the Anesthesiologist, and Dr. Richard De Guzman, the Family Medicine specialist. One had to deliver the baby, the other had to keep the patient pain free as possible and the last caught the baby.

It was a busy Monday afternoon and as soon as we finished our tour, Sue advised us to rest in our rooms. Wait, Jordan in what bed? Oh well, as soon as she left, our newly found friends, Cha, Jane and Kit told us to get ready for a picnic at Niko beach. I took a shower and prepared my stuff for swimming and we all left the hospital.

I like Boracay so much that no other beach can replace it, but since I would not be able to see it for a while, Niko beach was the beach that would be close to my heart. The cool water and the white sand bar was just perfect for hanging out and to rid ourselves of the stress of the plane trip. We had pork chop, some veggies, and a pizza. All of which were prepared by Cha and Jane, they made us feel at home even if home was miles and miles away.

When we got back to the hospital, I was really tired and I actually told all the people online that I was going to bed and I did. (Thanks to Cha who lent me her laptop with dial up connection). As soon as I closed my eyes, the next thing I knew, it was already morning.

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