Lost at Pohnpei

It was already morning, but I still wanted to sleep. My roommate, Lino, was on duty that time and slept at the emergency room. I was a bit anxious and excited because that day, I was about to get my ATM (for the payroll) and Social Security number.

By the way, Jordan’s bed made it in time for him to sleep. It was placed there before we got back to our rooms last night.

We were accompanied by Susa, a Pohnpeian who took us to the supreme court for Jordan’s papers to be notarized. It was there where a tall guy asked what does “Tayong Dalawa” means. Jordan answered, “That means the two of us.”

I took it as my cue to start some small talk. I told him, “it may also mean, the two of us together like partners.” then I added, “Do you have a Filipina girlfriend?”

He said, “No, but I love watching Filipino Teleserye.”

So, that’s it! The Filipino started to rule this island via one Telenobela at a time. Because of the Filipino channel, Pohnpeians started becoming fans of the Filipinos.

Off to the SSS building, unsurprisingly, with the staff admitting that they were also fans of the Telenobelas. They actually asked us if we brought any on the island and reluctantly, we told them that we didn’t have any. Would have easily earned us $10 or more. A thought to ponder on, hmmm…

We went to the Bank of Guam and opened our ATM accounts for the payroll, unfortunately, the bank’s copier was not working, so we had to go back to the hospital to have our SSS IDs and passports photocopied then we went back to the bank.

After filling out the forms, we finally had our very own bank accounts and after a week, we’ll get our ATMs.

The trip to the hospital was a breeze with our trusty local driver, Susa on the steering wheel. She taught us the pronunciation of some of the words I downloaded online and practiced some Pohnpeian.

We both had afternoon meetings for more orientation. So, with my free time, I went to Cha and Jane’s room to use their internet. They have dial-up connection and were generous enough to let me use it.

I really wanted to have my own wireless connection, but I later found out that the hospital pays $470 a month for a subscription of the wireless internet and sometimes they exceed the required amount of kb per month. I thought by this time, there would have been unlimited wireless internet access. Geez! I thought wrong.

Since, Jane was on duty at the Pharmacy and Cha was duty at the ward. Kit, Jordan and I went out. I practiced driving a right hand drive car on the right side of the road, then we went to the grocery to get some supplies for breakfast. Kit was the cook. There were several Filipinos at the grocery and one of them is an important Filipina, important to me because she works at the Telecoms and she knew how to configure phones to have unlimited internet access. Good enough to activate my Snaptu and my Nimbuzz applications.

The night was still young and we planned to go out and sing our hearts out. So, the three of us went to the LKL, a KTV bar where Grandma, the owner of the club was married to a Filipino. The sound system was great and the song selection fits a Filipino singer-ish folk.

I had Tequila and Bud light there while belting out my favorite songs. Kit played “Gasoliina” some South American group, I think and he danced on the dance floor with the local ladies.

When we got back to the hospital, I was already tired, but Kit still gave me some Heineken to help me fall asleep. As if that wasn’t enough, huh?

All in all, my first two days were alright, the trip to the beach on day one and the KTV gimmick on day two were fantastic.

If this is how life would be for me, then I would enjoy it a lot, except for the poor internet connection. Darn!