Lost at Pohnpei

When the impulse strikes, there is no other option but to give in, even if it means to go swimming in the rain.

A short cruise from the town of Kolonia would take you to a local beach resort called Awak Pah.

For life’s simple pleasures such as spending time with the family in the water, one of the solutions is to go to the beach and on a small island where water is simply all around, the solution is just a stone’s throw away.

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If there is nowhere else to go to, then there could only be one place to be; it is in the company of friends.

The Liduhduniap Falls in the Nett Valley is just 2.5 miles away from the town of Kolonia. It is known as the twin falls as one falls is formed on top of the other. During the rainy season, the falls is a magnificent place to watch as the gush of water flow from the mouth of these two great wonders of nature.

It took us about twenty minutes to drive to these falls because of the intermittent rough roads that lead to it. There was even a narrow point where only one car could pass at a time. I was amazed by the number of houses that were near the road because, unlike the provinces I was used to see in the Philippines, the road that lead to the Liduhduniap Falls was fenced with greenery of lush leaves and thick trunks of brown muscular trunks.

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One of the advantages of living on the island of Pohnpei is that you would never be bored. Thanks to the scenic natural beauty of the mountainous area, Kolonia houses one of the temptresses of the tourists that is located at the top of a mountain called Cupid’s Bar and Grille.

It took me ten minutes to drive from the airport, just beside the Australian embassy, to reach Cupid’s Bar and Grille that overlooks the ocean where one could view the sunrise in the East and the sunset in the West.

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I woke up earlier today with a few messages in my phone. Okay, I lied, it was already seven in the morning and the rest of the staff of the hospital was already awake. I just kept squinting my eyes and wished that it was still evening.

It feels unfair to waste my time on the island asleep, but I do miss my afternoon naps.

A cold shower did miracles in waking the nerves up. My morning routine still had not been adjusted.

Dr. Sue and I continued our endorsement. Well, it was actually one sided because she did most of the endorsing. I just listened to her. I was amazed with her clinical eye and how she caught perplexing diseases on the island. TB meningitis, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and even Leptospirosis. These were some of the things that an Internist was supposed to see on this island and I started to get conscious of my own practice. Holding a private practice limited my cases.

This was the time for me to learn the wisdom of someone who had more experience not only with the layout of the island, but also of the people who came in the emergency room doors.

This is the life of an islander doctor with the limitations of the surroundings. Such limitations were acceptable, but sometimes, it would be better not to miss anything for the doctor’s and the patient’s sake. Continue reading

Morning came early today. This is one of the places in the world where the sun shines sooner than the rest. It is one of the perks of being in the Pacific, but my home town in Malabon City still slumbers in the twilight of the stars.

I woke up early from the sound of my roomate’s snores. Doc Lino is a surgeon who originally came from the Northern province of Abra. He arrived at Pohnpei last October or three months ahead of me. That makes him my senior in stay here, but that doesn’t make him my superior. The doctors here are all equal and treat each other as such.

Anyway, I woke myself up with a cold shower and I was able to somehow get myself dressed for work. It is a new day for me because I would be stationed at the Outpatient Department. All the Internal Medicine cases would be referred to me. Continue reading