Micronesia: Day 17 - Globetrotting Day

Monday, July 8, 2013

The writing that you see in italics was written on July 8, 2013 at 2:40 P.M. Hawaii time. This post gives an overview of my travel day yesterday. I had a last breakfast with everybody in the morning, and then they all left to go do some field work counting seagrasses while I did some final packing. I said some final goodbyes to the owner, Allois, the maid who cleaned my room, the Japanese owners and cooks of the restaurant downstairs, and some others that worked in the restaurant as waitresses or as deckhands and office assistants for Allois. I'm now about to board a plane to the Big Island from Oahu, where part two of my adventure will begin.

Update July 9, 2013 1:15 A.M. Hawaii time: The pictures are all done but I've had troubles uploading the videos. The internet here is still pretty slow, so it may take days for these videos to load. They primarily show views from the airplane. I'll add them into the blog when they are uploaded. Thanks. 

Update July 23, 2013 1:42 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time: I've finished all the videos, so here they are!

We started out our journey by lifting off from the Kolonia airport. We got a full view of Pohnpei from the air, and it looked more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. It's one thing seeing it from the ground, but from the air... that's in a whole different league.

After Pohnpei, we landed in Kosrae, with is the easternmost island in the FSM. Kosrae was different and smaller than Pohnpei, but still incredibly beautiful.

After landing in Kosrae and taking a 45-minute break to unload and load passengers, we took off again. 

Our pilot sucked at landings. Our landing in Kwajalein was a great example.

I saw some Kelvin-Helmholtz waves and tried to take a video of them. Didn't turn out that well, but it's better than nothing. See my section on the Kelvin-Helmholtz waves below and you'll see the video

Our pilot was not good at landings, and our landing into Kwajalein was a great example.

I saw some Kelvin-Helmholtz waves while we were flying and decided to try and attempt to film them. It was pretty turbulent, but Youtube stabilized the video for me. You might find it interesting.

Updated 12:16 P.M. 7/8/13

Ok, now I'm at the Pohnpei International Airport. Pretty small airport. Going through everything was faster than waiting in the line to check in at Sea-Tac. Hell, it was faster than trying to find a parking spot at the parking lot by the airport terminal.

Just some last thoughts before I board the plane. I'm going to miss this place. Seattle is just going to be so superficial when I get back. Thankfully, I'll go to the Big Island of Hawaii first, which is sort of the methadone to wean off a heroin addict so that I'm clean when I return to the continental U.S. That's actually one of the worst analogies I've ever made, but you get the deal.

I'm sad to leave. I haven't been brought to tears though. I knew that Micronesia would be a life-changing experience, but I never expected to have an emergency medical evacuation back to the states. I've learned a ton about mangroves and a great deal about Micronesian culture, but I've learned a boatload about myself as well.

I'm going to spend my last half hour here living it up. I'll be back on this thing soon when I'm on my 10-hour plane ride. :p

Before I left, the daughter of Allois and his wife picked up the flower I am holding in my right hand out of the Kamar Estuary and gave it to me. I saw this flower and originally thought it was some sort of plastic trash like the hoochies I use for salmon fishing back in the Pacific Northwest, but it turns out it actually was a flower. More specifically, I believe it was originally attached to a Bruguiera mangrove propagule. She also gave me the flower I have tucked behind my ear. Everybody from Pohnpei was so nice, and their kindness was contagious.

Flower art

My mom wanted to take a picture of us, and she first had the camera facing the wrong way because she thought my Nikon was like her cellphone and could take pictures facing both ways. Moms these days...

Women selling beautiful handcrafted artwork at the airport. I'm not exactly sure what to call them, but my mom bought one that looked like a wooden pineapple surrounded by an intricately woven pattern of white string at a large store in Kolonia.

A painting of the famed Nan Madol. You can find my entire post about Nan Madol here.

I guess ohl and lih are Pohnpei-ian for men and women, respectively.

Ended 12:22 P.M.

_______________________________________________________________

12:43 P.M.

Plane landed. Getting ready to board.

Going through security for Kwajalein

Out on the tarmac to Kosrae

One last look at Pohnpei :'(     (sniff sniff)

Ended 12:43 P.M.

_______________________________________________________________

1:00 P.M.

Alright, well people still haven't started boarding the planes yet, so let me tell you about my time in Kolonia (see the day 15 blog for more details)

Time to board! Ended 1:06 P.M.

The pictures below are ones that I took on the flight from Pohnpei to Kosrae. These were added to this blog post 7/9/13, 12:03 A.M. Hawaii time.

 

I saw several patterns of clouds that looked like they could represent miniature fronts. I'd never noticed something like this from a plane, but then again, I hardly ever fly. Can any knowledgeable meteorologist chime in on this?

Kelvin-Helmholtz waves. The only other time I have ever seen them was back in 2011 by Mt. Vesuvius in Italy, which I posted this blog about.

Added 7/23/13: Here is a video I took of the waves when I was on the plane. Youtube was nice enough to stabilize the video for me because it was very turbulent when I was taking the video.

_________________________________________________________________________

Upon analyzing the pictures I took once I got to Kosrae, I noticed that the above picture had a striking similarity to the cover of a book that I own. This was not intended.

Retrieved from www.neatorama.com

_________________________________________________________________

Ok, it's now 1:58 P.M. and we are starting our descent into Kosrae.  I'm going to put this computer away and get my camera out to see if I can get some spectacular footage. Oooh, it's bumpy. Just how I like it.

____________________________________________________________________

2:33 P.M. - I am in the lobby of the Kosrae airport. 

Getting off the plane and walking into the Kosrae airport

A groovy little information stand in the airport. The "roof" may be made from the leaves of the Nepa, or mangrove palm

All the languages on the islands are endemic. You can be fluent in Pohnpei-ian and not know a single word in Kosrae-ian

____________________________________________________________________

Started 2:51 P.M.

Well, I'm in Kosrae right now, and we are about to lift off again and head to Kwajalein, which is an island that is part of the U.S. Marshall Islands. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I know that the Marshall Islands are very low-lying, so I hope it is an atoll of some sort. That would be amazing.

Anyway, Kosrae is smaller than Pohnpei. It it mountainous, like Pohnpei, but to a much lesser extent. When I stepped off the plane, it felt warmer and drier than Pohnpei, but much of this may be due to short-term changes in weather patterns or just the fact that it is now later than when we left Pohnpei. I would predict that these two locations would have similar weather close to shore (not in the mountains because the terrain is vastly different) because they are in similar parts of the world, but I could be wrong.

A poor picture of the topography of Kosrae. It is similar to Pohnpei, but the mountains are smaller, and overall, I'd say the geographical layout of the island is less spectacular

We talked with a woman in the airport named Christina about the weather and global warming, and she was convinced that global warming was occurring because Kosrae just kept getting hotter and hotter and there was nothing anybody could do about it. I feel like this is a common sentiment that is shared by many living in third-world countries. Either the weather is actually getting hotter, or they are acquainted with global warming and believe that their location is getting hotter even if it isn't. The latter may be particularly prevalent in tropical zones, where the atmosphere was warmed very little. Still, I'll take Christina's word for it. She said that she loved to visit Oahu to cool off every once in a while, and even sitting here in this airplane with the air condition on full blast, I can't blame her. One thing remains true... I am going to freeze my arse off when I get back to Seattle.

Ended 3:01 P.M.  

____________________________________________________________________

Ok, 3:14 and back on the plane. The United Airlines 737 we are in has these drop down computers that display the safety precautions.

Ok, just got scolded for having my laptop out out. Bye. 3:15 P.M.

__________________________________________________________________

Began 3:27 P.M.

I guess that's how long it takes to get from sea level to approved-portable-electronic-devices land. And as I type this, there is a really gnarly cumulus congestus cloud outside. Check this out. 3:29 P.M.

The vertical nature of the cloud infers that there is very little wind shear in the atmosphere.

 In the distance, there looks to be a more organized cumulonimbus cloud.

They weren't supercells, but these tropical showers could drop a ton of rain in a very short amount of time.

I'd love to be under these clouds right now, but I guess over will have to do. I don't know what elevation we are at right now, but I would assume that we are fairly close to our cruising altitude of ~35,000 feet or whatever airline pilots do these days. If my calculations are correct, that means these clouds are up to 40,000 feet above sea level, which is very impressive. For comparison, our thunderheads in Seattle barely reach 25,000 feet. Tops.

Well, 3:39 P.M. and, after some moderate turbulence, we are past the cloud. Why don't pilots fly through thunderstorms? If you ask me, you gotta go hard or go home. I'm just assuming this was a thunderstorm because of the height of the cloud. There is a possibility that it was just a harmless, albeit extremely intense, rain shower.

2:41 P.M.: I just got offered a beautiful "snack," as the United Airlines flight attendant called it.

White buns with a few slices of ham slapped between

I'll take calories over values

It consisted of some Oreos, some mustard, some moistened wipes, some "Nip Chee" crackers, a couple slices of ham shoved between two hamburger buns... you know, the usual gourmet airplane food. I am a pescetarian, but when I'm on a plane, I'm a flexitarian. You can't be picky at 35,000 feet. Unless you are on a 12-hour nonstop flight from London to Seattle in business class on the upper deck of a 747. But that's a different story for a different time. Another point of interest... I just saw a boat. It wasn't a cargo ship, but it must have been pretty large because I could see it from up here. Excuse the murky picture, I'm not in the optimal location for taking flawless pictures.

I'm actually surprised you can see it at all!

I also posted a picture below of an island I saw in the far, far distance. Again, this camera is pretty good for its size and price point, which means it is small, cheap, and decent quality.

I don't do that Instagram nonsense, but this picture looks like it could be used for it

I also just flew by yet another interesting band of clouds that looks like it would be associated with a mini-front. Can any of you guys who are on the Facebook weather groups chime in on what is causing these cloud formations?

A cumulonimbus cloud with a weak anvil-like feature at the top and an interesting front-like feature below.

A closer look at the "front." It kind of looks like a really pathetic shelf cloud. Any ideas, anybody?

_____________________________________________________________________

5:27 (we went ahead a time zone)

We landed at Kwajalien. Apparently this is some military base or something, so the people who are staying on the plane (like us) are not allowed to take a break and exit the plane into the airport terminal, which is a shame because it looks really pretty. We are right on the beach right now, and it looks like there is a good seabreeze a-blowing. There's not much to Kwajalein... all I see are some white buildings, some interesting geodesic domes, and a big spherical ball with a blinking light on top, which I'm hoping is a doppler radar. Interestingly enough, there is a golf course right by the runway, and it is extremely well-manicured. It took me by surprise; I didn't see anything like this in Micronesia.

So, some Americans in "construction orange" just searched the plane for unclaimed bags. They came down the aisle pushing a big beverage cart (I have NO idea why), and on their way back, they just looked in the overhead bins for bags. We were told to take all of our personal belongings out of the overhead bins and into our laps. They wanted to make sure that nobody left the plane without picking up their overhead bags because Micronesian security is pretty lax and American security is anything but.

_________________________________________________________________________

It is currently 6:24 P.M. We lifted off from Kawalein at 6:05. The geography here is very different from anything we saw in Pohnpei or Kosrae... it is extremely flat. There are some really cool atolls around the airport; I tried many times to get a good picture of one, but I was not able to do so, as they were too far in the distance.

My attempt at a picture of the atoll

 We've got one more stop, Majuro, before we begin the flight to Honolulu. Assuming that we don't crash, we should get into Honolulu around 2:45 A.M. Monday (Honolulu time), so we will have arrived ten hours earlier than when we left. Of course, it will be round midnight at Pohnpei (Honolulu is 21 hours behind Pohnpei), so my comrades back in Micronesia will be beginning Tuesday when I'm starting Monday all over again. My mom's b-day was yesterday, so technically it is her birthday in Seattle today. So unfortunately, she was one day off from being able to celebrate her birthday twice. Oh, what the hell... it's the 7th in Seattle right now... 11:34 A.M. I believe, so we might as well celebrate it twice.

My attempt of a picture of the guy next to me before my mom got mad at me. At first, I was mad because I wanted to sneak in another one so I could get a non-blurry picture, but I actually think this picture is pretty cool.

As I fly by these clouds, I can't help but marvel at the grandiose, complete structure of them. And with another huge cumulus in the distance, I'm issuing a "picture watch," Which means that we may see a "picture warning" in the next 5 minutes.

________________________________________________________________________

Woohoo! 6:42 P.M. - turbulence warning from the pilot.

6:47 and my camera's battery got exhausted. But the storm is really massive. Whitecaps too.

_________________________________________________________________________

7:10: In Majuro. Unfortunately, the turbulence was underwhelming. And even more unfortunately, right after my camera's battery went out, we flew over a beautiful atoll. I'll have to paint a picture with my words on the long flight to Honolulu.

Update 8:54 Pohnpei time (I have no idea what time zone we are in now) - I made a poem.

Until them, though, we are in the Majuro airport.

A little last breath of camera life I was able to get in the Majuro airport

Another brief breath

Majuro is an atoll surrounded by the open ocean on one side and a blue lagoon on the other. Seeing as it is 7:14 right now, the sky is dark blue and I expect it to be black momentarily. The sun sets like you wouldn't believe in the tropics. The Marshall Islands is a trust territory of the United States, but unlike Kwajalein, we were actually able to get off.

Majuro was probably the coolest location I got to hop out at. I took a brief a-stroll around.

A picture I was able to sneak in when we got to Majuro when the battery was on its last electron.

One of the most striking things about Majuro is its elevation. The average man - even if he is white - can jump higher than the highest point of natural elevation on this island. There was a seawall on either side of the runway, and some parts of it had sandbags. Boarding: 7:19 P.M.

_____________________________________________________________________

Alright! It's 7:34 right now, and I am on board the 737-800 airplane. As promised, it is now pitch black outside. People are piling in, and we are getting prepared for the long flight to Honolulu. We've already had three stops: Kosrae, Kwajalein, and Majuro, and now it's time for the grand finale. Anyway, back to what I was talking about earlier with the seawall. A storm surge of a meter could completely swamp the entire island. I haven't done my research on how many typhoons pass the Marshall Islands, but I don't think there would be a whole hell of a lot. Typhoons generally form further west. I don't know how far north Majuro is, but I know it's in the tropics. It sure feels like it. If it is too close to the equator, the probability of a direct typhoon hit is low because the Coriolis Effect decreases until it ceases to exist directly at the equator, and with the Coriolis Force significantly weakened, it is much harder to form a rotating cyclone.

But even if the island never had a single storm surge or wave, no matter how small, it would still be under an increasing threat of being flooded. As I'm sure all of you are aware, the sea level is expected to rise throughout the 21st century due to melting ice and thermal expansion of water. The figure that I most often hear for the change in sea level by 2100 is two-thirds of a meter. Two-thirds of a meter might not seem like much, and to many places, it isn't. Because much of Pohnpei is mountainous, a sea level rise of this magnitude should be easy to manage. However, on low-lying islands and atolls, even the slightest sea level rise could spell disaster. The "benchmark" level upon which high tides, waves, and temporary increases of sea levels due to winds or pressure will be higher, and the storms that hit in the future will have greater effects than they otherwise would if sea level had stayed the same.

7:47. Time for liftoff. I gotta put this baby away.

A picture I tried to take of Majuro at night as the plane was leaving. After trial and error, I finally was ready to get a good pic when my camera died again. Talk about horrible timing. These squiggilies will have to do.

___________________________________________________________________________

8:10 P.M.

We are finally on our way to Honolulu. And yes, portable electronic devices are allowed.

It was completely black by the time the pilot fired up the turbines for liftoff. As I was boarding, I asked him how much fuel this plane could hold. His answer? 44,000 pounds.

I was talking with Julian Sachs, the oceanography professor leading this trip, about carbon dioxide emissions (I think the specific context was how much the emissions were for Pohnpei, which generates all of its electricity and heat by burning diesel fuel imported via cargo ships. Julian brought up a study run by some graduate student at the University of Washington that looked at and ranked the activities affiliated with the university that emitted the most carbon dioxide. The winner? Faculty travel.

And it wasn't even close. Faculty travel beat out heating/cooling, electricity... everything. I know that I used to have the misconception that air travel was relatively clean... after all, how much fuel can you fit in one airplane? Well, the answer is a lot. Improving air travel efficiency is a great way to solve economic and climatic problems. The ironic part is that climate scientists, who travel all over the world to preach the importance of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, have higher carbon footprints than 99% of the population.

____________________________________________________________________________

8:22 P.M.

Since I have pictures/videos for all my other takeoffs and landings, I thought I'd write a poem about my landing into Majuro.

-----------------

Under seafloor reside hotspots

Under which reside magma

Magma rises, cools, and before long

Basalt is born, secretive magma long gone

A volcano erupts from the sea. 

Like a five-year-old Charlie,

It sculpts, shapes, layers, shakes the land

Active Island, secretive basalt long gone

It seizes the world by storm

Innocence explodes, bombs of swag streak through the air

There is no heir

Active Island is here to stay.

As eons pass, the island crumbles

As days pass, active Charlie tumbles

There is no heir

No help is on the way

But from hardship springs opportunity

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry had to interrupt was some CRAZY turbulence. Best I've ever experienced. Worst my mom's ever experienced... she wants alcohol now. 8:05 Pohnpei time... I have no idea what time zone we are over now. Anyway...

A coral reef takes up the reins

And thrusts the island skyward.

Over the beaches spring trees

Over the beaches spring houses.

A caring mother carries her child on her back

And thrusts the child skyward

Throughout the Pacific sprouts hope

A beautiful lagoon is enclosed.

Like a patchwork of swimming pools,

Deep and sapphire, shallow and turquoise

Virtual noise feeds the peaceful void.

There is no heir

Life never went away.

-----------------

Landed 2:12 A.M. 7/8/13 Honolulu time (11:12 P.M. 7/9/13 Pohnpei time). Goodnight.

Charlie

Micronesia: Day 15 - Public Health Signs, Kolonia, and The Rusty Anchor

Saturday, July 6, 2013
11:34 P.M.

Anybody know what this means?

Ok, I started this and uploaded all the pictures at 11:34 P.M. on Saturday, but now it is 9:32 P.M. on Sunday and I am just beginning to actually type about what happened. Well, let's get to it before it all washes out of my brain.

I was originally going to do a homestay from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. But after my two seizures, the UW powers told my teacher and parents that I was forbidden from doing a homestay. When my teacher was talking with the head of the IPE on Thursday, he started out a sentence with something along the lines of "since Charlie is not allowed to do a homestay, blah blah blah" to which the IPE director, who had forbidden me from doing a homestay before, said 'What? I never said Charlie can't do a homestay.' But by then, it was too late... having a homestay wouldn't be practical. We found a family that would accommodate my mom and I, but we would spend a limited time with them and they didn't seem particularly intent on sacrificing their time to spend a day with us. So, instead, we made water and table salt out of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide and had ourselves a sightseeing day around Kolonia.

And... it is 10 P.M., I am exhausted, and I'll finish this blog on the plane. Over and out.

10:54 A.M. 7/8/13

Ok, so I have a bit of time before I catch the plane. Anyway, lets talk about signs.

I wish they had these signs in America. Some of Them Southern Folk could start some waist disposal programs today

Many Pohnpeians were overweight, and as I learned from people's stories from their homestays, much of this was because they ate absolutely massive meals. I don't know how great the healthcare system for the FSM is, but I can't imagine that it's too great based on the healthcare I received at the public hospital. I suspect that this sign serves two purposes: 1.) Warn people of belly fat, and 2.) Reserve adequate hospital resources for those who do not have preventable diseases (indirectly). If hospital resources are freed up, more people can get the treatment they need.

I'll always remember this sign because of what the family doctor that the UW ordered me to go to said. I had puked a whole bunch the night before (right after my second seizure), and even though I had eaten the day I saw the doctor, my electrolytes were still low. Upon checking my vitals and taking a blood test, he saw that everything was a-ok except that my potassium and sodium electrolytes were a tad low. So, he prescribed me "a banana and a teaspoon of salt." But even if I haven't had experience, I'll always remember one pinch of salt a day.

 

All of Pohnpei is pretty conservative, although it is nowhere near as conservative as Kosrae. There are many Christian churches around the area (check out my post on one here), so this sign could have been quite effective.

They even advertised giving blood. I don't know much about blood transfusions or any sort of that kind of stuff and I've never donated, but I thought this since was really cool. It was right next to the Red Cross in Pohnpei, which is pictured below

I am O, so I'm in high demand

The public health signs were just one aspect of Kolonia. I have trouble comparing Kolonia to any town/village/city I've been to, but if I had to choose one location in the states that was similar, I'd choose La Push within the Quileute Indian Reservation. As I've said before, there were gobs of feral dogs, and there are many in La Push as well.

 __________________________________________________________

First off, for those of you complaining about gas prices... quit your yappin'. Gas, like other things shipped to the island, is expensive. I'm actually surprised it's not more expensive. 

I LOVE off-brand stuff. Western Family, Kroger, and Kirkland Signature don't count. This one really caught my eye though, especially with the wizard in the background. It doesn't even say anything about "dreams coming true" or whatever the hell that Irish guy says in the commercials. I didn't have any, but I bet it was delicious. There were also "co-co roos" and some other cool cereals at the store.

Ok, got to get my passport really quickly. Bye

Ended 11:32 A.M. 7/8/13

________________________________________________________________

Reef fish - especially parrotfish

Since Kolonia is on the coast and is protected by a very productive barrier reef, lots of fish are caught and sold in markets. Nearly all of the fish that I saw were reef fish. Some were illegal to obtain, but they were sold nonetheless.

Waving away the flies

There were lots of flies throughout the whole trip, but these flies absolutely loved the fish. At every fish market, there was a man who would simply wave a stick with a bag at the end to chase away flies.

A stray yellowfin tuna

Reef fish are ok, but what really caught my eye was the yellowfin tuna above. This specimen was rather diminutive in size, but it was still great to see. I've gone fishing for albacore before, and for those of you who don't know, tuna are something to be reckoned with.

There were plenty of beautiful palm trees on the island, and nearly all of them were coconut. This was refreshing to see... palm trees without coconuts or dates drive me insane. I'm not a fan of trees that don't produce fruit. What's the point in growing something if you can't eat it?

Your friendly neighborhood Wall-Mart

Kolonia even had a Wall-Mart. You heard me. And yes, it has two l's. In fact, they also had an Ace office supplies and Ace hardware store that were affiliated with the multinational corporation Ace, and they had a humble little grocery store across the street called the "Ace Commercial Center," which was not a part of the Ace that we all know and love. This Wall-Mart was not affiliated with the love/hate store back in the U.S., and I didn't get a chance to go in it. I imagine that the stuff shipped in would be pretty expensive, but like many other places around Pohnpei, the stuff that actually came from the island would probably be pretty cheap.

Here are some more pictures from the streets of Kolonia. There were always plenty of people riding around in the back of pickup trucks. Seatbelts? Yeah, right. I couldn't even find them in the cars we rented. There is a post office downtown, and I was able to mail a letter for 46 cents if my memory serves me right. I'll consider myself lucky if it reaches its intended target in 46 days.

The Streets of Kolonia

Click it or Ticket... not!

A cent a day?

But the most interesting part of the day was still to come. My mom and I were looking around town for a nice lunch when we stumbled across the Rusty Anchor. This immediately reminded me of the Krusty Krab from the ingenious show Spongebob Squarepants, and both of us knew that we had to check out pub and get the associated grub there.

Simply amazing

We got into the building without a problem, but finding the restaurant proved to be quite the journey. You could probably make a children's book out of all the places we went and our adventure down into the depths of Kolonia, but you'd have to change the Budweiser to bubble gum and the rum to blue raspberry.

It was actually almost pitch-black.

The picture above is deceiving. The entrance to the series of further entrances to the Rusty Anchor was actually completely dark. I got a brand new camera: a Nikon CoolPix S6300, and apparently it does a good job of sensing when light is hard to come by. I wish I knew how... I should have paid more attention in Physics 123 at the University of Washington.

When we walked down the stairs that the first picture pointed us to, we came across a spacey, abandoned location with cement walls and very cool lighting. Well, I don't want to say it was abandoned because people obviously had to travel through there to get to the Rusty Anchor, but whoever owned it was either in the process of renovating it or simply holding on to it... most likely the latter.

We passed through another room that had some pool tables, and then we knew we were on the right track. Soon enough, we went into a much bigger room that had a bar, some old TVs, and a beautiful view that looked out over the Kolonia marina. They even had those binoculars on the big posts that are fastened in place, like the ones you would see at Johnson Ridge by Mt. St. Helens.

I don't think they were actually open for lunch, but the owner, a sassy, talkative Pohnpeian lady named Marie, asked us if we wanted anything to eat anyway. I ended up getting some fish & chips made with yellowfin tuna, and they actually tasted pretty good.

  

As I said, Marie was a chatterbox. She told us many stories, but one of the greatest ones she told was about her husband and the sea turtle oriented horizontally with flippers intact on the wall. This was a sea turtle that her husband caught himself.

Anyway, he was trying to explain to some people that littering was bad. You know those plastic things that will hold 6-packs of soft drinks together? Well anyway, he wrapped one of those around the neck of the turtle to try to make his point. As the same time, a whole bunch of Greenpeace volunteers walked into the Rusty Anchor and saw this turtle with the plastic wrapped around its neck and assumed that the husband had done it as a joke to laugh at the sea turtle. There was a huge fiasco and, according to Marie, a lot of backtracking and explaining by her husband. Eventually, everybody understood each other and calmed down. I didn't see any sea turtles in Micronesia, but hopefully I can see some in Hawaii.

We went back later that night when there was more action going on. The place wasn’t filled to the brim with people; one Pohnpeian friend that we made, Michael, said that the joints don’t really start poppin’ until 2 A.M. on Friday and Saturday nights. We probably got there at around 8 and stayed for an hour and a half.

I ordered a margarita on the rocks, which is something I would not be able to do in the states. The drinking age in Micronesia is 21, but nobody ever cards you. That’s one of the few illegal things I’ve ever done, and now it’s in the public domain, so I hope nobody blackmails me. My mom and I also ordered some pizza; Marie had told us earlier that afternoon that their pizza was very famous. The pizza was indeed pretty darn good, but the most notable thing about it was how spicy the sauce was. I have trouble handling that kind of stuff, but I was able to eat a slice without bawling all over the table. There were a whole bunch of Peace Corps kids over at a circular collection of couches that I later sat by, and they assisted me in eating the pizza. And by “assisted,” I mean that after my mom took a slice, we passed the pizza around the table, and by the time it got back to me, only one slice was left. Better than nothing, I guess.

There were some interesting characters at the bar. First off, there were the aforementioned Peace Corps kids. They were all in their early to mid-20s and were very social, warm, and welcoming. There was one guy and, like, ten girls, so I had one fellow brother to talk to throughout the night. We talked about a lot of different stuff… politics, Peace Corps life, college, weather. He was very enthusiastic about Wolfram Alpha because he apparently was a pretty well-known marketing guy for them. He let me in on his dirty little secret – he was the one who suggested that people should pay for using more than three solutions a day. He justified this due to the increase in user-friendliness and all of the energy that had been put forth into making Wolfram the best it can be. But, he let me in on a dirtier little secret – you can reset your three solutions per day just by clearing your cookies.

There were also some hilarious, unkempt Aussies at the bar. One of them was pretty talkative and had a very pronounced accent, and the other didn’t say much of anything. They were watching a rugby game that was being shown through nice flat-screen TV connected to a computer that was attempting to stream the game live with little success. These guys were the kind of salty souls who could tell the same story over and over again and still captivate your attention. The talkative Aussie told me to stay in school so I wouldn’t end up like him. He’d been in Micronesia for 15 years. Still, he seemed happy and content. As I’ve discovered throughout this trip, contentment is pivotal to happiness.

 

Above are some pictures of the bar, and below is a picture with Marie, my mom, and myself

Finally, the last picture shows the view from the pub. Pohnpei is stunning all around, but this view is especially fantastic.

After all the formatting, I'm finally done at 3:57 A.M. 7/8/13 in Honolulu, which is 12:57 A.M. 7/9/13 in Pohnpei. Time for me to head to the bed.

Goodnight,
Charlie

Micronesia: Day 16 beta

Sunday, July 7, 2013
6:52 P.M.

This is my last night in Micronesia, so I'm planning to live it up. Whether that means initiating canine fights, getting wasted off sakau, or having mangrove-identifying competitions, I do not know. But whatever it is, it's not going to be antisocial. My mom's secret b-day party begins in 6 minutes, so from then on out, I'll be AWOL for the rest of the evening, and perhaps until tomorrow afternoon.

The flipside is that I will have a ten hour plane flight to catch up on all my blogging, so I'll have plenty to do then. My mom brought her laptop as well, so in the unfortunate and probable event that the plane won't have outlets and I'll run out of battery, I'll be able to use her computer too (if she lets me). The general plan at this point is to get a flight to Honolulu, change plane tickets and pay a small re-booking fee, and hit up the sunshine in Kailua-Kona for a time yet to be determined. I'll be in touch with my Micronesia comrades through Skype or email or something, and I'll be having plenty of adventures on my own.

Peace.

6:59 P.M.

__________________________________________________________________

Update: 1:31 A.M. 7/9/13 Hawaii Time

I've finally made it to Kailua-Kona. I thought I'd just give a brief overview of what else happened on my mom's birthday.

Driving to Manta Pass

We were originally planning to go all the way to Nan Madol, but heavy morning rain prevented us from doing so. The infrared satellite pictures showed continued clouds over the area (I couldn't find if Pohnpei had a doppler radar), so we expected the rain to continue. It lasted well into the morning, but by 11 A.M. or so, it was gone and we were just under cloudy skies.

My mom is such a good sport

Instead, we headed to Manta Pass, which is a Marine Protected Area (MPA) off the northern Pohnpeian coast. It is so named because manta rays like to hang out there. My mom and I went snorkeling over there and came across schools of manta rays. At one point, I saw four right below the surface. In the far distance, I could see the rays scooting around on the top of the water, presumably feeding on some baitfish.

The mantas like to hang on the deep part of a reef dropoff, but there were some very cool reef fish and corals on the shallow part of the reef, and my mom and I spent a great deal over there as well. It always amazes me how many fish can survive in such blue, sterile water.

Thanks to this class, I know what kind of trees cover the coast. Mangroves!

Have any of you every been to Clayoquot Sound near Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island? If not, I highly, highly recommend it. It is an absolutely beautiful location. In many ways, it seems like Pohnpei is the tropical equivalent of Clayoquot Sound. The topography is similar, it rains all the time, and the land is incredibly green. Tofino doesn't have coral reefs and Pohnpei doesn't have kelp beds, but they are eerily similar in many ways.

More pictures of Pohnpei

After 1:00 or so, we headed back to the PCR Hotel. This picture shows the exterior of it and the several small charter boats on its docks. Notice how brown the water is. This is due to its location on the Sapwalap Estuary, where there are far more nutrients than in the open ocean or even most of the water inside the barrier reef surrounding Pohnpei.

PCR Hotel

Speaking from two days after my mom's birthday, I can tell you that it went well. Kids shared their homestay stories, which all sounded very adventurous and fun. It's too bad that I wasn't able to go, but what can you do, eh? 

I didn't do anything adventurous that night because all the kids were working on their field reports for the estuary project. I didn't even get a chance to go out on any of the field days after my seizures, so completing the entire project in tandem with getting my mom acquainted with everything and packing wouldn't have made sense. 

Regardless, I had a great time with my mom and got to do some snorkeling without all the mandatory safety precautions sanctioned by the UW, and I hope I can do some more here in Hawaii. 

I'll use common sense though.

Charlie

Finished 1:57 A.M. 7/9/13

Micronesia: Day 14 - Sakau, Seagrasses and Sunsets

Water just outside the barrier reef surrounding Pohnpei, Micronesia - 7/5/13

Friday, July 5, 2013

8:34 P.M.

Good evening everybody. Well, for all my readers in Seattle, I should say "good before-sunbreak everyone." Anyway, it's Friday evening here, and I had a spectacular end to a spectacular week.

First off, let me upload some pictures from the 4th of July U.S. Embassy party that I mentioned in my other blog. It was pretty awesome... I kept in line with my "attentionitarian" habits and sneaked a hot dog in when nobody was paying close attention. To my credit, I did this because there weren't any veggie dogs, and I was consoled by the fact that another, older woman on the trip who is a much more noble vegetarian than I also had a hot dog. There was a cutout of president Obama, so I got to meet a carbon copy of our commander-in-chief.

A whole bunch of cool stuff was going on. Some young Pohnpeian kids sung "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and topped it off with synchronized marching, a young Pohnpeian woman sung the U.S. National Anthem, and some other miscellaneous people had some remarks. There were some Mormons who, instead of trying to convert everybody to Mormonism (I used to be unbiased towards Mormons, but now I harbor ill will towards them as a group for a few individuals who won't stop pestering me in Red Square. I know it's wrong, but it's how I feel.), said something like "God Bless America," although slightly more elaborate.

There were also these adorable little girls doing some general Polynesian dances, and they were followed by some older girls that looked to be around my age or slightly older. I don't think the dances they did were endemic to Pohnpei; they looked similar to dances I had seen at Luaus in Hawaii.

Adorable

Adorable 2.0

Of course, no Independence Day would be complete without an Uncle Sam, so we had one of those, too.

I want YOU... to eat more hot dogs.

We even met a kid named Charles, which is awesome because there were already two Charles' in our group (Charlie Heller and myself). He was a Pohnpei native and kind of awkward, but he was really nice. 

The three stooges

Of course, no 4th of July could be celebrated without a glass of chocolate milk. The brand was "Sakau" and it tasted horrible... the Micronesians need to work on their chocolate milk. Rumor has it that the chocolate milk acts as a depressant and has been used in Pohnpei and other Pacific Islands in spiritual ceremonies for thousands of years, but it didn't affect me at all besides make me cringe. For those of you wondering, drinking this brand of chocolate milk is perfectly legal and normal... it just tastes bad. One bottle was 5 bucks. I didn't like it, but hey, you can't get it in the States.

Another thing that was really cool on our Independence Day was a rain shower I saw back at the hotel. The rain shower itself wasn't particularly heavy, but there was a ton of muddy outflow into the estuary from a pipe near the hotel, indicating that it was probably raining extremely heavily not far away. These tropical rainstorms can be very localized.

Now, onto the stuff we did today. We went to some location... the name escapes me right now, but it was on the northern coast of Pohnpei... and we walked out in the water to take some data about seagrasses. More specifically, we looked for the percent coverage of seagrass in various locations and approximated percentages for the amount of seagrass in our area that belonged to each genus that was known to exist on Pohnpei: Thalassia, Enhalus, and Cymodocea. We generally found that Thalassia was most common, followed by Enhalus and Cymodocea.

Out in the "field."

Rite-ing in the Rain with the pen and notepad of the same name. I used the snorkel to get a closer look at the genera of seagrass.

One of the Pohnpeian interns for the Conservation Society of Pohnpei that joined us on the trip holding a sea cucumber.

Doing work with the iconic Sokeh's rock in the background.

At one point, we found a really cool cowrie. I immediately recognized the shell... I'd seen plenty of these shells selling in gift shops before, but I had never seen the actual animal. The cowrie is an amazing creature... and it tickles when it maneuvers around on your hand. Definitely the coolest organism I've seen on this trip. 

A really pretty cowrie we found.

We found a stray mangrove all the way out in the seagrass plain. I didn't take a good look at it, but if I had to guess, I would say it was a Rhyzophera simply because there were a lot of other Rhyzophera  in the vicinity and I feel like the Rhyzophera propagules would be well-situated to successfully start growing in this type of environment. 

We were also fortunate enough to see a decently-sized plane land at the Kolonia International Airport. It's easy to forget that Micronesia is just a couple plane flights away; it really feels like a completely different world here.

Yesterday, I was told that a homestay was completely out of the question, but apparently the UW administration flip-flopped this morning and said that a homestay was perfectly ok. However, plans had already been made, so I didn't end up participating in a homestay. I currently have my room to myself (it is 11:26 P.M. right now) because both my roommates (in fact, everybody else in the class) are at their respective homestays. They will get back Sunday afternoon.

Our boat left before the others had began their homestays. Bon voyage!

I was bummed that I was missing out on these homestays, but I've already had a pretty decent exposure to Micronesian culture and I'm very grateful for that. Since I had some extra time, my mom and I went on a sunset boat cruise that the owner of the hotel we are staying in sponsored. We went to just outside the barrier reef surrounding Pohnpei, anchored up, and socialized, swam, and watched the sunset.

I always thought that Pohnpei looked like a tropical version of Clayoquot Sound, which, for those of you who don't know, is a sound located on the western coast of Vancouver Island by Tofino. The greenery, the sharp topography coming all the way to the shore... there are just so many similarities between these two places. I hope I can go up to Tofino later this year. Long story short... the boat ride out to our destination was absolutely stunning.

On the way out to the reef

 

Waves breaking on the barrier reef. I can only imagine what the surfing must be like here in the winter, when the big swells from distant storms roll through.

One thing that was interesting to note was the indirectly observed lack of wind shear throughout the air column. It was rather breezy on the water, but the convective cumulus clouds that were forming were shooting straight up, showing that the winds throughout the air column were homogenous and very little net torque was being applied on the cloud. This is pretty common with tropical showers and is the reason why they die out quickly... the downdraft (rain) is in the same place as the updraft and the downdraft eventually cuts off the influx of new air into the cloud.

Since this was not a university-sanctioned activity, I was finally able to freely swim without a lifejacket (under close supervision, of course). 

I love diving

Lots of other people were swimming, and there was this absolutely adorable little girl. There's absolutely adorable kids all over this island... on my second or third day here, we were driving down a dirt road when we saw some kids, including a stark-naked boy no older than 5, standing by the side of the road. That's something you don't usually see in Washington.

The sunset was gorgeous. I was hoping to catch a "green flash," but there were clouds obscuring the final setting of the sun below the horizon. It was still a beautiful sunset though. I have seen a green flash before when I was out tuna fishing at Westport, and it was a most peculiar (and beautiful) sight. Check out my blog post on green flashes here.

Note my tan lines. Applying several coats of SPF 50 is apparently still incomparable to wearing an article of clothing.

One more cute kid to finish off the blog. Plus, he is wearing the exact same lifejacket that I wore when I was a kid.

Hopefully I can catch a monster fish tomorrow! Fingers crossed.

Good night,

Charlie

Finished: 11:53 P.M.