Lots of roommates - November 20

My hut is alive! There all sorts of critters that creep and crawl around the floor, in the wooden beams, in the ceiling, and even outside climbing up the walls. I killed my biggest most creepiest roommate tonight. I was going to try and be at peace with the spider the size of a small child’s hand, but my plan failed. I was all because I saw it fall on my cousin Brandon while we were playing Uno. It was a hit and run, but I nailed the spider later with my handy dandy shoe. I am down one roommate, but I am ok with it especially because my sister, Gwen, said that spiders crawl up under mosquito nets…Eek!

Speaking of mosquito net, I am ridiculously grateful for mine, it keeps all kinds of critters from flying or falling on me. I saw a lizard (uzarde in Woleaian) crawling on the ceiling tonight and I though to myself that I am very grateful for lizards because they keep the bug population down a little, but I do not want to be under that guy when he loses his grip on the palm fron!

Early this morning I heard this creepy scratching on metal sound and thought NINJA! However, it was 5 o’clock and I was pretty sure that night crawling hours were over. When I got out of bed around 6:30 I went to see what kind of creature was making all racket and I found a giant hermit crab! We all know how much I LOVE crabs and he was headed for my roof which means that he can get inside my house!

Now, I do have to give this guy some credit because he was a very pretty redish pink color and he got creative and was living out of some piece of plastic. I guess he was so big that he couldn’t find a shell big enough for his butt! However, Mr. hermit crab and I could not be friends due to the simple fact that he was trying to invade my house and he kept me awake at 5 am with thoughts of creepy island men trying to get into my hut! I grabbed the closest coconut I could find and knocked him off my house. Let’s just hope that he was not trying to get to his wife and 3 growing children!

No you are not dreaming… - November 19, 2009

Have you ever had one of those dreams that you are in a very public place when all of a sudden your clothes disappear but no one seems to notice? Well, I have not only dreamt that, but I am living it! I just spoke with the principal of my school with no shirt on and no one even noticed! Not only did I speak with my principal, but I was introduced to the whole school!

Today was my first day at school and I observed 7^th and 8^th grade. I do not feel like they got any work done at all today or really do much work at all on any other day. Let’s just say this school has a lot of room for improvement. I feel that I will be able to help this school a lot in many different areas, one of them being the “library.” Right now it is just a room with lots of old books on the shelves. I hope to get it back into operating mode so that the students can actually use it as a library. I think that every one at the school wants to see things improve around here and are willing to help me help them. It is going to be a lot of work but I believe that I am here for a reason and that these people need my help and I want to help them!

Woleai at last! - November 18

Hey everyone! this is Sarita serving as Gita's personal blog secretary!

WOLEAI!!!! Holy cow! I am here! I cannot believe it either!

So much has happened in the last 5 days that it is hard to believe life is real. The boat ride here was insane! There was tons of rain day and night and waves crashing over the front of the boat and onto our stuff. Luckily nothing important got really wet. The boat rocked in every direction which made me a bit nauseous but not enough for me to toss my cookies. Every night was a battle to stay dry, to get comfortable on the hard wood, and to keep from getting squished or slept on by a sweaty man or squirmy child. I think I experienced a little bit of what it was like to stay in steerage on a ship back in the day. I just imagined living on a boat for weeks with no bathroom and animals everywhere contributing to the chaos. Luckily there were no animals on our boat, just a bunch of coconuts to drink.

Every time the ship stopped at an island people would come bringing coconuts and other food for the passengers staying on board. It gave a sense of community among these people even when they have an ocean between them.

Needless to say, I made it! Woleai is absolutely beautiful. I feel very lucky to have such a beautiful home for the next 2 years. The water is unbelievably clear and blue and I just want to swim in it all day long! The people here are all so friendly too. I have been greeted with big welcoming smiles by every one that I have met. My family seems pretty great too! My mothers name is Bibianna and my fathers name is Simion. I have two sisters, Gwen who is 17 and Dortha Leen (pronounced torta-leen) who is 7. Dortha is a very happy girl who laughs at absolutely everything! I have a lot of fun playing with her in the ocean. I also have a brother, but he is attending elementary school on nearby island called Euripic. There is also Sylvia and her son Calvert who is 8. I am not sure how they are related but weather you are actually related or not you are still considered family.

I have a thatched hut just like I thought I would! It is pretty big too. I feel kind of bad having it all to myself because there is room for about seven to sleep. I’m sure I’ll get over that though and I will be very grateful for my own space. I have locks on all of my doors. That just means I put a nail into a hole to keep the door from being opened from the outside. This will hopefully keep out unwanted visitors at night (aka “ninjas” or “snipers”) who want to woo me by creeping into my house. Dating is very secret and strange here and I do not think I will get used to that.

November 10

Merry Christmas?

As I was riding in the car with Emily and her dad, Juanito, a familiar tune came on the radio. For a moment I had to stop and think of what the tune was. Then it hit me…”Santa Clause is Coming to Town”. I sang along much to Emily and Juanito’s enjoyment I’m sure. The following song was “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, which I sang along with as well and reminisced about watching Home Alone 2. Now, I know these things sound like normal events to take place in November, however, here they seemed quite out of place in Yap. There is no Christmas music playing in the in all of the stores you go into. There are no big sparkly red bows hanging from the streetlights or the beginnings of Christmas cheer in people’s homes. And there is DEFINETELY not a slight chill in the air…in fact it is downright sweltering outside! Ok, maybe sweltering is a bit intense, but it is pretty darn hot!

Actually, one of the first songs I heard anyone sing here was a Christmas carol. “Jingle Bells” to be exact. I guess it does not have to be any specific time of the year to sing Christmas tunes, especially since the weather never really changes to make it seem like it is anything other then high summer.

It is strange to think that Thanksgiving is so soon and that Christmas and a new year are right around the corner. It feels like it is Florida summer here and that the holidays are months away. I will be in Woleai for Thanksgiving...and Christmas, and all of the holidays for the next 2 years, but that is not the point. This will be my first Thanksgiving away from family and friends and it is strange to think that there will not be a plump turkey on the dinner table along with cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. Mmmm that sounds so yummy!

Family!

The family that I am living with here is absolutely wonderful! I have a father (Mathew), mother (Francisca), brother (Lynwood) who is 17, and sister (Adrienne) who is 14. Now, there are about 7 other people that are staying with us right now for all different reasons. There is a family of three that is staying with us because the mother is pregnant and is here to have her baby sometime this month. They are from Falalop, Woleai (the island that I will be on) so I am looking forward to when they return because I will get to meet their new baby boy! They also have a daughter Khanysha (3) that is absolutely adorable. Sometimes she walks into my room at night saying good morning over and over again, not really having any idea what she is saying. She tries to speak to me all of the time in Woleaian, but I really just have no idea what she is saying. I usually just smile and tickle her or say one to two word sentences to her that she just laughs at. It has kind of become a game that we play. It does not really matter that we do not speak the same language because we can communicate through giggles and smiles. At least that has worked so far. J I am glad that Khanysha lives in Falalop because that means for the next two years I get to play with her and watch her grow up. It is things like this that make me feel connected to the community here. I am going to be a part of their lives for the next 2 years! That thought is very exciting for me.

Family here is such a big part of every ones lives. Probably because every one here is family! I will meet people on the street and they will say “oh you are living with Mathew? He is my wife’s cousin” or “who are you going to live with in Falalop? Simion? Oh he is my second cousin on my mothers side” I swear every one is every ones cousin. Which is probably why the crime rate is so low here…you do not want to kill someone because the chances are they are your cousin!

November 7

Alright, I am just going to fast forward a little bit. I realize that I am skipping over a whole month but I just want to get to the good stuff. I am now in Yap and have been for 6 weeks! Our swear-in ceremony is on the 6th (Friday) and we will finally be official volunteers! For our ceremony each volunteer has to say a little introduction in the language of their island and do a dance or song with the people that will be on that island with them. The three of us going to Woleai wrote a song and had it translated into Woleaian for us to sing. The song is about 3 little birds that have traveled far from their nests to make new nests here with new families and how grateful they are to the people of Woleai for welcoming them with open arms. It is a very sweet song that was inspired by 3 bird finger puppets that my dad sent to me. It really is the little joys in life here that make a difference.

Depending on the ships schedule, we are supposed to leave around the 11th or 12th to go to Woleai! However, I have found that information about the ships departures and arrivals tends to be quite unreliable (everything here is usually hearsay and what they heard was probably started as a rumor). I guess that is due to the high cost of fuel and the fact that there is only one qualified captain and he likes to take periodic vacations whenever he feels the need. Needless to say, people have serious island time syndrome here. Which I am still adjusting to by the way. With everything I just have to say “hey its ok, I have 2 years right!” I also make sure that I always have a book with me so that I have something to do if I end up waiting for an hour…or two.

Ok, so I wrote that a few days ago. We are leaving today! Pray for calm seas and not rain! That way my things stay dry and I don’t barf! J

Mail time!

For anyone who is wondering my address for the next 2 years is:

Gita Drew/Peace Corps Volunteer
P.O. Box 190
Colonia, Yap, FM 96943

Once I am out in Woleai I will not be getting mail very often....meaning anywhere from 1 to 4 months! But I will get it, so don't hesitate sending letters or packages :)

If you are wanting to send a package and are wondering "hmm I wonder what Gita needs..." well I don't really NEED anything. However, dried fruit and vegetables, granola bars, any kind of nice soaps, zip lock bags/tupperware, reading material (both educational and good for the brain or trashy but totally necessary), reminders of home or you, tea, any food that is just add water, or anything else that you think I might need! Really anything and everything is welcome and loved!

Let me just say that for those of you who have sent me letters or packages, I want to tell you how much I appreciate them! Mail is most definitely the highlight of the day/week! It makes me feel connected to home and reminds me that I have wonderful friends and family. So thank you so very very much!

Sa ila! (goodbye!)