Purchasing Power in Micronesia

Most things considered, it's unfortunate that we use American currency here on Kosrae. There are a few "good deals" on the island, but alas, we cannot live like kings on the cheap.

Staples:

• Eggs (doz. med.) = $2.50 (Not sure how much these are in the States, probably similar, but I do know that they're not still selling August dates over there...)



• Cheese (American yellow, 16 slices) = $5.75


• Peanut Butter (8 oz. Skippy Natural) = $3.75


• Oatmeal (box of 6) = $2


• Milk (1 liter, Whole) = $2.95 (Conversion rate = $11.15 for a gallon)

Beverages:

• Charles Shaw = $12.95 ("Two-Buck Chuck" doesn't exist over here)


• Vella Box Wine = $32.95 (Micronesia obviously isn't Europe)


• Beer (refrigerated from the market) = $2.50 ea. (if warm, reduce the price by $0.50)
  

Best Deals on the Island:

• Ice cream (2 scoops, cake cone if available) = $0.50 (amazing...)


• Sunset Cruise = $5 for volunteers on the island. Every Thursday evening one of the restaurant/hotel owners takes people out on his boat for unlimited appetizers (usually consisting of fresh sashimi, chips, sushi, nuts, and the occasional eggroll) and beers. Again, amazing...

And that concludes my research on the purchasing power of the dollar over here. Any questions on other specific items, let me know and I'll investigate.

All the best,

Tyler

Currently listening to: Bob Seger

Currently reading: Robinson Crusoe (ugh...old English is not very fun to read)

Day X: A Brand New Day

First, I'll go over yesterday, Day 4.

Breakfast: 2 three inch fish I speared the night before, boiled (pretty fishy tasting), two tangerines.

Lunch: Chopped half-boiled banana.

3:15pm: Snickers Bar.

3:20pm: Beef Jerky.

3:21pm: Heineken.

3:29pm: Macaroni & Cheese.

Yep, I know, we failed...already. There are no excuses, but the following were MAJOR issues:

1. We had to teach every day (started on Monday, Parent/Teacher confereneces), during key hours for protein collection.

2. We live miles from the school, requiring us to walk an average of 3 miles a day here. Again, during crucial hours of daylight.

3. Going along with #2, we have no car to transport ourselves, our spears, fishing gear, etc.

Anyways, the naysayers can nay say all they want, overall it was a cool experience and we both learned a lot. Being famished for so long (80 hours in our case) is a pretty discouraging way to live.

Be sure to check out Nate's blog, there should be a pretty funny video coming up soon of the both of us.

Needless to say, today has been glorious. This morning I poured a hot cup of coffee and ate some cereal, then took this picture while waiting for the school bus.

-- Beat Notre Dame --

Day 3: Meager Rations

As Nate pointed out today, "Moral is low, rations are meager, this is the Oregon Trail."

First, brief synopsis of Day 2:

Breakfast: two boiled bananas.

-Collected 40 tangerines after school, good start.

-Result of fishing with a pole and hermit crabs: Utter Failure

-Result of chiseling oysters from the Causeway: Good, about 50 oysters

Dinner: 7 oysters (baked in an oven for 15 min at 425...delicious actually) and two tangerines.

Now as we near the end of today, Day 3:

Breakfast: Two tangerines and one oyster (bad decision).

-Another unsuccessful day of fishing, this time with a speargun, which was at least fun.

-Set up a chicken trap and although we lured the chickens in, they escaped with their lives. :(

-Dinner: 3 boiled bananas, 4 oysters and a delicious glass of coconut water.

Getting enough protein has been our biggest issue thus far. If the clouds cover tonight, I may go machete fishing out in the flats...that's been the easiest way to catch fish thus far.

Needless to say, eating 500 calories a day, while teaching five classes, has been hard on the mind and the spirit.

Cheers.

Day 1: The Birth of the SLP

The Subsistence Living Plan (SLP) is an effort by myself and Nate (another WT volunteer) to survive entirely off the land for one month. Although we've been discouraged by many naysayers, there's no better environment or time than here and now, unless you live on a farm.

The SLP began today (10/12) at 6:40am, right after a large breakfast of oatmeal laced with a healthy portion of peanut butter.

To give you a brief overview:

We can only consume what we, ourselves, hunt and gather for one full month. We can't buy anything to eat, be given food, or eat anything we prepared before today. Water will be taken from rain catchments scattered throughout the island. We will still be teaching every day, and so we have allowed some luxuries.

These luxuries include: refrigeration, pots/pans/utensils, and electricity.

As this first day is coming to an end, I have to admit it is already tougher than I thought. We attempted to fish, but the tide was too low once we got out to the reef -- so we went without protein for dinner tonight :(. I have faith this won't be a recurring theme though.

Also, all fishing "bait" must be something we make or catch, such as the hermit crabs we used today, or a makeshift fly tied from the radiant feathers of the chicken(s) we will attempt to catch tomorrow.

Today we harvested about 25 bananas and 7 coconuts. For dinner I boiled 3 of the bananas and drank some coconut water. The bananas here are much different from the Chiquitas back at home, but they are just as spectacular. We're waiting until half of the batch turns yellow, and half of the batch was boiled tonight. Tasted like a baked potato actually. Delicious and not nearly as bland as they look below...

If you would like a full list of our rules, to see more pictures and video, and hear what Nate has to say, also stay tuned to: http://subsistencelivingplan.blogspot.com/

Our blogs will be updated much more frequently during this next month. You will be updated here at least 3 times a week. If you've got any comments/suggestions/questions regarding the challenge, we'd love to hear them.

Cheers,

Ty

Regarding Teaching and Machete Fishing

Apologies for not being the most consistent blogger in the blogosphere...there's no excuse.

Being a teacher for two months has brought some good insight into my life -- but take this as it is...from a novice.

The most important attribute a teacher can have is compassion. To be truly effective, without a doubt, you need to care about your students, their well-being, and their educational progress.

And while most people will agree that this is obvious, or most teachers will say that they do have compassion for their students, they should know that having it is not enough. Truly great teachers will consistently *show* their compassion to their students -- just as great doctors do while briefing their patients before surgery, or great lawyers do when they stand up for their clients in the courtroom.

Of course there are some anomalies: a genius, but introverted doctor who saves a life; a skilled but ruthless lawyer who constantly gets his/her client out of trouble. But the majority of patients, clients, and students will remember that their best help came from someone who truly cared about them.

To make a positive difference in anyone’s life, you must sincerely care about them, first and foremost.

So that is my recent experiential insight...take it for what it is. I will not go into this much further since this is a public blog. I will say that as I continue to work on my teaching abilities, compassion is not the easiest trait to consistently display; but on those days when your intentions become especially clear, the reactions from the students are inspiring.

Meanwhile, school was canceled yesterday due to a Tsunami watch. After an 8.3 earthquake in America Samoa, it was announced on the radio that there would be no school and everyone should head to higher ground. So while many people just did work around the home - mowing lawns and whatnot - we followed procedure and evacuated. A few hours later we returned home, unscathed.

Fishing Update:

Another volunteer (Nate) and I went machete fishing with my landlord, his wife, and his mother about a week ago.

Materials used: Machete, Flashlight, Rope with copper tube, Booties.

Necessary Setting: 8pm, low tide, no moon.

Results: We successfully hacked five fish (ranging from 2 to 7 inches), a sea snake type creature, a softball-sized clam, and a crab left us his claw after a brief struggle. My landlord and his female entourage bagged about 30 fish in the same time period.

Four tips on fishing and eating your own reef fish:
1. One of the species, which we aptly named the “Stink Fish,” does actually taste much better than it smells...so go for it.
2. Many of these “Stinkers” are pregnant, leaving you an abundance of fresh island caviar.
3. Island caviar tastes like dried up little nuggets of unflavored Cream of Wheat.
4. Threading a copper tube through a fish’s eyes does not deal it a fatal blow, so try something else.

I have also caught two "Rock Grouper"out on the far reef. Though since I was alone each time, I had to come in right after catching them due to my extremities becoming severely entangled in my fishing line. Bait of the day: SPAM. Rock Grouper love that stuff...

In addition to fishing successes, we did have a week of school cancelled due to island influenza. Fortunately, all of the volunteers made it through ok.

A few of us also started a successful SAT private tutoring program during this time. It's free for the students who are willing to stay for two hours after school each day. And with the help of the Director of Education on Kosrae, we also found funding for lunches and transportation home, both crucial incentives. The kids take the test in a week so hopefully we'll see some good results...practice test improvements have shown that it's been working in theory, so everyone is optimistic.

I haven't taken many pictures since my last post, so I'll give you my link to my facebook pictures in case you haven't seen them. You don't need an account to access these, just paste the link in your browser.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2409610&id=3409076&l=92743fe5a5

Otherwise, I hope you are all doing well. It's been great hearing from you.

Much love,

Ty


Currently Reading: A Separate Peace (still, I know...it's boring)
Currently Listening to: Michael Franti & Spearhead - Nobody Right Nobody Wrong

Disclaimer

The ideas and thoughts expressed within are not the views or opinions of WorldTeach but rather my own personal views.

Guacamole Withdrawal

HELLO!

Things are good on this side of the planet. Here’s a recap of a what's happened since I’ve last written:

1. Gospel Day - A five day weekend marked by difficulties sleeping (due to some noisy, wee hour pig slaughtering going on next door), a huge celebration/church dedication service, watching as hundreds of bloody, raw pigs were fork lifted from trucks to the ground, and helping butcher the “Ossit” pig that was kindly donated to us. “Ossit” is the name for ex-pats on the island. Inspired by my sister‘s catering business, I actually made a pretty decent roast out of the loin* last week for some friends.

2. Hunting and Gathering - Fishing has been somewhat difficult for me thus far. Score - Me: 0; Fish: 3. Each of these three unsuccessful fishing attempts has resulted in a great learning experience though, and I’m sure that by the end of this week I will have a massive fish on my dinner plate.

Although I may be losing the fight in the sea, I’m winning the battle on the ground. Score - Me: 85; Bananas: 1. After giving much of the fruits of my labor to neighbors, I enjoyed some delicious peanut butter banana bites and baked some taro banana bread** that exceeded its mediocre expectations.

3. School Fire Alarm - Teaching has been going pretty well so far -- the learning curve for me is steep which is good. During these first three weeks I’ve only had one student start a fire in my classroom; and despite the initial shock of seeing smoke billowing from the student’s desk, this challenge was pretty easy to overcome.

4. Surf Coconuts- Last Wednesday a few of us were out surfing until sunset and had a really cool cultural experience. Each of us came in to shore within a few minutes of each other and as we walked from the ocean to the car, we were guided down an aisle lined by Kosraean kids. All of the kids were laughing and cheering loudly, and once we got to the end of the aisle they handed each of us a coconut to drink. They were so excited to do this for us and it was definitely the highlight of my day.

5. The Sun - The sunset mentioned in the last paragraph was the most incredible sunset I’ve ever seen. The whole ocean was orange and pink while we were sitting on our surfboards...it was like the world was suddenly illuminated by an entirely new light source. And because the water is so transparent here, we could see the reef glowing below us. Sorry no pictures, they don't do it justice anyway...

It’s been really great reading all of your emails…keep them coming!

All the best.
Tyler

Currently Reading: A Separate Peace
Currently Listening to: Billy Joel

*Ossit Pork Tenderloin
-1 Pork Tenderloin
-Enough mustard (yellow is the only variety we have here, but feel free to try Dijon or something else) to fully coat the loin
-About 10 peperoncinis
-1/3 C juice from peperoncini jar
-A tbsp oil

Marinade all of the above in the fridge for 2 hours. Put in the oven at 375 for 1 hour.
Let sit for 10 minutes, then slice into medallions and enjoy!

**Tyler’s Better-than-Mediocre Taro Banana Bread
-2 C Taro Flour
-4/5 C Sugar
-1 tbsp oil
-4 bananas (preferably from the backyard)
-A quick stream of whole milk (with Vitamin D)
-2 or 3 tbsp cinnamon sugar
-2 medium eggs (preferably expired for two months or less)
-An equally tiny (but still important) amount of baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Mix all this and bake for 20-30 minutes at 325, then eat!

A Room with a View

Seasons Greetings.

Three weeks have passed since my arrival in Kosrae and still, every day is new and educational. The challenge for me is to figure out what you want to read on this blog -- whether to write about the 1 year old’s birthday where I was presented with the honorary pig’s head, or about the incident last Wednesday night when I awoke to frantic knocks on my door, followed by my roommate yelling “Tyler, get the machete!” ……(False Alarm)……

My first two weeks on the island I lived with my two host parents and two of their daughters. The family was extremely hospitable; immediately immersing me in the local culture. Breakfasts and dinners consisted mostly of the following: rice, chicken, pork, crab, spam, pancakes, eggs, bananas, breadfruit, taro, tuna sashimi and the occasional Frosted Flakes or donut. Orientation took up most of my time during these first two weeks, though I was able to sneak some canoe racing, snorkeling, and surfing into the schedule. In the evenings, I would often go to the elementary school that was behind my host family’s home -- oddly enough, the sandy beach behind the school has an incredible wireless connection.

This past Wednesday I moved into a 3br, 2ba house with two girls from our group. To complement the country music that is usually enjoyed on our porch, the front yard has more than 50 palm trees, banana trees, papaya trees, pantana (a fruit that you chew on like sugar cane) trees, and a garden of snap peas. As for the animals/critters -- we have an abundance of frogs and geckos in and around our house, a cat that comes and goes, the occasional fruit bat, and six chickens who typically loiter on our land here. The chickens currently serve as decent alarm clocks, though next week I think I'll put my machete skills to the test for the sake of a few tasty and free meals. Both of my vegetarian roomies are fired up about this...

Only a small two lane road separates our front yard from a white sand beach; and although we face the North side of the island, we still have a good view of the sun setting in the West.

None of the fruits in our yard (except coconuts) are ripe yet, and so my diet since leaving my host family has consisted mostly of peanut butter on saltine crackers, coconut water, tangerines, and macaroni and cheese. Fish/crab are much less abundant than you’d imagine living on an island; though now that I have the aforementioned machete and a flashlight, I’ll be able to fish for my own dinner in the water across the street from our house. I’ll let you know how this goes…

There is a great surf spot about a half mile up the road from our house, and the waves couldn’t have been better last Saturday. Hopefully we’ll get some pictures soon. The tide is coming back in as I type...wooooo!

Today was the first day of school, though our first full day of classes is actually tomorrow. I’m very happy about my schedule: two classes of Algebra I to the 9th grade advanced students, two classes of the same Algebra I to 11th graders, and one class of 12th grade English/SAT Prep.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Cheers.

Currently Reading: The Alchemist
Currently Listening to: Billy Currington

Off to Hawaii, then Kosrae

Just a few notes before I leave tomorrow....

General info about Kosrae:

www.visit-fsm.org/kosrae/

www.kosraesurftours.com/


My address:

Tyler Hensley c/o WorldTeach
P.O. Box 419
Tofol, Kosrae 96944
Federated States of Micronesia

USPS delivers to/from the island -- expect 1-2 weeks if Priority or 3 months if regular mail.

Kosrae Clock:

5 hours behind PST, plus one day ahead.

Gotta go pack now!