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!