Another short story about being hit on in Pohnpei...

Michaela and my favorite stick-twirling, samurai-in-training, "hey lady"-sayin' Pohnpeian was in full form this morning. I was walking to work and there happened to be a group of 4 other Pohnpeians walking near me (witnesses). He walked past us and started doing ninja moves at a barking dog. As I turned back to check out his ridiculous moves, we caught eyes. He than began to yell, rather loudly, "Mensung mwauh (good morning) pretty legs! Pretty legs, mensung mwauh!!" The other Pohnpeians (and I) burst out laughing. This only encouraged him to get louder. He repeated himself over and over until I was finally out of his line of vision. BAH!!! Pohnpei met!

*sigh*...getting hit on through a language barrier...endless entertainment

Two quick stories: Michaela was walking back from work one afternoon and one of the island's "crazy people", i.e. he walks around with a fork tied to a string while dishing out a hearty helping of word salad, approached her from behind calling, "Hey! Hey, Lady! Hey, Lady!" When she turned around he boldly said, "I like your crack-ass!" Apparently, Michaela has a nice crack-ass...

The other story happened in the middle of a run. Michaela and I had stopped midway at Misco Beach to talk with some friends and after being harassed by a drunken man, who handed us a romance novel and asked if we knew about it and when we said "no" he clearly was internally elevated to an "all knowing" status, we decided to leave. As we were leaving a different man stuck his head out of a moving car window and yelled, "I LOVE AMERICAN!" Than he paused. We looked at each other and shook our heads at another blatant pick-up attempt. We were clearly not amused; however, than he continued in an equally loud, but much more somber voice, "BUT I TOO SHORT!" Micronesians are typically shorter but his awareness with his vertical limitations was both unexpected and absolutely hilarious. We burst out laughing, repeated his butchered English pick-up line a few times and eventually continued with our work out.

We've also had a man call for our attention (“Hey, Lady!”) and after achieving our gaze proceed to do samurai moves (like it was his job) with an iron pole he had found somewhere.

The stories go on and on, but they never seem to get old!

Championship Week Track and Field Meet

The race couldn't have gone better! Not only did EVERY athlete CRUSH their previous personal records (PR), but we also crushed the competition! We even made history (no team has ever beaten Kitti, another municipality, in the history of the Championship Week games).You should have seen how tall our athletes were walking!

As you know, it was a battle to set the meet up as fairly as possible. In each attempt to establish consistent rules for competition, we were met with accusations of being "cheaters" and that we were "only concerned with winning." This was frustrating for many reasons. First, our motivation behind every inquiry was quite the opposite- we wanted to give every athlete an equal opportunity to succeed. It was also frustrating because, to be honest, we had no reason to cheat! Our athletes were properly conditioned while every other team had only been practicing for two weeks-MAX. Lastly, it was frustrating because laced within their accusations were clearly attempts to adhere to their own personal agendas and unrelenting need to win (i.e. limiting the field in the 1500m to two athletes per team because they didn't have enough distance runners to compete against us).

On the day of the meet the problem with the limited entrants in the 1500m hadn't been resolved, the lane assignments were non-existent (a free-for all) and we were still battling athletes switching teams *cough* being stolen by other coaches *cough*. However, despite these frustrations, our team was still not deterred from the task at hand--they were hungry for competition. The lack of lane assignments wouldn't have been terribly discouraging, however only the winner of each preliminary heat made it to finals (regardless of times) so without seeding the heats the fastest runners ended up racing and knocking each other out during the prelims while the slower athletes were making it to finals. We tried to re-arrange the heats (or at least coach our athletes how to pick which heat they'd jump into), but with the obvious time constraints on top of a language barrier, there wasn't much we could do. This definitely hurt us in the 100m and 200m, but fortunately in the 400m on up we had such a commanding lead over the field that it didn't matter. Further, even though our fastest athletes were getting bumped out of finals in the sprints, having someone to chase brought down their PRs significantly.

Other than the girls 100m and 200m and the boys 100m hurdles we had athletes in every final--we even swept the girls 800m! Only four athletes per event made it to finals making our strong presence during finals all the more impressive. After each race, Michaela and I soaked up the sight of our athletes celebrating their successes. Following an intensive five-month training program for this one track meet, it was clear that hard work gave our athletes the strength needed to emerge triumphant.

Above our point mongering on the track, however, I was most impressed with our athletes’ never-quit mentality. At least on the track, in this culture athletes tend to give-up if they’re not in first-place. At previous track meets it was common to see athletes stop competing mid-way down the homestretch (even in the 100m!). Apparently, giving-up saved more face than pushing until the end and not winning. Before the meet, Michaela and I talked to our athletes about not giving up. We emphasized that our only expectation of them was that they would not stop competing until after they crossed the finish line; no matter what. We explained how disrespectful quitting would be to their coaches, teammates and most importantly to themselves and how it would be wasting the five months of hard work they put in leading up to the competition. Because of the language barrier, it is always a mystery how much meaning you’re actually relaying to the athletes/students. However, after seeing them complete it was clear that they got it. Every other team had at least one athlete withdraw; but not one of our athletes gave up. Not one. We also had athletes fight until the very end, nudging their way into a higher place. One of our athletes, Relo, brought tears to my eyes while racing the 400m. She was competing against the reigning champion from Kitti and made up an impressive 20m gap at the 100m in the final steps of the race. If the finish line would have come 5m earlier, she wouldn’t have won…but she didn’t give up, she pushed until the very end and won the race. Michaela and I (after jumping up and down in the middle of the field) ran to the finish line to hug the crap out of her!! :)

Even though the 3^rd-degree sunburn I earned in the spaces between the corn-row-braids on my head is now history, how I felt after the Championship Week track and field meet will stick with me forever.

..wait...what?? a drought?

OHHHH craziness: We had a water scare yesterday. Apparently the 2nd rainiest place on earth can experience an actual drought! We haven't had any rainfall in about a week, so although everyone was completely unaware, our water supply was dwindling. On Tuesday evening without any kind of warning or announcement, they turned off the water to many places on island and then by Wednesday afternoon, the water had been turned off all over the island (the tanks were empty). In the hours that followed, bathrooms were locked, people's bodies were left unbathed, and people started hording water (just in case) from spickets producing minimal water. The Governor called off school "indefinitely" for all elementary schools and high schools in Pohnpei. That's when rumors started to fly. It was rumored that the rivers had all dried up. It was rumored that the water was turned off because of a hepatitis A outbreak. Whatever the ungrounded rationale, the overall buzz was that of doom and gloom. We were all going to die. I tried to remind people that there was no need to panic--it will rain. Seriously, this is Pohnpei, the second rainiest place on earth...we were going to be okay. But, I guess some people really like to worry and (I think primarily) like to talk about the "what if-s" and "we're all going to die-s", so panic prevailed over reason.

Six hours later the skies opened up and poured down serenity...or more like a dose of I TOLD YOU SO...or maybe a little sprinkle of CHILL OUT! Ahh, the glorious sound of rain. I never knew how important water was until the threat of having none became reality...or more like mere speculation.

*sigh* Pohnpei Met. This is Pohnpei.

A quick post about Midservice at Black Coral

Pictures from our WorldTeach Mid-service meeting at Black Coral...BEAUTIFUL!

Here are some of the WorldTeach volunteers: (left to right) Nic, Erin, me, Beth, Michaela, Matt

Here's a picture of the beautiful channel between islands

A few weekends ago we had our midservice meeting at a small island called Black Coral. We had an amazing time on a beautiful (but small) island. The island's diameter was only about 100 meters, but the surrounding ocean was alive with color, fish and beautiful coral. I only have one story to tell from midservice. If I were to be dramatic (which is sometime fun), I'd title this story, "how I almost died" or "one stroke away from being swallowed into the ocean." However, in actuality I just got really tired while battling an incredibly strong ocean current. Michaela and I went out snorkeling and were enjoying the ocean floor when we decided to head back in (we were pretty far out). We started swimming back and although I could tell that we were swimming against the current it really wasn't all that bad...until we reached the freaking channel. I had never been stuck in a strong ocean current before, so the initial challenge was to stay calm. However, it's challenging to stay calm when you're swimming as hard as you can in one direction, and the view through your snorkel mask is the coral passing opposite to your goal point. It got to the point where I couldn't even look down at the coral beneath me because it was way too discouraging. I was getting increasingly tired and I was making absolutely no ground. Luckily, I had Michaela (MC). She's a trained life guard and excellent swimmer. She started giving me verbal commands with where to swim and how to swim. Eventually we made it to sore. I was exhausted and scared, but eventually I was able to shake it off...after a drink, that is!

Race Day!

Race day. The time has finally come to celebrate the 5 months of training our athletes have endured and race. As coaches it's hard not to be nervous. In a place where preparing months in advance for, well, almost anything is counter-cultural it has been an uphill battle at times. We have had to teach our athletes patience, dedication and hard work. Do we think we have succeeded in teaching them these values...some days yes...most days no :)...but we try our best. Additionally, as women coaches we have had challenges with gender power imbalances...but once again, we keep pushing forward. Perhaps most nerve-racking is how visible we will be at the track meet. Every other team has been practicing for maybe three weeks so if we get beat tomorrow (due solely to natural talent) people will talk about how we "wasted our (and our athletes') time." Any chance to discount something as crazy as training for months will be utilized. I keep telling myself that our athletes are strong and, if they don't give up, they will persevere. We'll see! Currently Michaela and I are getting our hair put into full braids...just a little pre-meet debauchery. Here are a couple stories to highlight different challenges and cultural barriers that we have endured (below).

Track Team Drama: It is crazy how much pride and the need to win affect things on this island. Unfortunately our track team has been victim to this self-centered pride. There is a group of old men with high titles that will do anything to protect their egos. Historically Kitti, another municipality in Pohnpei, has always won the Championship Week Track and Field meet (this is our big race). However, Michaela and I have been training our athletes for 5 months now and everyone is talking about how PICS 1(our team) is going to beat Kitti this year. We have had Kitti coaches and athletes come observe practice and a few experiences of coaches (who fall into the "high title, older men" category) cheating. For example, Kitti has really strong sprinters but they are lacking strong distance runners so at the track meeting they decided that each team could only enter TWO athletes in the 1500, while every other event would allow FOUR athletes from each team. Kitti knew that we would get all of the points in the 1500 so they just limited the Field. What sucks most about this is how it affects the athletes. We have two athletes who have been training with us for MONTHS and now will be unable to run at the meet because of the old men's decision to limit the 1500. It's disappointing how winning supersedes letting athletes compete. We even asked if they could have a heat that didn't count towards team points (just so the athletes could at least run) but they wouldn't allow it.

Another ridiculous attempt at cheating happened last week. We had started training an athlete (McCaffrey) in October. Initially he was far from being a "stand out" athlete. He was uncoordinated in sprint drills and his running form was all over the place (Michaela and I enjoyed many "secret" laughs watching him struggle through the drills...horrible, I know!). He didn't make the "varsity" team last year; however, over the last 5 months he has been extremely dedicated to our training regimen and to our surprise he is currently tied as our #1 runner. He is FAST! If there was ever a success story from our training, it's McCaffrey. Anyway, we had a time trial last Thursday and McCaffrey wasn't there. Later we found out that the "JV" coach, who McCaffrey had ran for last year, decided to "take him back." McCaffrey is a really nice kid who can't say "no" to much of anything so when the JV coach approached him and said, "so you're running with us, right?" McCaffrey just shrugged his shoulders, which was interpreted as a "yes." Michaela approached the JV coach about this and he said (a complete lie), that McCaffrey had come up to him and asked to be on the JV team. He said that he thought we were training McCaffrey this entire time for his team. This could not be any further from the truth. Grant it, yes, if we would have known from the start that McCaffrey was going to run for the JV team we still would have trained him (we're here for the kids, first). However, because we thought he was with us, we centered our team around him. Can you even imagine this happening in the states? A coach trains an athlete for 5 months and then another coach steps in (one week before the competition) and persuades him to join his team (hopefully this hasn't happened to any of you coaches!)?? The JV coach hasn't even lifted a finger to coach his team yet. They have had maybe two practices and the meet is this tomorrow. It seems like he was just planning on throwing a team together at the last second and stealing our top runners (he also tried to take one of our girls). Luckily, we were able to talk to him civilly and get our athletes back. CRAZY.

Another track story is regarding our athletes' biggest fear during the competition. They aren't afraid of "bonking," which is basically running out of steam during a race, pulling a muscle or having poor weather conditions. No, no, no. They are terrified of black magic. Supposedly Kitti uses a lot of black magic that can make people slow, sick, have rashes, go insane or even die. It has gotten so bad that some of our athletes' parents won't let their kids run because of black magic. They wholeheartedly believe in it and if we don't win the track meet, I know they are going to think it was because Kitti used black magic. They say that only a few people know how to do it, but apparently they will be sitting on the bleachers whispering spells and pointing at people in attempts to help Kitti win.

"Broken Balls" (yes, I"m going to go there...these stories just have to be told): So, cultural difference, and I'm just going to put this right out there without beating around the bush: there is a culture difference when it comes to talking about one's testicles to a person of the opposite sex, a teacher, or a coach. I have now had two young men come up to me and talk about their "broken balls" since I have been here. The first was a student. He came into my office, limping, and asked me if he could miss class. When I asked him why (big mistake) he looked around the room, leaned in, and whispered, "my balls." I was so taken off guard that I stumbled through some follow-up questions, which I should have just avoided, and pushed him out the door! When I asked the student what happened, he just took his hands and first cupped them in a way to symbolized "normal sized"...testicles... and then he gradually began to move his hands further and further apart to symbolize them "swelling." The best part was, I (his teacher) was having a terrible time keeping a straight face, while he was completely serious. TOO MUCH INFORMATION! The minute he left my office I just put my head in my hands, shook my head, and laughed.

The second "broken balls" incident happened last week with an athlete. I saw him after practice and he appeared to be in pain. So (of course) I asked him how he was. He looked at me and just shook his head. I then asked if he was injured/sore ("madok"). He simply replied, "Not good." I looked at him, concerned (he's one of our toughest distance runners) and asked why (big mistake). He then replied (in tattered English), "I am hurt in the balls." I stopped (tried not to smile) and said, "Wait, what? (yet another mistake on my part)" and he replied, "my balls, they are not good." Again, I was caught off guard and rather than just saying, "okay...make sure you rest," and running away, I continued to asked how it happened (WHY MEGHAN???). He said that an enemy kicked them and that they really hurt. I was obviously uncomfortable, so I quickly tried to give him some ungrounded advice to try and wrap up the "balls talk"...."Uh...do you have...um...Tylenol? You should take that...and..hmm...elevate your legs(???), maybe(???)...do you have access to ice (???!!!???!!)...it might help to ice (ouch!) (???!!!)." He took my advice and went home. The next day he reported that his balls were a little bit better. Wonderful.

So life has been VERY interesting in Pohnpei as of lately! I'll try to send an update after tomorrow with some pictures from the meet and of Michaela and my braided hair!