Woot. Except not.

We - meaning the other 6 Yapese volunteers and I - arrived in Colonia two nights ago. Our first night was spent at a hotel and yesterday, in rainy rainy weather, we met our host families.

I wish I could say it was smooth sailing, but I seem to have contracted some degree of food poisoning. The good news is that my new host mom is a wonderful mom, taking care of me on my very first day with her like I am one of her own. The worst has past, but I'm still recovering. My fingers are crossed that it's nothing parasitic, just food-related.

Just a quick review of my experience so far: the first three weeks were spent in Phase 1 of PST, during which we had daily class sessions on culture, TESL, and community-development. Not very specific or terribly useful. However, PST at PATS (the facility in a rural municipality on Pohnpei called Madoleniemw) was a very special opportunity to bond with my fellow PCVs. It made branching off into our smaller training groups difficult, but it was wonderful to establish the community that we did. Plus, my training group here on Yap is super.

I know I posted about my 'buzz' adventures in paradise, of cliff jumping into the ocean and rope-swinging into tropical waterfalls. But there have been many more edifying and positive experiences on a smaller scale, such as JR (the 3 yr. old) finally warming up to me; the sound of the 'kissing' lizards; the taste of fresh vegetables and kimchi paste; of the rain and the support from other volunteers.

Well, good news to report - I have just eaten my first solid food in a day and things are going well.

I hope that you are all well and let me know how you are doing.

Yap-tastic

Just a quick note to say that I arrived in Yap safely. It's dark and I haven't seen any of the island, but we had a great reception at the airport from other PVCs and the island has a good energy.

My last week on Pohnpei was stellar, filled with my wonderful host family (who drove up to Kolonia to see me off today with marmars and shell leis), savoring the last days with all 30 of us PCV's Micro 76 group, snorkeling in the beautiful and colorful blue lagoon water, and more watefall jumping.

Please take note of my new address and don't be a stranger. It's harder than I expected to feel connected to the world back home, but I really want to keep in touch. Email and maybe even phone/Skype *may* be more accessible over the next six weeks, but once I'm on Woleai, snail mail is going to become my bread and butter.

But enough about me. It's been at least a month. What's going on with you? New stories and adventures?

PS - sorry no photos yet. I've got some wonderful ones to hopefully post soon.

Kasalehlia!

From now on, consider no news to mean: I'm having a wonderfully positive experience, but internet access is VERY rare.

This is my first chance in three weeks to get online and I don't have much time, but I want to cover some basic updates. I'll start backwards...

This weekend was full of tropical adventures, jumping off rocks into the ocean at ancient ruins (Nan Madol) and swinging into waterfalls with lots of local kids.

These past two weeks we've been on Pohnpei going to school (Pre Service Training Phase 1) and living with host families. My family loves to laugh, celebrates and feeds me local foods (vs. imported canned meats :-(), and has all sorts of adorable kids running to and fro. I get at least one coconut a day, which I now know how to open on my own - I'm turning into a true local, my family says.

There's a group of 30 of us, and I have to say, we make a great group. I'll be sad to see us go our separate ways next week when we divide into our smaller training groups based on where we're going...

On Wednesday we received our site placements and I'm heading to the...drum roll please...

WOLEAI ATOLL in YAP!!!

I won the jackpot, because Woleai is a collection of 22 outer islands that still strongly maintain their traditional culture and at the same time, I'm going with two other wonderful friends and PCVs (we we're known), Gita and Porter. It flabbergasts me just thinking about the experience I'm having and will continue to have over the next two years.

Here's what's on deck for me. I have one more week on Pohnpei, then I head out to Yap with the other Yapese PCVs. We'll be there for 6 weeks of intensive language training, as well as cultural and technical training. Then I'll head to Woleai (the island of Falalus) in November after I'm sworn in as an official PCV (right now I'm technically a PCTrainee).

Oh, a few more finer points. Well, I'm not sure how to say this, but part of Woleai's lingering traditional culture affects what I have to wear over the next two years. Or what I don't have to wear, to be more precise. I just have to lay it out there - Woleai is a topless culture. Hello, world, here I come!

Once I'm there, I won't have electricity on my island (there's electricity on Gita and Porter's island) and there's no internet, so MAIL. I would GREATLY appreciate mail and/or packages. Here's my NEW ADDRESS:

Emily Hurianek,
Peace Corps Trainee
PO BOX 190
Colonia, Yap 96943

And on a similar note, here's an updated wishlist should you care to send me anything:

• LETTERS AND PICTURES, first and foremost
• Dried fruits and veggies
• Nuts
• Dried beans
• Quinoa
• Chedder Bunnies
• Other goodies that will travel well and be able to withstand humidity and hot weather (did I mention it's hot here? I've had to resort to conventional deoderant...the rock just ain't cutting it)
• Fun resources for my classroom, like flashcards and posters...I'll try to get more specific once I know more.

Okay, this isn't everything - there's so much more to talk about like the stars and the house geckos and the betel nut and the dhoudhous (showers) - but I've got to get going.

Thank you everyone for your support and for keeping up. It doesn't look like the blog will be very active, but keep an eye out for it and become my snail mail pal!

KALAHNGAN (thank you) and WHEE!
e

Kaselehlia! {Pohnpein greeting similar to ALOHA!]

After SEVERAL flights, over three days, I'M IN MICRONESIA with my Peace Corps group beginning training.

I flew to LA on Wednesday, Sept. 2, and met the group at our 'staging' event. I got to see Katie O. and met people who will definitely be longtime friends. On Sept. 3, we flew to Honolulu, stayed in the Ohana Hotel near the airport, rode a bus to Waikiki Beach to watch the sunset, and then got a little sleep. We got up at 3 AM and took off on an 'island hopping' trip to Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia.

We spent a couple of nights and a day, figuring out how to communicate with family and friends, having our first interviews, and catching up on sleep. (Somewhere over the Pacific, we "lost" a day and several hours of sleep.)

Now, we're at the Training Center. We'll be in this area for 6 - 9 weeks staying with our first host families. I will have VERY limited phone or email access. So, the best way to communicate with me is by USPS mail. FSM and Palua use a postal system similar to the U.S. - costs of mailing letters and packages are the same. Airmail takes about two weeks (things that go by sea take months.) My address is:

Emily Hurianek, Peace Corps Trainee

Peace Corps / Micronesia

PO BOX 9

Kolonia, Pohnpei FM 96941

I'd LOVE to hear from you!!!

THANKS for all of your support! The adventure is has truly begun!!

Emily [posted by MOM]

WISH LIST

If you feel so behooved to send me a care package, here are some friendly suggestion:

1. LETTERS and PICTURES! This is by far the best thing you could send me.
   
2. "Just Tomatoes" freeze-dried fruits and veggies
3. Annie's Chedder Bunnies
4. Bars: Cliff, Kind, Luna, Lara, etc.
5. Dried fruit, ie berries, mangos
6. Tea - I like black teas (can do loose, I'm taking my tea straw); Good Earth is good, too
7. Games/Cards
8. Tofurkey Jerkey
9. TLC Cookies and bars (I like oatmeal choc chip)
10. Nut Thins

Keep in mind it takes 2-3 for packages to arrive. The address on the side bar is temporary - I'll update it when I know more about where I'll be.

And with that, I'm officially ready to depart!

Love and gratitude to you all!

Bags packed, Crocs Painted, I'm pretty much ready to go!

Good news to report: I have arrived at my last day and all is well!  My bags are packed (except for some last minute goodies) and I'm looking at around 40 pounds of check luggage and two carry ons - woot!

On my dwindling TA-DA list (just swap an 'a' for an 'o' in to-do and it becomes infinitely more exciting) remains: 

• Make doughnuts with Mom (equipped with matching doughnut makers, no less!)
  
• 'Bequeath' my scooter to Dad
  
• Finalize my music selection for the next two years and load up my iPod Shuffle
  
• Print out and MAIL my deposit slips and checks b/c there are no depositable BoA ATMs in the states of Colorado :-(
• Make a last call for addresses and finish my address book :-)
  
• Make my Wishlist and publish a list of goodies and supplies that would be very welcome in care packages over the next two years, hint hint... [Side note: check out USPS flat rate boxes - you can even ship w/ domestic rates!]
• Enjoy a final farewell fiesta with the fam!

In other news, yesterday I discovered that one can very successfully transform an otherwise highly un-scrumptious colored (think neon) pair of Crocs into a very attractive and rubberized red!  (Fashion opinions aside, Crocs are a wonderful island and travel shoe, although I wish they'd comp me a pair.)

Thanks to everyone who has wished me well on my new adventure!  I've changed the settings on the comment feature on this blog, so it should be up and running and I'd love to hear from you!

And with that, I'm off to finalize my preparations, crossing my fingers that I've done my best to prepare myself to be unprepared!

"Fate leading, she must needs go on and on, 

Blindly, yet fearing not, till the goal be won."