the return (mostly)

The trip to Pohnpei took days thanks to the vagaries of connections.  The return also took days, but that's because I stopped in Honolulu for a few days, meeting Conrad and Van (or is that Comard and Fan?).  Postings for another day.  For now, let's talk flying home.

The college shuttle took us to the airport where President Teresa

and a few others on her team

awaited us with leis

and - after we cleared immigration services and security - more food.  Yes, more!  Of course we weren't seated all together on the plane, so in a small way, after a super week of working and traveling together, this was kind of a last hurrah with my colleagues. 

I so enjoyed working with them.

Oh, and yes, it rained again.  The daily, lunchtime rain. 

Which abated in time for boarding.

So we ate much in the VIP room, then streamed out onto the tarmac and aboard the Island Hopper.  I had bought an upgrade.  Come on:  it was supposed to be about 10.5 hours in total to get to Honolulu.  I think an upgrade was a good idea.  Despite the very loud family (oh so loud, those two small children) behind me until the last leg.  Ah, but children.  They are sometimes loud, right?  So no big deal.  Noise-canceling headphones help, as does enjoyable conversation with the person next to me.

Oh, that person?  Stevenson. 

Remember how his buddy who drove us around?  That same buddy works for United.  And played a wicked joke on Stevenson.  He mocked up a sheet that had three photos, including Stevenson's, and had written across the top "Wanted for questioning by Interpol".  And gave it to the immigration folks.  Who kept Stevenson at the counter being questions for several minutes before showing him the paper and cracking up.  Stevenson thought it was a hoot.  And hey, his buddy?  Upgraded Stevenson all the way home to Majuro for being such a good sport.  So I had him next to me, and I got to see photos of his country and his family.  That was most enjoyable.

First leg:  PNI --> KSA

Kosrae is another state in the Federated States of Micronesia.  As with Chuuk, we were unable to get off the plane.  That hop meant a last look at Pohnpei from the air,

and then seeing Kosrae as we landed.  Wait, are those beaches down there? 

Alas, no time spent there for us off the plane.

Second leg:  KSA --> KWA

A new country!  And wait, a gold course running along the runway on the atoll.  Oh yes, no more high islands until Hawaii.  Atolls for us.  Kwajalein is a big US military base, so while we may have been landing in the Marshall Islands, we could not get off the plane, just stare at the terminal. 

Of all the stops, this had the fewest people getting off and then back on.

Third leg:  KWA --> MAJ

Stevenson's island.  Another atoll, and from what I could tell in the dark as we landed, it's narrower than Kwajalein.  Ah, the dark.  According to Stevenson, our stops leading up to Majuro were longer than he has experienced before.  So it was that we got to see a sunset in the air

(and hey, a glimpse of an atoll below),

but no, no Majuro in the daylight.  However, they did let us off the plane there.  We thought there might be a chance to get some local handicrafts, but there was only a little refreshments kiosk.  A nice opportunity to stretch our legs, though, and get a photo proving that we set foot in the Marshall Islands.

 

 

What was interesting is that as we waited to re-board, United staff sought out people to give up their seats.  For $2000 in credit plus hotel accommodations.  Which would have been until Monday.  Oh, I was tempted, but the guys were awaiting me in Honolulu, so....  Onto the plane!

They did take time after boarding to move people upward in the plane, though, trying to rebalance it.  This wasn't a little prop plane either, but a 737.  That was interesting.

Fourth leg:  MAJ --> HNL

We were due to land at 2:55.  AM, that is.  So there was a bit of dinner on the plane and then some snoozing for me.  And we landed, but not until 3:55.  Pretty much exactly one hour late, which means the trip was about 11-12 hours in length overall.  Immigration, luggage, a cab to the hotel.  I think I made it there at about 5:30 or so.  Conrad and Van woke up to greet me (though they had woken up already to see that I had landed), and then I spent a half hour or more blathering on about the trip before trying to get some sleep.

A failure, alas.  I was exhausted but not drowsy, far too wired.  I threw clothes back on and headed to a nearby Starbucks for a very very very welcome decaf latte. 

A short stroll, and back to the room, where I crashed HARD for a few hours.

And then the Hawaiian part of the journey could really begin!

a few last things from FSM

So let's see, what else have I not mentioned from the time on Pohnpei?

Dogs!  There are stray dogs all over the place.  When we first saw them, we were told that we should bring a stick while out walking.  Happily, we didn't need a stick, but during the second dinner, , there were a couple of local canines that hung out around and even under the table in hopes of being fed.  Yes, I treated one to a little bite of my dinner, I admit, but not this cutie who was staring up at me from under the glass top table.

Pretty flowers!

I mentioned the local tuna.  I've also mention the dinner of parrot fish.  On the first day, when we went out walking, Brian took us into a market he had visited seven years earlier.  And lo!  Fish! 

Lots more than this, many more varieties.  Also, local limes and avocados. 

Nice to see the local produce.

Speaking of fish:  more tuna! 

We had a lot of tuna while there.  I am not complaining.

And speaking of food in general:  Namiki dougnuts! 

We had them the first morning we were there on the boat.  Later that night, I was talking with the president of the Board of Regents for the college, and she told me that her sister, who lives in Las Vegas, craves the doughnuts.  I believe it.  I went out walking the next morning and went past it.  Before 7AM there was a steady stream of cars pulling up to buy doughnuts.  I made sure to go back on the Friday morning with teammates.  $1.25 for a dozen!  We bought two-dozen and brought the extras to share at the hotel and college.  Yum!

What was also funny that morning was that we were on the hunt for souvenirs.  Yes, that early.  And while walking post-doughnuts, a flatbed pick-up truck wheeled around and pulled up.  Out popped this guy who turned out to be Stevenson's old university roommate.  A lot of chat and laughter, and then, when he found out what our expedition was, he got us to hop in (Jill in the front with him, the guys in the back),

and drove us into neighbourhoods

where we successfully completed out mission.  And then he drove us back to the hotel - we were pressed for time that morning.

One more post to come from Micronesia - the jaunt back - and then onto the posts about Hawaii!

two plants

A quick little post to start the Saturday off.  As you may be aware (insert eye rolls here), I recently visited Micronesia.  FSM sits about 6 degrees north of the equator.  The land is gently mountainous.  The upshot is that it is - duh! - tropical.  And lush.

Greenery covered the island from what we could see.  Stevenson, who was from the Marshall Islands, a country of atolls, remarked on how green everything was from his perspective, but those of us from California could also appreciate that it wasn't golden brown and dry.

In our modest travel on foot and by vehicle around the island, I was struck by how often I saw two plants in particular:  bananas and papayas.  I've seen both before - it's not unusual to see them in Hawaii, after all.  But here?  So much more.  Bananas everywhere, and the same seemed to be the case for the papayas.  Curiously, while we were served a lot of banana in our meals, I don't recall being served or even seeing papaya on menus.

I took a couple of early morning walks and captured a couple of cool shots, or so I thought.  One, a bunch of bananas with the flower at the end of the stalk. 

I wonder if they also eat the flower.  The other, a papaya flower. 

I've never been up close to a papaya plant and seen the flower, and I was delighted by the discovery.

Oh, and for good measure, here's a land crab we encountered on the road side on the last morning!

out on the lagoon

The last post was the long post about the work I did while on Pohnpei.  This post?  The down time, the relaxing time.

I've done other accreditation trips before:  Santa Monica, Barstow, Visalia.  None of those featured the setting that this one did, nor did they feature the culture of hospitality that we experienced.  I told the teammates who were on their first accreditation team that no, they'll never have another accreditation team visit like this one.

On the Tuesday morning, after breakfast at the hotel,

the team went out on the college boat with the college president. 

Now then, I say college boat, and people think of a yacht or sailboat.  No such luxury, and that was fine.  In fact, the college uses the boat for its marine careers program.  It makes sense for a college on a small island to have a boat!

So off we set from Mangrove Bay.  I may have posted one or two of these photos before, but so be it.  Out past Sokehs Rock, and then eastward. 

And there they handed out hand line fishing spools and rods. 

Yes, fishing.  Something I haven't done in ages, not since going angling for Salmon with Kevin Kelly in the Skeena River in the 90s.

Alas, luck was not with us.  Brian caught the first fish, which was too small to keep. 

Then Gary, and the same thing. 

Not pictured?  The branch of coral I caught.  The president's teenage granddaughter was the only one among us to catch something big enough to keep.  No matter - it was a terrific morning.  Warm sun, fresh coconuts, fishing, chatting.  A very hospitable start to the visit.

Thursday presented the other opportunity.  We finished the report late in the afternoon, but well in time to enjoy the offer of going back out on the boat to see the sunset.  Out through Mangrove Bay again,

and then a little west, out to near where the large vessels pick up the local tuna and take it out of the country. 

Which meant sharks in the area, according to our hosts, enjoying anything offloaded from the boats into the water.  No swimming!  And no fishing.  Instead, there was a cooler filled with wine

and beer and water and coconuts. 

A table was unfolded, and we had a casual dinner of fish that had been caught the night before along with cheese and crackers. 

The sun went down, and we marveled at the sight.

Are you all beginning to understand why I would be happy to go visit the college again?