Chuukese

I have been thinking a lot about the language barrier that exists here in Chuuk between English and Chuukese speakers. The subject comes up in conversation daily among my community-mates.

Each state in the FSM speaks its own language. In Chuuk, the 70,000 people who live here speak Chuukese. Chuukese is that strangest language I have ever heard; it makes Kiswahili look easy. There are no books published in Chuukese other than a translation of the Bible- the language was historically only oral. The way the school system here works (or at least in theory) is that students speak Chuukese in school through the 3rd grade. After that classes are supposed to begin to switch over to English. The only language spoken in the high schools here is English; the only opportunities for Chuukese to go to college are in English speaking schools. The only college here in Chuuk is COM- college of Micronesia, a 2 year associates program in education. And that’s the only option. Most students seeking a college education who do not attend COM go off island, to Pohnpei, Guam, Hawaii or elsewhere in the States.

The lack of options frustrates me daily; it is a type of poverty I hadn’t considered before. Try to wrap your head around not even having the opportunity to attend college in your native language. Part of the reason for the English system is the small number of Chuukese speakers, and part is the America education system enforced here on this small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As with many challenges Chuuk faces, the Chuukese are not often assisted by the foreign system at work here in this non-Western location.

For me at St. Cecilia, the language barrier is more apparent than for the other JVs. As the only elementary school teacher, most of my students are only beginning to learn English. At St. Cecilia, the students do not start classes in English in the 4^th grade. In fact most teachers teach in Chuukese through the 8^th grade, knowing that when they arrive in high school, the students will be forced to speak only English. Most of the teachers aren’t fluent in English either. It is difficult for my students and I to understand each other. Often directions must be repeated 5, 10 times in the classroom. I worry that I will never be able to connect with my students in any sort of depth due to the language barrier that divides us.

Every day I grapple with the implications of my presence here, as I participate in a system that forces a foreign language on Chuukese people. Am I facilitating an effort to strip the Chuukese language away from its speakers? Should we just let Chuuk be, take our language and head home? I don’t know. I do know that the only option for a college education is in English, and with that education a Chuukese person has the potential to make these decisions for herself or himself. I try to explain to my 7^th graders that bilingualism is an important tool they will need to claim their own voice in the world- I’m not sure they get it.

In asking these questions to my community-mates the other night, Marcos turned to me saying- whenever you question why you’re here, remember that you were invited. Marcos’ reminder, along with Tuesday night Chuukese lessons has been enough solace for my restless wondering for now.

Pisar and Pisiwi

I've been trying to get this post up for a while. We just got power back on island after a week!

“I think we lucked out on weather,” Jessie says to me as we are sitting in a small fiber glass boat cruising through the Pacific. I look around at the deep blue water surrounding us, “I think we lucked out in life,” I say back.

The past two weekends I have been able to spend some time off-island, out of Weno exploring different islands in Chuuk. Now, this type of luxury is not normal for JVs, just coincidence really.

Last weekend my community and I went to Pisar, a football field sized island about a 45 minute boat ride away from Weno. Pisar lies on the outer reef that surrounds the Chuuk Lagoon. It is paradise. Pisar looks like every post card, corona commercial, screen saver image of an island paradise that you can recall in your memory. So much so that it seems completely surreal. There are white sand beaches, palm trees, hammocks made of fish nets, mountainous islands in the distance and gorgeous coral in the water. Locals say it is one of the two most beautiful islands in Chuuk. It’s ridiculous; there is no other way to describe it.

Marcos, Jessie, Lincoln, Monica (Lincoln’s girlfriend who is visiting) and I spent the day there. It was the best vacation I have ever had. We waded in the warm waters, unable to concentrate on any conversation other than that of the beauty that surrounded us. We geared up for about an hour and a half of snorkeling, swimming about 200 yards out to discover coral walls 10 feet high off the sea floor, bold colors, bright blue starfish. It was incredible, comparable to the Great Barrier Reef but better since we were alone on an island with no one around us for miles. After swimming I napped in a hammock, read some, ate, and went back to swim before leaving for the day. It was wonderful and relaxing. The JVs return to Pisar annually for our Re-Orientation and dis-Orientation at the end of each year. Anyone who wants to make the trip out to Chuuk- I promise to take you to Pisar.

This past weekend Jessie and I unexpectedly traveled to Pisiwi, a small picnic island only 20 minutes by boat away from Weno, with a Chuukese family. Picnic islands are common recreational sites for Chuukese, there are smaller, uninhabited islands where people go to eat, swim and relax with family and friends. Our day at Pisiwi served a completely different purpose that our time in Pisar, however. Kathy Lucas is that name of the Chuukese woman who brought us along with her family. She is the mother of one of Jessie’s high school students who has spent a fair amount of time in the US and who Jessie and I felt was an appropriate person to learn about Chuuk from. Having lived in the States would have provided better understanding for her about why Jessie and I have millions of questions about life in Chuuk- dress, gender roles, HIV/AIDS, customs, local religion, oral traditions, sexuality, etc, etc. (We have lots of questions.)

In our mission to understand this place, Jessie asked if Kathy would be willing to share some of her perspective with us, she agreed, told us where to meet her daughter who picked us up and brought us to their village. There we discovered that we were being taken off island as guests with their family of about 20. Family has a very loose definition here. All cousins and Aunts and Uncles are what we would consider immediate family. Everyone is related. There are many cultural adoptions practiced where if one family couldn’t care for their children, a child may go and live with their aunt or uncle. Everyone is taken care of by their community. Here, my brothers and sisters are Lincoln, Marcos and Jessie.

Once we arrive in Pisiwi Jessie and I talk to Adleen and Dubo, Kathy’s daughters who are 27 and 23 respectively. It was my first opportunity to talk to Chuukese peers. (I spend most of my time with kids 11-14.) Both Adleen and Dubo spent many years in the US with their adopted grandparents, until they returned home for high school. So they could talk to us in English, and give us their unique perspective on the differences between both cultures. They encouraged Jessie and I to ask as many questions as we wanted, honestly. The conversation continued when Kathy joined us.

The women explained many things to us in Pisiwi, information I will continue to process for a long time. They described the history behind the way women dress- all women have knees and shoulders covered now. However, years ago before Chuuk was imperialized by Spain, Germany, Japan, and America most people did not wear clothes at all. In many places in the outer islands of Chuuk and in Yap the women still remain topless. But the tradition is dying out. So it’s difficult to understand the dress customs when they are not authentic to the Chuukese culture. Some outsider came in to Chuuk and told the people to cover up. We asked about gender roles. Women cook, clean, and are not allowed to leave the house after dark. No one visits friends after dark, even on the weekends. Men, however are allowed out, can tell the women to fix them dinner without being questioned and may drink publicly. If a woman is seen drinking it is considered disrespectful. Additionally, there are special roles for brother and sisters. Even if the brother is younger he may tell the sister what to do. Sisters must remain most formal around their brothers before anyone else. They must not show their knees, use strong language and so on. We discussed dating in Chuuk, it is basically unacceptable. Most people either end out sneaking out of their homes late at night to visit someone they are interested in dating, or get married as nearly strangers. This leads to problems like divorce and domestic abuse in Chuuk. I won’t be able to write everything I learned in Pisiwi, but I will attempt to relate it later as I have more experiences in Chuuk.

Life here in Chuuk has begun to take on its own rhythm. Work Monday to Friday, relax and run errands as much as possible on the weekends. We are all doing well here. More thoughts to come later

Peace,

Caitlin

pictures are up

hello out there, just wanted to let you know my pictures are up on Flickr. The link is to the right screen of this blog. Jessie and I are going to be sharing the account for the next two years so there will be double the pictures. enjoy!
peace and love
caitlin

I'm 22!

My 22nd birthday was last Tuesday and it was a wonderful celebration here in Chuuk. It was a school day and upon arriving to St. Cecilia I realized that I have never gotten to celebrate my birthday in school. The Sisters picked me up at 7am as they do everyday after mass at Holy Family, our parish which is right next door to Saramen. They greeted me with maramar, a decorative necklace or crown-ish adornment usually made of flowers, given to people when they arrive in Chuuk or on special days This one was a necklace made of shells. I received many other pieces of maramar on my birthday. At school while beginning my first period class of 7th graders, Sr. Toni pushed her students into my classroom, who then began to sing happy birthday in english with my students. The 8th graders sang too, and some of my students gave me small gifts. Mariano, my principal, gave me a new mumu. I never thought I would be excited for a mumu, but it is the first one that is my own, all the others i have are handed down from the JVs. Mumus are the formal dress here, we wear them to church and sometimes i teach in them.

After school, I was resting in my apartment when Jessie came in and told me I wasn't allowed to go downstairs because they were cooking me birthday dinner. So I obeyed and a little while Jessie came back saying Ellen had just called. Ellen lives at Xavier in the other JV community 45 minutes away, saying that she was downtown and wanted to take me to the store we call "Guam" (because it is so nice) to buy me candy for my day. So i quickly throw on my skirt and t-shirt, the women don't go out in anything that doesnt cover our knees and shoulders, and get in the truck. Lincoln, Marcos, Monica, and Jessie all come along and soon we are at a restaurant. One of the only few in Chuuk, as I walk in Colleen, Josh, and Katie pop out from behind the seats- explaining that they were taking me out to dinner and it was a surprise! This is a big deal in Weno.

Dinner was great. Afterward we went back to Saramen for cake and presents. Those were a surprise too. The downstairs apartment was all decorated with signs and confetti made out of construction paper. I never expected presents but a got a new skirt, and a bunch of things for my apartment. I ALSO got mancala, which Jessie bought in advance from the states. The last present was a poem that Josh wrote for me. I posted it below. Josh is a really talented writer, he's putting off creative writing grad school to be here in Chuuk with us. He's also famous for his Big-O poem, that, in my mind, won the talent show for Micronesia. So he read the poem to us and we all got chills. Then we ate lots of confetti cake that Ellen baked. It was a successful surprise birthday celebration. I loved every minute of it. I really have a wonderful community here in Chuuk.

Kinamwe,
Caitlin

"When asked to write a poem for Caitlin's birthday on Tuesday"

By Joshua D. Kalscheur

I will clam up
And wonder how to make the lines
less contrived, and how
to confetti each syllable
without using the words
“love”, “party hats” “happy”.

And I have wanted to put this poem
In Vegas, have her traipsing
The pixilated Bellagio steps.
I’ve wanted my Chuck E. Cheese
wetdream with live bands,
and comped G and T’s
for this birth anniversary,

This poem though,
it’s equatorial in locale,
it’s Pacific,
and the electricity
moves as the tide does,
or sometimes worse.

Whatever we toast to tonight,
it will be with rice,
and we’ll be saying cheese,
but not partaking in it.

This pen,
like everything else here that rolls,
will die soon,
dry up and become
gallery fodder for this impromptu museum of an island.

For Caitlin in Chuuk,
I ask for the placid
lagoon waves
and for a Plumeria
tucked behind her ear.

I ask only for what
the ocean will give.
I do not ask for potholes,
parasites or heat stroke.

But I do ask that you
walk to the highest peak
here and change your mind
about being alone, because
this reef will hold you in,

(and we might too).

Honeymoon?

August 11, 2007

I am standing in a Chuukese supermarket holding a pinapple, looking blankly at Ellen and Marcos as they discuss the type of beans we should make for dinner. I have just arrived in Micronesia maybe 3 hours prior, and have barely slept between DC to Houston, Houston to Honolulu, Honolulu to Majuro- Kwajalein- Korosae- Pohnpei- and finally Weno. I am now home, but it feels nothing like home. All I want in this moment is to go back to Saramen, be fed dinner and put to bed. Which, thankfully, happened exactly as i desired. Thanks Ellen and Marcos!

After I emerged from my jet lag- I awoke to discover that I am in a very strange, but amazing place. Downtown Weno is a juxtaposition of gorgeous tropical scenery, palm trees, placid blue water, distant uninhabited islands mixed with a dusty foreground of noisy cars, potholes, haphazard markets, and people bustling about. It is the manifestation of a Pacific Island trying to live and thrive in an American system that has been forced upon it. Yet Chuuk is not exactly thriving. I am only beginning to understand the complex issues that Chuuk faces, but i know that the number is many.

On our very first full day in Chuuk Ellen and Marcos took us off-island to a neighboring lagoon island, Fefan. There are no cars on Fefan, no roads, no island power and it is very, very beautiful. The island is surrounded by mangrove trees which have large roots jutting into the water, and the church is perched on a hill overlooking the lagoon. We attended the Chuuk Youth Festival, which is an annual Catholic youth celebration involving Chuukese liturgy and much singing and dancing. The 2 day affair would have been fantastic had Jessie and I been completely out of sorts with the sleep deprival/jet lag that left us attempting to sleep in the middle of singing practice that our group decided to commence at 12 am in the ut we were sleeping in. An ut being a meeting house, an open structure with a roof and tile floor where our parish was staying the night. The experience was somewhat like a dance party going on in our bedroom, generator lights, synthesizer. It was crazy, but it is becoming progressively more hilarious as time goes on. It was great to experience Chuukese culture and ecclesiology immediately after arriving.

This past week I began faculty meetings at St. Cecilia, the Catholic Elementary school where I will be teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade English...without textbooks. I am the only American working in the school, only white person, only native English speaker. This means that my placement at times may be lonely or seem very foreign, but also that I will have the opportunity to learn much more about the Chuukese people, and more fully enter into relationships with my Chuukese co-workers. The faculty has been amazing and very welcoming to me.

That's all the time I have for blogging today, the JVs and I are headed to mass. I will post more soon if the power chooses to come on.

kinamwe (peace),
Caitlin