Kosrae an Kato (Beautiful)

Hello from Kosrae! I will use this blog as a platform for sharing stories from the past couple weeks. I was able to upload a few photos to this blog, and I have more up on Facebook. Some stories...

Last Saturday Matt, a couple of his buddies James and Scotty, and I went surfing. The tide was low and it was pretty shallow where the smaller waves were crashing, so I ended up going in early. Just as I neared the shore, I saw a guy walk over to a coconut tree and climb up it. He sat perched in the crown of the tree and kicked coconuts down to the ground. I watched him descend and then shifted my focus back to the sea. Moments later, Mitta, who lives right next to where we parked and also works at Green Banana Paper, brought me a coconut! We chatted for a while and she taught me a few Kosraean phrases.

Afterwards, the guys decided on a whim to go to Bully’s, a restaurant at one of the island’s two resorts. While we were walking on the boardwalk to the restaurant, we passed Mark, the owner. He happened to be teaching the first day of an entry-level scuba diving course. So I joined! About an hour later I was in water learning the basics of diving. We practiced using the breathing device and clearing water out of the mask underwater. Yesterday was the second lesson and we went out and did two dives along the reef. On the boat ride to the dive site, dolphins came over and swam along in front of the boat for a while, just another friendly reminder of all of the beautiful and vibrant life that surrounds this little gem of an island. Underwater we saw all kinds of fish, coral, and other sea creatures, none of which I know the names of yet.

Last Sunday we went on a short hike to Yekela, an 80ft waterfall in the jungle. The gently flowing water forms a pool at the base of the waterfall. It’s full of various species of small fish. There were also humongous frogs, lots of small black birds that flew way overhead, and more dragonflies than I’ve ever seen at once.

Earlier this week a couple guys showed up and asked about surfing. They’re the crew on a sailboat going from Hawaii to Indonesia. We’ve gone surfing a couple times together, snorkeling too. On the drive to the snorkeling spot, Jay, one of the boat guys, and James talked the whole way about their worldly travels and life chasing the surf. Snorkeling was great, and then they got right back into talking about all the different places they’ve been and lived—Central and South America, Western Africa, Indonesia, Hawaii, the continental US, etc etc, all about surf spots though.

In the factory, I’ve been helping Mia sort wallets, keep inventory, and other miscellaneous tasks. And she’s teaching me Kosraean! I spent an afternoon processing the trees with JR. He is a very chatty guy and taught me some Kosraean as well—Kosrae an kato means Kosrae is beautiful. I also spent significant time writing for the Green Banana Paper website this week. Here’s an excerpt of the narrative:

    The rain has been in and out all day, a very welcome shower in this land with a piercing sun. Inside, cold air fills the office and design studio to protect extensive technological equipment from the blazing heat and salty tropical air. Matt and Devin are working on all sorts of administrative tasks on their computers, strategically piecing together the multifaceted world of ecommerce.

    Through the window in the design studio, Ben is translating designs in digital templates to the paper cutter, Rodel has a handful of new designs open in Photoshop, and Chito is managing all the finances. Earlier John and Sam helped Daniel and Milton unload the truck full of banana trees that Milton brought today. They filled their work with chatter, smiles, and sweat. I can here the zing and churn of the fiber extractor, letting me know that Daniel and Milton are processing the banana tree trunks…

The nighttime and the dawn are particularly nice times here. It’s very mellow on the beach just before the sunrise, and not too hot yet. The actual sunrise is very quick, but very beautiful across the colorful sea. Once the sun is out, it’s ferocious. I have never effortlessly sweat so much. The water is generally pretty warm, too, although the temperature fluctuates throughout the day.

The other night after dinner I went outside with a coconut and found Matt sitting with the dogs in the grass next to banana trees. The sky was unreal. I have never seen such a full sky of stars.

Full moon over coconut and banana trees
...when real life is more picturesque than even the finest photos 

On Thursday we went on a cruise around Lelu harbor at sunset. Kosrae is also known as the Island of the Sleeping Lady because the collection of peaks resembles a sleeping lady. It just so happens that the sun sets behind her from the harbor.

Island of the Sleeping Lady

I have another piece of plastic in my wallet now—a Kosraean Driver’s License! It’s very easy to get a driver’s license here, all I did was pay $6. Cars are also very cheap to import from Japan. However, there’s no such thing as auto insurance because all vehicles are very expensive to repair.

This week I will finalize the piece for the Green Banana website and continue writing and being involved in the factory, head back underwater for more diving lessons, more surfing, and undoubtedly consume lots of coconuts and bananas. The other morning Matt reminded me that there were some apples in the fridge. Then he remembered that I left New England in the midst of the apple season, quite different from apples that end up in Kosrae. I agreed, and promptly noted that although there aren’t apple orchards here, there’s an abundance of coconuts. He smiled and agreed, “It’s the height of the coconut season here! …all year round.”

banana chandelier, pick and eat! 

coconut delivery (split among three houses)

That's all for now, best wishes to you all! Let me know if there’s anything you’re particularly curious about and I'll try to include it in the next post. Thanks for reading!