Let me start with one of my favorite quotes from Bright Eyes: "The world's got me dizzy again, you'd think after 22 years, I'd be used to the spin." Not only is that quote timely in my life considering my age, but it can help me explain how interesting life has been here.
I will admit, the pacing of Micronesian culture is much slower than that of the U.S. (which is a huge blessing after my senior year in Missouri's journalism school). But, the life of a JVI does have the potential to make your head spin.
I think it is a natural inclination of a Jesuit Volunteer to do absolutely everything that is asked of them while in their country. Can you help with this committee? lead this project? read during this Mass? "ABSOLUTELY, I WOULD LOVE TO" is the only thing I can say - because I want to. All of a sudden, my weeks and weekends are booked solid.
Weekday classes, tutor sessions, spirituality night, community night, soccer with the International F.C.(one of my favorites), Xavier Prep, Catechism youth group, International community mass. With all of that going on, I am afraid I will forget to take a look around and really soak in the work I am doing for Pohnpei Catholic School and the larger community. One of the four pillars the JVI lifestyle that I have been struggling with is living simply.
Simple living is very hard to define. Does it mean living within a stipend, washing clothes by hand or taking ice cold showers every morning? Yes...but it's so much more than that. When I first learned that I would be headed to Micronesia, I envisioned a very basic lifestyle that I would simply adapt to. Maybe a shack on an outer island or river showers in the jungle...not air conditioning and high speed internet. Here in Pohnpei, westernization is very apparent. Besides a couple niceties, it is very similar to a rural city in the states. The idea of living simply, therefore, becomes a choice. The focus moves off of the "I have to..." to the "I should..." That has been my biggest struggle so far.
So how does this choice, then, affect my busy lifestyle?
Samantha, Josephine and I just got back from climbing Sokehs Rock last night. We took off right after the school bell rang and got to climbing while there was still day light. While spending the night atop the rock, discussion ranged from ghost stories (to make Sam mad) to our lives as JVIs.
Jo made a very interesting point. Living simply can certainly refer to our schedules and how hard we work ourselves. Sometimes, we need a breather. For us, it was climbing Sokehs Rock. I think, in a very similar way, that was what Tarantino was for me...a breather. Something to help me get by.
I will continue to ponder these things, as I always do, but I will leave you with a list of interesting things that I have experienced recently:
-2800 pages of Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight" series. I should have never read the first one, because then I was "invested."
-Very, very interesting Spelling sentences from my eighth graders. For example, the word "imagine" was used as follows: "I imagined Mr. Philip in a Speedo. (no offense Mr. Philip)"
-Pohnpeian children singing "America" as pass them on the way to work in the morning.
-The Flamingo (oh goodness)
-Sashimi (sushi Pohnpei style). Suprisingly, I love it.
-Monday night soccer league (www.pohnpeisoccer.com)
Oh yeah, some pictures from around town: #1 - My classroom #2 - The Jesuit House
