I've arrived!! I was expecting to write this and say how I've arrived and it was an easy trip experience to travel to like all others I've experienced. However, this trip down could not have been more opposite of that thought. I left on Sunday evening and flew to Denver, Las Vegas, Honolulu, two islands in the Marshall Islands, and then two stops in the Federated States of Micronesia to end up in Pohnpei. The longest stop was in Vegas for four hours which consisted of people watching and observing the sweet tunes of all the slot machines going off. My main goal was to keep my eyes peeled open as falling asleep there from 10 pm until my 2 am flight was not going to be an option.
Hawaii was of course the best stop along the way and you could smell all the tropical goodness as the sun rose across the coast.
The next couple of stops were in the Marshall Islands on atolls which are remnants of volcano tops. As such, the runway was no bigger than 100 feet across which made for one of the most interesting landings.
Upon arrival in pohnpei I met a lady who is affiliated with the UN and she is starting a new world health organization and is overseeing five different countries in the area. I'm hoping we'll be able to connect more as I'm quite interested in what I was hearing.
Meanwhile my giant duffel bag was nowhere to be seen. I was told it missed the connection in Vegas. Lucky for me the next flight in is in two days. It's now been those two days and guess what?! No bag. I was given a small voucher to spend today so I finally have some different clothes. I was becoming the smelly kid after traveling over two days and being down in this heat.
I was greeted at the airport by some members of Iris which was fantastic. We rode in the Iris flatbed truck to meet some of the other members of Iris that were out eating. I was made to immediately feel welcomed and have met at least 50 of the other students and am floored at how wonderful everyone has been and have enjoyed hearing the unique stories that have brought us all together. There are people from Micronesia, England, Switzerland, Australia, America and other places.
The temperature here is what feels to be in the mid to upper 90s with near 100% humidity at all times. It rains for a few minutes every day which is glorious liquid sunshine.
I'm not one of those in the huts next to the water unfortunately as they are all filled. I'm inside the top of a small convenience store/ office for the base. Sounds wonderful right? No... Granted there are fewer bugs yet with no windows and a/c, the room is a sauna to say the least and there's around 8 of us in the room.
Internet is not easy to come by and I can't say I'm really missing it. It's a strange feeling to go from being fully connected with world news to being isolated.
Our classes are held in a larger open hut and ill describe some of the things we've been learning in later posts.
There are wild dogs and chicken everywhere.
This weekend my group will be going spearfishing and learn other water survival skills on another island.
We've had a chance to see some of the locals perform traditional dances for us.
It's amazing to see how bright the stars are out here and how clearly you can see the Milky Way. We are surrounded by a water preserve that has manta rays, sea turtles, and plenty of large fish.
I hope this gives some view into what life is looking like now. I'm thrilled to be in what I know is the will of God right now for my life and it is an unexplainable peace that surpasses all knowledge and I don't want to leave it again regardless of where life goes. Thank you all for getting through this lengthy post and following these thoughts of a bearded crazed man.
Feel free to leave comments or send emails however I only have access to the Internet maybe once a week so bare with me.
Until next time, I leave you with this question to ask God and just spend at least two minutes actually listening within for a response, what does God love the most about you?
