04.17.15 Fais

Fais. What can I say. As much as I enjoy Ulithi, I really like Fais. It has warm and lovely people and a beautiful shore line which is treacherous to navigate and cliffs to climb to enjoy a spectacular view. It is also as hot as the dickens. And they continue with the nu-nu tradition (leis) which I also enjoy. A garland of sweet smelling flowers is such a treat.

This island  had sustained less damage, but is poorer than the Ulithi atoll. They remain in reasonable good health and I ate very well here. We had rice, pork, tuna caught that morning marinated in soy and a spice, and luncheon meat and sweet potatoes. They also prepare a drink of pounded coconut that is refreshing in this heat.

The water tanks were donated by the EU as a separate project. They must still be installed to a smaller tank (? I was told) and rain gutters are to be placed that will connect with this system. Hope I get to see the finished product, but this step was a long time in coming.

Sunrise near Fais.

Large water containers. I am always amazed at the resilience and resourcefulness of some people and places. The Micronesians, just like others that I have known, do not complain and simply get back to work. These containers are heavy yet the men just lifted them from the water and carried them to where they needed to be placed. And they still walked really fast when they carried the containers.

 

 

Melissa and Carlos.

Baptist Church from Yap volunteering on each island. They brought three chainsaws. This helped a lot. The islanders would have one very difficult time using a machete on these large trees.

Fresh tuna. Lunch.

Trees starting to turn green. This is a breadfruit that survived.

 

Clay showing his pictures. He came on the boat with us. As he is a local, he helped with everything.

Eli and Joshua cooling off before we head back to the ship. Yes, I was in there in all of my clothes. We were wet from just the boat ride, so why not?

 A pet bird.

Solar panel goes for $300.00.

Madeleina. She is a school teacher who helps me and makes sure I get fed and enough to drink. She is lovely.