05.30.15 Shorty and I go out ot dinner

Last night Heidi and family (Amos husband and children Tommy, Reina, Honora, and little Theo) invited us for a delicious home cooked meal. Shorty was on his best behavior - did not chase the cate, bite the kids or beg at dinner. He sat on my feet, sometimes licking my toes, but was really very good. Only after it was getting late did he start to gnaw on me, so we went home. It was a fun night. I really like Heidi and Amos and adore the kids. She brought thm over this afternoon as they were begging her to see me.

Sunrise from the ship over Yap.

Tommy

Reina

Honora

 Shorty watching for cars, people, cats and dogs.

Little Theo, who is now one.

Sunset from the lagoon where Heidi, Amos and kids live.

 

More pictures from Eauripki.

Small and very scenic with lovely people. This is also the home of Carlos on the immunization team.

Carlos and his Mom.

Traditional house. Some have solar power. They are roomy inside with rafters tohang the very possessions.

Water tank by a house. Some homes are concrete. Those with a concrete roof are "typhoon proof".

The Catholic Church. The women and I also met on the porch for our talk.

 Frigate.

Thomas. Everyone thought he was retiring, so hence the nu-nus and celebrations for him. It was fun. He said he would still like to  work a couple more years. But we all enjoyed the good food!

Ali, his wife Martina, Melissa and Carlos inside the dispensary.

Palm tree with coconuts cut to make the local bew Tuba.

 

 

 Fresh caught tuna and reef fish.

Thomas on the launch. 

 

 

Tonight we had fresh sashimi – yellow tuna. Carlos went AWOL. Tended to a few sick people on board. Visited with Sissy from Satawal – baby sitter for Tommy, Reina, Honora, and Theo. Then we anchored at 7:54 in Woleai Atoll near Falalop-Woleai. Five boats of happy people came to pick up loved ones and family. Many if not all climbed aboard the ship – literally – without using the rope ladder. Very impressive. Just watched in amazement at the agility of the kids and adults. Met Sissy’s nephew who teaches high school math and sciences. Seems like a really nice guy but too young for Melissa. I took her out to check him out. Finished the night with some work. All in all a great day.

05.31.15 Eauripik #1

Blog continuing outer island trip.

Eauripik 05.16.15

Arrived at 8 AM, beautiful cluster of three little atolls. Large reef and it was low tide upon arrival so we are dropped off and walk along the reef to the shore. Water is warm – so why not? Boat picked us up at water that was at my waist! Am getting pretty good and getting in and out of these boats without difficulty! Practice makes perfect.

The reef is quite dangerous for ships – they report 7 are grounded there including one big freighter. The atolls themselves are really quite special – flat, coconut palm trees, bread fruit, pumpkin patches and taro patches. And birds galore. Frigate birds, black doddies, and my beautiful terns. Also saw yellow tuna jumping out of the water in a large school. This was really nice. The main island only is inhabited with about 90 people there – most of whom it is safe to say are related.

Scenes from the ship and Eauripik. A very small island with a lot of birds - frigates, fairy terns, boddies.

Sunrise.

Anton. traveled the entire route with his Dad who works on the ship and with help form friends. He was cute.He would come up to me to pick him up and I would lean him over the side backwards and make him laugh.

One of the many wrecks on the reef.

Yes, stranded on the reef. This reef goes all the way to Papua New Guinea.

This is how one gets bagsa nnd containers from the ship to the launch.

The worker in the red socks gets the award for the best dressed. Love his color coordination. One day he even wore a life jacket.

The women are very graceful wearing the lavalava.

Want to take along  your child? No problem. The little one is carefully lowered and raised.

Cool shades.

The launch takes us as far as possible along the reef. Then we walk  "Reef walkers" Must be careful not to cut your feet, the reef can be sharp. Also easy to loose flip flops.

Thomas.

Melissa in the orange shirt.

School girls out for an adventure. Live in Ulithi, never been farther east.

Cool dog.

Our welcoming party.

 

05.31.15 OI trip Fais to Eauripik

Notes from my travel journal:

May 15, 2015. Fais. We are here but not allowed to go on shore to work. My friend Mayson came aboard so I gave him two packages for the PCV Will Storey and the alcohol and depression forms for Alphonso. One of the transportation boat had engine trouble so they were towed back to the big ship. The engine cord broke, so the poor man who fixed it had quite the audience watching him.  Also found a cute puppy being taken from Yap to Woleai. Cutest little girl. Boy, do I love animals. Just like when I was a kid. I could have watched that puppy all day. And when she barked I’d pick her up, so of course she was happy and that little tail just wagged. A new friend on the boat!

Am also learning that is it hard to work on the computer while the ship is rocking back and forth. Was trying to convince myself that it was like an airplane – but it is not! I have already dispensed anti-seasickness meds to some young women. They send a male friend to get the medication as they are too sick or too shy.

We are now heading for Eauripik – a 24 hour journey. We did not wait for the plane to bring the meds to Fais. This is terribly embarrassing – a medical trip and no meds for the outer islands. Why go at all? I can see I will be focusing on this for a while. Lack of communication, lack of adequate planning, no checks and balances, no responsibility, and no consequences. All very bad practices. If they only changed some of these things they could operate much more efficiently.

These flying fish are the coolest things. They truly are out of the water for 10 to 15 seconds by my count. They just jump and travel about a foot over the water horizontally, then dive back in the sea. Just too cool for words. Did not see any dolphins. It was good to get some fresh air and watch the horizon after a couple of hours at the computer. Am trying to do the trip report after each island. While we didn’t stay in Fais, there are things that happened.

Melissa

Sunset

Celestine and puppy sleeping on deck. Most passengers sleep on deck rather than a cabin.

A bit unusual to see a woman smoking.