11.04.14 HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY......

.......... to my Fionnegan and Gunnarr. We had a lot of fun times in 2014, a lot more to come in 2015!

My little Gunnarr likes to put his nose right in the lens. He wears the red collar.

 

My onery little Fionn. He wears the blue collar.

Nice white teeth.

Even though they both get a bone, it is far more fun to share - and chase each other around to get the other bone!

Digging holes, a favorite past time for them.

"Walk together" is the command and they do!

A much needed rest and drink of water after a long walk around Deer Island.

Gloucester - at my favorite spot near Stage Fort.





Doggie ice cream.
They loved it.

yes, I went into the houe for one minute and left them outside. Gunnarr is calling to me to come get them.

So when they took a nap, they slept in front of the gate door. There was no way of going anywhere without them! When I work at night, Gunnarr sleeps under my chair and Fionn under the table by the door.

 

 

We went on a vacation to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Here we are at Ohioplye Falls, one of my favorite places ever. They never go far, Gunnarr is always the first to sit next to me, but Fionnegan always has at least one paw touching my leg or arm. They went for a long walk of exploration, then we stopped for a rest and they watched all of the people go by.

 

I can tell by those eyes that they miss me. 

 

 

 

11.02 All Soul's Day and 11.03 Independence Day Micronesia

We have continued to have bad weather for this three day weekend. A lot of wind and rain then sun and high humidity, then more wind and rain. I am getting to read a lot as there is no good reason to get soaking wet from a long walk in the rain. Last onth I had the flu, this month I have a cold, hoping this is not  new pattern.

Today is the Independence Day for FSM - 1986. There were  no big celebrations in Colonia - I didn't see any at all. Maybe there were some celebrations in the villages.

There are 8415 miles between Colonia and Boston, by the way the crow flies. We are 9 degrees north of the equater.


For All Soul's Day we started Mass in the cemetery - an appropriate start. The rest of the weekend was spent catching up on projects and reading. The graves are  marked by crosses, decorated with flowers and wreaths and leis.

 

 

 Altar boy in local attire. A lot of the men and women wear the traditional dress.

Tomorrow, 11/04/14 is the first birthday of my boys Fionnegan and Gunnarr. Those little cuties, I do miss them. My little fluff muffins. Can't wait to see them again.

11.01.14 Tropical depression

Not the type when you are feeling sad. The type when the weather is stormy. Dark clouds all day and heavy rains off and on. Enough time for a walk around the lagoon with a duck into a local restaurant for breakfast in between showers.

This little guy followed me for a little while on my morning walk. He came right up to me, maybe looking for a treat? But he did get his head rubbed and some dust brushed off his coat. Notice his broad head and those short little legs. There must have been a whole litter of short legged dogs as there are a few of them running around Colonia. He also belongs to someone as he has a collar. :)

 

 

The best reasons NOT to walk along the lagoon shore barefoot.

 

An egret.

 

 

There were two cool terns perched on old posts. The wind was a little challenge for them. And they were keenly aware of me and my camera.

 Another egret was fishing and got a couple little ones along the shore.

 

10.31.14 Happy Halloween

It was a dark and stormy night for the ghosts and goblins. The rain came down in sheets and the wind howled. We have the makings of a cyclone here and the intense weather is to be here for most oft he weekend.

There was one big Halloween party for the expats but Idid not attend. It was in the northern part of the island and in bad weather just too many logistics to attend. (My excuse for not going!) Instead I made dinner that included squash for old time sakes, eggplant, onion, and taro were also mixed in the the stir fry and enjoyed it with a fellow PCR volunteer. I do enjoy taro and breadfruit and have learned how to prepare it. Rice I still do not dow eel, so I bought it fromt eh hospital café!

Saw one local kid in a sort of outfit but it is not as big of a holiday as back home. Although apparently getting to be a bigger celebration with time.

On a more serious note:

We officially started the work on the breast cancr program here. I gave two lectures in the morning and will give one more next Friday. The first lecture was also used to get a sense from the staff (all disciplines) as to the attitutdes and practices as they affect cancer patients in general. It was a really good discussion.

We now have several staff who have volunteered to create a support program to help cancer patients. Not only do I hope it gets off the ground, but that it is sustainable. So I make sure that I serve as a resource, not as the person who IS the support group. Will keep you all posted as to the progress we all make.

The first shipment of brochures arrived and they look really nice. (Nice quality paper - printed by Staples, shoolld last a long time.)  Thank you Fenny for shipping and Kari - more are on the way to be shipped. When all is said and done, we should have one for almost a quarter of the age appropriate women in Yap and the neighboring islands. It was translated into Yapese and Ulithian. You may recognize the image in the middle paneln from an earier blog.

 

 

Yapese

 

 

 

Ulithian

 

 

 

 

 

This one can serve as a resource for the professional staff. English is the language that the ue in school and all official communications, so we did not translate it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that is how I sepnt most of my week, preparing for the lecture and of course, the great island tour.

Only 8 days until the canoe festival. Let's hope the weather is much improved. Otherwise the sailboats will be on their way to Ulithi before we know it.

 



 

10.29.2014 Island Tour

Had an island tour today with Julie, the Chief of Public Health and Cyril, a PH member, who drove. Cyril knows everything about Yap and was a great tour guide. He knew all of the back roads and hidden treasures.

There are a couple of WWII US aircraft scattered around the island. We saw two of the more remote ones on this trip. The Japanese had removed all of their aircraft that were shot down and took them back to Japan, where I heard they used for scfrap metal.

Bullet holes.

 

 

 

Walkway to a remote site. Single lane road ended abruptly just passed the wooden bridge. No warnng, just the sea at the end.

A thick shell, these are no longer found washed up on the island.

Cyril and Julie deep in conversation while I am exploring and taking pictures. Can you guess what is in the plastic bag?

This is Julie.

 

 

 This is the flower of the palm that is used to thatch roofs. Pretty exotic.