School has been in session for two weeks, and I almost know the names of all of my students. I've assigned some of them alter-identities for mnemonic purposes: the kid who looks like my brother, the student who is really a dinosaur (the spiked hair), the one who looks like a miniature Michael Jackson... Yesterday little MJ sung his way through a quiz, and I held it together, but just barely.

There is a holiday on average once a week here. Last week we had Friday off to celebrate Gospel Day: the day the missionaries arrived on the island. There were games, singing, and some pretty excellent reenactments. The missionaries came from Massachusetts, so I got extra points. Next week Tuesday is off just because, then the week after is Liberation Week. In honor of the FSM's independence from their trust territory status, we will have a week of festivals and canoe racing. (Yesterday we were courteously told by a volunteer's host parents that it's difficult for white people to steer canoes, so not to worry if we do badly.)

So the part of me that's been a student for as long as I can remember is thrilled about all these holidays.

The idea was to segue into a conversation of church but let's just pretend that happened. The island is very religious, sort of. Everybody goes to church on Sunday. But it is also illegal to do anything but go to church (and rest) on Sunday. And Saturday is the weekend, which means nothing much goes on on Saturday. So... by the time Sunday comes around, my mindset at least is "well yesterday was nice and relaxing. And I'm obligated to do nothing today... I might as well go to church for an hour and listen to the awesome singing." And I think it might be that I'm not alone in thinking that.
Also, the pastors run for election (for pastorate) on the same ballot as the mayors and senators run for their positions.

Because the school day is so short, and because we are encouraged to volunteer elsewhere on the island, I'm going to start working with this organization: http://kosraeconservation.org/ . Specifically, I'm going to help out with the marine biodiversity project, part of which includes reef monitoring via scuba diving. Hooray!




(the sunset, five minutes from our house)