There were no patients scheduled for today or Friday (tomorrow) so we thought it would be best if we skipped town a little earlier than originally planned. Not that Chuuk is so horrible that we were running away, but with all the violent stories it was just intimadating to be here. When we had first arrived, it was night time and dark out. We didn’t go out at night either so we really couldn’t see much of the island. The only path we were accustomed to seeing was the one to and from the hospital. As mentioned in my previous blogs, roads are bad the buildings are tagged with graffiti. It’s like I’m back home! Gira made a good point about the graffiti though. Yes it’s unsightly and downright rude to property owners but at least it demonstrates at least there is some literacy present. Any who, this building is the epitome of buildings you see in Chuuk and one of many we saw on the way to the airport.
The road conditions are horrendous. Imagine driving in an unfamiliar country and seeing roads like this. Keep in mind you are in a rent-a-dent and there was NO insurance offered to you when you rented the car as there is no one on the island that will insure anyone (our hotel is a very professional and business orientated yet they can’t offer us insurance, either). You can’t help but think how deep is this trench? Are there potholes within this trench? What about huge rocks we can’t see? What about other hazards we can’t see? So what did we do? Just trekked forward and hoped for the best.
This stand was easily one of the biggest ones present throughout the island. We have passed this lady on numerous occasions and she is very nice. She always smiling at us and waving as we pass by. She usually has people buying stuff from her stand and she keeps it well cleaned, weather permitting. Honestly, I’d totally buy stuff from her to eat.
We met a couple that works for United (the company that bought out Continental Airlines) who were also trying to fly out of Chuuk. We were told the flight was full and the couple used their work privileges and checked online last night confirming the full flight. They suggested to try and wait it out anyways because it’s never full until they take off. We checked our bags in and waited. Hours later, the flight was still full. In fact, they overbooked and made several announcements to have any confirmed passenger give up their seat for $400 dollars in airfares as compensation. Being that there were four of us, the chances of all 4 of us getting on the plane was slim so we left.
We wanted to go to the Blue Lagoon Resort yesterday but were faced with a very serious obstacle. I had posted a picture of our right sided Toyota RAV4 and how it was pretty cool to drive on the right side. What I didn’t comment was that it probably isn’t the typical RAV4 we are used to seeing back home (I feel it may be smaller, which makes sense considering we are in a country that doesn’t have many resources). That being said, I came to this freaking lake and wasn’t sure if I could make it through. It was a very rainy day yesterday and though we could have made it going through the lake going to the resort, we were worried about the troubles of coming back. The road before this was extremely muddy and I wont lie: I was worried I could have easily been stuck. (Though I reference this as a lake, it was a really really bad road)
So today, we asked our hotel to escort us to the Blue Lagoon Resort. They happily obliged and the means of transportation: the car we had rented, the very same RAV4. At first, I was thinking to myself if would we make it across that humongous lake? But I didn’t question our local driver. As soon as we got to the river, she simply drive right in and over. I looked out the window and I swear the water level was level with the bottom of the door. If I opened the door, I think the water would have came rushing in. But, as you can see from the picture, we made it =)
We wanted a different change of scenery from what we saw every day. Don’t get me wrong, The Truk Stop has been super friendly and extremely cordial. They are gracious hosts and have been nothing but splendid to us. As soon as we found out we could not fly out today, we went straight to the Truk Stop to check back in. It’s just we needed something different. Alas, Blue Lagoon Resort. This is part of the water front that BLR has. Many people swim/snorkel right here, so we did too. Though the sea life is not comparable to a coral reef, there still was an abundant amount. Chuuk is world renowned for its diving though, something I am not certified to do. I understand it does come highly recommended so I will pass that recommendation on to you. Especially since there are so many ship and plane wrecks that you can explore.
Let me tell you some pretty cool Chuukanese lore. Before there was heavy westerner influence, Chuuk used to be a place of very traditional place. One of the cool stories I heard takes place when the locals used to reside in huts. Now, in the states, males coerce females to begin the courtship. In traditional Chuuk, men used to create these uniquely shaped sticks so that females can identify who they are. What they would do with these sticks was place them inside the hut while holding on to a handle. The female would feel the stick and know who is on the other side based on the texture/shape of the unique "lovestick." If she rejected the patron, he would simply take his love stick and find another hut. If she wanted him, she would pull the stick and the male may enter. The significance of these flowers? Nothing, I thought they looked nice =)
Yay team two pow wow connection! Though the sunsets are very brief, they are still an astonishing sight. I’m pretty tired, its 11pm over here and it’s been a really long day. We have an early day tomorrow, even though we’re not even working! I think I will conclude this entry with some pretty cool pictures.
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