Days 11, 12, 13

Aloha all. It has been a few days since I’ve updated so let’s get started. Wednesday Josh and I went to Hanauma Bay Nature Reserve to go snorkeling. Hanauma Bay is a large volcanic crater that filled with water when the sea levels rose. It is illegal to hunt or fish on the nature reserve, so the wildlife is preserved and protected. I actually wasn’t very impressed by the fish in the bay. It was neat to see the crayon-box-colored fish, but after about an hour I got sick of seeing the same types of fish over and over. There may have been more of a variety beyond the reef in the bay, but it was way too choppy to go beyond the reef and I'm not even sure if the lifegaurds let you beyond the reef. I’m sorry I don’t have pictures of the fish, but I will soon. I was impressed by the bay and beach though – it was beautiful (see pictures).

Thursday was spent painting the house and relaxing. I called some family that lives in Hilo on the big island. I think Josh and I are going to fly out there for a few days and hang out with them. We have never met them so this trip should be very interesting. It all really depends on how much airfare costs (surprisingly more expensive than expected). I also searched airfare to Guam and Pohnpei and it looks like I will be able to afford the trip – something I am extremely excited about. I have had travel plans in the past that have fallen by the wayside but everything finally seems to be falling in place. It feels so good.

I hope to spend about 4 or 5 days on Guam before heading out to Pohnpei. First of all I have to meet up with my grandma who lives on Guam. It will be easier for me to be taken seriously on Pohnpei if I am with her. I also want to check out the utt (canoe house) of the Traditional Seafaring Society. For those of you who don’t know, I took a class called “Canoe Cultures of the Pacific” – a class that really catapulted my desire to learn more about my culture and heritage. Anyways the class taught me about the traditional seafaring practices that are still exercised today. For example, navigators are able to sail from one island to another without the use of GPS, sexton, map, or compass. Instead they read the swells in the ocean, they use star paths to guide them, and they use wildlife to estimate their distance from their destination. In fact, the Polynesian Voyaging Society (based in Hawai’i) is currently sailing from Hawai’i to Japan without the use of any modern equipment. The Traditional Seafaring Society also builds and sail canoes in the traditional manner. There is a lot more to these practices that I would love to share with you if you are interested. Just askJ.

Pohnpei is truly the place I desire to be at the most. It is the purpose of this trip. I was told that the hospital there would like me to work with them. I would be setting up a recreational program in order to promote an active lifestyle. Diabetes and obesity are extremely prevalent not only on Pohnpei, but throughout the Pacific, so hopefully a recreational program will take steps to help this problem. The problem is that I haven’t heard from them yet and haven’t been able to get any contact information.

I also have an opportunity with a program called the Micronesia Challenge. Conventional benchmarks say that a country should preserve around 10% of their natural resources, but the Micronesia Challenge sets the bar for Micronesi at 30% - something that has received praise worldwide. I applied for an internship with them and hope to hear from them soon. As an intern (or what they call “champion”) I would attend training sessions and workshops and eventually help set up educational programs that teach about conservation. Something I feel is a worthwhile endeavor.

No matter what I do I am just ecstatic to be able to go to Pohnpei.

Today we hiked the Kaiwa Coast Ridge Trail. An extremely short hike, but the views of the Pacific were stunning. These views really gave me the powerful reality of how enormous the Pacific really is – I felt like the smallest speck compared to the Pacific. Did you know that the Pacific is so large that you could fit all of the land and water in the world (save the Pacific obviously) in the same area the Pacific covers? It is truly a powerful, majestic, gigantic ocean – I love it. We also hiked down to a lava tube. Obviously, a lava tube is a tunnel formed by a lava flow. All that is left now is a tunnel because the lava no longer flows. The entrance to the tunnel reminds me of the entrance to a catacomb. It was cool to see how the rock was shaped and melted and there were even volcanic ash rock still lying around. It wasn’t as cool as it would have been if the lava was still flowing, but it was still a splendid site. Finally we walked back to this water fall that is set right off the Pali Highway. Beautiful and definitely something to check out if you make it over here.

That is all for now. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Mahalo for reading. Aloha - Justin.