Sorcha in Micronesia

A small how to guide on making coconut oil for beauty purposes  Step 1: Gather 5 copra coconuts Step 2: Husk the coconuts Step 3: Open the coconuts Step 4: Grate the meat out of the coconuts – most people use electric graters but many still do it by hand  Step 5: Make coconut milk – See this blog post Step 6: Filter coconut milk Step 7: Boil coconut milk Step 8: Once boiled add flowers for sent Step 9: Allow it to cool Step 10: Filter to separate solid and liquid  Step 11: Enjoy 

Step 1: Gather copra (brown husked) coconuts and chop them in half with a machete.  Step 2: Use a coconut grater to grate coconuts into a bowl. Step 3:   Once all of the coconuts are grated put a handful into a piece of cloth and squeeze as hard as you can. Discard the squeezed coconut gratings into another bowl and repeat. Step 4: Once all of the coconut gratings are squeezed use the cloth to filter the milk.                                            Step 5:  Enjoy your fresh coconut milk :)                                     

6:00:    Attempt to turn off my alarm             6:45:   Make oatmeal with peanut butter for breakfast. 7:00    Depart on my bike ride. Riding my bike to and from school is the most dangerous part of my day. It is about a 15-20 minute bike ride to my school but during this time I have to keep my senses with me so that I don’t get bitten by angry dogs. Dogs in Kosrae are not used to seeing a) white people and b) bikes so they often get riled up when I bike past them and start trying to attack me.   When this happens I get off my bike, thrust it at them threateningly, and shout “Tchock”. Tchock is a word used by Kosraens to tell dogs to go away. 7:20    Arrive at school I am normally the only teacher at the school until about 7:50. Then there are a chorus of “Tuwoh” (Good Morning) and “Kom fukah?” (How are you?).   8:00    Class starts    ...

Me and my fellow PCV Devon getting ready to attend church   It took me a while to get used to Sundays on Kosrae as there is a whole list of things that one can and cannot do. As far as I know there are only two things that are illegal to do on Sundays the first is drinking alcohol or being drunk, and the second is fishing or harvesting marine life. Both of these laws are taken very seriously to the extent that during communion (which I’ve been told only happens four times a year for the Kosraen Congregational Church) they drink Kool-Aid instead of wine. People caught by the police drinking on Sundays will find themselves spending a few hours in jail. There are also things that are heavily frowned upon such as: exercise, playing games, swimming in the ocean, cooking outside during daylight, crafting, loud noises, and working.   You are, however, allowed to swim in rivers and in my host family that is used as a special treat for birthdays that fall on Sundays.  Most ...

Tuwo (Good Morning) and welcome to my blog, Snorkeling around the Blue Hole I have spent the past 4 months serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia. One of my two New Year’s resolutions this year is to keep an updated blog on my experiences as an English Co-teacher/Co-planner and Peace Corps Volunteer in Kosrae.   My other resolution is to read at least 1 book each week. I’m going to first provide some background information about Kosrae and then I’ll tell you a bit about my time on Kosrae. Kosrae (pronounced KOSH-RYE) is a small, 42 square mile island, in Micronesia. There are about 6,000 people living on the island. The main language that is spoken here is Kosraen although due to English being taught at 3 rd grade up most adults can speak English. The main religion on Kosrae is Kosrae Congregational. Kosrae is split up into four districts Tafunsak, Lelu, Malem, and Utwe. Walung is a remote area of the island that is more or less o...