Homestay Family

After moving in to the Xavier community, we immediately went and spent several nights with a host family in the local town of Chapuk (pronounced Sapuk). I am staying with Papa Eche, Mama Tersi and their family which includes a son, daughter, and their kids (my nieces and nephews). It was an awesome experience! First, because they don't speak much English, I was given several lessons on speaking Chuukese and am picking up the language rather quickly with the help of some other resources that I found laying around. Also, it gave me a good glimpse at what the culture of the people is like first hand rather than just the long list of characteristics that I've been told throughout orientation and my first few days here. The main aspect that was interesting was that hospitality to them is of the utmost importance, and they will do everything for you almost to the point of making me feel uncomfortable. They moved out of one of the rooms which they allowed me to use as my bedroom and fed me the best food they have for the three days that I was there. Any time that I tried to get up and help, even just to take my dishes over to the wash tub or grab a towel to wipe up some water I spilled, I was essentially reprimanded and told to sit down. I think that this is in part because I am very new and they wanted to make me feel as welcome as possible, but it literally was uncomfortable watching them work so hard to please me. Hopefully as time progresses and I become more a part of the family, I will be allowed to help out a little more. The other thing that was great about the homestay experience was to feel more at home in the local community and playing with the kids gave me a great way to interact without necessarily being able to speak the language. One of the days I was there, they took me up through the jungle on this beautiful hike to this old Japanese lighthouse that is a remnant of WWII. You could see old gun turrets, and the lighthouse itself looked as if it had been sprayed with aircraft fire as there were perfect bullet holes in the metal railings and such. I didn't have my camera at the time, but will be going back soon and will make sure to take some pictures. Today is a pretty mellow day so far, but we are preparing for a huge feast tonight in honor of St. Ignatius, so that should be a lot of fun! I included some pictures of the kids in my host family, because they are awesome