A lot has changed since I last updated: Keech is fatter, I've been to the clinic twice, no one has pysically died yet, and I'm learning a lot about Chuuk. Tomorrow I'm going to town because one of our best students has composed a speech to present to the Chuuk State Government. Very VERY exciting. She's one of my juniors, and even so, I take no credit for her amazing feat. There are rumours of Chuuk leaving the union of the islands, to become an independent nation... to do so would mean economic, social, and political suicide in many definitions of the word. This has much to do with the current COFA conundrum and other issues we are discussing in class.
Things here are so different from in the US. I was talking with other teachers the other night about how when a child in the US says, "I'm gonna be president someday." you laugh and tell them to follow their dreams. There's little chance in that happening. But if a child in Micronesia says, "I want to be president." you should take that child very seriously, because in reality there is a good chance that they will be the next President of the FSM. The current president attended Xavier, as did many other high ranking officials of the government. Very interesting. Both promising, and scary.
The scariest thing for me currently, is talking about our next assignment in class: 'V for Vendetta'. At first, I thought it would be a lot of fun, bringing up topics of debate, like violence as a form of protest or control, and questioning authority as a citizen.... but in Chuuk... things are different, in this small island nation. I didn't realise that when I brought up the topic of corruption in the government, protest, and trust, not only did this raise questions about America, Chuuk, and the fascist governments of old, but also questions like, "What if there is no corruption here?" and, "what if some people are Bias, because said persons' dad is a government official, and they have only heard good things?" that...those are both GREAT questions. It's common I hear the local people complaining about the corrupt government, and how they lie cheat and steal... so what IS going on here?
I never meant to offend or kindle anger, I don't mean to blame or question disrespectfully... because in America, there are so many "nobodies"... It's easy to talk about their problems from a distance. In contrast, here I find myself standing before passionate and fiery eyes. I hope they can understand what and why I question.
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