My blog entries often have a critical edge to them. Micronesia has its share of fraud, waste, and abuse in the government and my workdays are spent in that arena. There is a lot of mistrust between the state governments and the national government. On the individual level, people are mostly apathetic and accepting of the government’s shortfalls.
It’s hard not to be jaded. However, there is a softer side to Micronesia. On the individual level, Micronesians are generally kind and considerate to us ex-pats. There aren’t too many places left in the world where someone would put his 6-year old daughter in a stranger’s car just to help out the stranger.
Last week Boris was trying to find the house of Ancher, a local guy we hire to take us diving on the weekends. After driving to where he thought the boatsman lived, a local resident informed Boris that Ancher lived in another part of town. Wanting to make sure Boris would eventually find Ancher, the gentlemen sent his 6-year old daughter with Boris to show him Ancher’s house.
I can only imagine what life is like based on your blog, but it must be an amazing experience.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures appear to be very different than Red Bank, NJ, where I last saw you in person.
Hope all is well and I hope we have an opportunity to connect in the near future