Easter on Kosrae

It’s Spring Vacation - hurray! Willard and I boarded a plane yesterday and went southwest to the island of Kosrae. This is one of the islands in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), formerly known as the Caroline Islands. We are happy to be staying at a nice hotel called the Nautilus. It’s air conditioned and clean and we are thrilled!

Yesterday we settled in and wandered about a bit. The island is hilly; the center is actually 2000+ feet in altitude and is called Mt. Finkol. The land is lush with beautiful flowers and vegetation. There is no water shortage here because there is no dry season. It also feels cleaner and less populated than Majuro. There are 6,500 people on the island.

Today is Easter and we decided to go to services. Last night the waiter tells us most of the island is Protestant and we are welcome to attend services. In fact, the hotel owner will give us a lift. And he does. He is an Australian who has been on Kosrae on and off for ten years. He tells us the church we are attending is in temporary quarters because they are renovating their actual church. Later he explains that there was nothing wrong with the church they had, but there are five protestant churches on the island and they are constantly working to outdo one another. A couple of years ago another church was rebuilt and 2,000 pigs were butchered for the celebration (remember, there are only 6,500 people on the whole island)! He tells us this church will be rebuilt before Christmas because there is some sort of big celebration every four years and this is the year. The church, he says will be totally bought and paid for - nothing owed, but a lot of parishioners will be severely in debt. In addition, each adult male will be expected to provide a large pig and every teenage male a small pig. Much of it will be waste because there is no refrigeration for all of the leftovers.

When we get to the entrance it is obvious that men sit on the right and the women sit on the left side of the sanctuary. I felt pretty out of place even though I had on a pretty blouse and skirt. Everyone I was sitting near was in a white dress, and the men were all in long sleeved starched white shirts and ties. The dresses were beautiful - they looked like something you could get married in, or at least wear as the mother of the bride. There were folks dressed in other colors too, but not where we were. As the service progressed, I was told that on Easter there is a sort of choir contest where different choirs perform, and if you are in the choir, you wear white. The music was pretty amazing. The pastor spoke (in Kosraen, so we didn’t understand a word) and then the congregation would reply in song - always sung in four part harmony. It was beautiful, but a little screechy, all at the same time. The only parts I caught were the Lord’s Prayer and (I am pretty sure) John 3:16 because of the cadences. There were some alleluias too. I am glad we went; it was really interesting. But I am glad the service only ran one hour!

On the way home the hotel owner tells us that Kosrae is a man’s world. The women are the smart ones who do all of the work (I am not sure that is smart, but….) and the men hold all of the offices and own the land. Before motor boats, the women even did all of the fishing, but when motor  boats came along, the men couldn’t resist the “toys” and so now they fish.

After we came home we had lunch and then went for a long snorkel. We were allowed to snorkel on Sunday but could not dive and nothing is open, except the hotel restaurant. Alcohol is not served on the Sabbath either. But pizza is half price at the restaurant so that was our Easter feast.

We thought about friends and family sitting around ham dinners back at home. We hope you all had a good Easter.

We look forward to a relaxing week. A kayak ride through mangrove trees, a hike to a waterfall, more snorkeling, and a lot of sleeping in is on the agenda!

Take care, write when you can, love, Becky

On a hike with friends, Jen and James. Behind us is a eucalyptus tree.

We kayaked through the mangrove trees

Easter service at the local Protestant church

These mangrove trees thrive in salt water and help with erosion problems