Day Seven on the Island

Or, The Long Journey Back to the United States Begins

We had our last breakfast at the Cliff Rainbow Hotel in Pohnpei this morning. I had what has become my go-to meal: two eggs (scrambled) with bacon and hash browns and with a glass of pineapple juice. The eggs and hash browns could have been cooked just a little bit longer—as has been the trend this past week—but the restaurant for the hotel has provided solid food every day. And having our breakfast on the “porch” each day has been a delight.

 

Overall, the hotel has been nice, but it’s not what we’ve come to expect by Western standards of service. It cost roughly one hundred dollars each day, which is fine since I’m being reimbursed for my travel expenses anyway. However, for that amount of money back home, you’d expect more consistent towel service, for example. I had to ask on at least two days for a washcloth and hand towel. I got a washcloth one of those days, not on the other one, but I never got a hand towel when I asked for one. And, of course, there was mold on the soap in the bathroom that first night in my room, likely the result of the boxes sitting inactive for a long time in this jungle humidity. No matter, I put the moldy bars on top of the boxes, and the next day I had fresh (well, fresher) soap to use in washing my hands.

I did like one feature of the hotel that you don’t get in the United States. We were allowed to check out early but keep our room key until it was time to go to the airport. I’ve never had that opportunity before. A couple of the team members checked out the night before, actually, since processing a credit card charge takes considerably longer here. I waited to check out until about an hour before our shuttle was due to arrive, but I had time to spare and to relax.

We ended our time on the island with some shopping. One of the team members wanted some souvenirs and small gifts, and I tagged along to see what I might purchase as well. Our first stop was at a handicrafts place just a few blocks from the hotel (well, if there were such a thing as blocks here). I picked up a bunch of turtles and manta rays made from woven straw (just two dollars each) and a carved wooden shark (but not one with alleged real shark teeth embedded in its mouth). Then we had a return visit to the Palm Terrace, where I picked up another t-shirt, this one just for myself.

The next stop was referred to as the “banana store,” so dubbed because of the large number of bananas visible from the road. However, that was only about one-third of the store. Another section was devoted to freshly caught fish, perhaps the reason that the store was very crowded as everyone seemed to be interested in purchasing fish rather than anything else. There were lots of colorful fish, including some blue ones that we were told were parrot fish. In the back of the store were more handicrafts and carvings. I didn’t see much new here except for some lovely baskets. I coveted a couple of them, but I didn’t know how I would be able to get them back to Los Angeles, given how overstuffed my suitcases already were.

Our final stop was the A-One store, an upstairs spot next to a travel agency (which was not getting much traffic, honestly). We had tried the store earlier in the week, but it had been closed. I found a couple of additional straw items to purchase here: a larger turtle connected to a smaller one and a string of fish that I intend to put in my office at work. This place had some great wooden carvings, but again, I couldn’t figure out how to get them back to the mainland.

We got to the airport in Pohnpei and checked our bags—twelve people with lots of stuff to take home. No one in Micronesia asked about how much my suitcases weighed, which was good for me. I got a second stamp on my passport, and then we had a couple of hours to wait before we were allowed to get into the waiting room. The Stingrays Café next door offered air conditioning and ice cream, both necessary preparation for a plane ride that would last almost ten hours.

Our first stop on the way back to Hawaii was Kosrae, another of the islands in the Federated States of Micronesia. This time, we were allowed go get off the plane and hang out in the waiting area. I have to say that this small airport was depressingly bare, only a tiny snack bar window and a woman at a folding table selling more handicrafts and Ziploc bags full of banana chips. However, what we were able to see of the island itself was beautiful, perhaps even more rural than Pohnpei and somewhat more mountainous.

Kwajalein Atoll was up next. Again, given that this is a military base, we were not allowed to leave the plane. Only people who had tickets to Kwajalein disembarked while the rest of us waited for some new people to get on board. You’re not allowed to take pictures from the plane given that the atoll has ongoing and apparently vital military activity—which is strange given how many pictures of the base itself are accessible online with a simple Google search—but the other person in my row took pictures even though we were warned not to do so. He was not a native speaker of English, so he might not have understood the announcement, but I doubt that would keep him out of trouble if he had been caught.

The last stop before Hawaii was Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands. This was the only one of the islands I had “visited” on the way to Pohnpei, but I got out anyway so that I could take a few pictures. United Airlines gives you very little leg room—unless you pay extra for it—so there’s no way to feel truly comfortable. You get up whenever they tell you that you can stretch your legs for a while. Inside the waiting area, the woman selling crafts at a table was there again, and the small snack bar supplied cold beer to the military members and military contractors. I didn’t think drinking a lot of beer before sitting down for a six-hour journey on a plane was a particularly good idea, but if they wanted to run to the bathroom several times during the flight, I figured that was their issue.

You have to hope for quiet neighbors when you travel. Stephanie Miller jokes that she’s always booked on Screaming Baby Airlines, and I can certainly empathize. A lot of children got on board at Majuro, so I had to watch movies just to drown out the sound. I saw Our Brand Is Crisis for the first time (okay, but hardly revelatory) and three short films from the Tribeca Film Festival: Speed Dating, Ellis, and Warning Labels (the last one the best of the three, in my opinion). I also watched bits and pieces of two movies I’d already seen, The Great Gatsby (meh) and The Blind Side (only Sandra Bullock’s performance is worthy of attention here). I nodded off a couple of times and slept for a few minutes, but I didn’t get much rest. The woman who sat next to me was apparently into manspreading, so she kept bumping my leg and waking me. She also took over the arm rest from time to time, including one period where she rubbed my arm for a few minutes. She was asleep for almost all of the trip, by the way, as was her son, so at least I had to be thankful for that. However, if she’s capable of manspreading and elbow-rubbing in her sleep, I shudder to think what she would be like when awake.

We landed in Honolulu Airport early in the morning but later than originally anticipated. The airport was deserted, so we made it through the TSA/Homeland Security checkpoint quickly. I also got through customs and the agricultural inspection rapidly as well. Apparently, they’re only worried that you don’t bring food into the country, and since I didn’t bring any, not even snack bars this time, I was safe.

The shuttle got the four of us who were not going immediately back to the mainland pulled up to the Ala Moana Hotel Condominiums (how did I miss the part about condominiums the first time?) at about 4:30 a.m. I feel asleep almost as soon as I finished brushing my teeth.