Beginning with my June 2008 post "It's Been Five Years," the following is the continuing story of my travels from the United States into Micronesia ~ Pohnpei, Guam and Saipan ~ and my life since June 2003.
Friday, July 25, 2003 ~ Pohnpei
Lynn wanted sashimi today, but the fish markets had no tuna. And she didn't want to go out to a restaurant. So we wound up going to a lot of little fish markets, which are really tiny little stores or stands with an ice cooler out front with the fish caught from the day from the reefs. The big stores only have frozen fish. And we bought four different fish. A blue one, a parrot fish I think, a red one, which I remember being tasty from my days in Kwaj, maybe called a squirrel fish? And a grey one, and a big one, which is in the freezer for tomorrow. Total cost was $4.38. It would probably costs $20 or more in the States, assuming you could even find fish like that.
Then we needed oil and rice and salt and pepper, and we went to three different stores because she insisted the price was too high at one for the oil. And the smallest size bag of rice we could buy was 20 pounds worth !!!!! For $6.50. So I now have a 20 lb. bag of rice in the house. Didn't buy any pepper. Lynn says it was too expensive.
She gutted the fish in the sink and wanted to throw the guts outside for the animals, but I didn't want to attract more than are already here. She's frying the fish now, after cutting off a slice to get sashimi from the blue one. I'm sure it'll be good. The care package I sent myself in advance of coming has come in handy, but I didn't have a good kitchen knife for her to use. I gave her my butterfly knife.
A little while later....
It was good. Eating "local" style: no silverware, which was appropriate. Tastes better that way. I'd been worried about my cholesterol problem getting worse here with all the starches, rice and potatoes, and few green leafy type vegetables except for stuff like cabbage and carrots. But I think with all the fish I am eating, it'll balance out.
Funny how you make do, and how Lynn has great substitutes. I made corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast for us. They eat a lot of corned beef here. It needed salt, but I didn't have any. So we used soy instead. Food here is actually pretty bland sometimes. Not a lot of variety in herbs and spices and such beyond salt and pepper. So I'm developing a taste for hot sauce from Louisiana as a condiment.
Gotta' go. Just wanted to share about the fish and the 20 lb. bag of rice.
P.S. The chickens seem smarter than the dogs here. The smarter dogs all limp, they've been hit by cars, and seem to have learned a lesson about getting out of the way, which the chickens seem to have sense enough to do. The stupider dogs haven't been hit yet. They just lie in the road. I see many females with swollen teets walking around. And some of the males are starting to look tasty....
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