Downtown Truk Lagoon

The first thing I crave in Truk is fish. So we drive into town for supplies to stock up the fridge and pantry.

I noticed billboards everywhere, promoting anti-drug, good health, and eco-hygiene.
 This particular signage literally translates: [phrase in white letters] cherish, care for the cleanliness [of Chuuk]. [In red letters] Don't be a creature of littering.

And off to the side, piled about eight feet high is a mountain of trash. I think to myself *at least it isn't littered everywhere!*

That's Yaya and Papa B. 

The bucket is for this exactly:

Fish.

Fresh caught reef fish.

Caught mere hours ago.

Selling for up to $3.50 per pound, depending on the type of fish.

Across the street from the fish vendors is B's Store & Gas Station. There are more fuel containers filled than cars. Because...

Of these: outboard skiffs. Which is how the fish end up at the market.

While at B's Store, I visit a family friend, Amor.

Aside from fish, vendors sell pounded breadfruit or taro wrapped in bread fruit leaves. My favorite is apwet, breadfruit pounded, and buried in the ground for at least a year to ferment. Once exhumed, it is glazed with coconut milk for a scrumptious, finger-lickin' meal.

Speaking of coconut, fresh young coconut water is the perfect thirst quencher on a hot humid day.

For those with more sensitive tastes, there are string beans and delicate bananas.

For those who crave sour - yours truly is guilty - there is green mangoes. Once, when I was a kid I ate twenty too many mangoes, which sent my stomach in a sour frenzy. You'd think I'd learned to stay away from green mangoes. Nope. I crave it so much I salivate thinking about it.

Here is a mwaramwar weaver. Mwaramwars are very aromatic, mostly used to welcome or see off friends on travels. They're also laid on Catholic mass presiders (the priests, alter boys/girls, readers, acolites) at the offering presentation.

And for a taste of the outside world, there's the post office. This is where the hassles of modern living wake you from your island reverie. Cell phone bills. Cable bills. Credit card bills. Amazon.com deliveries. 

That's my cousin, MJ's, Kyle's, and Lana's Mom. She, like me, was born and grew up right here in Truk Lagoon.

More to come...