PATS' campus is quaintly nestled in boo-foo, down in the southeast part of Pohnpei.  It takes about 45 minutes to an hour (or, heaven forbid, even longer!) to get from campus into town depending on how many dogs, chicken, people, pigs, and slow cars get in the way.  Kolonia is only 20 some miles away. . . . and, at long last, the road from PATS to Kolonia is finally paved!!  A trip into town is a pretty big ordeal.  Requires a lot of forethought.  Gotta get permission to use the van.  Gotta get the key.  Gotta consult everybody and their mother to see if they want/need to go also.

     On Friday afternoons the big question on campus is, "You going down for weekend?"  I always ask the students why the refer to it as "going down" even though Kolonia is North of PATS.  There's really no good explanation for it.  Plus, you'll notice that it's actually a statement-question.  They just have an upwards inflection at the end, making any statement into a ready-made question. 

     Since we're so busy during the week, it's usually just on the weekend that we can make it into town.  Some volunteers go into Kolonia once or twice a month just to get away from campus or do some shopping.  I haven't been too often.  I usually go a solid month or more without leaving campus.  That can make me go a little stir crazy, though.  So I'll have to remember not to do that again this year. 

     And now.....I give you the sites of "town." (by the way, I now live in a situation in where I have to say, "I'm going into town."  I was always so humored by my friends that lived far-out enough that going "into town" was a big deal for them.  And now, I've joined the club.  I'm one of them.)

This is the Jesuit house in town.  The Jesuits graciously open their house to us whenever we are in town to just stop in for a bathroom break, a meal, an afternoon to watch TV, or a night's rest in one of their guest rooms.  It's a pretty groovy place and we're very fortunate to have a place to go to when we're in town.  I call it the Jesuits' Palatial Estate. 

Palm Terrace is pretty much the go-to store for shopping trips in Kolonia.  And, to prove their retail supremacy, allow me to mention that all their employees wear orange polo shirts!  Yes, as a matter of fact, I have thought about trying to get a job there just so I could get another orange shirt!

Ace Hardware.  It's one of those "find anything here" type of stores.  Well, most anything.  Well, okay, they've got machetes!!  And, when you're on Pohnpei, what more could you honestly need?

This is the "main drag" in Kolonia.  There's only a few streets.  Not too hard to get around here.

Wallace Theater.  The only movie theater on Pohnpei.  A pretty small affair, but it's enjoyable.  The movies are cheaper than in the states, so ya gotta love that!  But there's also a delay for movies to get here.  You take what you can get!

No Kenny or Cartman here.  But it's South Park, nonetheless!

Even the Post Office has taken a liking to the color orange!  :-)  See!  I really wasn't making up that "little orange island" thing!

Fill it up at the ole Mobil gas station, or stop in for some soft serve ice cream.

No, it's not quite the Dollar Tree that I worked at (for too long) during high school.  And here the prices can be more than $1.  But, all the same, maybe there could be a future for me at Dollar-Up if this teaching thing doesn't work out.