Last Firday(Feb 13th) night was certainly a memorable night for all of us here in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The memories, although simple, have left a great impression. We went out for dinner, and it was FUN, from the beginning to end, absolute fun. The Micronesians are incredible. The sense of humor these guys have and the way they treat you and look after you appears to be a unique gift born into every Micronesian. Even a child on the road says “hi” to you when you pass by. If I have one piece of advice, it would be to ask everyone to visit this paradise island just once, and enjoy what I have come to realize, which is unimaginable and absolutely delightful hospitality.
I have so much to write about what happened last night but I really don’t know where to start and I feel like writing pages upon pages about how truly great my new Micronesian friends are. (May be I should repeat that statement about a 100 times since I just feel like I have not said it enough). It didn’t feel like we were having dinner with the top management of FSM telecom, every body was cracking all kinds of jokes around the table.
Everyone was particularly concerned about Tamim not having a girlfriend and one of them was extremely upset when he explained that his Grand Mother had passed away and if not he could have hooked her up with Tamim.. Takuro has a great sense of humor, he kept everybody laughing. In the meantime there was a suggestion Tamim and I should get married here (not to each other!), but once again someone in the group felt his marital advice had to be provided and recommended that I get married to his aunty who is still very much available, and would be a good match, except for the small glitch that she was 75 years old.
Ferny and Maxy are great guys too, and looked after us very well. Ferny and Takuro are great singers and kept us entertained throughout the night with their Karaoke. An Indian guy who is working here on the Mobile Telephone network once had mentioned that the pubs in Micronesia are full of women and in India you couldn’t find a single woman in a pub. This posed a perplexing puzzle to some people, as they tried to figure out “how the hell then do these Indians reproduce so much”.
How can I forget Bernad Mendis (yes he is a Sri Lankan). Bernard got us all shots of Tequila Rose, and Maxy and Ferny assured me that a single shot of Rose was not going to take me down, and it wouldn’t even taste like alcohol, so I had a shot and it really was not that bad. Keep in mind, this is my very first shot of any serious alcoholic beverage.
When I reiterated this milestone event to my friend over MSN, his first response was denial, and then he asked me the question I was asking myself last night, “What possessed me to take that shot, the shot I had never taken in my life before?” My friends back home have known me for the past 7 years and they are my very best friends, and they know that over these 7 years, so many different people have tried different tactics to make me try at least a shot and so far every one has failed. So what possessed me this time? Only thing I can say to justify my actions is that these guys were so nice, and I felt that I could not refuse. These guys are like your brothers - they take good care of you, they keep you company. I maybe just blabbering here, and that’s because I am starting to realize that I just can’t put down in words how nice these people are and yet I want to make sure I do my best to put down in words how great these guys really are, so that the rest of the world can understand, how nice it is to be around such special people. However, I think the best way anyone can understand Micronesian culture and hospitality is by visiting this place.
Ferny, Maxy and Bernard took us to a pub after dinner. After a lot of starters, drinks, singing and laughing we didn’t have much energy left for a main course so we packed it up and took it with us, before going to the pub. Some of the guys danced because Ferny was nice enough to find partners for them. I of course am ‘allergic’ to a dance floor so I stood back and enjoyed.
I don’t think I have said all what I want to say about last night in this blog. I want to write more about Bernard and his ‘genius-ness’ and the respect the locals have for Sri Lankans mostly because of him. Tamim too has earned much respect and has blended very well with the local people - he is one of them now. Another great guy, John Sohl, made sure everyone was comfortable and made a point to talk to everyone and made everyone feel right home. If I continued writing about all this, my blog will turn into a book or maybe a novel. Just one night and yet I have so much I can write about.
All in all, I just want to say that I had an absolutely superb time last night. Thanks a load.
You guys totally rock! You guys are the best! :-)
posted by 88Pro / Thursday, February 19, 2004
