An Imperfect Paradise

Readers of this blog have asked “Kosrae sounds idyllic, but is it really a perfect paradise?”  Well … no.  Although I’m generally positive about all my adventures, I admit that there are some downsides to living in Kosrae.  Today’s report isn’t meant as a criticism of Kosrae, just the facts about a place I love. Here’s my list of Kosrae’s faults:

(1) Getting to Kosrae is difficult and expensive.

The only commercial air service to Kosrae is United’s “Island Hopper” which lands at Kosrae four times a week – westbound on Tuesdays and Fridays, eastbound on Mondays and Thursdays. The flight from Honolulu to Kosrae takes 9 hours. It’s often delayed by weather and sometimes cancelled due to mechanical problems.

With its monopoly on air service and because there are sometimes as few as five people deplaning here, United charges a minimum of $1060 for a one-way, basic economy flight from Hawaii. To get this price, purchase your ticket at least a month in advance.

(2) Kosrae’s phone service is antiquated.  Land lines don’t always have dial tones.  The 3G mobile service is slow and only works in a few places on the island.  Although ADSL internet is available, it’s not cheap.  In 2020-21, I paid $206 per month for a land line with 500 Kbps ADSL.  It worked about half the time.  Oy!

Fortunately, Starlink is now available in Kosrae. We have a Starlink receiver which cost $400 for the basic kit and then $50 per month for unlimited service.

(3) Electric and water service is intermittent. In January, the whole island experienced rolling blackouts for a couple of weeks. Generators are essential for the hospital and some offices. At home, we sometimes turn on the tap and get nothing but air. Other times, we get muddy water. At least the garbage gets collected every Wednesday, rain or shine.

(4) Gasoline costs $5.50 per gallon, and is served in one gallon plastic milk bottles. The good news is that Kosrae has only 25 miles of paved roads, so we don’t use much gas to go wherever we need to go.

(5) Kosrae’s roads are full of potholes. You can’t drive faster than 25 mph because you’re constantly swerving and braking to avoid holes in the pavement. There’s a joke about Kosrae’s potholes: If the car in front of you is driving in a straight line at a constant speed, the driver is probably drunk.

(6) Because of bad roads and limited auto parts, many cars break down and are never repaired. The unrepairable cars end up as rusting derelicts or in pick-and-pull lots in people’s front yards.

For an island as beautiful as Kosrae, it’s sad to see so many abandoned vehicles rusting away.

Kosrae’s other eyesore is its garbage dump. It’s full of recyclable plastic, burnable paper and compostable organic waste. I drive past this dump every morning to go to work. On an island as small as Kosrae, it’s hard to throw anything far away.

(7) It rains a lot in Kosrae. In a La Niña year, we might get 25 feet (!) of rain, with rain almost every day. The good news is that with so much rain, warm weather, and rich volcanic soil, Stella has a wonderful vegetable garden. Of course, humidity is high. I made the mistake of hanging my sports jacket in a closed closet. I don’t think I’ll ever get the mildew out.

Kosrae is never cooler than 80°F or warmer than 84°F. Trade winds blow thru our apartment day and night. Not everyone loves tropical weather — but I do. At this temperature, A/C isn’t necessary and neither are clothes!

(8) Kosrae runs on “island time”. A meeting scheduled for 10am on Monday might not happen until after lunch on Tuesday. Only about a quarter of my students are present when class starts. Another half trickle in during the next hour. The only thing that starts on time is church.

(9) Kosrae has few jobs that require higher education. With little need or motivation to earn a college degree, enrollments at the College of Micronesia (COM) are low. We had only 121 students enrolled this term. The college will award two Associates degrees and a few certifications at graduation next month.

Many of Kosrae’s students qualify for Pell Grants from the US Department of Education. Pell Grant checks are mailed to the students after mid-term exams. When they get their checks, the less motivated students stop attending class. I can’t blame them for preferring fishing on the reef to sitting in a classroom.

(10) Shopping in Kosrae is limited. Although each village has a grocery store and Lelu town has Ace Hardware and NAPA auto parts, essential items sometimes sell out. Vegetables from the mainland, like potatoes, onions and celery, are often spoiled by the time they get to the shelves. Although we never have a shortage of Spam, Kosrae hasn’t had any eggs since March.

(11) Kosrae has a US post office. Our zip code is 96944. Postage from here to the US is charged at domestic rates which is great. Unfortunately, snail mail takes 2-3 weeks to get here. Thank goodness for email and amazon prime.

(12) Although coconuts, bananas and tuna are almost free, imported foods like cheese, beef, chocolate or alcohol are expensive. Alcohol cannot be sold or consumed (in public) on Sundays. To purchase alcohol at the liquor store, you must present a Drinking Permit, which costs $20/year at the police station and requires a background check to verify that you’ve had no domestic violence incidents or DUI’s.

I think Kosrae’s Drinking Permit is a brilliant idea. After all, if someone is caught drunk driving, why take away their driver’s license? It makes more sense to prevent them from buying alcohol.

(13) Although Kosrae has no newspaper, we have an AM radio station. The Voice of Kosrae (V6AJ) broadcasts at 1503 khz daily from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. Unfortunately, the broadcast range is only about 5 km.

There’s not much reason to listen to the radio anyway because most folks get their news via gossip. See #14.

(14) There’s little privacy on Kosrae – especially for foreigners. Visitors are a source of entertainment and amusement on Kosrae. If tourists go to the grocery store, half the people in town will know by the next day what they bought. If there’s an incident like a public dispute (which is rare), everyone will know about it within hours. In my first year here, I had lunch with a woman twice. After our first lunch, everyone knew that we’d had wine with our meal. After our second lunch, people asked where we were going to live together.

(15) Kosrae has a dog problem. Many households maintain a pack of dogs which behave like feral dogs. They live outdoors and roam the neighborhoods. Without a veterinarian on the island, the dogs breed plentifully. Although some dogs are nice enough to be invited to church, you’d better carry a stick when you walk through my neighborhood.

I’ve been bitten by dogs three times in five years. I’m told that, if a dog bites me, I should photograph the dog and report it to the police. They’ll go find the dog and maybe kill it. The victim (me) gets to have the dead dog if I want it. If I don’t want it, the police will barbecue it for the inmates in the jail.

(16) If you need assistance from the nearest US embassy, you’ll pay $500 for a round trip to Pohnpei and another $500 to stay in a hotel for a few days until the next flight back to Kosrae.

(17) There are five restaurants on the island. Although their sashimi is always fresh and they’re good places to meet friends, none will be found in a Michelin guide to fine dining.

It’s hard to find fault with a place that’s as scenic, peaceful and friendly as Kosrae. None of Kosrae’s problems are serious — especially when compared to the problems in the rest of the world, so I’m not complaining.

Stella and I are happy to stay here in Kosrae for a while. The college asked me to teach next year, and I said yes! After I spend the summer in the USA, I’ll return to Kosrae in August to teach for the fall semester.

See y’all soon!