Travel – Page 6 – Where’s Fran?

A White Weekend

On each of the three weekends?I’ve?been here on Pohnpei,?I’ve?done three masses: the English mass on Saturday evening and two village masses in Pohnpeian on Sunday morning. This week the color of choice at all three masses was white, with the honored guests spanning the age spectrum.? On Saturday evening it was young kids (dressed in the traditional white garb) making their first communion, with singing in Chuukese, Pohnpeian and English. Read More

Oh Yeah! Now I Remember Why I Missed the Islands So Much!

Reflections of a recent returnee to Pohnpei:

Basketball games every afternoon, not just with guys my age but with speedy, sharp-shooting 20-somethings who won?t give away anything to a geezer.? If you are lucky enough to have one of them on your team, you might win a game or two.? But even without them, you?re playing with old friends.? Afterwards, the return home with shirt sweat-soaked and lips parched.? What a way to prepare for dinner!
Walking into a US Embassy reception at a local hotel and being able Read More

While I?ve Been Gone…

Next week I leave for Buffalo for a weekend with the family, centered around the wedding of a niece. After that, thankfully, it?s back to the islands to set up camp on Guam.? Just today I received an email confirming that I will be living at the cathedral rectory in downtown Hagatna (as it is now called).? I?ll be doing pastoral work on weekends, teaching a course at the seminary, and trying to take advantage of whatever opportunities come along to do useful things. A few projects have already been proposed by some?for instance, a short book to commemorate the Diocese of the Carolines.? I?m sure there will be others. The truth is that I haven?t found myself idling for too long at any stage of my life. Read More

Roaming in BC and DC

Fr. Bruce Roby, his niece Kina Rosario, Fr. Gus, and myself.

Ever since my return from Micronesia at the beginning of this month, I?ve continued roaming–but closer to home.? Just last week there were short trips to DC and BC.? The latter was a weekend visit to Boston College to work with new Jesuit volunteers destined to begin two years of service in Micronesia, Tanzania and Ecuador.? What do you tell young college graduates with stars in their eyes and a little apprehension in their hearts at what they will face?? Why not tell them what always served me well?? Hang on for a great ride, but Read More

My Hot Homecoming: Return to MIcronesia

It?s hard to explain to others how comforting it is to be uncomfortably hot.? Since I landed on Yap three days ago I?ve been sweating constantly.? What a relief!? It doesn?t hurt that I?ve had a 5 PM basketball game set up every afternoon, courtesy of Dickson Tiwelfil, the young man from Woleai who will entering the Jesuits later this summer.? I knew that I?ve been homesick, despite the wonderful people I?ve worked and recreated with in the US over the past two years, but I never reflected on how Read More

A Little Time in the Desert

Not in the spiritual desert, but in Nevada–the home of rattlesnakes, cactus juice and casinos aplenty.? In response to a request to look through the papers of Chuck Helstrom, a former TT police head who died a few months ago, I spent a few days in Las Vegas with friends.? Browsing through his files was a flip through 20 years of island history during the 1970s and 80s: heroin drug busts on Saipan, investigations into the practice of ?crazy eight? handcuffing in Chuuk, death threats against certain congressmen for voting the wrong way, intrigues among the HiCom staff, and so much more. I?d almost forgotten how thrilling those days were.? How many times since then have police been sent into a village at dawn and kicked down doors to get men wanted by the law? Read More

Francis X. Hezel, SJ, is a Jesuit priest who has lived and worked in Micronesia since 1963. At different times he has served as high school teacher, school administrator, pastor, and regional superior to the Jesuits of Micronesia. He spent thirty years directing the Micronesian Seminar, a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Pohnpei, Micronesia.

He has written and spoken widely about social change and its impact on island societies. He has also written several books on Micronesian history, including The First Taint of Civilization, Strangers in Their Own Land, and The New Shape of Old Island Cultures. His most recent book, Making Sense of Micronesia: The Logic of Pacific Island Culture, is available through University of Hawaii Press.