The Call of Nature

I am lucky to be the only teacher at the College of Micronesia who has a private office. The other teachers share communal offices.

I am also one of the only teachers who has his own classroom. That is because I have a room with 19 electric pianos. What other teacher could use those?

My office and classroom are carved out of a corner of the Maintenance building, so the chair of my division refers to the building as the "Dan Meyer Center for the Performing Arts and Maintenance." It's got a ring to it.

Since the Maintenance building is across the street from the rest of the campus, it's quite a lengthy hike from the other classrooms. Students are constantly late because they walk so slow. And when it rains, forget it, I might as well cancel class.

The Maintenance building has no bathrooms, so whenever I have to go, I walk around to the back of the building where there is a cinderblock enclosure. It's pretty disgusting - the toilet seat is a teeter-totter, there's betel nut spit on everything and the light doesn't work, so no peeing at night.

But there is a hole where a window used to be right at eye level when I stand in front of the toilet. It has a breathtaking view of a large field and the mountains in the background. There's a grove of fruit trees off to the side. Often I can watch bright geckos and beautiful birds as I stand there. So when I get the call of nature, I really get to appreciate nature.