The Lawyer in Paradise

It has been a long time since I last posted; I have been in a foreign nation for exactly one year today, and I had to refrain from posting my impressions before I really adjusted to my surroundings.
I now live in Chuuk, one of the states in the Federated States of Micronesia, which is located in the western Pacific Ocean, about 7.5 degrees North latitude and on the west side of the International Date Line.  I am the Legal Counsel for the Chuuk State Legislature, still working in the law.
I thought about renaming the blog "Lawyer in Paradise", a tongue-in-cheek title that might bring in the many expatriate attorneys working in remote locations.  Photos of Chuuk might cause one to believe that this is indeed paradise, but photos do not show the level of poverty and suffering endured by the people here.  For Americans who choose to work here, things are not as they should be.  For example, our house has indoor plumbing, but no hot water.  Showers are cold, and when it is raining, the water in the catchment tank gets very cold.  It rains all the time.  In February, it rained every day, usually more than an inch of rain.
Our main road (there are only a few side roads, so all traffic has to use the ROAD to get anywhere) is under construction.  The U.S. government, under the Compact of Free Association, has promised economic aid to help Chuuk develop from a subsistence living to a monetary economy.  The road project began in 2008, and it is not completed yet.  The whole project covered less than ten miles of road, and what remains to be paved runs through the heart of Weno, the largest town in the state.  It is a typical project by a government, where officials from many government offices have special relationships with participants, lending itself to corruption and delays and cost overruns.
Now that I have corrected all my pre-conceptions about Chuuk and its culture, I want to write my observations in this blog.  Time spent in a foreign culture can be very enlightening; it can also be difficult and disheartening.  There was one recent law school graduate who had entered into a contract with the state Attorney General to work in that office; she lasted four days before flying back to the U.S. (and two of those days were a weekend).  This type of work is not for everyone.  I will try to provide enough information to allow those who have an interest in working in idyllic Pacific islands to process all the pros and cons.
Thank you for your patience - the Outlawyer, Brian Dickson