My Yap Year

Some of you have asked for a description of where I am living. I offer the following posting in response and will add more soon...

Getting Here

I arrived in Yap late at night on Saturday, August 13 after spending 11 days in Pohnpei, the main island in the four island states of the Federated States of Micronesia, for orientation with 13 other Peace Corps Response Volunteers. They had left Pohnpei two days prior for their assignments in Chuuk, also one of the four island states, and Palau, a separate island country that is within the larger Micronesian region.

There are only two flights a week between Yap and Guam, one of which goes on to Palau and returns to Yap on the way back to Guam. But I will not count that one. Few do. It’s more of a turn-around puddle jump. Departures and arrivals in Yap center on the Tuesday and Saturday arrivals at 10:30pm and the Wednesday and Sunday morning departures at 1:45am and 3:35am respectively. People head to the airport even if they do not have friends or family members arriving or departing. It’s an Event with a capital E on a remote island.  Recently, I woke up at 3:30 on a Sunday morning and heard the engines overhead as the United Airlines plane climbed into the night sky and headed back to Guam from the airport on the south end of the island. A few weeks ago, I watched the arrival of a Tuesday night flight as it banked overhead toward the runway. Yesterday I heard a skyward engine as I left for work in the morning. It was a small, single engine Pacific Mission Airways (PMA) plane headed to or from one of the outer islands. More about that in a few minutes.

According to Wikipedia...

"The Yap Main Islands are made up of four separate islands: Yap Island proper (Marbaq), Gagil-Tamil, Maap, and Rumung. The four are contiguous, though separated by water and are surrounded by a common coral reef. Formed from an uplift of the Philippine Sea Plate, they are referred to as "high" islands as opposed to atolls. The land is mostly rolling, densely vegetated hills. Mangrove swamps line much of the shore, although there are beaches on the northern sides of the islands. Yap's indigenous cultures and traditions are strong compared to other states in Micronesia.

"Colonia is the capital of the State of Yap which includes the Yap Main Islands and the Yap Neighboring Islands—the outer islands (mostly atolls) reaching to the east and south from the Yap Main Islands for some 500 miles, namely the atolls of Eauripik, Elato, Faraulep, Gaferut, Ifalik, Lamotrek, Ngulu, Olimarao, Piagailoe (West Fayu), Pikelot, Sorol, Ulithi, and Woleai, as well as the islands of Fais and Satawal. Historically, a tributary system existed between the Neighboring Islands and the Yap Main Islands. This probably related to the need for goods from the high islands, including food, as well as wood for construction of seagoing vessels."

To get to the Outer Islands, PMA runs flights twice a week on Mondays and Fridays, but it’s best to call before heading to the airport to make sure the flight hasn’t been cancelled. According to the website: “The primary goal of Pacific Mission Aviation is to glorify God, and make our Lord Jesus Christ known to the peoples of Micronesia and the Philippines. Aircraft and boats are utilized to bring the gospel to remote island peoples who might otherwise remain unreached. God's Love is made tangible to those we serve as we meet the needs of the total person - body, soul and spirit. Born out of love and compassion for the people of the islands and a desire to be obedient to the Lord's command, PMA provides free medical care, sea searches, rescue and disaster relief, transports medical and food supplies, and provides logistical help to the islands. We plant churches, support existing island churches, operate an orphanage, youth dormitories and learning centers, media ministries and provide other services as indicated by the needs of the people we serve.”

I can’t guarantee you won’t be given a bible and a sermon rather than peanuts and a can of soda when you board the cramped aircraft, but it’s the only option to get from here to there. Travel insurance and reservations six months in advance are recommended.

Alternatively, if you have all the time in the world and don’t mind roughing it, the Yap State Government Sea Transportation Office operates a passenger and cargo ship to Yap's outer islands that runs on a monthly basis. There are a few cabins but most passengers sleep on the deck. Bring your own food, sleeping bag and toothbrush. Amenities not included.

In the pink

I live in a group of five pink cement block, wood-trimmed, two-unit, single floor apartment buildings on the side of a hill overlooking the lagoon. The Bank of Guam is at the bottom of the hill on the main road that loops around the lagoon. Each apartment is the same: enter from a front porch that is level with the ground into the first of two rooms – a living room with a small, open kitchen and a spacious bedroom beyond with a wall-to-wall closet and a balcony with sliding doors overlooking the lagoon and the unit on the hill below. The bath is also compact and tiled in dark green and turquoise, but the shower is forceful and the hot water immediate.

Home sweet pink home

Air conditioning is mandatory. I have one in each room. Some of my friends have acclimated to the heat and seldom turn theirs on. I have not and still do.

The tenants share a washer dryer that is between my unit and the empty apartment next door. The washing machine works; the dryer does not. It’s said that a part is needed to fix the dryer. But it’s been months, perhaps years, since the part wore out. Everyone strings a clothesline across the balcony off the bedroom to hang the wash. I miss my dryer.

There are no vacuum cleaners to be had but the floors are linoleum tile which makes broom sweeping easier. I bought a Swiffer with both wet and dry cloths when I was in Bangkok. Dust is a never ending battle. I miss my vacuum.

The hill leading down to the road is steep. When the rains come…and they come several times a week, often at night, mud and gravel combine to make walking down the hill treacherous. I’ve skidded and fallen a couple of times. No broken bones but some scrapes and muscle twists. I miss paved driveways.

Woof woof woof

Feral dogs wander the island in search of food. A few of the lucky ones have been adopted by locals and clearly eat much better than those that have not been able to attach their scrawny frames to a human. A veterinarian came to the island a few months ago as a volunteer. In two weeks he spayed or neutered 125 of the dogs. Many evaded capture by the dedicated residents who brought them to the makeshift clinic for a bath, a de-ticking and a snip. The ones who escaped the indignity of capture before the vet left continue to populate the island with their litters.

The good thing is, there is no rabies on the island so the dogs are more of a nuisance when they get into the open, metal garbage drums and drag out the contents. Rusted at the bottom from the heat, humidity and rain puddles, I’ve asked the apartment manager to replace the metal barrels that serve as garbage receptacles for my apartment complex. She assured me it was on her list of things to do when more arrive on a container ship. The arrival of said ship and barrels is anyone’s guess.

When I moved into my apartment, three dogs hung out in the yard, arriving in late afternoon from their wanderings in search of a handout. The prior tenant had fed them regularly. They moved on a few weeks after my arrival since I did not continue strewing dry food in the grass. Not only does it attract the dogs, it also attracts rats and mice. There were two dead rats in the yard a few weeks ago. I was glad they were dead but not glad to have their carcasses within sight. There are no exterminators on the island. When termites, roaches the size of Detroit and other vermin move in, a trip to the sole hardware store or the Yap Co-op Association market results in an armload of repellents, traps and other assorted products. The pots and pans and dishes live atop the refrigerator while the cupboards remain bare save for rat and mice and roach baits and ant traps placed on the floor along the wall.

Water water everywhere…

Tap water is non-potable.  Tooth brushing is ok but drinking it is verboten. So we buy our water from one of two local water suppliers. I bought two 10-gallon heavy plastic containers for $13.00 each. I stop by the store to drop off one of the containers when it’s empty and the woman behind the counter delivers it filled when she’s driving home later that day. The cost is $1.95 for the water and $2.00 for delivery.  I use the water for cooking, making iced tea, and other ingestible requirements. The containers sit on the small, square table in front of the fridge along with a small toaster oven.

Cleanliness is next to…

The island is clean. Residents are incented not so much by tidiness as by what others will think of them if they allow trash to accumulate on their property, or if visitors are confronted with garbage along the roads and shoreline, in the lagoon and amid the island’s tourist sights.  The pressure of community opinion is central to keeping things aligned in a small, inter-related society like this.

When I walk along the lagoon to and from work, I still see bits of trash here and there but no more than any other neighborhood back home, and certainly less than in New York City’s subways.  There’s a recycling program for plastic bottles and aluminum; plastic shopping bags were outlawed a few years ago. If you don’t bring your own tote bag when you go to the market, you end up carrying armloads of items home. You might also be offered a box for your purchases. My tote bags hang on the back of the front door to insure that I remember to take one every time I go shopping.

Getting around

Peace Corps Volunteers are not allowed to drive cars or ride on motorcycles so I have not been able to explore the island. (Yes, I know…we are all on the same page with the driving issue. But them’s the rules even for us older Response Volunteers. No amount of any volunteer’s whining has changed that rule yet and mine isn’t likely to change it either. Anyway…) There’s one road that loops around the island. 

One Saturday soon I’m going to rent a car with my Australian friend who is allowed to drive by her sponsoring organization. A car rental is around $27 a day. Time to drive the loop is probably an hour at the 25mph speed limit. We’ll stop along the way, take a picnic, hike on the ancient stone paths, and free ourselves from the confines of Colonia for awhile. I’m beginning to understand what some of the ex-pats say about needing to escape the island around the three-month mark. I’ve been here a little more than one month and am already feeling confined. Hopefully a mini road trip will help. 

(Culture alert: Be sure to break a leafy branch off a bush and carry it with you when you’re out walking to show everyone you have only the best of intentions.)

Taxis arrive quickly when called. $1.00 flat fare in town no matter how many people pile in. No tipping required. But Colonia is so small…a crossroads…that I walk most of the time, only calling a taxi if it’s raining hard or  late at night and I’m alone or I have something heavy to carry.

Footwear and what to cover...or not

It’s hot. It’s the tropics. It rains. There are no sidewalks, just the dirt and gravel running along the side of the two-lane asphalt road. And when you go inside, you take your shoes off. Even at work. Flipflops prevail as is evidenced by the pile at the door of most office and government buildings.  I, however, do not like dirty feet so I wear Ked-like canvas shoes that can be washed off. I take them off when I get to work and walk around barefoot like my colleagues. That’s one concession to going native that I have adopted but I always go barefoot at home so it’s not a major adjustment.

Women’s thighs are sacred. Breasts not so much. Thighs must be modestly covered. Breasts not at all. Women from the outer islands wear hand-woven lava lavas, a brightly colored, striped loincloth. A t-shirt or a light top are the choice when in town. On the outer islands and among older women who live near or come into Colonia to shop, going topless is considered perfectly acceptable. The women who work in town at the government offices and shops might wear a lava lava with a shirt, but more often a knee length skirt or slacks and a shirt are preferred. Grass skirts made out of banana fiber and hibiscus bark that is manually hand-woven are worn during celebrations. Men wear loin-cloths, called "thu’u", that come in blue, white and red or a combination of the three. The color of the "thu’u" reflects the rank and age of the man in his village and family.

I wear Eileen Fisher. But you know that. Linen jersey tunic over wide-leg linen pants. Toss ‘em in the washer, hang ‘em up to dry. Maybe a light touch of the iron. Colors that can be mixed and matched. Fashion is not high on the list of importance. Comfort is.

So far I haven’t gone topless. Don’t hold your breath. If I won’t show my upper arms to the world, the chest-al region, as Woody Allen once called it, is going to remain hidden as well. Going native has its limits.

Stay tuned...more to come...