Does Halloween Candy Make Ringworms Go Away?

Yapese is Fun...showing off some tenses

Ahh, another week on the island, another week of training complete, and guess what? It’s Halloween! Now, had I not looked at the date on my watch I would have in no way known it was Halloween. It’s HOT! The stores are not decorated with pumpkins and witches and ghosts, there are no costume shops, and no bags of black and orange treats for sale, no plastic pumpkins, or glow in the dark skeletons to hang from the ceiling. No… Halloween here in Yap consists of me opening the card I got from my cousin Sabina that said “Do not open until October 31st” and spending another day of training trying to learn how to say “Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat” in Yapese. I wonder what they would think of me then if I actually said such a thing on the bus to someone. I might get kicked out of the village for that one.

I’m sure you’re all wondering what in the world the title of this blog entry meant, so I’ll share… I’ve got ringworms. Well… at least that’s what everyone thinks who has seen the lovely quarter sized circular red mark that has been on my stomach for the past three weeks. So, I looked up in my handy dandy medical handbook what to do when one has ringworms, and it looks as if I’ll be using “Anti fungal cream” for the next 3 or 4 weeks, luckily for me the Peace Corps medical officers knew that such a thing may happen so I had just the thing I needed to treat it in my massive black medical kit that I was given in Pohnpei to help me take care of myself while I’m out here on my little island. I know you’re all so excited to hear about fungus… but at least ringworms are actually fungus, not really a weird worm crawling around in me. Gotta look on the bright side of things! And I can’t really expect to move to a tropical island in a developing nation and not contract at least one interesting illness while I’m here. I think it comes with the package. They say you can get ringworms from water, dampness, and cats… all of which I couldn’t avoid if I tried… So maybe it was my mudbath falls or maybe the cute kitty in the pictures or all the puddles I walk through on a daily basis, but whatever it was… I just hope it goes away before my fantastic Swear-In ceremony dance, because there won’t be anything to hide behind while wearing only my local hibiscus skirt and nunus (flower leis).

LOOK....ringworms...you cant really see so well with the picture

Speaking of skirts, I’ve spent my evenings this week preparing my practice grass skirt. Lots of fun. First I used a knife tied to a long bamboo pole to cut down banana leaves, then I sat and patiently tried to shred about 35 of them, one at a time without breaking the leaves. It’s a lot harder than it sounds, and I’m not nearly as fast as the local women, so it took me forever, but they’ve been shredded and soon my family will tie them together for my skirt. Grass skirts here are really thick and heavy, so you need to wear them when you practice dancing to get used to the feeling, so the one I’m working on is strictly for dance practice. Besides the bamboo dance that I’ll be performing for my swearing in ceremony in three weeks, I’m also joining the Women’s Sitting Dance at my church. The dance was made by my host grandmother or great-grandmother, and it’s very important for me as a family member to dance and represent the family. I’m both honored and excited to be given the chance to join these women in a traditional dance, so soon after moving here to Gagil.

Working on my grass skirt, whew this is tough

See...this is how it's done

Pictures from another weekend on the Island

One of our Papaya trees at dusk

A really awesome mural on our church of Jesus in a Thus (traditional men's clothes of Yap)

Me drooling on myself, showing off a mouth full of Betel Nut

My Niece and I after Church

My sweet Kitty and Me
My nieces and I being silly

Relaxing in the kitchen house with my basket for cleaning and carrying food like Taro

Grating Copra... "Kerker e marow" ..this is where we hang out all the time, never inside

The Little Things That Matter

In training and staging we talk a lot about “coping mechanisms.” Just how are you going to deal with things when everything isn’t going your way? I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, and I think the best thing to do is notice the little things that go right. They aren’t going to be huge WOW moments the majority of the time, but little things, that maybe you might even ignore under normal circumstances, but here thousands of miles from friends, family, and home, it is these little things that make all the difference. Now, I also think that it’s important to be able to laugh about the little things that go wrong as well, so those things don’t start to add up to something greater and harder to handle.

Little things that made me smile this week:

• Three days ago someone said hello to me on the bus, two days ago someone said good morning and another person had a conversation with me, yesterday about three people said hello or smiled, and today people said hello, some smiled, others even said goodbye…. I’m starting to be stared at less on the bus and talked to more like I’m a regular human being…not just a strange “mrikan”.


• The other day while walking to the beach two dogs started to follow me. I turned around and said “Churay” (which means go away in Yapese) and flicked my wrist and they both instantly listened.


• I got my first phone call from home.. Yay!


• I told my nina (mom here), “Ngu gu wan ko maluk” (I’m going to take a shower in Yapese) this afternoon… and then I did just that… and I can count in Yapese too!


• For my first visit to my school I’ll be teaching at, my soon to be students brought me Nunu’s (leis) that they made, a woven fan, a woven ball, and a bag of fresh oranges (marmar), bananas (P’ow), passion fruit (tomatis), and coconut (u’chub).


• I have not yet hit anyone or been hit by a bamboo stick during dance practice… dance warrior Verina is kickin butt : )
  
  Little things I have to laugh at this week:


• My purse is somehow starting to grow mold…. It was hanging on my door and today I looked at it and said, “hmm, that looks a funny color” Upon further examination I realized that is because it’s covered in fuzzy white mold… yum


• I’ve got this strange reddish mark on my stomach.. which I thought was a bug bite, but it’s been there for almost three weeks now and when showing a friend she said… well maybe it’s ringworms… but it’s probably just fungus…. “just fungus?”…Lovely


• The puppies have conspired against me. This afternoon I stepped inside for a few minutes and left my flip flops on the steps. When I came back out they were gone. So, I took down my other pair of flip flops so that I could go look for the first pair, but I needed something inside, so I went inside for about 40 seconds. When I came back out, one of the new flip flops was missing. So, with one flipflop on, one off, I hobbled through the mud to another part of the yard where I found the puppies had started creating a neat pile of “Verina’ flip flops.” Smart little things they are!


• It’s been raining like crazy typhoon crazy rain storm all week. If this were in the U.S. there would surely be a weatherman out in the rain gripping a microphone, holding onto a coconut tree, with the camera man focusing on the bending palm branches and the slanting rain, but here… no one seems worried.
  
  So, that’s the story morning glory. I’m noticing the little things, and trying to smile as often as possible. And in order to make everyone else smile.. I’ll share with you all:
  Verina’s Yapese Special Soup Surprise Recipe
  (that I made tonight for dinner with guidance from my Nina)
  2 packets of ramen with seasoning
  ½ an onion
  2 carrots sliced
  3 sliced hot dogs
  1 can beef stew
  1 handful of greens from the garden
  some creole seasoning
  hot pepper from the garden
  water
  
  Mix together… cook… serve with boiled unripe bananas… and don’t forget to laugh.. dang this soup is great! (compared to leftover turkey tail.. it’s the best thing ever!) YUM!

mmmm... turkey booty

Here on the islands of Yap, and all over Micronesia for that matter, there is a certain delicacy that I’m sure many of you have not been privileged to try in your lifetime. What is this delicacy? This Micronesian dining treasure…. Is it fish?... Is it some sort of fruit?... Is it the milk from the juiciest of coconuts?... No my friends… not even close… this delicacy is in fact Turkey Tail.

What is turkey tail some of you might ask? Well… to put it nicely… it is the rear end of a turkey… the turkey’s behind…. The turkey booty… yes, turkey tail is what’s for dinner here in Yap. I’m pretty sure in most places it’s sold as dog food. To describe it.. turkey tail is mostly fat, tendon-like stuff, and bone, with a tiny sliver of meat here and there. I can understand why they eat it… it’s super cheap, it’s protein and fat, and it’s available.. I guess for an isolated developing country such as this that is good enough reason.

Now those who know me, know that I’m definitely not a picky eater. I’ll try and enjoy just about everything, but turkey tail is one thing that I just can’t seem accept. Maybe this will change after year one, but for now… I dread turkey tail. I’ve tried it grilled, fried, barbequed, and made in a stirfry.. but nothing seems to work. I’ve only been fed it 3 times in the past 2 ½ weeks , but each time involves me coming up with smooth tactics where I try to pick off the little pieces of meat that are there, then somehow slyly figure a way to feed the rest, little by little to the dogs. I’ve even buried some in the sand as a tactic after being offered and accepting a large piece at a beach barbeque. It’s not too bad though.. definitely nothing to whine about.. I just had to share this with all of you, because it really made me laugh tonight as I was sneaking piece by piece of my entire plate to the puppies. So… if anyone has any great turkey tail recipes please let me know. I’m willing to try anything to make this better :)

On an awesome note… today I received FOUR letters. Thank you Dad, Steve, Sabina, and Mindy!!! I’m going to read them over and over and over, and each time it will make me smile.

Betel Nut, Betel Nut, Betel Nut

My niece.. with some of the stone money in the village

The birthday boy in his thus.. with his head freshly shaved and covered with tumeric
The Centipede that tried to make friends with me in my room

Ahh... so another week of training is complete. Only four more weeks left to finish. The language is inching along at the rate of a snails pace, but I am learning more and more each day. The week ended, and once again I had another weekend in the village. I really do love this village, but it is also hard. Sometimes it just reminds me how much of an outsider I am here, but sometimes I get excited because this is my new home for the next two years. Slowly I'm getting to know more people and family, but I wouldnt yet say that I actually have friends here.

Saturday was a first birthday party. It was a really big deal because they cut the babies hair for the first time. It's a symbol of cutting the hair that you had in the womb off, so you are your own person now. They shaved the boys head, then rubbed his head with fish blood, cleaned it, then rubbed it with tumeric which is a very important thing here. So, I went to a nice party on the beach with a cute baby wearing a little red thus, a nunu crown, and a head covered in tumeric. There was more food than I know what to do with, and all very yummy. There were a ton of people there, but I couldnt help feeling alone. Even as I sat with this group or that... I don't speak the language.. and it's difficult feeling like I really belong here yet. Not to say that the people here aren't welcoming, they definately are, but it's still not the easiest at some moment.

Sunday... today... I went to church... walked home... got a 50 cent ice cream (awesome!)... went swimming... snorkeling... then sat around on the beach chatting with this group and that and chewing... yes chewing. Chewing what you might ask? Chewing Betel Nut. Betel Nut is the seeds of a certail type of palm that grows here. Everyone in Yap chews alot, and you can tell by their mouths. Usually their teeth are black or orange from lifetimes of chewing. But, it's part of socialization here, so I feel I must join in at least on occasion.

To chew betel nut you crack the nut open with your teeth, then you put lime powder on the nut that they make from some type of coral, then you wrap the nut with lime with a leaf of a pepper plant or another plant. Place the whole thing in your mouth and chew. Instantly your mouth begins to salivate and fill with spit. No worries though, you are supposed to spit. The combination of betel nut, lime, and leaf turns dark red, so you are spitting dark red. It kind of relaxes you, kind of makes you dizzy, it's hard to describe, but saturdays and sundays I chew when I'm offered. Apparently I'm a novice when it comes to chewing, because sometimes they say... "V" your drunk from chew... I guess my face gets a little red when I chew... but oh well, at least I'm trying to enjoy part of this custom. Don't worry, I brush my teeth extra long after everytime, so my teeth don't turn orange.

So everyone be prepared... If you come to Yap.. You'll be asked to chew... it's your decision, but don't be surprised, because betel nut is king here on my small island in the Pacific... and it isn't that bad

MUD

I slipped and fell in the mudd... twice today while carrying a handful of letters to the post office. I was near the mud, because as I was walking to the Post Office to drop off my mail and check the box... there are no sidewalks so I was walking at the edge of the road... a car screamed past me nearly hitting me, so I jumped startled by this driver and walked to the road gutter a few steps where I slipped in the mud, and gracefully caught myself before I landed covered in mud. I stood up, wiped off my hand, took a deep breath relieved that I had caught myself... took two steps.. slipped once again, this time landing straight on my butt in the mud, my handful of letters going in the mud, and ending up covered. So, after two trips to the mud bath, with a handful of muddy letters that I could no longer mail.... I made it to the post office, where I had no mail, and small boys were laughing at this silly American covered in mud walking down the road.

This is life here... nothing goes as planned... nothing is predictable... nothing happens like you think it's going to happen.. and you better suck it up because some days, you're gonna be covered in mud.. whether you like it or not.

Wishin and Hopin and Dreamin and Wishin

Hey.... so just a thought for those of you who have asked about what type of things I need or want to have sent to me. Here are a few that I can think of

*Good mosquito spray (preferably that doesnt smell awful)
*Sunscreen, oil free
*Envelopes with the peel and stick closing.... the glue ones that you lick all stick together because of the humidity
*Snacks... healthier ones like granola bars, dried fruit, etc.
*Long loose shorts... athletic shorts or casual stuff works
*Art supplies... paints, paper, scissors, chalk, anything really
*Books
*DVD's or CDs... any kind... burned copies are just as good too
*Anything fun and happy
*good instant coffee... if there is such a thing..
*Creole seasoning
*Silica Gel packs from new products... you know the little things that say "Do Not Eat" in packaging..
*Just a note saying hi
*Trail Mix
*Books on grant writing, writing proposals, and ESL (Teaching English as a Second Language)... i need all the help I can get
*Flash Cards (any type of grammar, english, picture cards etc. to use as a teaching resource)
*Hemp and beads... possibly with a book or guide to tying hemp jewelery or knots
*Good Tupperware Containers... to keep the ants, spiders, and rats out of my goodies :)

Flat rate boxes are the best way to pack heavy stuff for pretty cheap... same as in the U.S.
Miss ya all... Much Love

Life on the Canoe Paddle

There is a myth about how Yap got it's name. The myth goes that when one of the first white men came to the islands they were greeted by the native who came to their ship in their canoes. When the white men pointed to the island to ask what this place was called, the natives thought they were actually pointing at the canoe paddle, so they said "Yap" which mean canoe paddle, and from that point on Wa'ab became Yap. This is just a myth I'm told, but a fun one. In all actuality though, where I'm living is called Wa'ab by the locals and Colonia is called Donguch.

So life here is pretty great. I train every day in Donguch with language, cultural, and technical training. The language is really difficult, but I'm slowly starting to figure it out. This weekend was great because I really got to experience my village. First, Saturday we had a cleaning at the church. Each village in Gagil takes turns cleaning the church grounds, and it was our village this week. I GOT MY FIRST BASKET.. Very big deal here. You must have a basket when you walk through the village, or something in your hands or else you are up to no good. So, they wove me a basket from coconut palms for me to carry food and work. So I raked and hauled leaves with my basket all day long and met many people from Gagil.

Here is where things got a bit tricky. See, there are many rules of behavior here in Gagil.. cultural norms that they expect villagers to follow. Unfortunately for me... I'm having to learn as I go, so of course I'm messing them up left and right. Luckily they realize I'm new, so they are patient with me and I'll get it right the next time.

So... here are just a few examples of the do's and don'ts of village life.
1. (the one I learned the hard way) If people, especially men, are talking to you while they are sitting, you must sit down and talk with them. You can't stand while talking to them, it's rude, even if you are just stopping to say a few words, you must sit or kneel to get low to the ground with them.
2. Never walk over any person or their basket if it is on the ground near where you are walking, always walk around, no matter how inconvenient it is. If you must walk by a person sitting, bow down low and say "siro siro" (excuse me)
3. Try to Never walk between two or more people talking, even if they are on either side of a side walk, either walk around or if you have to walk between, once again duck low and say "siro" as you pass.
4. When walking through the village don't walk side by side, walk behind or in front of the person you are with as a sign of respect for the village, also don't be loud when going through the village.
5. For women in my village I can only walk on the main road in certain areas, in one spot there is a dirt path that all women must take around. Only men and children can walk on the main road at this part.
6. If a man is around, unless he is family, don't lay down...even if you are at the beach relaxing ...sit up... it isn't proper.
7. Alway have a basket or purse when you walk through the village... if you don't have anything in your hands break of a small branch and carry this, to show that you are walking with a purpose.
8. If someone offers you something, take it if you can, especially if they offer you betel nut. (I'll explain betel nut later, but it is a big thing around here)

So...of course I've broken about everyone of these rules at least once before being told that the rule actually existed... so it's hard, but I'm really trying to get it right now. And of course, these are only a very small portion of the actual rules that exist, but this is part of the challenge of learning to live and adapt to a different culture.

The rest of the weekend was amazing. I was invited to a beach barbeque party where I met the chief of the municipality and the chief of the village and some teachers at my school. Everyone seems really nice and I felt good to start meeting such high ranking people here. Sunday, we went to church... catholic church.. where I learned they don't use church pews here, we sit on the floor and kneel on the floor...tile floor... and it kills my knees.. But noone else seems to be bothered, so I guess I'll just have to suck it up and learn to do it. Then the rest of sunday I spent at the beach eating and drinking coconuts and swimming. I even went night swimming by the light of the full moon, very amazing. Unfortunately I also had 3 canadian dollars and some change taken from my wallet while I was swimming... strange thing for someone to steal... but I guess this is one of those things, that even if I'm living here I'm still new and American and some people might see me as being rich and easily taken advantage of, so I'll just have to be cautious.

Outer Island Correction...and legend

As I stay and learn more and more each day about these islands I'm beginning to get a better understanding of the people here and their traditions. So, I want to make a correction my last post. As a friend here said best, the caste system on Yap is like a complex spiderweb that covers the island, so it's very difficult to understand. I was wrong when I said the outer islanders were below the lowest caste...in fact they don't really have a caste, they are a completely different entity. The relationship to the outer islanders is more like they are the children of the people of Gagil.... we take care of them... and this is why they can eat with us.

There is a legend that goes with the story of how the people of Gagil came to have this relationship with the outer islands. The story goes a little something like this. Long ago there was a girl in one of the high rank families in Gagil. Whenever a turtle was killed, she would be given the breast of the turtle which is the best part of the meat. One day she was away from her home and she smelled that someone was cooking a turtle and this made her very happy because she knew she would soon be given the turtle breast and she was hungry. Well, when she walked to her home she found a basket hanging for her, and inside the basket was the arm of the turtle, not the breast. This made her really sad and upset. She took a coconut shell in her hands and walked out into the ocean weaping. She walked far out and anytime she got to a place where the water was over her head she placed sand in the coconut shell and an island was formed. She did this far out, creating the outer islands as she went. She finally stopped at MogMog where she lived untill she died. And this is how the people of Gagil have this relationship like ownership over the outer islands and see their people as like their children. Even today, when a turtle is killed, the turtle breast must be taken to MogMog, to the women's house, as a symbol to the lady from long ago.

I'm sure I butchered that story, but that is the gist of it anyway, really interesting. Remember I'm learning these things as I'm sharing them with you, so I may not get it exactly right, but it's too interesting not to share.

By the way, thanks to everyone who reads and comments..even if I can't reply to them all. They really make me happy... so Kammagar (Thank You in Yapese)

The Caste System...still alive today in Yap

As I walk through the streets of Colonia (where my training is) it is interesting to look around and people watch. You can easily tell the people who are outer islanders from the people who are main islanders from what they are wearing. It isn’t uncommon to see a man wearing just a thus (loin cloth) or a woman in a lava lava (a woven cloth worn around the waist). Why would you know this person is an outer islander? Because, this is what they HAVE to wear…they have no choice. Outer Island men where thus that are only one color, and main islanders wear thus with two or three layers of color or hibiscus. Outer island women where lava lavas, while main island woman traditionally wear grass skirts (but now only for ceremonies) In fact, because I am a main islander I can never wear a lava lava. Now lava lavas are beautiful and look cool and comfortable to wear, so I would love to wear one, and I was curious as to why it would be so wrong to wear one.

Although we can have outer islanders at our homes or eat with them, we cannot dress like them, and they have to stay in certain places in homes or the villages. Wow! Really? Now, my curiousity over the Lava Lava and the caste system here was further sparked as I read a help wanted sign outside of a store. The sign read, “Clerk Needed, Full Time. Main Islander or Outer Islander Apply. Equal Opportunity Position” Main Islander or Outer Islander? As my host mom said, this is an unspoken problem here, mainly of the past. But, she said that many educated outer islanders often leave for Guam or the U.S. to find jobs where the caste system doesn’t regulate their lives as much.

Now that I’ve explained the outer islanders a bit, let me talk about where I am living. In Yap there are different areas or municipalities, of them Gagil, Tomil, and Ruul are the highest three castes. I living in Gagil, and the village where I’m teaching Gachpar is the highest caste village in all of Yap. Riiken, where my home is, isn’t as high, but it isn’t low either. People of lower caste on the main island are not allowed to eat with those of a higher caste. Also if someone from Gachpar or a high caste village dies, people from a lower caste village would dig the graves and bury the dead for them as a sign of respect. Even as we ate dinner tonight my host mother explained to me that the banana we were eating was really not for our caste, it was for a really low caste, but now the health advisors have said the higher castes should eat this type of banana because it is high in vitamin A and vitamin C. Who would have ever thought that a banana could be part of the caste system? It isn’t that those of higher caste look down upon those of lower caste as less than they are, but it is a sign of respect, that the people of different castes follow the rules of the system. Lower castes are showing their respect to those of higher castes when they act in certain ways.

Here, where you are born decides your caste. Someone born in Gachpar is very lucky to have been born into the highest caste, while for those born into the lowest caste, they will probably remain in this caste for life. The only opportunity for upward movement is if a woman marries a man in a higher caste. If this happens the higher caste must actually pay the woman in the lower caste in order for her to advance to the higher caste. However, if a woman marries a man in a lower caste, she must go down to that caste level, the man can NEVER move up. So for the woman caste may be a big deal. Marry up and you go up, marry down and you have no choice but to go down, you cannot keep you caste level.

So here today in 2008 on a small island in the Pacific I’m getting the opportunity to witness a modern day caste system. Straight from my memories of high school history books and now I’m witnessing it first hand. Though it is not as strong as it once was, it is still very alive and part of the lives of the people who live here. I wonder how this will affect my goals and experiences living here. Of course, I’m still learning a great deal and I have two more years to soak in as much information as I can, so I may not have all the details of the caste system here, but I wanted to share this because I find it really fascinating. Maybe the caste system may seem unfair for some (and I’m not advocating either way), but it is a part of this culture that they have been able to hold onto, and for that it is a good thing. So often culture is lost by western influence, and I’m happy to have the opportunity to live somewhere that has managed to hold onto so much of their Yapese cultural identities, even if it differs from my own beliefs or ideas.

My Beach in Gagil.... not to be confused with Ma Abich.. which means "You Eat" in Yapese

Home sweet Yap!!

I Love Yap!!! 3 minutes from my house walking

The spider that hangs out with my toothbrush...as big as my hand fingers to wrist

MarMar Crowns as a Yapese Welcome
Mogethin!! (Yapese Greeting)

I made it, safe and sound to my beautiful new home in Gagil, Yap. I'm a short walk to the beach, in another simple home with a host mom who seems awesome so far. She's a nutritionist for an early child hood education program, and her children are already grown and out of the house so it is just her and I here in the home. We have an outdoor kitchen, but an indoor bathroom, that I'm so excited about. I did however come face to face with the biggest spider I've ever seen as I went to brush my teath... I'll upload a picture soon. I felt silly, but I had to go get her to kill the spider... I was scared... and she laughed... I don't mind the geckos and lizards and ants and dogs and cats and roosters and cockroaches... but a spider that big..eeekk! I'm gonna have to get used to this. I guess I can't live in paradise without having some obstacles, like giant spiders, once and a while.

My host niece spent most of the day with us, she's five years old, and she was absolutely fascinated with my nose. She kept laughing and pointing at mine, then hers, then back at mine. She kept saying, wow, it's pointy. And I just had to laugh, Yapese people in general have pretty flat broad noses, and here I come with my pointy german american nose, and a little girl thinks it's amazing. Of all the things I expect to be different, I guess I just can't predict all of them, like hours of entertainment for a five year old child seeing an American nose.

On another note, because my host mom is a nutritionist, she only eats local food. This mean, no more rice. Nope, taro and yams for me everyday from now on. I'm happy about this, even if taro isn't the most exciting food in the world, at least I'll be eating healthy. We'll also have fish and banana, and she grows a garden with potato top (greens) and other local vegetables. Tonight we had a stirfry of greens and tuna with taro. This is going to be good, especially since some volunteers in larger families here end up eating rice and spam literally every single night. I'm happy my days will be filled with local foods!

Tommorow we'll begin our last 6 weeks of training, and language training! My host mom speaks english, but she said tommorow we will start Yapese... no more English... so goodbye English... hello Yapese... and hopefully I don't mix up the Pohnpeian words I learned while living in Madolenihm as I start speaking Yapese.

Kefel (Yapese Goodbye)