Shrimp, Eels, Machetes, and Grass Skirts

Me in the jungle by the river in my village

You know.. somedays I'm just in awe that I'm actually here in Yap. A few days ago I had the opportunity to go into the jungle and explore some. See, my home here is in the middle of tropical jungle, but close to the main dirt road and my fear of getting lost in the jungle has kept me from venturing out too far from the main road. So, the other day a relative said, hey I'm going to the river to look for shrimp and collect firewood, do you want to go? Of course I jumped at the idea, and soon I found myself trekking into the jungle following a man with a very large machete. Now in the states, the idea of venturing into the jungle following a man I hardly know with a huge knife would be a little freaky, but here it seemed like the most natural thing that I could be doing. So, I happily worked my way through the jungle behind him as he cut vines and bamboo that were blocking our path. It's a good thing that I hadn't gone into the jungle on my own, because now that I've been I'm fairly certain that I would have gotten lost if I was alone. This man however seemed to know the jungle so well that he could have been walking blindfolded and still found his way. Soon we were at the "River", really it's more like a small stream, but it was nice anyways. We walked up and down the "river" looking for shrimp and found some, but out efforts only succeeded in us catching one shrimp. If we had had a small net I could have gotten many, but we were using a local tool that they use to catch shrimp and it's really difficult. They basically strip a small piece of a leaf stem, then me a little loop in one end. You try to get the loop around the tail of the shrimp and pull up, and the loop tightens and you catch a shrimp. Fun stuff, but I still wanted a net. While looking around a HUGE eel came out of it's hiding spot in the river and tried to steal the shrimp from us. Feeling that eel would have been awful if it had bitten me, so from then on I was much more cautious as I walked through the river back to our land in the jungle.

My Auntie's House on the BeachI made my way back through the jungle to my home, where my nina was waiting and said we would finish my skirt. So, we loaded up the various pieces of grasses and materials and went to my aunties house by the beach to finish the work. We sat and weaved and I helped as much as possible preparing the grasses for her. We laughed as she told me that the old man who made the local twine for us to tie it together might have put "local magic" on it so that I would chase after him when I'm wearing it. So, if I suddenly begin chasing after an old man in my village while wearing my pretty new practice skirt, we all know why.

Soon she was weaving together the most beautiful skirt I've ever seen. I was absolutely glowing when I finally tried it on. We laughed and they attemped to show me how to stand when I dance. I have to squat down low and stick out my butt. I kind of look like a duck when I'm standing like that, but a happy Yapese Dancing Duck, so I think it's awesome. This skirt is only for dance practice, so I can only imagine how beautiful the real hibiscus performance skirt will be when it is complete.

Practicing a Women's Sitting Dance Move in my new skirt