My Life as a Yapese Dancer

Part of being a Peace Corps volunteer is integrating into the community. Joining community events and trying to really become a part of the local scene. Here in Yap one of the oldest and most important cultural thing you can do is join traditional Yapese Dances. The dances are serious and each village that performs is performing something that represents their culture, their village, and their history. The dances tell stories of the past and are truly a beautiful thing to see.

So, months ago when I heard my church would be performing a dance, I said I'd love to join if I could. Apparently I could, so since then I've been going 2 or 3 times a week to practice my Yapese Women's Sitting Dance. It hasn't been easy. They don't really ever speak English to me, and I don't know enough Yapese to understand all of what's going on, so mostly I just sit and try to follow along.

Up untill yesterday we wore our grass skirts and shirts, but yesterday began a whole new adventure, the topless practice. Eeek! So, sitting at church, 30 Yapese women and I took off our tops and practiced all afternoon. Now, you all saw the pictures, with all those pretty flowers covering me up from my Peace Corps dance. I didn't know how lucky I was then. Well, there were no flowers this time, just a single black string called a murfow that hangs between my breasts. It was kind of strange, especially since, for the first time in all of our practices all the village men and chiefs came to "make sure the dance was going well". So, there I was sitting in my grass skirt, clapping my hands, waving my arms, trying to look graceful... with half the elder men in Gagil watching.

The first official performance is January 24th at a church in another municipality, and then we will be performing at a huge celebration March 1st for Yap Day. From now on we have practice every day and no more shirts are allowed. So, from this point on I'll be spending at least one part of every day here in Yap without a shirt. Strange, but I guess by the end of all of this I'll be much more comfortable with myself.

It makes me laugh to think how much time I'll be spending at my Catholic Church half naked. I can only imagine the reactions of priests in the U.S. if 30 women decided to start hanging out dancing outside the church everyday topless. I'll probably get some pictures at some point, but if they get posted I'll have to find a way to censor it so that the entire internet population doesn't see as much as the locals can.

Much Love,
V