After more than 9 months on Kosrae, I am finally off the island. Don't get me wrong, I love Kosrae, but 9 months anywhere, much less a tiny 42 square mile island, can drive even the most sane person a little batty. For my chance to get away I decided to go from one tiny island, Kosrae, to another even smaller island, Yap.
For those who don't know, Yap is one of the four states in the FSM and is the farthest from Kosrae. It is also the most traditional of the islands as the Yapese were able to preserve more of their culture and traditions than the other three islands. Before I came to the FSM, I had wanted to be placed on Yap because of the culture and history and am glad that I get to experience a small part of it on this vacation. Through lucky coincidence, Sorcha and I picked the week of the Yap Homecoming Summer Festival for our visit. The Festival is a two day event that celebrates Yapese culture and promotes tourism. Over the course of the two days there are several traditional Yapese dances, canoe rides and chances to buy traditional crafts.
The Festival started on Friday so we had two days before hand to do other activities. I went diving on Thursday, and despite a few complications, had an amazing time. I saw a manta ray and was blown away by its size. I also saw four small sharks which were really neat. I don't have very many pictures because my camera broke a few weeks ago and so the ones I do have are taken from Sorcha.
Friday started bright and early with a short hike with Sorcha and Olivia, another volunteer from our group that serves on an outer island of Yap and came to Yap proper for the weekend, that gave us amazing views of the island. Towards the end of the hike there was a small spur off to the side that ended at a small WWII monument. There were three American planes shot down over Yap by the Japanese at the end of the war and the monument marked the spot where the plane went down and was discovered in 2006.
After our hike, and a trip to the hospital to get Benadryl, we visited the Yap Living History Museum, where the Homecoming Festival was going on. We watched a traditional stick dance in the early afternoon and a men's dance in the evening. Though I love Kosrae and am really happy with my placement, I do feel that I missed out on a chance to really experience Micronesian culture by living there, and am really happy that we got to see the traditional dances. The dances are passed down through the generations and kids start learning the dances when they're around 4 or 5 years old. Sorcha has a video of the dances and if I ever have strong enough internet, I'll try and post it as I find myself unable to accurately describe them.
The rest of our time in Yap was mostly spent relaxing and sleeping. I often find myself exhausted as serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer can, at times, be very draining, so it was nice to have time when there wasn't anything I had to do and could spend time reading or catching up news from home. One of the highlights of our trip to Yap was meeting Greg and 'Toby,' two gentlemen in Yap to defuse a 500 pound WWII bomb. They had both served in the US military, were avid divers, and had many fascinating stories to share. It was really cool to sit with them at dinners or during Happy Hour and hear everything they'd done, seen and experienced. I can only hope that when I'm their age that I have stories that are as interesting as theirs.
For those who don't know, Yap is one of the four states in the FSM and is the farthest from Kosrae. It is also the most traditional of the islands as the Yapese were able to preserve more of their culture and traditions than the other three islands. Before I came to the FSM, I had wanted to be placed on Yap because of the culture and history and am glad that I get to experience a small part of it on this vacation. Through lucky coincidence, Sorcha and I picked the week of the Yap Homecoming Summer Festival for our visit. The Festival is a two day event that celebrates Yapese culture and promotes tourism. Over the course of the two days there are several traditional Yapese dances, canoe rides and chances to buy traditional crafts.
The Festival started on Friday so we had two days before hand to do other activities. I went diving on Thursday, and despite a few complications, had an amazing time. I saw a manta ray and was blown away by its size. I also saw four small sharks which were really neat. I don't have very many pictures because my camera broke a few weeks ago and so the ones I do have are taken from Sorcha.
Manta Ray
If you look closely, there is a shark in this picture. It's dead center towards the back of the photo, right in front of the coral head.
Wreckage and Grave Marker of Downed WWII Plane
Start of Traditional Men's Dance
The rest of our time in Yap was mostly spent relaxing and sleeping. I often find myself exhausted as serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer can, at times, be very draining, so it was nice to have time when there wasn't anything I had to do and could spend time reading or catching up news from home. One of the highlights of our trip to Yap was meeting Greg and 'Toby,' two gentlemen in Yap to defuse a 500 pound WWII bomb. They had both served in the US military, were avid divers, and had many fascinating stories to share. It was really cool to sit with them at dinners or during Happy Hour and hear everything they'd done, seen and experienced. I can only hope that when I'm their age that I have stories that are as interesting as theirs.
