Saturday Morning Ground Clearings

As a volunteer at YCHS, part of my weekly routine is to head to our new campus and participate in Saturday ground clearings.  Fr. Mickey and Fr. John were reminiscing about their days in the novitiate when they had “Work Saturdays” that they often did cleaning or landscaping.  I thought I was hilarious when I said that the only activities I have been accustomed to on Saturday mornings are sleeping and cartoons on “One Saturday Morning.”  I got about half a chuckle out of the group… I need to work on my Yapese delivery.

Now, these “ground clearings” can encompass a vast variety of tasks in just a few hours.  To date, I have been a trash collector, log re-locater, machete-ist, tree climber, coral/stone shoveler, ground raker, rock collector, path clearer, hole digger and of course hole filler.    Most of these jobs involve getting covered in dirt, mud, stone, coral, smoke, and some things that I am not sure the proper term for.  The heat and humidity quickly makes for the most intriguing blend of sweaty, bodily scents as you begin to pray silently for a cloud, a breeze, or best of all – a downpour.  At today’s clearing, we were blessed with a day full of cooling winds, and an occasional opening of the heavens.  Unfortunately, stone and coral become much heavier and difficult to shovel when they are saturated… I told myself it was character building. 

            It is truly inspirational and motivating to see how many people from the community come out on these Saturdays to work on the new campus.  Most of the men work on moving logs, cutting down trees, and shoveling.  The women build fires with the wood chopped down, clear the other side of campus, and spend the morning cooking a glorious lunch of local food that usually includes barbequed tuna cooked directly in the coals of  the fires, giant pots of rice, and usually some combination of cooked breadfruit, banana-like fruit – except the bananas are gigantic, and taro.  There are Yapese, Phillipinos, and Outer Islanders.  There are a minimum of 4 different languages being spoken.  Some people are in t-shirts and shorts, while others are in native garments.  I am amazed that some of the men work so hard in their thus, and it still catches me off guard to see topless women cooking my lunch over a fire that they started with trees that they just cut down with a machete… mind-blowing.

I spent a large part of my day working with Fr. Mickey, Fr. John, and this young Yapese man, Dickson (my spelling could be completely off – also, I initially had been calling him Vincent… I blamed it on my accent).  Dickson is headed to Syracuse, NY next Saturday to begin his journey to becoming a Jesuit priest in the novitiate.  He was an incredibly cool guy and a phenomenal worker.  I am excited to hear about his transition from Yap to the United States and to see where he ends up throughout his Novice years. 

            Today, a fair sized group of us were working on filling in the dug-out paths between the school buildings with coral and stone.  However, we did not have the greatest selection of tools, so we were using shovels with random sticks for handles to load the back of a pick-up truck with a metal sheet in the bed.  The truck then would drive the 100 or so feet to where we were filling the path, where we would proceed to empty the truck with a variety of pieces of scrap wood and construction materials to push it all out.  I got hit countless times with shovels, coral, stone, and wood – and I just could not have cared less.  We then raked out the piles with our pieces of wood once again.  This continued for about 2-3 hours before lunch.  My hands are still raw and calloused – but it was such an awesome experience.  After lunch, a group of the women who had been cooking lunch wanted to help us, so they began taking buckets, paint cans, bags, and whatever they could find to start carrying the coral over and dumping it in the path- like straight up … It was one of the most beautiful things to be a part of and to just smile, laugh, and have a great time while working ourselves to the bone. 

“In fact, effective solidarity with the poor, both individual persons and entire nations, is indispensable for the construction of peace."      

                                                                                                           -Claudio Hummes

Be Prepared

The Boy Scout Law

A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.

            Of my 22 years of life, nothing could have possibly prepared me more for life on the island of Yap than my time with the Boy Scouts of America.  The scout motto is to “Be Prepared,” and my many years in scouting have set me up to endure the challenges I will face this next year in my own personal “Survivor”-esque environment.

            I have already used dozens of taut line, two-half, and clove hitches.  Lashings have somehow managed to tie (GET IT!?) their way into my life once again.  Cooking creative meals with limited resources and in unconventional ways has become a mandate of proper nutrition.  Adapting to situations unknown and unique to my experiences, knowledge, and comfort marks an hourly endeavor.  Bottom line, every single moment of my scouting career – from my early days as a young Cub – to my transformative years as a Tenderfoot – to my summers and weekends spent building platforms, cabins, friendships and most importantly character at Camp Minsi – to my proudest achievement of Eagle Scout – has prepared me for this adventure in Micronesia, and the many other exciting, daring, unknown exploits that promise to follow.

            Only half-jokingly, I have been comparing my life in the village of Nimar to my days and nights living in the wilderness, by the beautiful Shores of Stillwater Lake, at my beloved home away from home – Camp Minsi.  After further explication into this analogy, I discovered that my daily life on the island is actually astonishingly synonymous to my unforgettable years at the greatest Boy Scout Camp this side of the Mississippi in an absurd number of different ways.

            First, when I look out my bedroom window, I am mesmerized by a gorgeous view into the drop-off of an endless, tropical jungle – a view that reminds me of opening the back flaps of my tent in the Staff Site of Minsi – the trees and wildlife are worlds apart, but they still carry such a peaceful simplicity.  One minor difference, I do not try to pee out of my window here in Yap like I used to out of the back of my tent in the middle of the night – it is considered improper.... plus, there is a screen.

            Second, I live in a home that is strikingly similar to one of the cabins at camp, particularly the Health Lodge (almost identical before we painted).  We have agonizingly slow internet – which truly it is such a blessing to have any connection to the world wide web whatsoever.  Unfortunately, we do not have a Scott Best here to call whenever we have computer issues.  The roads are identical – pot holes that get deeper by the day, dust flying everywhere when a car drives by, trucks that are used and abused far past their normal life expectancy – it is a grand reminder of my home away from home.

            Our neighbors take care of a multitude of little boys.  I believe I have spotted at least 7 different ones depending on the day.  (quick update: my little friend’s name is actually “Thafrad” – which means “foundation” in Yapese - He. Is. Awesome.)   Anyway, there are numerous screaming, sometimes crying, always half-naked boys running around our village.  I don’t even have to say it… but I will.  I am still living in the staff site… just 9,000 miles away.

The dirtiness becomes an accepted way of life.  We shower when we can, or when we feel like it has been a little too long since we last saw soap (the girls do a much better job at this than myself) – and then we hop into our graciously refreshing cold showers (if you thought camp was bad – try this).  We frolic through the rain as though it does not exist.  Sadly, we do not have your stereotypical first-year campers with their bright ponchos and giant walking sticks that drag helplessly behind them.  We just keep on going through the rain – it will be a perfect blue sky in a matter of minutes anyway, just like the weather on the Pocono Plateau.   I am yet to find any swamps that I can go on a 2 mile hike in muck over my head, but I still have a lot of island to explore…

Pacific Ocean - Yap, FSM

Stillwater Lake - Camp Minsi - Pocono Summit, PA

“Sing her glories, live her ideals, hold her memories dear.  Give a cheer that all may hear it. 

 Hail, all hail Minsi.” 

  -Camp Minsi Alma Mater

Extreme Makeover: Yap Edition

 Many people have been asking for pictures to be posted, and I am slowly but surely getting some of them up on Facebook - it just takes a few hours to upload a handful of pictures, so I am doing my best to have them upload overnight.  One of the greatest lessons I took away from my wonderful Jesuit institution of higher education is the concept of "Metanoia" or "transformation."  We are always striving to better ourselves, to make oneself into the best possible version of oneself - this is Metanoia.  In regards to this blog entry, I have decided to take everyone through a little before and after photo shoot of the Metanoia that has occurred in transforming our ashamed, cold, forgotten house into a humble, warm, loving home.  (I promise more pictures soon to come of the actual island, but I want to keep you all anxious and reading of course.)

Before: Main Entrance / Living Room

After: Main Entrance/ Living Room

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Before: Living Room

After: Living Room
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Before: Dining Area/Kitchen

After: Dining Area/ Kitchen
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Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

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Before: Hallway

After: Hallway

After: Living Room/ Hallway
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Before: Laundry Area/ Back Door

After: Laundry Area/ Back Door
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Before: Back Porch

After: Back Porch
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Before: Bedroom

Before: Bedroom

             

After: Bedroom

After: Bedroom

After: Bedroom

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"I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself."

-Maya Angelou

Life in the Village of Nemar

Here on Yap, the island is divided into different villages.. yes, I said villages.  Some villages are huge, but with just a few families living in them – these usually have a pretty big stone money bank.  Others are smaller areas of land with lots of families living together in them.  I am currently a member of the village of Nemar.  I live in a house that does not have an address, but rather goes by the name of Nemar Wentworth – seriously, that’s what we are listed as in the white pages (or the Yapese equivalent of a phone book).

Life in the village has many rules that you must abide by.  For instance, if you are too loud, people will suspect you are up to no good, so you must always keep your general volume to a minimum so as not to disturb the other villagers.  Also, you must walk with a flashlight at night so that the men of the village who hang out together late do not decide to protect their village and tie you to a tree.  Everyone is also expected to do their part in helping the village progress – whether you trim the grass along the road, collect fruit, handle finances, or just do some general village improvement.  We have not yet been asked to make our contribution, but we are anxious to see what our village duties are – apparently you can just give some beetlenut (you can chew it with some other things to get a high – I will dedicate a whole post to this later) to the chief though and that can cover your duties, too. 

In our part of Nemar, there is our house, which is fairly modern by Yap standards, and there is another house that is very similar.  Then there are a couple of other more traditional Yapese homes that have outdoor kitchens, minimal to no electricity, and are constructed primarily of scrap metal roofing.  Our neighbors are incredibly friendly and very happy, content, peaceful people.  One of our neighbors, Mary, is the sweetest woman in the world.  Mary is somewhere between 55-85 years old – it is hard to gauge age here – and I see her pass my window each morning with machete in hand to go harvest fruit and vegetables from her garden and to get some fire wood.  Mary runs a daycare/babysitting type service so we always have some little Yapese boys running around in their little thus (similar to loin cloths).  Our other neighbor also has a few young boys, but they usually are wearing shorts and sometimes t-shirts.  Mary brings us fruit, vegetables, and even offered to teach us how to make breadfruit chips!  She also shares here garbage collection can with us as her way of helping us out since we are volunteering with the new Catholic high school.  Bottom line, Mary is the absolute sweetest woman I have ever met. 

Mary also is raising a young boy, I think.  Adoption on the island is extremely complicated, but once I know more I will let you know.  Anyway, I have met this little boy a few times, and by met I mean I wave and he waves back, and I start to talk English and he says some words that I assume are in Yapese.  I told him my name is Michael, and he couldn’t pronounce it, so I said “Mike” and I pointed at myself, and he pointed at himself and said “Mike.”  At first I thought we had the same name… then I quickly realized he just liked to repeat the sounds I make.  When I pointed at him and said “Name?” he responded, “Nafarad.”  I do not think this is actually his name, mostly because I have heard the word used by others on the island..... but to me, he is Nafarad, and I believe we are friends because he helped me set-up ours clotheslines the other day – and by help, I mean he smiled and laughed at me.

“For Christ plays in ten thousand places…” – Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ

Nemar Wentworth

Top 10 Things to Get Used To

       Firstly, I do not plan on updating this blog as frequently as I will during these first few weeks on the island of Yap.  We currently have a great chunk of free time that we have primarily been spending on fixing up our humble house into a lovable home – painting, installing shelves, fixing chairs, acquiring chairs, cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning, random assortment of home repairs, and anything else you could possibly do to make a house a home.  We also spend a lot of time reading, writing, and venturing into “downtown” to get acquainted with the area, the people, and to get ourselves situated with the bank, the communications department, the stores, and the post office.  Things are very different here on Yap, and I don’t want to bore you all with a 300 page novel on my first six days here (don’t worry, the time will come when I will highlight the oh so fascinating adventures that have occurred so far, but we have a whole year for that!)  So I have comprised this list of the “Top 10 Things to Get Used To” on Yap, some of which I have already accepted as normal, and others that it may take the entire year to adjust to. 

10. Being woken up at 4:00 AM every morning by the army of roosters that apparently surround our house.  Oh, and then continuing to hear said roosters everywhere on the island non-stop until about 5:00 PM.  Whoever said that roosters only crow at sunrise clearly has not been to Micronesia – these roosters like to make sure you are awake all day long.  Also, “cock-a-doodle-doo” is about the farthest sound possible from what these things actually sound like.

9. Taking showers with salamanders.  These little guys are everywhere – but they are fun to watch jump around and for the most part mind their own business.

8. Waking up cuddling with spiders.  Let’s just say that they grow them BIG here.  Good news there are no poisonous spiders on Yap – bad news, the centipedes apparently are poisonous, and painful.  (Calm down, Mom, they aren’t big enough to kill me, just to make my body swell up uncontrollably)

7. Cold showers.  Surprisingly, I have already adjusted to this fairly well.  I love myself a long, hot shower to relax and think, but here the cold showers are refreshing and cool you down after a day in the heat and humidity.

6. Seeing our neighbor, Mary, who is somewhere between 55-75 years old, walk casually by my window carrying her machete over her shoulder as she heads to her “garden” and outdoor kitchen to harvest fruit and coconuts.

5. The wide assortment of smells on the island.  My nostrils have definitely experienced a whole new pallet of sensations – some good, some bad, some indescribable.

4. The much, much, much slower pace of things.  At times, it is incredibly relaxing, at other times incredibly frustrating.

3.  The food selection.  We have a much larger variety of food than I had anticipated – but    things are quite a bit more expensive if they are imported (which is almost everything), and we definitely will need to be creative in what we cook.

2.  Being barefoot for a majority of the day.  Everyone wears sandals or flip flops around the island – but, it is custom to remove your shoes before you enter any building.  I enjoy this, but the bottom of my feet may be permanently dirty – and I’m talking worse than Scranton blackfoot.

1.  And last but not least… the native clothing of the Outer Islanders.  The men wear colorful loin cloth type things called “thus”, and the women wear these intricate grass skirts… and that’s it.  I am still working on adjusting to this one… however, I am extremely excited to get my own thu.. they look comfortable and incredibly cool in this heat.

The Adventure Begins

The time is 11:39 PM.  I slowly walk down the aisle of the plane carrying my laptop bag overflowing far past its natural capacity.  As I descend the small, portable stairs onto the pavement, I look around to see only 2 other planes (something I will learn in a few hours is a rarity) and a little building with a couple kiosks welcoming “Yap Citizens” and “Non-Yap Citizens.”  I get my passport approved and stamped and am surprisingly welcomed by a young boy and girl dressed in traditional clothing and had a lea (there are like 2 other Yapese words for these, but I can barely remember what “hello” is) placed around my neck.  I was then ushered to baggage claim, which consists of a few men unloading a pick-up truck of luggage to a group of about 60 people who wait patiently to see their bag get pulled from the truck.  Once I have my bags, I pass through customs (aka a man quickly glances at my form and welcomes me to the island).  As I exit customs, I am greeted by the other volunteers of Yap Catholic High School, the Superior General of the Yap Jesuits, and one of my future students.  I should mention now that from the exit of the plane to exiting customs all took place in less than 100 feet.   A crown of flowers is quickly placed upon my head and then I suddenly find myself being driven to my new home.

            For those of you who do not know, my name is Michael Joseph Wiencek and I am volunteering on the developing island of Yap, Micronesia for the next year.  I have only been here for 3 days, and I feel like I could write for hours about what I have experienced thus far.  But that would make for one very long first blog entry and then who knows what I would write about next time.  So for now, I will say that I am currently on a roller coaster of emotions.  Life in Yap is like nothing I have ever experienced before, and it will definitely take some time to adjust to the island lifestyle, but I am happy and excited to be here.  This year is undoubtedly going to be filled with struggles and challenges, but it will also be filled with eye-opening experiences, invaluable wisdom, and unconditional love.  There are so many things I will miss throughout this year, so many people that I can barely imagine living without; but I know that I will grow so much through how I react to all of the things and people I miss.  I will always hold these people in my heart, but I must live in the moment, with the people of Yap, in a world that I am a stranger.  Only then, will I be able to find myself truly at home.

“Say goodbye to golden yesterdays – or your heart will never learn to love the present.” 

                                                                        -Anthony de Mello SJ