Gu ba’adagem, Nina

              Sirow for the long delay in between posts.  Things have been quite busy on the island.  A super quick update on things:  I spent my 3 ½ weeks between summer session and the regular school year coaching some volleyball clinics at the Yap Community Center 4 times a week.  The YCHS Boys and Girls teams both went on to take home the Championship Title in the end of the summer Junior League tournament.  It was a hectic weekend of coaching, driving a pick-up truck without mirrors, and reffing – but it was an unforgettable experience with my kids.

            School has been phenomenal this year.  I adore my classes.  I can’t believe how much love and laughter my students bring into my life.  I could not be in a better place right now.  I am even beginning to feel like a real math teacher and actually feel like I know what I am talking about.  Oddly – I also am getting way too comfortable teaching chemistry and surprise myself with the random tidbits of knowledge that have stuck with me over the years.

            And finally- for the blog-inducing event of my adventures – the birthday of my indescribably perfect Yapese mother.  Mary Guchol has been my rock since I have come to Yap. Honestly, I do not think I could have survived without her and all of the love and support she has given me.  She welcomed me without hesitation into her Yap family, and I could not be more proud to call her my “Nina.”  Tonight, we celebrated her 67^th birthday over at Stan and Sheryl’s place (the amazing Australian couple who lives right across from us) in typical island fashion with heaps of delicious food.  I meant to make the famous Mrs. Behe’s BBQ, but due to a ground beef shortage on island, I settled with making my mother’s even more famous chocolate chip cookies (they weren’t quite as good as hers – but they still made the impression they needed to.)  Mary’s one daughter traveled all the way from Guam to surprise her for the week, and it was a fantastic dinner party with close friends from the village.

            This blog post is dedicated to you, Nina.  Gu ba’adagem – I love you.  Thank-you for being my mother on Yap so that my mother back in Pennsylvania knows I am in good hands.  You are an angel.

Martin modeling some zucchini bread all the way from the states

Nina birthday celebrations!

Nina cutting her birthday cake

Summer passing out after all of the festivities

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”                                                                            -Lau Tzu

Camp Yap

          When I returned to Yap, I knew that our summer session would be starting approximately 30 hours after I stepped off of the plane.  What I did not know was that our staff for summer session consisted of Fr. Corcoran, Fr. Mulreany, myself and… oh wait – it was just the three of us.

            Now – my year of experience as a math teacher helped me to quickly figure out that with only three teachers, and four classes of students (first year with Freshmen through Seniors!) – we could not logistically cover all of the necessary classes.  So we did what we do best here on Yap – we improvised.  We combined the Junior and Senior class in to the Super Sunior class which would focus primarily on SAT prep.  Mickey then adjusted the schedule so that each of us had a homeroom and would teach two classes as well as proctor a silent reading period – all of which would be 55 minutes (that’s a LONG time in a teacher’s world.)  We adapted quickly to our morning schedule of teaching/ working non-stop from 7:45 AM – 11:40 AM (with a quick bathroom break in the middle) – and it actually ended up being a great experience.

            The real fun began after classes… Mickey basically gave me free reign of what to do with the students from noon til the end of the day at 4:00 PM.  That is how Camp Yap was born.  Now – the term “Camp Yap” was never used in an official sense, but it is certainly what I called it in my head and sometimes accidentally out loud – but the term pretty much summarizes our afternoon activities and shenanigans.  I went into Program Director/ Community Outreach/ Scranton mode and began making calls, e-mails, lunch dates, walks around the lagoon, and random chitchats after masses as I recruited a great variety of incredible presenters who would come in and direct different activities and sessions with the students.  We had Americans, Italians, Australians, Yapese, Outer Islanders.  We had sign language, nature hikes, lawyers, martial arts, local cooking, basket weaving, dancing, singing, canoe demos, lei making.  We played every camp game/ ice breaker that I had in my repertoire.  And the entire time – we had a blast.

            It was so inspiring and rewarding to work with such a diverse and amazing group of people who gave so self-lessly of their time and talents.  Camp Yap was exhausting… but at the end of the day – we were excited to come back and see what adventures were waiting for us tomorrow – just the way any good camp should be.

Intense Game of "Ninja"

Team Builders

Rufus and Jonah showing off their lashings by the "crying Buddha"

Eunice and Bradley dominating the 3-legged races

Joslyn sad to be going home on the Apocalypse Bus

Practicing the local dance that Martin Ruwniyol taught us

Lupo and I attempting to teach modern line dances (Cotton Eyed Joe featured here)

Sophomores and Juniors with Dr. Margie

Freshmen working on nunuws/marmars 

Mary Guchol (my Yapese mom!) teaching delicious new local cooking

The Lovely Agnes and her nunuw/marmar class

More Team Builders

Our kids just being kids... the best.

            “Whatever form it takes, camping is earthy, soul enriching and character building, and there can be few such satisfying moments as having your tent pitched and the smoke rising from your campfire as the golden sun sets on the horizon--even if it's just for a fleeting moment before the rain spoils everything.” 

                                                                                -Pippa Middleton

Yappy Birthday

           Within my first couple of weeks back on Yap, the not so momentous occasion of the 23^rd anniversary of my birth happened to pass by.  Now – as much as I adore/crave/am partially addicted to attention of most varieties, there is something about the attention that comes with a birthday that just doesn’t turn me into “Five-year-old, overly enthusiastic about the smallest little thing Michael.”  I have always been this way – I am not sure how I am supposed to accept compliments properly, and I do not know the proper response to seemingly unwarranted birthday attention.  I can most easily compare my uneasiness to that feeling you get when you are suddenly disproportionately aware of what your hands/arms are doing as you are speaking to someone you are interested in (oh shoot – why are they just dangling there… should I move this hand over my entire face and gently stroke my elbow as I do so?  Yeah – yeah – that’ll look cool.)  No worries though, world, this hand/arm anxiety is now being completely overridden by the constant presence of some form of cellular phone (are they even called phones anymore now that they can do like… everything?) in your hand.  As a quick aside – no one truly cares what your arms/hands are doing, as long as you are avoiding touching yourself and/or others in the select “no-no” zones (I don’t want to get into specifics because depending on the culture you are in – these “no-no” zones may differ/ there are plenty of friends of mine where cuddling/spooning/ ear hugging is not only acceptable, but expected.)

            Believe it or not, I am trying incredibly to narrow my off shoots and tangents in these blog posts, but I am clearly failing miserably.  I’ll keep working on it. 

            Anywho – despite my lack of affinity for my own birthday – this birthday goes in the record books (I actually have my own record books… if I am going to reference them, then they better exist) as one of my favorites.  The festivities began a week before my birthday even hit as my Yapese family hosted a July birthday party for Dafrad, Summer, Corinne (our neighbor across the way), and unbeknownst to me, me.  All of our birthdays fall in the first half of July so the extended family got together for ice cream, food, and fun.  Oh – did I mention the cakes? (Yes – plural)  And did I mention that when I went with Tracie to pick them up in the morning, THAT is when I found out my name was on a cake and I was included in the birthday celebrations.  I couldn’t be more thankful to my amazing Yap family.

            As my actual birthday approached, I got numerous letters, cards, and facebook messages – all of which made me feel the love coming from the other side of the Pacific.  At school – the kids had a slew of nunuws/ marmars waiting for me and Austin (one of our seniors who happens to share the best date of birth.)  (Yes – I know proper grammar is Austin and me – but the parentheses in the middle of that would have been confusing… as if this unnecessary aside is not confusing in itself...)  It was just an all-around awesome day.

            That evening, the ex-pats threw a little surprise party for me on the Mnuw – which did actually catch me slightly off guard.  Loren organized the little shindig, and she not only invited our ex-pat group of friends, but also the priests – which made for a wonderful evening.  Loren also informed me that my loving mother was sending her pages upon pages of facebook messages detailing my birth and childhood stories (you think I can talk…. Let me introduce you to Cathie Readdy Wiencek – facebook friend her – she’ll love it.) 

            The true highlight of my Yappy Birthday though was a collection of hand-made cards from the Sophomore class at YCHS (my freshmen homeroom from last year.)  I am not even an ounce ashamed or embarrassed to say that I bawled my eyes out as I read through the heart felt letters from my students.  I could not have felt more loved this birthday on Yap.  Something tells me 23 is going to be a good year.

          

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.”

                                                               -Morrie Schwartz

Returning Tabinow

Whoops – I forgot about that whole “be sure to keep in touch” thing during my first month back in Yap.  In reality, I did not forget – I truly just did not have that much time to be able to sit down and write blog posts, or facebook chat, or Skype, or even my favorite – send out some hand-written letters.  So – now that summer session has ended and I have 3 ½ weeks before school starts up on August 21 – I will attempt to fill in that blank gap of time that I may have seemed to have fallen off of the earth.

            My month home was absolutely exhausting, in the wonderful sort of way.  My only major responsibility was hanging out with people, eating, drinking, and telling Yap tales of adventure and misadventure – yet, I was overwhelmed by the fast pace of life and the unbelievable amount of over stimulation.  Did you know that in the United States there is this thing called Netflix that can just pull up almost ANY movie or television show in the world and you can watch it INSTANTLY?  But seriously – I was only a year removed from the states and my innocent Yapese mind was being shattered.

            I appreciated most just being able to sit and talk with friends and family.  When asked what I missed most about being home, I honestly couldn’t think of anything really other than the people.  Sure – a hot shower every day felt fantastic.  Yes – the unnatural amount of steak I consumed did help me to shoot back up to a semi-normal weight.  Of course – the options of draft beer, and really just any beer in general made my mouth water.  But, the only thing that I realized I could truly not live without was all of the incredible people in my life.

            Even though I unfortunately did not get to see everyone I truly wanted to see, or get to spend nearly as much time with some of the people who matter most to me – I still was able to be inundated with love and friendship and hugs and laughter.  From talks with Mom-mom about the “good old days” before technology (of course, this does not include Wheel of Fortune, which was essentially a nightly ritual for us – we would DOMINATE if we ever get on that show), to my unbelievable visit to Scranton where I got lost for hours catching up with amazing role models, to the shores of Ol’ Stillwater where I got to relive a bit of the glory days at Camp Minsi – it was all a boy living on the other side of the world for two years could ask for. 

            Kammagar gad – I would not be the man I am today without all of the friendship, support, and love.

**Prepare for some rapid fire blog updates to make up for my total lack of story-time this past month due to the awesomely intense amount of work for Summer School**

Disconnected

Last Thursday night, the entire island of Yap lost complete connection to the interwebs.  As would be expected – buildings collapsed, the earth opened up unleashing the titans and all of the demons of hell, and people went absolutely wild and savage without the necessary life force that is the internet.

            But seriously – It. Was. Awesome.  As most of you know, I have some deep, passionate grudges against technology.  I could probably write and defend a dissertation showing that technology that is meant to make us more easily connected to each other is actually causing us to be ripped further and further apart.  I think “smart” phones are Satan's spawn.  In all honesty, I am quite terrified to return back to the United States in one week and be overwhelmed by it all once again.

            Our 3+ day disconnection from the world was phenomenal.  I read 2 books.  I finished all of my remaining work for school.  I studied my Yapese lessons.  I spent a whole day with my local family and friends going to mass, lunch, and then just chilling and chewing with some of the younger men of the village.  While I do appreciate the wonderful convenience of the internet and its ability to keep me connected to people thousands of miles away – I truly appreciated the break from technology for a long weekend.

            As for some other things that have been going on.  I am now officially a 3-time state champion.  I proudly have two gold medals from managing the Central Catholic Girls Volleyball team with John Campbell.   I am now adding to the trophy case a t-shirt from the Yap State Robotics Competition.  After months of building, fixing, re-building, and planning – our boys team took home the State Championship title this past Friday.  I do not really care that there were only 2 high schools out of 3 competing – a state title is a state title.

            I wrapped up my last youth group First Friday with Fr. John.  We are now up to almost 100 youth, and over 200 total people coming to our events and activities.  We hope to run a retreat for the older kids over the summer, as well as host a back to school concert for any youth choirs that are interested.

            I am unbelievably excited to return home in one week, although I can not really comprehend life right now because so much has happened in the past year.  I am eager to catch up with friends and family, and then I am ecstatic to come back rested and rejuvenated for my second year on Yap!

My latest project: TV stand

Youth Group

More Youth Group

State Champions

Randall driving us to victory

Domclancy and Austin being interviewed for OTV

Sponsor Picture: Habele

Agape I

          This past weekend was one of those weekends that you cannot even come close to adequately describing with words.  For those of you who have ever had a conversation with me in which I start shaking a little bit, probably in some form of bouncing fashion, and my eyes start darting wildly and getting bigger, and I keep making the same hand motions over and over, and I start talking really fast to the point of being unintelligible, and the only acceptable metaphor would be to that of a 5-year-old child trying to explain the magic of Christmas as he eagerly refuses to fall asleep on Christmas Eve but still passed out by 8:30 anyway – then you can imagine how I am feeling right now as I attempt to convey one of the most beautiful experiences of my life in this radically insufficient blog (someone needs to invent a way for me to be able to express my emotions and thoughts from 9,000 miles away… perhaps some form of body double might do the trick… or a “proxy-hugger” of sorts… I will work on it).

            Despite knowing that my writing ability falls far short of expressing what I am feeling, I still feel the unquenchable need to attempt to bring you all into this community of pure euphoric thoughts and emotions and love that has enveloped me this weekend.

            The past few weeks, I have been working on organizing Yap Catholic High School’s first day of recollection for freshmen and sophomores and the overnight retreat for the juniors.  Fr. Mulreany took the reins on organizing the days of recollection, and I tackled the planning of the junior retreat.  I tried to adapt the retreat experiences I have had to what I thought would fit for our students in terms of age, culture, and experiences.  Taking some tidbits from FIRST, Kairos, and Search, and adding a few things here or there, the Yap Agape Retreat was born.  A huge thanks to Xavier High School for sharing their Kairos materials with us to help make the process go much more smoothly.  Once the retreat schedule and different parts were outlined and written up, the organization seemed to go quite well. 

            During the school day, my main focus was with the Freshmen, and we had a fantastic day of reflection.  I really love these kids, and I also had an amazing time with my fellow teachers, Gail and Jane, during our time with the students.  After the freshmen and sophomores left, it was time to focus on the over night retreat.  One of the coolest parts of the retreat, aside from all of the actual retreat happenings, is that we spent the night on campus - which was breath taking with the endless stars.  I already have plans for having mini-camping trips on campus next year when I just need to "get away."

      

Hanging Out with the Freshmen in our Tree (There are more higher up)

Jane, Gail, and I during Freshmen Day of Recollection

   
 Agape I focused on finding the unconditional love that God has for each of us as individuals.  We looked at and reflected on our relationships with others and how through these relationships we could find God.  We discussed how our relationship with God should be a true friendship.  There was dancing, there was the playing of signs, there was laughter, there were tears… but most importantly – there was so much genuine, undeniable, pure God.

            I gave a talk to the juniors on forgiveness, and found myself learning so much from these incredible students as they looked at me with strong, comforting eyes.  Some of the students came to me to talk about certain issues they were struggling with in their lives, and I can’t describe how I could feel God guiding my words and actions as we talked through our struggles together.  Trust is one of the most precious things in the entire world.  To trust others enough to show them our most vulnerable self – to trust others enough to let them see us cry – to trust others to let them see us angry – to trust others to let them see us as we truly are – that is love – that is God.

            I could not be in a better place than I am right now – physically and spiritually.  I continue to be blessed and challenged every day.  Even when I thought this adventure on Yap could not bring me any new life lessons – I had one of the most powerful experiences of being broken and built back up again with my students.  Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers that were being sent our way this weekend.  We could feel your love – and that is Agape.

Austin and Maxine on their Trust Walk

Manuella, Dolorlyn, Bradley and Eunice sharing some Agape

Gorgeous Accommodations for the Evening

Our shower for the retreat... the hose is in the tree somewhere

AGAPE I - Class of 2014

“Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?”

-The Summons

Island Hopping

            Over the Easter Break, I was lucky enough to be able to travel to a few of the Outer Islands of Yap State.  Now, Yap Proper consists of four islands that all fall within the same barrier reef.  Three of these islands are connected by short bridges, and the fourth is the Forbidden Island of Rumuung, which is stunningly peaceful and untouched and happens to be the home of the largest piece of stone money in the world.  The State of Yap actually covers hundreds of miles of the Pacific Ocean and includes many small island atolls.  These collectively are called the Outer Islands and have a completely separate language and culture from Yap Proper.  In fact, there are actually multiple Outer Island languages and dialects, but they all are essentially flowing from the same general patterns of vocabulary.

            One of my fellow volunteers, Jane, also went to the Outer Islands of Ulithi with me.  We had plenty of ramen and canned meats packed in our bags to give to the islanders and we snuggled in nice and cozy into our 8-9 passenger prop-plane (I say 8-9 because on the way home, we needed to squeeze 9, so we improvised a seat and seat belt out of a cooler and a luggage strap).  The plane ride was an adventure in itself.  To see Yap from the sky (all United flights are in the middle of the night, so you can’t see too well) was mesmerizing – and then to fly over Falalop, Ulithi (Falalop means “Big Island”) to see that the runway spanned the island end to end was an unbelievable experience.  As we landed, all you could see in front of us was the wide open ocean waiting to catch us if we couldn’t slow down fast enough.  We were welcomed with many flowery marmars and taken by some incredible men to the church in the back of a pick up truck (one of two vehicles on the island). 

            We were staying with Fr. Nick who covers many of the Outer Islands of Yap.  He was a really fun host due to his laid back personality and funny remarks.  We had a bathroom, but no running water, so we showered using a cut off bleach bottle and a big metal can filled with water.  We had some electricity, but really it was used to run the fridge and make sure the radio communication with the other islands was running.  It was a humbling experience and made me appreciate all that I have been blessed with my entire life.  The people of Ulithi were overwhelmingly hospitable – there was never a single moment where there was not barbequed fish, breadfruit, and coconuts on the kitchen table for Jane and me. 

            Since we were visiting over Holy Week, we were able to see many different traditions at the Church, which seemed to be the center of most of the activity on the island.  The Outer Island High School took up one side of the island, the airport cut down the middle, and the village and the church were on the other side of the island.  Altogether it would take about 6 minutes to walk from end to end, and that is walking leisurely – it was so beautiful.  We spent lots of time reading on the beach, collecting shells (they were EVERYWHERE – I even got myself a full conch shell), and snorkeling.  Jane and I did play some volleyball with the local kids to celebrate Easter and it was a blast. 

            The highlight of the Ulithi trip was what I can only refer to as the “Suicide Run” (term coined by Fr. John H.)  In Ulithi, there are many small islands surrounded by a fringing reef.  Four of these islands are inhabited, and each one has its own church.  Every year, Fr. Nick hops into one of the islands small boats with a few trusty crew members and hops from island to island to perform the Easter Vigil Mass on each island.    Yes – since it was the Easter Vigil Mass – this was all done in the middle of the night.  The first island, Mogmog, is probably one of the most traditional places in the entire world.  Everyone on the island is in their local attire.  I took my shirt off to try to blend in, but unfortunately I forgot my thu cloth (the Outer Islanders wear thus, but they only use one piece of cloth and wear it slightly differently).  The culture was astounding on the island, and once again the islanders welcomed us with a feast of food, offered us to shower despite being in a the dry season and low on water (we politely declined), and even put us on teams for the Easter games being held the next day despite us trying to explain that we had to leave right after mass – which led to a few offers to spend the night at various homes.  I have never met such selfless, caring people. 

            By now, it was almost midnight and it was pitch black and the ocean was getting rougher.  We headed to Asor, and then from Asor back to Falalop – but not before picking up a few passengers including two children who must have been about 3 and 5.  The waves were splashing all over so I tried to cover the children with my shirt to keep them warm, but we were all soaked regardless.  Then one of our motors decided to die around 2:00 AM and we had to putter back into Falalop taking an extra hour or so.  When we hit Falalop, Jane and I passed out from exhaustion.  I managed to wake up just in time to make the final boat ride to Fedrai, which was over an hour away and had us going over 20 foot swells.  Again, it was a beautiful experience, and the ride back included a few chickens on board, and we had dolphins swimming along with us for a bit.

             I will admit, at no point did I ever 100% believe that my life was truly in danger.  However – I did spend a large portion of the boat rides contemplating whether I should try to save Fr. Nick, the elderly topless woman, or the 5 year old girl when the boat flipped over in the waves.  Then I realized how silly I was being – obviously all 3 of these islanders would be the ones dragging me back onto the boat, not the other way around.  Then I felt much safer.

            When I finally was back on dry land, I thanked God for helping me to get through the awe-inspiring “Suicide Run” and happily drank some celebratory tuba with the men of the island.  It was an unforgettable trip to one of the most remote places on the entire planet, and I once again had my views of the world shattered as I found so much love in the people of Ulithi.  Sachigchig (Thank-you) for the adventure of a lifetime.

Yap Proper

Falalop, Ulithi - The WHOLE island

Assumion Church on Mogmog

Queen of Angels Church on Falalop

Our backyard for the weekend

The Plane

“Our knowledge is a little island in a great ocean of non-knowledge.”

-          Isaac Bashevis Singer

Nina nge Papa rog

         Last week was probably one of the greatest adventures I have experienced thus far during my wonderful time on Yap.  Last week I was blessed to have two very different, yet very significant parts of my life come together.  Last week, my Mom and Dad (nina nge papa rog – in Yapese) were able to meet my Yapese family.

            That is right – the Wienceks traveled all the way from Pennsylvania to spend a week on the Island of Stone Money.  They could not have picked a more perfect week.  For about a month or two before they arrived, everyone was constantly asking me about them.  It seemed to be the hot topic of the village as everyone I passed seemed to want to tell me how excited they were for my parents’ visit.  My unbelievable Yapese family even began to make my mom a traditional grass skirt made out of hibiscus without even telling me until they needed to know her approximate waist size (which we guesstimated by saying “slightly smaller than so and so, but a tad little bit bigger than her”).  The process usually takes almost 2 weeks, but Mary Guchol, Tracie, and Maria (with some assistance from Peter) whipped it together in a record-breaking 2 days!  On top of the 25 pound grass skirt, they also arranged for our neighbor, Titaw (grandma in Yapese.. I can’t even tell you her real name) to fix two baskets for my parents. 

            When I picked them up from the airport, I immediately embraced my mom as she tried to hold back her tears.  I had a few nunuws for them from my neighbors and students, and everyone at the airport enjoyed the show of our reunion.  They settled in quite well into the Waterfront Inn thanks to some amazing friends on the staff there.

            We then spent the next few days flying through adventures thanks to so many incredible friends on island.  One of the saints of the island, Bob, who is an incredible ex-pat working in the budget office of the government, allowed us to use his car throughout the visit, which I cannot thank him enough for.  We were able to get up north to go snorkeling with a variety of the cast of Finding Nemo as well as almost an hour of swimming just above the majestic manta rays.  My dad could not stop saying how everything we were doing was a “once in a lifetime experience.”

            On Thursday night, my Yapese family and the Jesuits came over for a traditional Yapese potluck dinner.  There was an overabundance of local food and this is when Mary gave my mom and dad the grass skirt and baskets which they immediately put to use.  My mom then gave some presents and such to my Yapese family including an adorable outfit for Summer and some sports balls and books for Dafrad.  Many others joined throughout the dinner including a visit from my chief and his wife.  We headed to bed as early as we could because tomorrow would be Yap Day!

            On Friday morning, my good friend – Martin – came over to the house bright and early to help me in putting on my thuw.  I thought I had it on pretty well, but apparently I was showing a bit too much thigh, so Martin helped me to fix it up and to make sure it wouldn’t fall off in the middle of the day.  I have learned so much from Martin about the culture including that the colors and style of my thuw were specific for the “youngest of men” who were no longer boys, but were not quite reliable enough yet to be married.  My mom was in her local attire as well – no worries everyone, she opted to keep her top on.

            Yap Day was filled with introducing my parents to many people amidst many traditional activities and demonstrations.  We saw many dances, ate lots of local food, enjoyed local relays ranging from basket weaving, to canoe lashing, to betelnut tree climbing.  We even were able to have an excellent chat with the US Ambassador to Micronesia who I now have multiple pictures with in my thuw.  Now that I think about it, I think a lot of people have pictures of me in my thuw.  A lot of tourists seemed to perhaps think I may have been Yapese – which is probably one of the greatest compliments I have ever received. 

My dad especially loved seeing the reenactment of the traditional sailing canoe bringing in stone money pieces from Palau.  It was so surreal to think that this culture has existed for so many generations without being tainted by the modern world.  It truly is a hidden paradise.

During the Yap Day festivities, one of the FSM senators who is a good friend offered to take my parents to the “Forbidden Island” of Rumung.  Ted and his wife Joan took us on their boat to this beautiful, untouched island.  Rumung is separated from Yap Proper by about 100 yards of ocean and remains unconnected by roads.  It is absolutely stunning.  It is so peaceful and the traditional stone paths are still the primary means of traveling the island.  We even were able to see the 3 largest pieces of stone money in the entire world.  In fact, we sat and had a great talk with Ted and Joan ON TOP of the largest piece which happens to be on its side on the ground because it is so huge that to try to prop it back up could cause it to break.  We were so lucky to be able to have such a wonderful day in Rumung.

On Monday and Tuesday, Nina nge Papa came to YCHS to talk with the students and get a glimpse of how I spend the majority of my days on Yap.  The students loved hearing my parents’ stories of what “Mr. Wiencek” - who they all quite easily know as “Michael” since my parents found it too strange to call me “Mr. Wiencek” (I prefer Michael… REALLY prefer it) – was like as a little boy as well as during his own high school years.  Stories of electrical sockets and roof climbing at the age of 2 became quick favorites for the students.  My students also knew that my mom has an incredible singing voice and they convinced her to sing “Ave Maria” and “On Eagle’s Wings.”  It was simply breath taking and the kids were so appreciative.  In exchange, the sophomores sang a little bit for her.  The students are still asking questions about how their visit was and what they are up to now back in Pennsylvania.

On top of all of that, we also received the grand tour of the South from my friend, Norman, who takes care of one of the largest stone money banks on island.  We seemed to be non-stop busy the entire week, and we didn’t even manage to see all that there is to see – but it was a perfect visit nonetheless.

I am on top of the world now after being able to see and hug my parents after 8 months on Yap.  I am incredibly blessed with a truly remarkable family who supports me in all that I do.  I am blessed with friends back home, here on Yap, and around the world who I love more than words can describe.  I am blessed that I can share these different worlds that I am a part of with all of these people.  I am blessed.

The first hug in 8 months

Local attire

Ambassador Rosen and I

Yapman - For Mr. Lerch

Wienceks on Yap

“Family is the most important thing in the world.”

-          Princess Diana

Sirow

            Sirow!  My deepest apologies for my lack of blog posts over the last month.  My adventures on Yap have seemed non-stop as January flew by and I was challenging myself to live in the moment, live fully in Yap, without getting distracted as much by the internet and that whole Facebook thing.   Unfortunately, this led to me failing quite a bit in the communication department (in terms of technology – I DID manage to get almost completely caught up in writing and responding to letters… almost… not fully yet).

            Let me try to put the past month into the best Spark Notes version I can manage (another thing that technology is ruining… what happened to a good old Cliff Notes reference.... we don’t even have shorter books to replace our books, we now have websites… but I digress).  

            I made it through my first midterm exam week, and so did all of our students.  I was blown away by how well my students did on my exams – which is a true testament to how hard they worked to show how much they have learned throughout the first semester.  I learned (well, more affirmed what I already know) that I cannot possibly sit still enough to proctor a 2-hour exam.  I needed to be moving around, or humming to myself, or looking everywhere else BUT watching the students.  I think it was a more painful experience for me than it was for the students.  I also just hate tests.  I am good at taking tests, I always have been… but I just despise them.  Who came up with the idea to “test” our knowledge in these written formats?  I literally told my Chemistry class that I knew they knew so much more information than I asked of them on the midterm…. But since I knew they knew it, I figured I wouldn’t waste my time or theirs putting it on the exam.  It makes sense in my world.

            My tree climbing skills have developed quite nicely.  I use my hibiscus wrap to hurry up betelnut trees, and I even managed to get up a tree at school completely barefoot as a reward for my freshmen.  I have been working a bit on my Yapese with an older woman who is slowly going blind.  I can say basic phrases and questions and can almost pronounce sounds that before I just couldn’t even comprehend.  My chief, Pugram, has agreed to teach me how to make tuba.  Tuba is fermented coconut sap which tastes like… well it tastes like something you don’t want to drink, but for some reason you do anyway.  He also has been helping me with my Yapese and one day while I was stuck in an out-of-nowhere rain storm (quite typical here), he called me over to his little shop to share some tuba with him to wait out the storm.  It was a fantastic bonding experience.

            Let me see… oh ya!  Maggie came to visit from South Korea for a week.  All I can say is that it was simply fantastic.  It really opened my eyes to the beauty of this island all over again – the nature, the culture, the people… it is just so pure and real.  Maggie really inspired me and re-invigorated me as this adventure continues on.  I am still so shocked that it has been 7 months and it is unbelievable how much I have grown.  Kammagar, Maggie, for a most perfect week.  It was our own little “International Service Immersion” trip.  We went snorkeling, we drank tuba, we chewed betelnut, we went to O’Keefe’s and danced, we ate local food, we just appreciated the island and all it had to offer us.  Maggie fit in perfectly and she put a smile on everyone’s face.  She even arranged a little pen-pal project with some of my freshmen girls.  Which reminds me – Maggie helped me to teach our girls volleyball team how to play some real volleyball (we hadn’t started practices yet) just in time to WIN the first ever sports competition in YCHS history!  There is a new league for the high schools (yes, all 3 of them) to compete in for volleyball and basketball.  Our girls were absolutely phenomenal – I almost cried – the excitement and thrill of the games was electric.

            I am now rejuvenated and re-inspired to continue doing whatever I can to give back to this wonderful island.  My spiritual life is in an amazing place that I cannot even describe, and I honestly could not be happier.  I am still growing and learning each day, and I am so truly blessed to have this opportunity on the island of Stone Money.

            Kammagar for reading!  Kefel’

“Let me lose my voice
Singing all my favorite songs
Let me stare up at the stars
'Cause it's where we all belong”

-“Living Louder” – The Cab