The Adventures of Yapman: Final Preparations and a Filipino Birthday

I wrote this post last night before opening day, but I didn’t have time to upload it – so here it is now to be very quickly followed by a post of today’s festivities!

Today was the final ground clearing at the new campus of Yap Catholic High School before Opening Day on Sunday, August 19! The amount of people that came out today to put the finishing touches on the campus was astounding. Around 100 Yapese, Outer Islander, and Filipino volunteers from the community came to the new campus to help rake, clean, organize, burn leaves, finish paths, and help set-up the classrooms. I could feel the excitement in the air – I joined in conversations that I clearly did not understand any of the verbal language, but excitedly smiled and laughed as we pointed at parts of the campus that we could not believe how absolutely beautiful they turned out. I chatted with some students about the upcoming school year and their new classrooms – and it is such a pleasure to see just how genuinely excited they are for school to start – something that I do not think is quite as evident back home. However, there are some things that are universal for teenagers. The boys try to flirt and show-off for the girls. The girls gather in their corners and gossip and giggle. You can see the wave of nervousness that slowly passes across their eyes as their new teachers approach – something that I am not so sure if I like, but I will adjust.

After we finished setting up the sophomore classroom – before we locked up – I stood by myself in front of the classroom looking out upon the desks piled high with books. Then, I closed my eyes and absorbed everything I could in that moment. I felt the smooth hardwood floor slide across the bottom of my naked feet. I filled my nostrils with the fresh, natural, pure air. I smiled to myself as I felt myself truly engulfed by happiness, by goodness, by God. It was a perfect moment.

Tonight, the entire faculty was invited by our Filipino friend, Connie, to her house for dinner. We were unaware that this dinner was actually a birthday party for Connie. We were the first to arrive at 6:00 PM (time doesn’t really apply to anything on Yap – for example, a few families showed up at 8:00 PM with full dinner entrees). Slowly, the house began to fill with more and more people. It was raining outside – so we were all nice and cozy inside until there was just no more space as we leaked out onto the be-drizzled porch. We met a few other Americans who were on the island as Mormon missionaries. They were our age and I was able to talk to them about the Boy Scouts – which – fun fact- happens to be the unofficial male youth group of the Church of Latter Day Saints. The food never seemed to stop coming. I indulged in everything there was to offer – 5 different types of fish, chicken, rice, noodles, beef, lumpia, cake, pudding, icecream, fruit – anything on the table – I tried. It was all absolutely delicious and the energy was electric in that small home. It was such a fun, relaxing way to end a busy, exciting day as we head into the official opening day of YCHS!