The Adventures of Yapman: 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!