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

A Man of the Village

        New Years came and went with quite a bit of fun.  I celebrated the New Year in style with the other ex-pats at the MNUW boat/ restaurant/ bar and then met up with a few of my  local friends at the ever so classy O’Keefe’s canteen across the road.  It was a perfect ending to a fantastic 2012.  I mean – 2013 has some big shoes to fill (an epic last semester in Scranton, meeting the “takes-my-breath-away” girl of my dreams, going on the adventure of a lifetime to Yap… just to name a few) – but somehow, I know it will step up to the challenge.

            The rest of the Taro Patch Kids have returned to the Nimar Wentworth, and while the time alone was fantastic, I am glad to have them back again.  As school has started back up and we head into midterm exams, my tree climbing has declined considerably, but I am getting back into the swing of things.  Before I know it, my chief will be teaching me how to make my own “tuba” – which is fermented coconut sap.  I have had tastes of the “drink” before, but after working with the men of the village on clearing the Nimar Stone Path, the chief had us over to his koyeng for some food and tuba to kick off our New Years’ celebrations.  His wise words of wisdom: “just make sure you don’t start the countdown too early and don’t wake up in jail tomorrow.”

            I have now been filling some of my free time working with the men of the village on our stone path projects.  This past Saturday, I even was able to help add on about 25 feet to the stone path which involves gathering large stones, digging clay, digging the path, and then fitting the stones into the right spots in order to make the path uniform.  It was hard labor, but in the traditional Yapese way, we made sure to take lots of betelnut breaks (as of now, my teeth have not taken on the reddish, black tint that eventually comes from chewing the local plant).  I look forward to continuing working with the men of the village and slowly but surely getting the faintest grasp of the complex Yapese language.

           

This is Christmas on Yap

Sing it out everyone.  There happens to be this mind-blowingly amazing song about Christmas on Yap that I can only describe as having the “stuck in your head for hours” quality of “It’s a Small World” from Disney.  It involves a lot of perfectly random lyrics that you cannot fully understand, but there are clear snippets of “There will be no sleigh this year.. something something. FIRE TRUCK” and “Pork wrapped in Taro leafs” and I believe there was some line in there about “canned spam.”  Sadly, this chart-topper is yet to make it to youtube so I cannot share its pure musical glory with you, but it is probably one of those songs that you need to live on a tiny island for almost 6 months to truly appreciate.

            “Merry Christmas!” from the island of Yap. (That is how you say Merry Christmas in Yapese…. Which means that basically, when Christianity – along with the story of the birth of Jesus – came to Yap – they never got around to making up a new word for it, so “Merry Christmas” just stuck)

           

            On Christmas Eve, I had a lot of the ex-pats over for a nice traditional family style dinner.  It turned out to be a perfect evening filled with lots of sharing of Christmas traditions and stories.  We even wrote letters to Santa and then burned them on the back porch to make sure they got to him on time.  Some people ended up hanging out until Midnight Mass.

            The mass was absolutely incredible.  St. Mary’s Church was beautifully decorated with palm leaves, native flowers, and lights.  It was packed and absolutely pouring rain, so you had to dodge rain drops as they leaked through the roof or just kinda accepted it and sat right in a puddle (yes… I sat right in a puddle and was too proud to move…) There was a traditional local dance performed by women from Dalipebinaw and they added lots of garland, tinsel, and glitter to their palm leaves and flowers to really add some Christmas spirit to the dance.  My favorite part of the mass was that all of the songs were traditional Christmas carols, but they were sung in Yapese.  Silent night was simply breath-taking during Communion.

            I spent Christmas day with my Yapese family at a little barbeque in our koyeng.  It was a simple way to spend the holiday with friends and family.  For dnner, I went to the Jesuit residence where we had a fantastic turkey dinner with some good friends who have been in the Micronesian islands for many years.  To round out my Christmas festivities, I was able to Skype with my family on the 26^th while they were all together on their Christmas night.

            This Christmas season may not have been what I am used to, but it still continues to be my favorite time of year as it is filled with love, laughter, and family.

My little brother in his Christmas present

The boys enjoying the Christmas barbeque

Christmas Barbeque

St. Mary's Church

Manger at St. Mary's

“Christmas needs love to be Christmas.”

            -Andy Williams