Laughter. People here are serious about laughter. There's lots of it a lot of the time. For how culturally traditional people are here, they are unreserved with the fun. People are also unreserved with their bodies, which is, to be fair, what one might expect of a culture in which women go topless and men wear loin cloths. But it is interesting to observe families' physical affection towards their kids. Massage here is a tafeeli faliuwashe, or a local remedy for the majority of minor aches or illnesses. My favorite example of this to date occurred between my 24 yr. old host brother and his buddy Catowin. Now, let me set the stage a little. My host brother looks like a professional tight end and I'm sure he's come out the winner of any skirmish he's been in. Catowin, on the other hand, I first met when he was showing off his scar from when a shark attacked him at the age of ten. It's gnarly looking and he supplemented it with a tattooed cartoon shark with its mouth around the scar. Not to mention that he's built of muscle. (How do I know this? Let's just say it's one of the advantages of young men wearing only a thu.). So these are the characters and here is the rest of the story. A couple of weekends ago the fam and I were hanging out under the beranta (the outdoor living 'room'). My brother and Cat were sitting next to each other as everyone was chatting. The next time I looked over, there was Mr. Shark-Bite himself giving the Woleaian Shannon Sharp a coconut oil massage on his arm with total nonchalance and absolutely no awkwardness. All this to say that I am really appreciating the small parts of the culture upon which I'm slowly, and hopefully not too clumsily, stumbling upon.
Here's a random update on my thoughts/observations about gender roles and respect in Yap. In Woleaian culture, women cannot be higher than men. As a result, for example, they are not supposed to climb trees. Another manifestation of this is that when a woman's brother or uncle passes her on the road, she must cross the road and squat down. My current understanding of this is that these behaviors are how respect is shown here. In the States, we often spout ideologies (myself highly included) about respect - about equality for all and showing every person the same level of respect. But how often do we really "show" our respect for one another? I'm honestly hard pressed to think of specific examples that bring my respect for people to the surface. Here, however, I can see the respect that women show for their family. The tricky thing is whether I will also be able to detect ways in which other people in the culture are shown respect or disrespect.
Adventures in mwongoo...Mwongoo is the most common word I say and hear here. Why? Well, we've been told that mwongoo is love. So what is it? Food, of course. Interestingly, there is no common greeting in Woleaian, no 'hi' or 'good day.' Instead, people say 'buutogo mwongoo' (come eat) whenever someone approaches. Needless to say, food is central to life in this culture. My most recent adventures up to date include 'al dente' (read: barely cooked) ramen with ant floaties galore (more protein, right?); delicious fiiyefiiye, a sweet rice, pumpkin, coconut pudding drink; a bite of sea turtle (it's a frequent meal in Woleai :-( ); and a declined offer of gelaagu...dog. I tried to do my best to respectfully decline and explain that, to me, dogs are part of the family and it just wouldn't seem right to eat part of the family!
Dogs in Micronesia are aplenty, and we're not talking pedigreed pooches here. We're talking about nearly or totally wild canines that are scrawny and mangy and battle-worn. When walking about, one must be weary of dogs and either carry a stick or rock for self-defense. On the whole, I've found that dogs are better treated here in Yap than in Pohnpei due to two factors. One being the availability of free vet clinics to have dogs spayed or neutered, and the other being that dogs are seen more as pets than pests. My family has a dog named Spike plus a few others who have island names I can never remember, plus a new puppy. Notwithstanding, dog is an occasional guest on the dinner table as well as a constant guest under the table. (Side note to my cat loving friends: there are cats as well, but they are just ignored, which is probably safer for them to be outside the realm of mwongoo potential.).
This weekend was the first annual Yap Canoe Festival. I got to hang out at it on Friday and I volunteered on Sat. It was fun to get to help out and my favorite part was getting to hang out with the local kids that were volunteering. The kids here are wonderful - they'll start teasing you the second they meet you. I spent most of the time working with a kid named Jake. He's sixteen but could be some lost relative of Hagrid. He is big, big-hearted, and a barrel of laughs. This weekend was also fun b/c it helped me realize how many wonderful people I've met and friends I've made. For instance, there was a wrestling demonstration Saturday night and I knew probably half the boys. My twin brothers wrestled against each other and one was recognized as a hopeful for a great scholarship opportunity to Singapore. There was such a spirit of fun and instead of competitiveness and jeering from the crowd, there was camaraderie and cheers and laughter from the crowd. Like I said before, laughter is one of my favorite parts of this culture.
In other news, I've started reading A Walk in The Woods by Bill Bryson. I've also discovered that Yapese ants' favorite food is the Just Tomatoes brand of freeze-dried veggies. It's intense how they always seem to go for it and none of the other tasty treats around it (thankfully). Well, I best be off to start my second to last week of training.
I hope you are all well and thanks for thoughts! Whee!
