Workin' for a Livin'

So far, we’ve blogged a lot about Yap, its people, and our own experiences on the island, but we’ve written very little about the jobs that brought us here. This is mainly because this topic is, in our opinion, somewhat boring. However, we’ve had some requests to delve into it further and, as lawyers, we’re not really afraid to be boring. So here goes.

Both of our jobs are actually pretty interesting. Matt works as an Assistant Attorney General for Yap State. His office is pretty small – the AG is in charge of two AAGs (Matt and one other American attorney), and two Yapese trial counselors. (The Colorado Office of the Attorney General, by way of comparison, has something on the order of 350 attorneys.) Matt works mainly on civil matters, leaving the criminal prosecutions to the others in the office. People do illegal things no matter where you are in the world, and Yap is no exception. Illegal fishing cases are common – here’s a picture of a Taiwanese longliner that was recently seized in a case that Matt is currently handling.


Dress at work is casual and, KC might argue, requires very little fashion sense.


In March, just 3 weeks after we arrived, Matt took the Federated States of Micronesia bar exam (for anyone who is counting – and that includes us – that’s now three bar exams: Colorado, Wyoming, FSM). Last week he was sworn in to the bars of both Yap State and the FSM. And just in time, too, since he had to appear in a hearing a scant two hours after the ceremony was over.


KC is a clerk for the Yap Division of the FSM federal court system. She works here.


The pace for KC is definitely different than her practice was in the United States, but she is enjoying her work. Working as a law clerk gives an attorney a chance to peek behind the curtain to see how decisions are made, and provides a perspective that can be extraordinarily helpful when one goes back to the real world.

Next month KC is headed to Chuuk, one of other states in the FSM, to assist her judge with two appeals that are being heard there. Matt won’t be able to accompany her on the trip. If he can avoid starving while she’s away, he’s looking forward to the fabulous pictures that she’s planning on bringing back.

A Field Guide to Yapese Locomotion, Part 2

In last week’s segment, we learned many of the particulars of driving in this part of the Western Pacific. This week, we’d like to discuss the actual vehicles that you may be driving – or in some cases, pushing – once you arrive for your stay in Yap. The vehicles that follow are presented as often as possible in their natural habitats. None were hurt during the creation of this blog entry…

The Rough ‘N Ready

The Rough ‘N Ready is a party bus on steroids. Surprisingly shy and reclusive, it is most comfortable in Yap’s backcountry, where it can put its giant tires and skid plates to good use. To lure the Rough ‘N Ready into the open, try watering your yard until it turns into a mud pit, and then stand around saying “Tut, tut, it looks like rain.”

The MacGyver

One of Yap’s most common species. These beauties are a testament to the ingenuity of their drivers and the wonders of duct tape. Beware when following The MacGyver down the road, particularly if you are in a well-conditioned vehicle. They tend to be ill-tempered, and will often lob flotsam in your direction out of spite.

The Disco Darling

Sporting 360 degrees of tint, this vehicle is ready to raise the roof and party until dawn. Indescribably vain, it will often slow to a crawl as it passes a bank of windows, or even another of its own kind, just to catch a glimpse of its lovely teal reflection. The Disco Darling is horribly high-maintenance, demanding weekly oil changes and tire rotations. Avoid at all costs if it has recently chipped its paint.

The Station Wagon

Yap’s people-moving workhorse, and rarely seen empty, the Yapese Station Wagon is the most gregarious of all Yapese vehicles. The Station Wagon just can’t seem to get enough of people, and will often cram as many as 8 into its tiny bed. Seating arrangements vary, but rest assured that none of them take safety into account.

The Toyota Hilux

If we were going to buy a truck, particularly if we had plans to take over a small African country, we would surely buy a fleet of Toyota Hiluxes. These trucks don’t seem to be available in the States, but they seem to be the most durable vehicles on earth. Before coming to Yap, we had only seen pictures of them in National Geographic, usually carrying a cadre of AK-47-toting militiamen. Here, thankfully, they are put to more peaceful use, and live all the longer for it.

The Zombie

What was once a MacGyver can often, and tragically, through benign neglect, quickly morph into the rolling dead. And really, rolling isn’t likely once the jungle has begun its relentless attack. Should the Zombies ever awaken and begin roaming the streets and byways on their stilted struts, let us all hope that they are less ill-tempered than The MacGyvers that they once were, and hope to become again. Otherwise, we are all doomed.

A Field Guide to Yapese Locomotion

The Yapese automobile, while neither rare nor dwindling in numbers, nonetheless belongs to a family all its own. The American driver, accustomed to his giant, Bluetooth-enabled suburban assault vehicle, equipped with amenities such as windows and seatbelts, may find himself at a loss when entering the wilds of the Yapese autobahn. It is for this reason that we offer this survival guide, intended to ease the transition of American visitors to the western Pacific.

Chapter 1: Road Conditions

Before visiting Yap, the American driver may wish to visit his local bombing range, preferably when exercises are taking place, in order to improve his reflexive steering ability. Sky-borne projectiles are a rarity in Yap, but with coconut palms aplenty, they are certainly not an impossibility. Craters are much more common. While the damage created by typical aircraft-borne ordnance pales in comparison to the average Yapese pothole, the thrill of participating in live-fire exercises is a fair substitute for driving certain sections of road, where a single misjudged turn may result in either a plunge into Davy Jones’ locker or shredded tires and automobile suspensions.

Chapter 2: Driving Techniques

Several points concerning technique should be considered by the aspiring Yapese driver. First, although the island-wide speed limit is 25 mph, to be caught going within 10 miles per hour of that speed will immediately mark one as an outsider. Thus, either 15 or 45 mph is perfectly acceptable. If you choose the lower end of the scale, you must ensure that you do so on blind corners, and where passing is permitted make sure that your speed and direction is variable enough to prevent approaching drivers from passing. If you opt for 45 mph and up, please ensure that you are prepared to explain that, because your speedometer is marked solely in kilometers per hour, you had no idea of your true speed.

Remember also: despite the fact that steering wheels are typically on the right, Yapese driving is nonetheless on the right side of the road. Sitting on the right side of the car has several distinct advantages. For example, when you open the car door to spit betelnut juice, you are less likely to hit oncoming traffic, although pedestrians are put at more risk. And speaking of pedestrians, remember that they do not have the right of way under any circumstances. One good way to remind them of this is by driving straight at them until they yelp and move out of the way. If you lack the gumption to play chicken with actual humans you can always practice with dogs, although the yelp often comes later under those circumstances.

Chapter 3: Safety

Whatever.

Chapter 4: Navigation

Yap’s roads are unnamed. This has the tendency to make navigation difficult, and providing or following directions next to impossible. To get to our house from Colonia, for example, you would drive around the Blue Lagoon and then up the big hill near the apartments. After the surface changes to dirt, keep an eye out for the road merging from the right. Turn right on that road, and then when you spot 3 large mango trees, turn into our driveway. Be sure to remember that any children who happen to be in the yard picking mangoes do not have the right of way.

To be continued…

A Quiet Week

We had quite a relaxing week this week. So relaxing, in fact, that we're at a little bit of a loss for things to write about as the new week begins. We hope to resume our regularly scheduled programming next week, but in the meantime thought that we would post some of our more interesting photographs from our time here. Neither of us has much experience in photography, but the way that the colors jump out in this part of the world sometimes makes it hard to take a bad picture. We've still managed to take quite a few bad ones, but having 8 gigabytes of storage in your digital camera provides a wide margin of error.

Aspiring Canoeist at Yap Day Celebration

Yap is the land of the tiny lizard

Not to mention the gorgeous flower

And the stray dog.

This a mangrove sapling reflected in the still waters of the the Blue Lagoon, in Colonia

Here is KC paddling an outrigger canoe, our most recently adopted activity. The paddling society meets on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. It's hard work but is tons of fun.

Good Afternoon, Yap

One of the more enjoyable things about living in a small community is the opportunity that it provides for full participation. It would be a lot easier to sit on the city council of a small town, for example, than it would be to run for mayor of Denver. The tradeoff, of course, is that the resources are limited in small communities. Some things that we take for granted living in the West simply aren’t available here. The reasons for this are various. Cultural norms and traditions are obviously important, as are the realities of living in a secluded and sparsely populated part of the world.

We traveled to Yap with our eyes open to these circumstances, and with a simple resolve that we would make the best of things while we were here. KC was resigned to the fact that she probably wouldn’t find a running group, but hoped that she might be able to find a partner or two to coax onto the road on occasion. Matt wasn’t optimistic that Micronesia would have competitive soccer leagues, but was determined to continue his athletic participation in one way or another.

Taking this approach requires us to seize opportunities as they’re presented, and Matt heard about a great one shortly after our arrival here. There’s no community orchestra on Yap (Matt is a violinist in the Denver Philharmonic back home), but there were openings for radio hosts at KUTE, FM 88.1, Yap’s only radio station. Talk about a captive audience! KUTE has popular music and news programs for most of the week, but from 5:00-6:30 p.m. on Sundays, Matt has the local airwaves to himself. So what if he’s never been on the radio before? He’s been learning as he goes. The weekly show, with a working title of “Bach to the Future,” focuses on Western classical music, from the Renaissance through the present day.

Here are a couple of pictures of Matt hard at work in the studio.

He readily admits that he’s no Garrison Keillor, but he’s enjoying the opportunity to play some music that isn’t often heard in this part of the world. The reviews so far have been positive. If you’re interested in listening to the program yourself (and you have some serious insomnia), try tuning to KUTE’s internet stream by searching for “KUTE Radio FM Yap.” The program should air at 3 a.m EDT, 1 a.m. MDT, early Sunday morning.

Although the radio show is fun, we aren’t particularly happy with the title. We like puns, but “Bach to the Future” is uncommonly terrible. We thought of a few others, like “Mostly Mozart with Matt,” and “The Mad Dog Classical Music Hour,” but nothing really clicked. We’d love to hear suggestions!