Sports in Yap

By now you may be asking yourself: "Self, how is it that folks in Yap stay healthy, what with all that Spam and canned mackerel?"  That's a good question, and there is no doubt that the introduction of Western (read "unhealthy") foods has had a negative effect on public health here.  Combine the often-oppressive heat with a bad diet, and the result is that the population of the FSM, like much of the Pacific, suffers from alarming rates of obesity and type II diabetes. 

 

Yap devotes substantial governmental resources to combating these problems; the island's surprising number of organized sports leagues provides locals with opportunities to compete and stay in shape.  Aside from aquatic activities, volleyball and basketball rule.  And, just as in the U.S., allegiances to certain superior collegiate basketball programs are instilled at an early age. 

 

 

While dragging himself back into basketball shape, Matt has rediscovered the unhappy fact that he jumps like an old white guy.  This is nothing new.  Matt has jumped like an old white guy since he was 12.  Here's hoping that athletic genes run in KC's family!

 

 

On land, fast-pitch softball takes a close third in popularity.  We haven't played, but have gone out to a few games to snap some pictures.

 

 

Wrestling and weightlifting are also popular, and this weekend we watched some of the action at a Greco-Roman wrestling clinic hosted by the sports council.

 

 

For us the real fun is in the water.  We joined the Colonia Canoe Club a few months ago, and head out on outrigger paddle canoes a couple of times a week, for fun and in preparation for the canoe races to be held at the first annual Yap Canoe Festival, scheduled for October of this year.  The paddling canoe races are set for distances of 500 meters, 1500 meters, and (gasp) 7 miles.  The canoes are surprisingly quick, but we're guessing that the 7-mile race will still take a little over an hour to complete.

 

 

Spending time underwater, of course, is even better than canoeing and kayaking.  Yap is famous for its resident population of manta rays, but it also has fabulous coral reefs.  The water is so clear that we didn't feel like diving would add all that much to the experience at first, but Matt has been talked into getting certified and plans to begin classes this week.  He's looking forward to seeing things like this from the bottom of the pool, rather than the surface.

 

Summer Break

We're taking a week off from posting, and hope to be back with more adventures soon!

Friends, Romans, Countrymen...

Company picnics are a time-honored tradition in America, and this weekend we learned that they are not solely an American phenomenon. 

Yap's Office of the Attorney General consists of Matt's office, the police department, and Yap's only fire station.  This weekend, the OAG hosted a barbeque to celebrate the appointment of the new police chief and the commissioning of a class of officers just graduated from cadet school. 

 

In a seemingly unrelated turn of events, Matt's boss left the island on Saturday to attend a two-week conference in Guam, leaving Matt as acting Attorney General in his absence.  Matt appreciates the vote of confidence, but was not expecting to have to make any public appearances on behalf of the office this time around.  Imagine our surprise when we found out that Matt was on the VIP guest list, and more importantly the list of speakers at the event.

 

Matt was honored and gratified to be asked to speak, and had two things going for him: A supportive wife and an audience too hungry to expect a lengthy declamation. 

Matt's address made the Gettysburg address seem lengthy by comparison, and soon after we all settled down to some Yapese vittles.

 

By vittles, we mean turtle, tapioca, sashimi, breadfruit, and turkey tail. 

After hearing about the evils of turkey tail at Law Day, KC made herself a promise that she would never try it.  The only problem with this was that she had no idea what it looked like until today.  As it turns out, fried turkey tail can be mistaken for a dumpling by an unaware buffet grazer.  This time – particularly after tasting it – KC fully intends to abide by her promise.

 

In addition to all of this fun it was a beautiful blue-sky day, and we took the opportunity to take a few pictures of a part of the island that we'd not yet had a chance to visit.

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Bringing Home the Bacon. Sort of.

There are few things more manly than killing your own food. Here in Yap, the most common way to bring home the (figurative) bacon is to fish for it, and on Sunday Matt went fishing in its most primal form. With a spear made of steel and a will made of iron, real men stab their meals and toss them onto the boat still wriggling, before the circling sharks get a whiff of blood in the water. Bait and tackle be damned: want a 50-pound tuna? Reef shark? White whale? No problem, just be prepared to work for it.

All right, so maybe it wasn’t quite that dramatic, but Matt did have a great time in the water. Spearfishing combines fishing and hunting, with the added thrill of spotting an occasional shark. A gig is sometimes used in shallower water, but on Sunday we went out with spear guns, which work sort of like a slingshot that fires a steel harpoon at the target.

Fish are certainly plentiful here, and Matt learned the reason for that quickly. They’re wily!

Spearfishing has a steep learning curve, and many people come back empty on their first trip. The sea floor on our fishing grounds had a mixture of sandy bottom and hard and soft corals. With some instruction from the more experienced members of the group, Matt learned not to thrash around wildly, and to wait patiently above the soft corals for the fish to get used to his presence. After a lot of frustration, Matt ended up spearing a couple of nice fish.

They sure didn’t look as big on land as they did in the water, but they were tasty nonetheless.

Spearfishing does have its downsides, of course. Matt has a part of him that would prefer taking pictures of the fish to killing them. Game fish like tuna are one thing, but Matt’s softer side led him to pass up a few shots on some of the more colorful and interesting fish that he spotted. Not that he would have hit them.

Another downside is that fishing is for men only in these parts, and Matt felt kind of bad that KC couldn’t participate. He also felt bad that she didn’t come along to share in the spoils. The fish we caught made for a delicious lunch, but they don’t travel well without a cooler, so we had to eat them on the spot. Maybe we’ll plan better next time. Thanks for reading.

Release the Hounds!

As we wrote a few weeks back our local animal non-profit, YAPS, Inc., has been raising funds with the goal of hosting a vet clinic in the fall of this year. The western Pacific has very few, if any veterinarians, and there are none whatsoever in Yap. The drive has been surprisingly successful and has included contributions from many loyal followers of our blog. We think it is a powerful testament to the bonds between people and their pets.

We created this video as a thank-you to those who have contributed to the cause. The photos and video that follow have been taken during the last couple of months; sadly, two of the little guys who we managed to record on film fell victim to cars and are no longer with us. YAPS, Inc. is still accepting donations, one hundred percent of which will go toward supporting the vet clinic here in Yap. You can visit the group's website at www.yapsinc.org. Thanks for reading.