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| island drives. |
In keeping with the pace of trying unusual foods every couple of weeks, I recently tried sea turtle eggs.
A few weeks ago, some people donated an outdoor ping pong table to our school. Many of the students quickly became obsessed, playing during all of the breaks throughout the day. My history class was right after the lunch period, so there would often be students sprinting to my class after trying to finish a game.
One day, one of my students ran in with what I thought were two ping pong balls.
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| sea turtle eggs: a delicacy. |
Him: “Want one, miss?”
Me: “Uhhh… no? Go put those back at the table.”
Him: “No, miss, they’re turtle eggs. Want to try one?”
Me: “So what you’re saying to me is if I can eat this yolk, my moves will become the best in the whole world?”
Him: ...
Me, in my head:
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| eagle eggs, nacho libre. |
Yeah so anyway I said yes, and here’s what followed:
(sorry, there’s weird background noise. what can ya do.)
“Those eggs were a lie, Steven. A lie! They gave me no eagle powers! They gave me no nutrients.”
It was so gross. Apparently they were cooked in salt water, which made them extremely salty. It just tasted like pure salt that was actually goo because it was unsure of which form of matter to take. Nick also tried one from another student and said his wasn’t salty. So, luck of the draw, I suppose.
The eggs are boiled in water, softening the shell and making them safe to consume. You have to tear the shell open and just take a shot of whatever’s inside. I didn’t rip a big enough hole, so the yolk wouldn’t come out. Once it did, though, I spit it over the veranda. I can hear my mother’s voice saying, “nas-taaay”.
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| village at night. |
A few weeks ago we had an event at school called Under the Tree Music Showcase.
It was open for all students to perform any music they wanted. Some shared original songs, some played instruments, and many sang. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, my students are some of the most musically talented people I have ever and will ever meet.
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| hanging on campus. |
The event was so much fun. It always moves me to watch people share their talents. In a culture where praise is unheard of, it was awesome to give the students an opportunity to do what they love and then tell them how proud we are of them.
The choir performed many songs as well, including this a cappella arrangement of “Royals” by Lorde that I just thought turned out so well.
Per usual, I was in charge of the bake sale. What else is new. Next week, we have a STEM / Robotics showcase where I will lead my fourth and final school bake sale of the year. The one radio station on Yap has it reported as the end of an era.
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| my one true calling. |
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| fun fact: people here like to eat hot dogs with marshmallows. |
My time here is winding down, as is the internal engine in my fan.
It is accurate, I think, to say that I would not have survived this time in Yap without the small, electric fan that I brought with me. It’s been running for roughly fourteen hours a day for the past ten months, so I’m honestly shocked it’s still kicking. But it’s doing this thing now where, once it is turned on, the blades don’t spin unless I manually spin them at the start. So that’s where we are with that.
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| trees in maap. |
Announcement:
The school year is over! Aaaaand I hate that.
It’s really something special to know that I just taught high school for an entire school year. I’m sitting here thinking of my high school teachers, realizing I have, in a small way, joined their ranks. I had some good high school teachers, and I often think of them and their contributions to my life. It’s really cool to realize that what I’ve done this year holds that sort of weight or merit in another person’s life.
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| freshmen on the last day of classes |
Yesterday, after the last final exams, we spent about an hour and a half cleaning out the classrooms and making sure everything was in order. I weirdly love cleaning and organizing things, so this was great fun for me.
Afterwards, it was time for some goodbyes. Time to close up my classroom for the last time, to say goodbye to students who are going to the outer islands for the summer and won’t be at graduation. Time to hang up my title as “Miss”.
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| sophomores on the last day of classes. |
OBVIOUSLY I cried. But truly it was only a little bit. There’s just a few that get to you, you know? Like one sophomore on my basketball team. He’s the biggest kid in the school and he came and gave me a huge hug to tell me he’d miss me and my jokes and the impact I had on his life this year as a teacher and coach. Like, what do you do in that moment other than sob? I don’t know. That moment made this whole thing worth it. One kid, that’s what they say, that’s all it takes. Change one kid’s life and you’ve done your job. And I seriously doubt I've changed anyone's life here, but I know I've certainly impacted a few. I know I've done the job I came here to do, and there is so much satisfaction in that.
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| juniors on the last day of school. |
Once the school day was over, a few local members of the school board came with nuunuws and coconuts and beer and pizza to thank us for our time this year. It was really thoughtful and kind. I really enjoyed spending time with these people that we hardly get to see that keep the school running behind the scenes. We talked and laughed and ate and drank and then it was definitely time for a much needed nap.
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| with some of the sweetest freshmen girls on the last day of school. |
The coming days are going to be full of activities, and it will be so nice to continue to keep busy but only with things that are fun and not at all demanding.
Tonight, there is a concert in Tomil. I can only assume that means two guys with a synth and a speaker playing reggae, but we’ll see. Tomorrow, Tim (expat, host of Thanksgiving, mentioned a few times before) is hosing a barbecue at a beach park. He also invited a group of students from Queens University in NC that are here for a few weeks. We got to meet them and answer some questions about Yap for them a few nights ago, so it’ll be cool to see them again.
Except, you know what? Okay. I’ve never experienced this before but I know all my friends from Chicago get this all the time.
The other night when we met these North Carolinians, I introduced myself and of course I mentioned that I’m from Dallas. And this one guy immediately shouts, “wait, what city?” to which I OBVIOUSLY replied, “uhhh…Dallas?”
Him: “No, but like, what city do you actually live in?”
Me: “Dallas. I live in North Dallas.”
Him: “North of Dallas? Where?”
Me: “Nope. North Dallas. Like in Dallas, real Dallas. Dallas proper.”
Dallas does not at all sound like a real word anymore. Dallas, Dallas, Dallas.
So then later I went up to him and I was like hey are you from Dallas too? And he said, “Yeah, super close! Georgetown!”
And to be polite I was like “Oh, okay, cool!” but secretly I’ve never heard of Georgetown, TX. Or if I have I quickly forgot about it. IT’S LIKE TWO AND A HALF HOURS SOUTH OF DALLAS.
Anyway, that happened. I can't stop thinking about it.
Next week will be diving and bake sales and science fairs and concerts and beach days and graduation festivities. I will be sure to give a full report after the fun is all over.
And then that’ll about do it! I have 11 full days left here and I plan to make the most of them. Drives around the island, coconuts every single day, eating my favorite foods at my favorite places, hanging with neighbors in the village, daily sunrises and sunsets, and a couple of final hikes.
Stick around for one or two final posts. Much love to my people. I can’t wait to see you all oh, so soon!
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| sun setting over campus. |
The behhhst.
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