Cooks Islands Week 1 – Wedding Legalities and Preparation

We arrived to the Cooks Islands on Sunday, Dec 16 at 4:30PM…after having left New Zealand on Monday, Dec 17 at 11:30AM. It always throws one a bit back crossing the International Date Line, but there is something quite pleasing about getting to “re-live” the day you just finished. Our first night was a bit restless, anxiously awaiting the arrival of my mom, Joni, at 6AM the next morning. It has been over 6 months since we’ve seen our family, so we have been very excited for these few weeks over Christmas and New Year. My mom came a week early to spend some solo time and help with wedding preparations.

Getting Adopted By a Local Family

We were very pleased to find that the guest house we had chosen to stay at turned out to be a family affair. The house is formally owned by Mama Turi – a wonderful woman who became like a grandma to us. Mama usually lives on an outer island called Aitutaki, but was in Rarotonga for the holidays with her daughter, Edna, who lives and works as a nurse in Australia. Edna and my mom became great friends since they have so much in common with their work, children, etc.

The guest house is managed by Mama’s son Atua and his wife Mata, who stopped by every day to chat and bring bread from the family bakery. Mata helped us learn some of the local ways – such as harvesting, cleaning and cooking Tapioca root. She also graciously offered to make some of the leis for our wedding ceremony and found numerous other ways to spoil us and make us feel like part of the family. And because so many Cook Islanders were home for the holidays, family members were constantly dropping by to fill the house with activity and conversation. It’s was such a pleasure to be around a big family who welcomed us with open arms. We learned so much from our conversations with Edna, Mama, Atua and Mata about the island culture, ancestry ties and way of life. We couldn’t have planned it better!

Preparing For the Big Day

While we did have some down time for relaxing, hiking, swimming and sunbathing, we spent a good part of our first week on the island getting ready for the wedding ceremony on Jan 1. We had booked most everything online – so were hoping with fingers crossed that the arrangements would live up to our expectations. And we weren't disappointed! We stopped by the 5 beach houses we rented for the occasion and they are in a fabulous location on a lovely beach. There are BBQ areas, picnic tables, kayaks, snorkel gear and the houses are well equipped with kitchen stuff, TVs and DVDs, and even a small stereo. The best part are the wooden decks and dining tables that overlook the beach and the ocean. The setup is perfect for a memorable holiday and wedding!

We also met with the reception planner at Muri Beach Club Hotel where we would have our wedding dinner. The restaurant overlooks a lovely lagoon and a few small islands and has a nice beach. Our planner promised to set the ambiance with candles, a fine dining menu complete with cake and champagne, and tunes played by a local musician. This is also where Eric and I would spend our wedding night in a room looking out on the ocean!

And finally, mom was quite the trooper motor biking with me around the entire island and stopping at all the little shops and markets to look for some fun souvenirs to get for everyone – and a few goodies for ourselves too. We had only one little incident with the motorbike…when I ran us into a bush while turning (going at a very slow speed thank goodness) and we tipped over. I got a skinned knee and mom was a bit sore, but we recovered pretty well. After our little accident, we decided the first bike we had rented was too big and went and got me a smaller one that I could handle better. And I'm happy to say that with a bit more practice, I had no further run ins…though I did still make Eric (who’s a much better driver) take mom when the three of us would go for an outing.

Making It Legal

While we had hoped to have Eric’s dad, Jeff, do the legal and symbolic pieces of the wedding ceremony, we found out on our arrival that it would entail getting Jeff licensed in the Cook Islands...which is quite a complicated process. Therefore, we had to officially get married several days after our arrival (due to closing hours over the holidays and wanting the tax break from the US govt for 2007).

While filling out our marriage application at the Ministry of Justice, we had to basically beg the big boss woman to marry us since we had no idea how we were going to otherwise find someone ordained in our time frame. She was a grumpy old lady named Marie who gave us quite the hard time. But to our relief, she did agree to marry us and even cracked a brief smile and a joke – telling Eric he would need to clean up and shave before she’d marry us.

We needed two witnesses…we had my mom as one, and asked Edna at the guest house to be our second. And of course we also invited Mama Turi. They happily agreed to join in the ceremony and made the day very special for us. We had just planning to go in, say the legal vows, sign the papers and save the sentimental bit for the big wedding day. But Mama and Edna would not have it so.

Eric and I decided to buy me a simple white, linen dress for the occasion and we got Eric a proper island shirt complete with palm trees and beach scene. Mama made us flower leis – one for Eric and a head ei for me. And she made a chain of flowers for the car, which Edna decorated. The time was set for Thursday at 3PM. We spent the morning relaxing and contemplating the fact that we were about to legally “sign our lives away.” It was a stress free day…until about 15 mins before we needed to leave when we realized we had a few small alterations to my new dress. Mom saved the day with some needle and thread in record time and we were out the door and on the way.

When we arrived, we were escorted into a conference room with a long wooden table. Stoic Marie instructed us to sit across from her with one witness on each side…Mama Turi took a seat at the end of the table to observe from a distance. After the very formal introduction, we were asked to rise, clasp right hands and repeat a series of very serious and legal sounding vows (e.g., “I solemnly declare there is no legal reason to my knowledge that I should not marry you”). We were overcome with emotion at the importance of this moment, but also couldn't help cracking a smile at the contrast of the very legal sounding vows to the very personal ones we planned to say to each other on Jan 1. We laughed, we got a bit teary, we exchanged rings, we embraced, and of course Eric kissed his bride (even though Marie didn’t instruct to do so). Mama Turi was streaming tears at the end of the table, and of course so were my mom and Edna…and I think Marie was even pleased to see that we took our commitment seriously. We signed the paperwork, got the international stamps to make it legal worldwide and completed the “official” part of our marriage.

To celebrate, we went out for lunch at a nice restaurant on the beach with stunning views – and we took a dozen more photos. It was perfect. After a quick rest at home, we finished off the day with an “island night” at a local restaurant. We had an island feast and watched a show of island dancing – even got up to do some dancing myself with our guest house host Atua, who had stopped by with some family members. It was a wonderful and very special day.

And this day made us even more excited for our “real” wedding day when we will be surrounded by family and friends, saying our own personal vows, with my dad walking me down our beach aisle, Eric’s dad performing a more spiritual and meaningful ceremony, and of course getting to wear my more fancy wedding dress! Updates and dozens more photos to come so stay tuned!

New Zealand Round I (North of Auckland)

The countdown is on - we have less than three weeks to go until D-Day (i.e., our wedding). Mariah and I have been enjoying a little R&R in the north island of New Zealand - trying to stretch out after our stint in Micronesia and before we jump head first into the next 3 months in the South Pacific and married life. Since we've never had the opportunity to explore the beautiful beaches north of Auckland, we took our time to explore the scenic coast and large Kauri forests.

We've spent the last week touring around in our Toyota clown car exploring both the paved and gravel roads all over the "land's end" region north of Auckland. We started our adventure driving through the wine country and coastal regions up to Whangerei, a nice scenic beach community just south of the Bay of Islands. We were unlucky to find the region covered in black clouds and blowing rain, but made the best of a bad situating. In Whangerei, we found a nice hostel that was hosting their annual Christmas party and were able to take part in the festivities. We enjoyed meeting the locals that supported the YHA hostel and happily indulged in their gifts of food and drink.

After chilling out for 2 days - we were stalled due to locking our keys in the car and the bad weather - we headed out for Cape Reinga (the most northern point of NZ). The trip up the small spit of land extending 100km was partially paved and was windswept due to the convergence of the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean. We had a great time taking turns driving and exploring the little towns and amazing scenery on our drive up. We even picked up a hitch hiker on the way back - an American lady from Hawaii who had been "WWOOFing" in NZ for the last three months (WWOOF - World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms is a group you can join and work 4hrs on the local farm in exchange for room and board). I think when we return, we may do this as well to meet some interesting people and save some cash - check out the link above

Due to the large amount of rain and rich soil on the North Island, it is a perfect environment for the rare Kauri trees to grow. Many of these enormous trees are thousands of years old and are surrounded by ancient Maori traditions and myths. Mariah and I had a nice time hiking on a few different forest trails while brainstorming and discussing how we might be able to turn some of our experiences and photos from our round-the-world trip into a book or more interactive travel website that could be a resource for others. We've actually spent a lot of time brainstorming different ideas and topics throughout our travels - it's a good way to keep our minds active and dreaming, and to get to know and challenge one another.

When we stayed overnight on the West Coast, we found a small, unique shop called the Labyrinth Woodworks at the entrance to a gorgeous (& muddy) hike up to a waterfall. We were greeted by the proprietors Louis and Sue - old hippies of sorts who enjoy working at their shop nestled in a little valley surrounded by beautiful forest, and their clan of chickens and peacocks. Louis spent most of the time stumping us with fun brainteasers and teaching us about the world of puzzles and games that exist around the world. Just take a look at the website (click above) to learn more. We even picked up a game to pass the time in the Cooks if rain keeps us indoors (which we hope it doesn't!).

We are now ready to finally meet up with family and friends in the Cook Islands and take the plunge. Our wedding vows are ready, and more importantly, we are ready to promise them to each other. Our adventures have been amazing so far - and the wedding marks our half-way point on the trip. Mariah and I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and will keep you all updated on our time in the Cooks, the wedding and our future trip plans after the first of the year. We should have pics up soon after the wedding (which is officially Jan 1, 2008). And don't forget to cheer on our USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl on Jan 1st - Go Trojans!

Eric and Mariah

Impressions of Micronesia

After 6 weeks in Micronesia, we were able to take away some interesting learnings about several aspects of the culture and world views. As we usually do when we leave a region, we wanted to share with you a few of our impressions and learnings...


Connection With the USA

• Yap and Palau before World War II were both occuppied by the Japanese (and before that, the Germans). From what we gathered, the Japanese occupation in Yap was much more brutal than in Palau and for this reason, many Yapese greatly dislike the Japanese. In Palau, it seems as if the Japanese respected the people a bit more and worked alongside them (instead of enslaving and killing them), so the people there feel more neutral towards the Japanese. In Palau, there are still many Japanese tourists and they have received a great deal of Japanese monetary gifts to build roads and other public works.


• After WWII, the Americans "liberated" (as the Yapese say) the islands from the Japanese. Palau is now its own free country and Yap is a state in the Federated States of Micronesia. Both are still heavily influenced by the US and continue to receive a good deal of US financial aid to support their economies. Palauans and Yapese both have special rights to visit, live and work in the US (basically, they can come/go as they like) and have the same access as Americans to US univerisities, job corps, the military, etc. As a result, many islanders do study, visit, work and live in the US at some point in their lives. Americans also have the same access to the islands and can stay (and even work) as long as we want without a visa. A good number of the expat community on the islands we met were Americans - either divers, Peace Corps, or American attorneys on foreign contracts.


• While we still did encounter the usual anti-Bush and anti-Iraq sentiment from a number of islanders that we have in other countries, most people are pretty pro-American due to the influence of US government, US financial-aid, American consumerism, movies/music/TV, etc.

The People, Culture and Traditions

• The local people we encountred in both Palau and Yap were very friendly and polite - always sure to wave and say hello as we passed by. They are quite relaxed and very laid back individuals - hanging out, chatting, and chewing betel nut to pass by the morning, afternoon, or evening is a favorite pasttime. While the people are very friendly, they are also quite shy and private - beyond basic conversations, they are not likely to expand on their personal lives or opinions.


• Local food in both countries is quite similar - a lot of fish, taro root, tapioca root, coconut, rice, bananas, pinapple, papaya, etc. In addition to what can be found locally, Westernization has brought plenty of canned and processed food with long shelf lives for island living...so Spam, hotdogs, Spagettios, pasta, etc. are easily come by and growing in popularity. In addition, Western living has meant more cars, office jobs and fewer islanders living a traditional lifestyle. One consequence of all this is an increase in obesity, which means diabetes, heart problems and other kinds of health issues are a major problem.


• We found local traditions in Yap to be more pronounced than in the more developed Palau, but both island groups still have a strong sense of their island cultures. People are very proud of their traditional dress, dances, rituals, arts (such as canoe building and carving) and will annually celebrate their heritage. For example, in March there is a 3-day "Yap Day" celebration that brings in hundreds of Yapese, outer islanders and even some foreigners. On the outer islands of Yap (and to some extent on the main island), people still go topless and wear the traditional "lava-lavas" for women and "thus" (i.e., loin cloths) for men. To read a bit more about Yap culture click here. To read a bit more about Palau culture click here.


• Education on the islands is improving, but not yet at the standard of many Western nations. Many teachers do not have degrees and the courses, from what we were told, are not extremely rigorous. In fact, we were quite surprised to find that on Palau, there was only 1 small bookstore at the community college that had a total of maybe 100 books. In Yap, they are seeking to raise the bar and get accreditted by the American board of education, but still have some work to do. Despite this, a number of Micronesian students do go on to community college in Micronesia and some attend university or go into job corps abroad - usually in Guam or the US.


• The last tidbit we wanted to share with you, mainly about Yap, is the continuing existence of a strong caste system and the power of the chiefs. In their government, The Council of Chiefs (the 4th branch of government alongside the President, the House, and the Senate) hold as much or more weight than the other powers. No law gets passed without approval from the island chiefs, who continue to be greatly respected and obeyed within their villages and on the islands overall. The caste system we were told originated many years ago from India. To this day, the caste you are born into will determine your place in the village traditions, how others in the village will treat you, etc. While those of low caste still have access to education and employment, if they truly want to get ahead, they must choose to get their degrees and work overseas. For example, someone of a higher caste will often refuse to work under someone of lower caste - even if the lower caste person is more educated and qualified. It was difficult to learn the true ins and outs of how this system continues to function, but we were certainly made aware it did exist.

Religous Beliefs

• The Spanish missionaries began making their mark many years ago on these islands followed by the Germans and a number of others. As a result, the bulk of Palauns and Yapese have converted to some form of Christianity. There continues to be a strong missionary presence from a number of religions including Catholic, Prostestant, Seventh Day Adventist, Jahovah Witness and Mormon - all vying for the Yapese souls. Our friend Dieter put it well - "Considering there are fewer than 11,000 people in all of Yap and outer islands, what is the price of a Yapese soul?" Some Yapese and Palauns are devout in their religion and beliefs. Others are swayed by the changing tides and the enticing offers of the missionaries (free food, education, special benefits, etc.). And from what we were told, regardless of the religion that many islanders claim, many still practice some of their traditional ways. Those traditions might include a trip to the shaman or witch doctor to get rid of evil spirits, to connect with ancestors, or even to heal a medical ailment. This is more common with the older generations, but certainly aspects of these traditions and beliefs will continue to be passed down and mixed and matched with more modern religions.


• Another side effect of the missionaries we feel we must mention is the way in which it has changed and altered the traditional way of life on the islands. One of our tour guides expressed his frustration at how many missionaries insisted that the islanders must not only convert, but must also live in exactly their way. He himself was a Christian, but said he did't think he had to change his entire way of life to believe and worship God. Sadly, the approach of many missionaries did not always respect traditional lifestyles - and God aside - instead of altering their lifestyle to fit the way of the islands, they insisted the islands alter their way of life to fit Western ways.

Marriage and Relationships

• Since we ourselves are preparing to embark on life-long commitment, we thought it would be interesting to ask the islanders how marriage works in their cultures. While there are differences between Palau and Yap, in general, we found that marriage (and especially a wedding) is not as big of a deal as it is in the US. Sometimes, but not as often now, arranged marriages occur. Marriage ceremonies are simple, if they happen at all. Pretty much, the fathers and/or uncles of the bride and groom must declare the marriage is official, a dowry is paid by the groom's family to the bride's, and the bride moves in with the groom.


• Dating in Yap is a very private affair, happening after hours where the couple can't be seen, on dark back roads, or by text messaging. It is not uncommon or looked down upon for Yapese women to have children before they are married, and the kids are often cared for by the family. As far as committment, we heard different things. Some said marriage was taken seriously. Others claimed that affairs are not at all uncommon.


• Again, it seemed the whole topic of male/female relationships and marriage was a bit complicated, so we can only provide the surface explanation of what we heard through the grape vine of local and expat conversations and rumors. In every country we've visitied, we certainly have learned that relationships and marriage are approached very differently all around the world.

The Future

A couple excerpts of what locals told us...

• "I want to go to community college in Yap and then to University in Kentucky. I like the sound of the same of that state, and I have family there. Then I want to come back to Yap and live here, maybe start my own business on the island."


• "I'm concerned about the growing Western influence and loss of traditional ways and culture in Yap. I feel like we are a spoiled child to the US. Instead of sending people to help us learn how to make our economy more self-sufficient, they just keep giving us more money. I think we need to be allowed to fail and make mistakes and learn to stand on our own two feet. My ideal future would be Yap returning to more traditional ways (work, food, building, etc.) and becoming self-sustaining with everything we have on the island - like we used to be many years ago. Our interaction with the outside world would be for the purpose of trade."


• "I fear the big developers of Asia coming to Peleliu (Palau) to make the island a resort island. Some chiefs and people are supportive of the idea - thinking it will bring in money and make them rich. I, and others, are against it because we think it will ruin the island's culture and relaxed atmosphere. I think the money will go more into the pockets of the developers than to the locals, and would prefer to see the island's tourism grow organically and locally."

Relaxing in Yap

Yap, ahh, Yap. This place was a little paradise for us - an oasis of comfort and enjoyment after 5 months of hardcore travel. After only 25 days here, we felt like we’d been here for years. For those who may not be familiar with Pacific Ocean geography, Yap is a small group of islands in the Federated States of Micronesia, south east of the Philippines. We read about this place in the book “1,000 Places to See Before you Die” and were intrigued by its preservation of traditional culture and giant manta rays.

We weren’t sure what to expect before we arrived – didn’t know if we’d be reduced to complete boredom with almost a month here, or find we'd never want to leave. Our experience was somewhere in between - perhaps we couldn’t stay here our whole lives, but we certainly had no problem enjoying a month here and probably could have been pretty content here for much longer.

Overall, our experience in Yap was a mix of local culture, expat culture and “recharging our travel batteries." We were very intentional in our first few days to get out and meet people so we could get integrated and involved in the local scene. Since we have experienced quite a lot in the past month, and don’t want to bore you with the day to day, we will share our highlights with you...

Island Lifestyle
Pretty early on, we had to adjust to what is widely known as “island” time. Island life moves significantly slower than the Western world, especially the USA. At first, you feel a bit of guilt for being so unproductive – sleeping in everyday, spending lots of time just hanging out, watching movies, reading a book, meandering around town, etc. But after awhile, you can feel yourself finally starting to relax – learning to go with the flow and actually enjoy the rest from a faster pace of life.

Now, the downside with island time is that nothing is ever really on time, and planning and scheduling is pretty much ad hoc. We had originally hoped to catch the local ship to the outer islands (why we planned so much time here), but the ship’s schedule wasn’t determined until just before our arrival and we missed the boat by 3 days. And of course, they didn’t have a schedule for the next trip yet. In Yap, you just kinda have to wait around and hope that things will fall into place. Unfortunately for us, it didn’t work out to go farther afield, but not to worry, we found plenty of nothing to fill our time and enjoy the main island. :)

The other thing you learn about island life is that the weather is a huge determining factor in what you can, and can’t do. When we found we couldn’t go to the outer islands by ship, we decided to try to go by the small missionary plane. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. On the day of our flight, a small tropical storm was forming and we couldn’t fly. Weather also played a role in our hiking, biking and kayaking plans...meaning we either couldn't go when planned, or we got wet and muddied. Don’t be mistaken, there was a lot of sun and it was HOT here, but torrential downpours did have a way of creeping up on you just when you planned to do something active.

And the last point to mention about island life...what you can and can not buy depends on what the ship brings in. And ships don't always come frequently. This means the island may go for 2 months without flour (as when we were there) or other food and retail goods. And at times, you have an abundance of random goods. You just have to learn to make do with what you have, improvise, and learn the tricks of the locals on using local food and products for all your needs.

Hanging With the Local Youth

On our second day in Yap, we volunteered to help out one of the high school classes to build a Koiang (a traditional hut for hanging out and relaxing). We learned to peel betel nut trees for the floor boards, construct the frame from large bamboo poles and weave palm leaves to make shingles for the roof. Most the students were about 17, so we chatted a lot about pop culture, school and a bit about Yap culture.

While the boys were a bit on the shyer side, we did have a good connection with a couple of the girls – Jerlyn and Zillah. They invited us to meet them in town later that week for lunch after school and we ended up meeting them every Friday for lunch. We also went to their village on two Saturdays to hang out. The first Saturday we had a picnic lunch at the sea shore before attending their Catholic church service. It was very interesting to attend a local church service in Yapese. While we didn’t understand too much of what they were saying, it was fun to observe the combination of Catholic traditions with local ones; for example, the altar boys wore traditional Yapese dress and the priest had a flower lei made for him.

The following Saturday, we invited some expat (foreign) friends and the girls invited some of their friends to meet again at the sea shore for a picnic with local food, swimming, football and hanging out. Since we didn’t have as much of an opportunity as we had hoped to mix with the traditional culture and go to the outer islands, it was nice to have a chance to get to know some of the local teens.

Yap Traditions and Customs
We learned many things about Yap's culture while staying here and would be happy to share more details with anyone interested. Here are just a few cool tidbits...

• The Island of Stone Money - All across the island, you will find huge, flat stone slabs with a hole in the center known as stone money. The money was brought to the island from Palau by Yapese ancestors and its value is determined not only by size, but by the story of its journey to the island (e.g., how difficult it was to get it to Yap, how many people died in transporting it). Since the US dollar is now the formal currency in Yap, one would think stone money would be something of the past, not just a decoration...not so. These stones still retain much value to the islanders and are still used to pay debts, exchanged between families or villages as payment, etc. This doesn't mean they pick up the stones and deliver them to each other. Usually, they just tell the other party where the money is and it's agreed that the ownership has changed hands. There is even stone money at the bottom of the ocean you can see while scuba diving. And yes, even this money is still owned and has value. Pretty cool.
  
• Betel Nut - These little green nuts (about the size of a large grape, but hard shell) are all the rage on the island. The locals chew them constantly - you split them in half, pick out the middle, pour in a bit of lime (crushed coral) powder and maybe a bit of tobacco soaked in vodka and wrap them in a small piece of pepper leaf and then chew them. The effect is a light buzz and very red spit. For most islanders, this is a life-long habit that eventually turns your teeth red and then black. But they LOVE it! I, however, was not such a fan!



• Men's Houses - Most major villages have a men's house - a large house made from island materials (see the many photos we have of these). The houses are used primarily for meetings or hanging out, and in the past adolescent boys went through a number of traditional coming of age rituals here. And of course, no girls aloud.
  

Scuba Diving
We were lucky to work out a good deal with a local dive shop - Beyond the Reef - because of our extended stay and did about 10 dives while in Yap. While the diving here is not as spectacular as Palau (due in part to Typhoon Sudal in 2004 - the corals are slowly growing back and should be more amazing within a few years), the island does have some really neat sea life. The most notable feature of Yap diving is the gigantic Manta Rays that frequent the natural cleaning stations. We saw a few of them while diving and they are quite majestic creatures. There are also a ton of reef sharks - on one dive we saw a school of 15 baby reef sharks. And there are also the extremely tiny, but colorful, mandarin fish who come out of the corals at dusk to mate. We did a special dive just to observe their little romantic dance and it was pretty amazing. We took our camera on most dives, so to see some of what we saw in the deep blue, check out our photos.




A Little Slice of Home
After so many months on the road, you begin to miss some of the little things that make home, home. While in Yap, we were able to have many of our little cravings satisfied and get fully re-charged for the next leg of our journey.

We rented our own little apartment for the month and had our own kitchen to cook (and bake - 3 cakes!). They even sold some American favorites at the store, so we had Mac&Cheese, tacos, pancakes, and spaghetti. Plus, our friend Dieter cooked us lasagna and chicken curry! We had a TV and dvd player and caught up on new releases and old favorites - we probably watched 30+ movies! We got into a regular workout routine (have to get in shape for our wedding!) and worked out almost everyday for an hour and went to the island's sport complex a number of times.

We had our own pack of dogs just outside the apartment - "Queen Bitch" as she's called was the ruler of the pack, her cute puppy "Meaty" was another favorite and the third wheel was "Tuna." They were there to greet us and love us up every time we came home...and of course we had to feed them our dinner scraps.

We even had an American family to hang out with to watch football (got to see the USC football game on Thanksgiving day!), have home cooked meals with on occasion, and were even invited to their Thanksgiving feast that included all the traditional trimmings - turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and pumpkin and pecan pie, YUM!

A Busy Social Life
Yap has a small, but close-knit, expat community (expat = foreigner who has left their own country to live either permanently or temporarily in a foreign country). The biggest town in Yap is Colonia with a population of around 1,100...just one main street with a few businesses and small hotels. Within the first week, we had met a good number of the foreigners living on the island and developed a great group of friends. This was one of our favorite aspects of our time on the island - actually staying somewhere long enough to get to know people. We attended and hosted a number of dinner parties, went out every Friday night dancing, had regular drinks at the Mnuw (the bar in an old ship at the Manta Ray Bay Hotel), and a variety of other social activities. We met many great friends on the island...

• Matt and Seema - an awesome couple from Indiana who we often shared meals with and who shared our love for the three dogs who lived at our apartments, especially the cute puppy they named "Meaty"
  
  
• The Hermes family - who became our surrogate family from Minnesota. There is Rick and Cindy and their three teenage boys Chris (age 14) and Chuck and Tony (identical twins age 17). We spent many afternoons watching football at their house and Cindy and I would chat for hours.



• Garrett - a former Peace Corps member who decided to stick around after his assignment (island life is a bit addictive). This guy is virtually a local and is the person to know to figure out anything you want to do/see on the main or outer islands.
  
  
• Brian and Bri - a couple raised on islands (Hawaii and Marshall Islands) who we actually bumped into in Palau. Thanks to their advice and contacts, we were able to get to know people quickly.


• Jan - from Belgium, but raised in Africa. Jan manages the Manta Ray Bay Hotel dive shop and while he is a work horse, he always finds time for a glass of red wine and a nice chat in the evenings. Not to mention his knack for demonstrating his own style of "African" dancing late on Friday nights ;)
  
  
• Arild - from Norway and our happy hour buddy at the Mnuw.
  
• Dieter and Minnie - Dieter is from Austria and formerly managed another local dive shop, but currently works as an architect on the island. He is an amazing cook and often the life of the party. Minnie, his girlfriend, is from the Philippines and is one of the sweetest people on the island.



• Claus, Richard and Evie - All friends visiting Dieter while we were there. Claus from Germany and Richard and Evie from Austria. We enjoyed their company at dinner parties, nights out on the island and diving.
  

We will truly miss the friends we made on Yap and sincerely hope we will cross paths with them again. If it hadn't been for them, our time there would not have been nearly as enjoyable or memorable! In fact, sitting here writing this blog in New Zealand, we already are missing our little Yap home.