Really Yap
Harm en Cindy op reis
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Really Yap
Yap impressed us a lot, we have no idea where to start. Image a very small island. A small, tropical island with palm trees, flowers, sun and beautiful beaches. Image people walking around topless, wearing traditional clothes. Image that these people are proud to receive you on their island.... that is Yap!
The betelnut chewing
A travel journal on Yap should start with betelnuts! In several countries (like Indonesia and India) you see people chewing nut and spitting. You also find this at Yap. Yap actually is the center of chewing, they export a lot to surrounding countries. No-one at Yap does not chew. Children start at the age of 12 and the elderly people using tools when they have to teeth left. It is not only the betelnut they chew. They add pepperleaf, lime (processed coral) and often tobacco. The local people told us that chewing activates the brains. After three betelnuts you have to think over your problems and you come up with great ideas. Your brains become more active, which makes you more active as well. Shortly, when you chew all day, you can work and keep focus all day. We read that chewing indeed increased the bloodflow in your brains. The first thing you feel, is that you head get really hot. Next, your mouth starts to burn because of the lime. Finally, the rest of your body get involved and you feel lightly stoned. It works for a short period (5 to 10 minutes), so you have to chew a lot to keep it working. The fact is that the people get more active cannot be confirmed by us or they are even more laid back...
We made a short movie that explains the chewing:
We shall explain the process using some pictures as well:
Step 1: If you loop at a betelnut, you see a small hat. You have to bite this off. You should swallow the juice that comes out of the nut. |
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| Step 2: Put the betelnut between your teeth and break it in two. Watch the nice juice again. |  |
| Step 3: Get a piece of peperleaf and put the nut inside. You can also wrap it up and put it in the nut. |  |
| Step 4: get the lime and put some of it in the nut. The more lime, the bigger the efect. Ps: the more lime, the more it burns in your mouth. So be careful, we are experienced (see Cindy's movie). |  |
| Step 5: A lot of people also put in a third of a cigaret (a third Harm!). This seems to improve the taste. |  |
| Step 6: Wrap it all up so you can put it in your mouth easily. |  |
| Step 7: start chewing! You have to chew to create a reacting of all the ingredients. When you do well, you get a nice red mixture in your mouth. When you do it a lot, you also get red teeth. |  |
| Step 8: Do not swallow the juices! You always have to have a spit can available (Harm! see movie). Chew, spit, chew, spit, chew, spit, etcetera |  |
| Step 9: Get the red stuff out of your mouth and add some more lime. Chew, spit, chew, spit until all juices are out of the nut. Next, you get a new nut and start with step 1 again! |  |
Another movie:
Everywhere you are at Yap; everybody is chewing! In restaurants, in the car, at work and even at the airplane! Often they start atelling stories with a nut in their mouth. People, we do really not understand you! And it looks disgusting since the juices result in red teeth and red lips. Furthermore, we are amazedthat communicating with them is very tough, although they speak English! The only explanation we can come up with is the fact that they are chewing and are stoned all day!
The lime factory
One of the most important jobs are the island are of course involved with chewing, the lime producer. We arranged a visit to a lime factory. Somewhere far away, in the middle of the woods we met Stan the Lime man. He explain the lime production process. First, of course, you have to harvest the coral. They use so-called antler coral, which grows very fast (according to their sayings). They really need a lot of coral for producing lime, 30 baskets (see picture) for 15 cans (8x8x8 inch) of lime. The biggest threat is not to the coral, but to the mangrove trees. For these 15 cans of lime, the have to harvest 8 big mangrove trees. The process works as follows:
- Crush the coral to smaller pieces so they fit in the baskets;
- Chop and saw the mangrove tree to small pieces;
- Make a big fire and put the coral on top;
- Het koraal in manden doen en besprenkelen met zout water;
- When the fire goes out, repeat the previous two steps. In total, the coral is heated for 20 to 22 hours;
- Put the coral for 15 minutes in wooden cans: the coral powders automatically;
- Filter the coral to get out the large (unusable) pieces;
- Put the good powder (so the lime) in cans and bring them to the shops or export them.
 The baskets with coral |
 The oven |
Stone money
Apart from diving, Yap is most know for its stone money. Ages ago, the heroes of Yap used their canoes to go over to other islands, mainly Palau. Their, in exchange for labour, betelnuts (duh) and other valuables, they were allowed to cut out big pieces of rock from the mountains (limestone). In the first place, the stones were cut in the shap of fishes, but since the people did not like this they became full moons. To be able to handle the rocks, holes were made in their center. Put a stick throguh and the stone can be picked up by several strong men! (well, very strong men). The stones were put on the canoe and a five hour trip was make to cross the ocean to Yap. A lot of people, canoes and rocks were lost. The stones that arrived in Yap, were very valuable. The more work it took, the more valuable they were. A big stone is harder to handle, so more valuable as well. Nowadays, people use US dollars to pay each other, but the stone money kept its value. It is mainly used for ceremonies like marriage or when buying land. You can also still use it for buying goods. Suppose, we have stone money and want to buy a flight ticket, then this is still possible at Yap! The stones are no longer moved around but are collected at the villages in "stone money banks". We wanted to buy a stone and send it home as a souvenir, but this is way too expensive :-)
 A traditional canoe |
 The money of a village |
 A stone money bank |
 Better than a big one... |
Community house
Every village has a community houde, which is a common posession. Next to the house, the stone money is presented. The more money, the richer the village. So not confuse the community house for a mens house. They look similar (although the mens house has walls), but the serve different goals. The community house is used for meetings where both men and women are present. Think of community meetings, parties, worships and for having a nice time and chew some betelnuts.
 A community house |
Mens houses
Mens houses are always located at the coast. A mens house is as it is called, only for men. They gather early in the morning to discuss the work for that day. The house is mainly used by fishermen. Because fishing is dangerous, they first have to clear their mind. They leave the house as soon as the navigator (leader) tells so. By the way, this can take days, weeks, months or even years. The men are readt for the big trip as soon as they do no longer smell at their own wife. It is dangerous for the godess of the see to smell the land wifes and get jealous! After work, the opposite happens: the men wash themselves to get rid of the smell of the sea. There wives should not know about the maitresse at sea!
 A mens house |
The mens houses are the center of a lot of historical stories. It used to be a tridition that men from a mens house kidnapped the most beautiful woman of an other village. They did this to show the village how bad they protect their women. In other words: to show them that their own village is stronger. The woman was kidnapped and put in the mens house, in her own room. She lived here and had to provide "entertainment". In return, she received the best food and drinks in the village. Asking for more details on the entertainment we hear different stories; from music to rape. When the woman got pregnant making music, it was unknown who wsa the father of the unborn child. In that case, she was allowed to pick a single man from the village of the mens house. The only demand was that this man owned a canoe and a house. Next, the woman was put on a canoe overloaded with food, lavalavas and other valuables. The canoe was pushed in the direction of her own village and the woman had to return later for a regular marriage. No discussion took place; the woman has a normal life and the chosen bachelor is threaded as the real father (what do you mean, a cover?).
pathways
Our hotel is named after the stone pathways that you can find all over Yap. These ancient roads were created for interconnecting the villages. The pathways are small and can only be travelled by foot. This makes sense, since no other means of transportation could be found at the island, like horses. It is very nice to walk the pathways and cross palm trees and banana bushes. By the way, Yap lacks dangerous animals like snakes of poisonous spiders, so you can walk without any fear. The only demand when crossing the pathways is that you carry a big leaf. In this way, you show respect to the villagers. As you can see on the pictures, it is very hard to find a leaf in Yap...
 A pathway |
 Carry a leaf to show respect |
Private property
Except for a few main roads, the entire country is private. For tourists (bt also for the locals), this means that you need to have permission. When, for example you want to walk to a village or have a swim at a beach, you have to arrange this first. In most cases, you have to pay a few bucks. By the way, it is not about the money. When you are lucky (like we were), when visiting a private beach you are offered a free barbecue meal and a beer!