I’ve always been an adventurer and I have really enjoyed traveling. I’ve been here and there in the United States. I’ve traveled down to Nicaragua and driven up to Canada, but one place I’ve never been is an island. My aunt is the world traveler in our family, so when narrowing down my choices for JBIP, I wanted them to be places my aunt had never been before. The final three were India and Nepal, South Africa, and of course, Yap. When I had to list my first choice, it was easy. I knew I would most likely; probably never travel to Yap on my own. I wanted a place where I wouldn’t be walking around a museum and looking at art all day. I can do that here in Charlotte. Yap has a brand new experience for me to encounter.
Finding out I got accepted as a traveler of this trip was one of the best days (it was also a bonus that the class was going to be on campus instead of the 5th Street Campus where all my nursing classes are held). I wanted to know everything we were going to do; what we were going to see and eat, but that had to wait for an entire summer and Fall Semester. Going into this class, I didn’t know too much about Yap, except it is an island that no one knew where it was located and that it has really cool stone money. I try not to go into brand new experiences with expectations, because every group is different and the experience is unique and changes with each person. I honestly had no idea what we were going to learn about. Culture, values, food….. those were my top picks. I didn’t think I was going back to 5th grade science class where we learned about the Earth’s make-up or how there is such a thing as a tropical dry forest (they say you learn something new every day)! The culture of Yap has been the most influential thing I’ve learned about. In our interview I remember being asked if I’ve been anywhere with a different culture than we have in United States. I was able to answer that I had been to Nicaragua where their culture was much different than ours. They are very quiet people, so they do not shout or talk loudly. If two people are talking, it is rude to walk in between those two. I know I’m probably going to do something that is not culturally acceptable, but I’ll learn from it (and never ever do it again).
Being able to translate all that we learn in this class to what we see/experience on Yap is such an amazing thing. Each day that goes by is one day closer to our departure date! I personally don’t think that the reality will hit me until we land in Yap at who knows what time on who knows what day. Until that day, I will continue to learn about the ecosystem, the political structure, the Gatchpar Village and much more.
Queens University of Charlotte - Yap 2013 