running in a skirt

St. Cecilia had its track and field days this week. Two days of too much sun and a lot of small children running. It’s always an exciting time for the students. The staff and students divide up the school into 4 color teams: red, yellow, blue, and green, and compete against each other in sprinting, relays, tug o war, etc.

For me, track and field brings to light some experiences in Chuuk that, after being here so long, now seem like I grew up with them. For example:

1-At sporting events mothers of participants often dance outrageously in front of the crowd to express support or approval for their kids. This is often cheered on by the team.

2-All children run barefoot.

3-Girls run in skirts, sometimes two skirts, with shorts underneath.

4-Adults wear long sleeves in tropical weather, use towels, pieces of fabric, and cardboard to shield them from the intense sun.

5-Everyone and everything is covered in mud. No one complains.

Track and Field included all these things for us this year and it felt familiar. So did the expectation for me and all women to constantly wear a skirt. Chuukese women are always expected to wear skirts- sleeping, swimming, running, cleaning- it all happens in a skirt. For me, this expectation physically represents a more pervasive limited mobility of women here.

I wear a skirt every day. I can wear shorts inside my apartment but if I am going outside, even if it is only to the store, I put a skirt on. Last year for track and field I remember asking the some Chuukese faculty if I could wear shorts. “Oh yes, Cait-leen, you can wear them under your skirt.”

So again this year for track and field I anticipated my skirt over shorts wardrobe. When it came time for the staff relay I joined by co-workers, kicked off my sandals, and ran barefoot in a skirt with the rest of them.