Apr 21 2008

Last week ended with Eliza playing the fake idol at council and becoming the first of this season’s jury members. Back at camp, the players ask Jason about the fake idol, and he is just glad Eliza played it instead of him since he doesn’t want to look stupid. Cirie says that if it had worked, losing Ozzy might not have been such a bad thing. Jason interviews that Ozzy fooled him with the idol, but at least it feels good to have beaten Ozzy in the first immunity challenge. He says that Ozzy is not the only god-like competitor on the island. Of course he isn’t, Jason. There’s always Cirie. Don’t sleep on her…

THE CHALLENGE

Jeff tells them there will be two teams of four. Each team sends one member out to swim through a tunnel and over to a platform to study the arrangement of Micronesian symbols on a board. They have to race back and put the puzzle pieces on their own board in the exact same position, but there are extra pieces to throw them off their game. The winning team will receive a plane ride to Yap, a “Micronesian Island,” where they will take part in a feast, see a traditional tribal dance, and spend the night in a traditional Bai (I spelled like Thai food, which I like…) which is usually reserved for the Head Micronesian in Charge (HMC). They draw for team captains, and Jason and Natalie win. Teams are chosen, and Cirie is left to go to Exile Island. The team of Jason, Ozzy, Amanda and Erik beats the team of Natalie, James, Parvati and Alexis. Team #1 heads off to Yap, while Team #2 heads back to camp. On the plane, Erik says he’s never heard of Yap, much like no one has ever heard of the town he’s from. I Googled it. Sure enough, Yap is the southernmost tip of the Micronesian islands, and it’s known (…to whom???) as the mysterious isle of stone and money. There you go, Erik.

Once they get to Yap, they are greeted by Francis and his kids (or grandkids, couldn’t tell). He takes them to the village. The whole time, Erik is in such awe of being west of 57th Street he looks like a deer caught in headlights. This village is even more of a culture shock to Erik than, let’s see, uh….a deserted island with no food, shelter or running water. Anyhooo, a feast is spread out family reunion style. I swear I spotted some bbq chicken. Guess the southernmost tip of Micronesia has a Safeway.

The guys are offered some betel nuts for their baskets. They are told it’s good for warming up. Not temperature wise, but getting high. I don’t think Erik quite understood that, because he was knocking back Micronesian beer and betel nuts like he was at the club. Erik is also embarrassed to see that all of the Micronesian women go topless. He over shares that he was trying to eat his food, but the lunch lady didn’t have a shirt on. Most boobs he’s ever seen. A little too much information, Erik. That night, after everyone settles in for bed, Erik jumps up and upchucks all of his beer and betel nuts. Now he has a Micronesian hang-over. If they had a Safeway, I’m sure they had a CVS…

Over on Exile Island, since Ozzy has the immunity idol, Cirie is just sitting in a cave while it storms, thinking up ways to de-throne Jim Jones…

Back at the Dabu camp, as the ladies sleep, James is up early cutting wood to keep the fire going. Yeah, it’s a little noisy, but at least he is doing something. With no help whatsoever. Parvati wakes up and tells James that they are trying to sleep and she feels he’s being a little obnoxious. James gets up and walks away, saying “I’m maintaining the fire pretty much all night to keep the mosquitoes off of their asses, and Parvati tells me I’m disrupting their sleep, then lays her ass back down. That’s some nerve. See how much more I take before I curse somebody out.” Oooh, I can’t wait. I hope that’s in the next episode!

The others come back from their night on Yap. James says they look hung-over, especially Erik. Ya think? As is usual, the team that comes back doesn’t want to say too much about all of the food and fun, but Erik details every dish, right down to the teriyaki I thought was BBQ sauce. James pulls Amanda aside and tells him that Parvati is tripping. Amanda says she’s not so sure they can trust Parvati anymore. Jason just knows he needs to keep winning challenges to stick around.