Up on the ridge

Last week we went to a ridge near the school. There was an amazing view. You could see practically the whole island.


Well, apparently the Japanese during World War II thought it had a pretty amazing view also and that it would make a great defense because there were trenches and big holes up on the ridge. It was pretty over grown and we had to be careful where to walk , so we wouldn't fall in to a hole covered by plants. A lot of the holes were empty but some of them still had Anti-aircraft guns in them.
David decided to clear one of the holes out so we could get a better look at the gun. It was pretty rusted but we discovered that it still moved up and down. Which was pretty cool. So, we of course all had to get pictures as the "gun man". It was so cool!

very over due blog

Hey everyone,

Here is a long awaited for update to my blog. Last semester was stressful for me. I’m hoping that this semester will be better. So much has happened since I wrote my last blog. First of all at the beginning of November, one of my best childhood friends, Mandy, her husband David and baby Ada, moved to Palau to work as the deans in the dorm here at PMA. It was exciting for me. It’s like having a family here in Palau. Before they came we decided to make leis to greet them with, since that is the tradition in the islands. It was lots of fun to make them and they turned out really pretty.

For Thanksgiving, we were stuffed full of food. I think we must have had five thanks giving dinners in the course of a week. Thanksgiving day we visited a waterfall (I can’t pronounce, let alone spell the name but I’m sure it doesn’t matter so much). It’s the biggest waterfall on island. It was very cool. It’s a good little hike into the waterfall and on the way there are cascades. Although the waterfall is super cool, I think the cascades are my favorite part. It is like a natural waterslide. They are tons of fun to play in. At first it was a little scary because you think that the water is going to push you into a sharp rock but none of us got hurt. It was raining that day, so the water was a little swift but I think that made it all the more exciting.

The Friday after Thanksgiving some of us decided to go out snorkeling/diving. It rained again that day. And we froze! It was much cooler than we are used to (although I’m sure many of you would have found it pleasantly warm) and it was windy out on the boat. We did see some cool things though. But I was glad to get back and put on a sweatshirt and drink hot tea! :D I know, you are all probably thinking I’m crazy for doing that when I live so near the equator, but I’m telling you it doesn’t take long before you acclimate to the temperature. I’m gonna freeze when I move back home! You know what though? I miss cold weather….especially snow! It crazy, but I do. It doesn’t feel like winter here.

I have to say that I was very happy to finish the semester and have a break. Although, it was sad to be away from family at Christmas time, especially since it was my first Christmas way. Christmas break was mostly pretty normal. I spent a lot of time vegging out in front of my computer and sleeping.

Many of you have probably heard that two days before Christmas, one of our freshman at PMA, Dewill Reklai, was killed in a hit and run accident while riding his bike. He was only 15 years old and was a great kid. Of course, this was kind of hard on all of us. Please pray for his family, as well as classmate and us teachers too. I may seem that when you teach 120 students that it would be difficult to get to know them all. But, you learn to care for every one of them. It makes me want Jesus to come so much more! I can’t wait for the day when He will come back for his children and take us home with Him, where there is no more death, no more sorrow, no more hurting.


Christmas day, we went swimming down at KB bridge. I know, kind of cliché to be spending Christmas day swimming in the ocean when you live on an island, but it was fun. Mandy and David invited me over for Christmas dinner and Ada got her first tooth on Christmas day. You know that song…”all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.” It really means something for Ada. :D

New Years eve we all went back to the waterfall. The first time only a few of us went, but this time everyone went and Megan took her camera (which I thought was a little risky because it is such a wet place to be but I’m glad we have pictures of it). At first we were going to hike in the back way to avoid paying the $5 fee, but Susan (our leader) couldn’t remember the way. We did get to have a pretty cool hike through the jungle though. And through some sharp grass that scraped our legs up pretty good. We finally gave up on that and paid the $5 to hike the tail in. We had tons of fun playing in the waterfall and cascades. If you’ve ever sat behind a waterfall and looked up, it is so cool to see the water that looked like one unit separate into lots of falling droplets. The waterfall is definitely one of my favorite places to be. It is also very nice to swim in fresh water again after so much salt water. Don’t get me wrong I love the ocean, but when you get out of the ocean you feel sticky and the salt crystallizes in your hair and you smell kind of like fish and all you want to do is go home and take a shower. So fresh water is very refreshing after so much salt water. Plus if some gets in your mouth it isn’t quite as yucky tasting as salt water. And of course to finish off New Years eve, we stayed up and counted in 2008. I think we finally figured out that we were the second time zone to welcome in the new year. That’s pretty cool.

Anyway, school starts again on Monday. It’s hard to believe that our year of service is already half over. Just one more semester and if it goes by as fast as the last one, I’ll be flying home before I can blink my eyes. Anyway, thanks for reading my blog. Here are some more pictures of Palau. It really is a beautiful place to live. My new years resolution is to up date my blog more regularly. We’ll see if I keep it.