Palau

Some random pictures from my year.

2008-12-02T10:12:00.012+09:00

It's so beautiful there! I just love this picture. It looks like it's should be on postcard.

This is one of my students, Dante, after graduation. The leis are a traditional thing to give graduates and as you can see some of the students got lots of them!
This is Jessica. She was my very smart history nerd. :) I loved having her in class

Uriik and Zami. A couple more of my seniors.
KB Bridge. This is what connects the two islands of Babledaub and Koror.

A beach out at the Rock Islands.
Me wearing my Muumuu on the last saturday of my stay in Palau.
This is down town Koror at Dust. It's taken from WCTC shopping center.
Me with some of my sophomores after our field trip to Peliliu.A Japanese tank on Peliliu.American Assult Vehical on Peliliu.
Orange Beach, Peliliu. Site of one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific.
Students loading the buss after school.
The senior dorm girls at graduation.
We got to meet the Vice President of Palau. Here is a group of us with Vice President Chang. He's the one in the middle holding baby Ada.
Here I am by a plane wreck in the jungle one the island of Angaur.

A very much be lated blog.

2008-12-02T09:29:00.003+09:00

Hello,
Over the past few months, I have had people asking me why I haven't blogged lately and saying that they'd like to see more pictures of Palau. So even though I've been back in the states for 6 months now, I have decided to give a little conclusion to my year as a missionary and put up some more pictures for all you who have been wanting that.

The last few months of school went by so quickly, and when it came time to pack up and leave, I felt a mixture of excitement and extreme sadness. I was excited to be going home and seeing my family and friends after ten months, but it was so sad to leave behind a country that had really started to feel like home to me. The reality that I may never return to Palau was the hardest thing about saying goodbye. Now that I'm back, I really do, at times, feel homesick for the island, and I miss all of my students a lot. To be honest, my year definitely wasn't easy. I wasn't taking a vacation at the beach, and there were plenty of times when I just wanted to give up and go home early, but now I look back and I'm so glad that I stuck it out and had those experience.

When I first went to Palau, I was told that adjusting back to my own country would be harder than adjusting to a foreign one. However, everything they told me could not have prepared me for the reality of reverse culture shock. My first experience back in the United States was quite an interesting one.

We left Palau at 2 AM on Tuesday morning (which is a terrible time for a flight). So, naturally we didn’t get much sleep that night. After a stop in Guam and then an eight-hour flight to Hawaii, we were finally back in the states around 5 PM Monday (The international dateline is a great way to throw you off schedule). Excitement filled us as we anticipated what lay beyond the airport doors. For the next few days, we were going to be on vacation. Thoughts of shopping malls and Taco Bell filled our heads, not to mention sunny beaches and comfy hotel rooms (probably the most important after our long flight). After going through customs and baggage claim, we stepped out side and the cool island breeze hit us (yes, I said cool. I know you all might think I’m crazy but after Palau, Hawaii has a beautifully comfortable climate). We went to find the airport shuttle and discovered it had just left. We sat down with our mounds of luggage and waited for the next one to come. After over an hour, we finally bored the bus (they gave us a discount for the long wait). Of course we were the last hotel to be dropped off, so after riding the bus for almost two hours, we finally arrive at our hotel, all of us ready to fall asleep standing up. We all agreed to check in and then we’d go find some place to eat, since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. As I was waiting in check in line, a guy came up to me and started hitting on me. First of all, it had been a long time since I had been hit on, and second of all, I was so tired that my brain wasn’t really translating what he was saying. I just stood there with a blank look on my face. I was told later that my reaction to this situation was really pretty funny. After what seemed like forever, it was finally my turn to check in and I was relieved to get away from his rambling. After we had gotten settled we called up the rest of our group and planned to meet them to look for subway. By this time it was after 10 oclock and we were all pretty exhausted. As we tried to navigate through the Waikiki strip, I was surprised and a little nervous to see so many people! Every thing was so different; there were lots of city lights, and cars moved so fast, the buildings were so big, the sidewalks were clean, and there were lots of people congregating around bars and clubs. I was shocked by the clothing that some of the women were wearing, and my first thought was that they were prostitutes, until I remembered that we were in the U.S. now and clothing standards are very different. I remember choking on cigarette smoke and thinking that I much preferred stepping over pools of betel nut juice. It seemed like we walked for miles, although in reality it was really only a few blocks, but finally we reached subway. By the time I ordered my sandwich, I was so overwhelmed with everything around me, I was just about in tears. I just wanted to get on a plane and head right back to my small quiet island. After some food and sleep, Honolulu didn’t seem quite so scary and I ended up having a really fun little vacation, but I’ll never forget my introduction back into the United States. It took me a while to adjust to simple things like drinking water from a faucet and giant tastless bananas, and even now I still find that I run into culture shock in the strangest places.

More on Palau

2008-04-08T14:59:00.003+09:00

My day starts about 6:30 every morning. Around 7:45 I take the short walk up the hill from the dorm room in which I live to my classroom. My classroom is part of a concrete building and opens up to the out side. We have slit glass window (not sure how else to describe them), which is good because it gets warm during the day and we don’t have air-conditioning in the classroom (we do have fans though). At 8:15, we have family groups, this is where we have our devotional with the kids. At 8:30, classes begin. This semester I have one less class (Am. Government was only one semester), which means that my load is a little lighter, which is nice. I have however taken on tutoring a couple ESL students, which adds time to the end of school. I am at school usually until 3:40 sometimes later, although classes are done at 3:00.

The academy is located in the state of Airai on the island of Babeldaob, so it is out in the country. The commute between town and PMA is half an hour. When we first came the road was a dirt road and not nice at all, but this year they laid a concrete road and now it is much nicer and easier to travel into town. Still, we don’t get off campus much which makes us restless sometimes (yes, boredom is a common thing here). We do have internet, but it is slow and not always reliable (this is why I have been having trouble getting pictures up on my blog).

We have about 120 students here at PMA, most of them are bussed in from Koror everyday. We have about 30 dorm students who have come here from China to learn English. Although my students drive me to my wits end sometimes, I really do care about them. I was very proud of the Junior class last quarter, because not one of them had an F in history. This is the first time so, I told them that I want to see C or higher this quarter. They all seemed really happy about that.

Like I said, Koror is about a 20 minute drive from PMA. This is where we do all our shopping, and go to church. It’s also where the elementary school is. Koror is a small town although it contains most of the population of people. It is very crowded and kind of dirty. But, it all seems normal to us now. There are two main stores: Surangles and WCTC shopping center. Surangles is owned by an SDA church member and that is where we do most of our grocery shopping although WCTC has more of a variety, it tends to be a little more expensive.

The SDA church is very influential here on the island. Many of the church members tend to be wealthy business people and influential in politics. Two of the candidates for the presidency are SDA’s and go to the Koror church. The high chief of Palau is also SDA. The SDA schools are known as some of the best schools on the island and are also the most pricey, because of that most of our students parents are business men and women or in politics. Palau is actually a fairly wealthy island. If people don’t have monetary wealth, many of them have lots of ancestral land that has been passed down in their families for generations. Many of these people own land and farms out on Babeldaob but live in Koror, which contributes to the low population in Babeldaob. Don’t get me wrong, there are poor people here too, we just don’t seem to have much contact with them.

One of the things I’ve observed about the Palauan culture is that they don’t seem to nurture their kids past a certain point, that point being somewhere around 5 years old. It is also not uncommon for parents to leave on a trip for a week or so and leave their kids to fend for themselves while they are gone. Because of this, the kids feed into the media. They see things on TV and want to be just like it. It is often their only view of what other places are like, especially the U.S. I think the kids tend to act up in school to get attention because they are used to only getting negative attention. So, we try to give them positive reinforcement as often as we can. Because they spend so much time feeding into the entertainment industry, they think that things like sex and drugs are cool. We have had some problems along those lines. Betelnut is a special problem here too, as I talked about a little in my last post. The kids feel that it’s ok because all the adults they know chew it too. They justify it because they are Palauan and it’s cultural. But, they know that it isn’t allowed at school and they try to push the boundaries as far as they can. So as you can imagine, we have had our work cut out for us this year.

2008-03-29T14:29:00.001+09:00

Hello all,
I was reading a friends blog and she was writing about how she neglects telling about her everyday life because it has become ordinary to her and what may seem exciting to every one back home, is common place to her. This got me thinking about my sad little blog. I only seem to blog when something really cool or exciting happens. Life here in Palau has become so ordinary to me that I forget that most of you back home probably don’t have any idea what an ordinary day is like for me, or even much about the country in which I live. I know that when I hear about missionaries in other places I like to hear about everything they do because it helps me feel like I connect with them a little better. So now that my year is coming quickly to an end, I am going to start to try to explain (probably in a series of blogs) about what my life is actually like here in Palau. And possibly include some pictures too.

First of all, for those of you who don’t really know, Palau is a small island nation in the Pacific Ocean, about 6 degrees north of the equator and somewhere between Guam and the Philippines.
Like I said, it is very small, although there are about 200 islands in the country. Most of the islands are uninhabited rock island, which are very beautiful and make great camping. The main islands are Babeldaub and Koror. Koror is financial capitol of Palau because that’s where the city (yes singular) is. Koror is connected to Babeldaub by a bridge. Babeldaub is a much larger island and less populated. It is divided into several small states. Palau Mission Academy (where I reside) is in Airai state, which is the first state after you cross the bridge. The national capitol is also on Babeldaub (although I don’t know how to spell it, which is pretty much the norm for me when it comes to Palauan words). At the south of Palau, are the islands of Angaur and Peliliu (this is where a battle happened during WWII). There is WWII artifacts everywhere here. Which is pretty cool (you know, since I’m a history nerd).

Palau is always hot (being that we are about 6 degrees off the equator, I believe). At first I didn’t think I would last all year with the heat and humidity, but after a month or so, I didn’t seem to notice any more. And now, I actually get a little chilly when it rains. It rains a lot here and the rain brings cool weather (of course all you unfortunate souls who are enduring a cold North American winter would probably think I had gone off my rocker for thinking this is cool weather). The rain is good though, besides cooling the island down a little, it also brings drinking water. We catch rainwater in huge tanks then filter it for drinking and cooking. We also use rainwater for laundry, and showering and such (when our rain tank run out we have to switch to river water and that comes out of the faucet brown).

Palau is a tropical island so there are lots of coconut trees and pretty flowers everywhere. My favorite flowers are the Plumarias, which come in a variety of colors (I really like the pink ones but the white are most common). There are lots of bananas and papayas here too, and betel nut… lots of betel nut. Everyone chews here. It’s such a disgusting habit. In case you don’t know what betel nut is, I will explain as well as I can. Betel nut grows on tall skinny trees (they kind of look like palm trees with shorter branches). People here pick the betel nut and then put it with some powder, which I believe is made from lime stone. And then they wrap it in a leaf and chew it. This combination produces the effect of getting high. Some people also put cigarettes with it and the tobacco adds to the high, I think. Any way, the betel nut produces red juice that stains their teeth and is spit out. There are betel nut stains all over the ground, so we have to watch where we step.

So that’s probably enough about the country for now. I have more blogs to come...soon I hope.

Angaur

2008-03-10T12:31:00.008+09:00

Hi everyone,
I have been pretty busy the last couple days because our third quarter ended, so I am just getting around to blogging about last weekend.

First weekend of March, a few of us went to the island of Angaur (one of Palau's southern islands) to do some ground work for an evangelistic series that will be held there during spring break. Angaur is a very small and beautiful island. It is much more remote than Babledaub (where I live) and Koror. There are about 200 people that live on the island and it has a much more laid back atmosphere than Koror (Koror is very Americanized).

We left Koror, just after noon on friday and after a very long four hour ferry ride, we finally arrived at our destination. We were all so glad to get off the boat. Friday afternoon we took a walk on the beach and watched the sunset go down over the ocean. It was so beautiful! After we returned to the center (where we were staying) we had worship to bring in the sabbath. It was just the six of us missionaries and Felix (one of the three baptized Seventh-day Adventists on the island). That first night I felt so at peace. It was as if all of my stress, worries, and problems were an ocean away.

Saturday morning was very relaxed. I woke up early but just laid there and listened to the rain. It was very relaxing. After every one finally got moving, we had sabbath school. It was a small group but it was nice. Between sabbath school and church, we split into groups and walked around the island talking to people and inviting them to church. The people were so nice and several of them came back with us. And while we were visiting the homes, we saw baby turtles!
The people on Angaur catch baby sea turtles and raise them for food. They were so cute and I got to hold one.

Saturday afternoon was very chill. We just talked and took a nap. After the sun wasn't so hot, we got up and went to walk around the island again. This time we took papers about the up coming meetings and invited people to come. We also asked if they would like a bible study but most people didn't. My group was only girls and we had a kind of scary incident with a very drunk guy following us on a scooter. He was so drunk he couldn't even drive it straight, so he probably wasn't much of a threat but it made us nervous. Thankfully the people were all very nice and one lady offered to walk us back to the center and she told him to leave us alone.

Saturday night, someone came up with the brilliant idea of swimming in the dark. So we walked down to the beach and started to walk into the water. But it was so dark because it was over cast and rainy and we couldn't see anything. Every dark spot in the water looked ominous and we started to get scared as we inched forward into the water. Huddled in our small group, the dark unknown didn't seem quite as scary. Finally, one of the girls had a great idea. And decided to go back to the beach where she had left her head lamp. Now, armed with a head lamp, Jessica became our fearless leader. We followed her through the water trusting that with that light she could see where we were stepping. The light didn't light up the whole ocean, but it lit enough that we could see where to take our next step. Which is a pretty awesome object lesson, right? In life we can't always see where we are going, but as long as we trust in Jesus and follow him, he will show us where our next step needs to be.

Sunday brought packing, the boat was scheduled to leave at noon again and we couldn't miss it.
But before we left, one of the locals drove us around the island. The whole trip I had been sad because I had not seen a monkey (since Angaur is the only island with monkeys) but on this drive around the island, I saw a wild monkey run across the road. It was pretty cool.

After another very long boat ride, we were all very happy to be back home. And now, our third quarter is finished and spring break is only a couple days away. It's hard to believe that in just over 2 months I'll be on a plane home. Time is so strange here. Days pass quickly and before I know it, the week is gone, but when I look back, my trip to Angaur seems ages ago instead of just a week.

Pictures coming soon.

Up on the ridge

2008-01-16T10:02:00.000+09:00

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

2008-01-04T22:48:00.000+09:00

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.

I had Taco Bell for lunch yesterday!

2007-12-12T15:19:00.000+09:00

that's right! Taco Bell. You're probably thinking big deal, I eat taco bell at least once a week. Well, when you live in a county that doesnt have a taco bell it's kind of difficult and so I have lived almost 6 months without it. But Pastor Martin was in Guam last week and when he came back he brought us bean burritos. It was very exciting. Best burrito I've ever eaten.

Well, that's all I have time for now. Hopefully I can post a real post soon and tell you all the things that have been happening in my life over the last couple months. Christmas break is in a week and a half! YAY! I'M SO EXCITED! :D

Pictures to go with my last blog.

2007-11-08T07:56:00.000+09:00

Scott (the other freshman sponsor) and I with the freshman that stayed around after church for a picture.

Me, Megan, Rebecca,Rochelle, and Jessica at KB Bridge vespers.
Us with the kids after the KB Bridge vespers.Eating smores.

Singing at the KB Bridge vespers.

my weekend

2007-10-22T14:37:00.000+09:00

I know this blog is very over due. Sorry that I haven't been blogging that often. I will try to do it on a more regular basis...I hope. Well, our first quarter has ended. It's hard to believe that I have been here for almost 3 months now! Tomorrow is parent teacher conferences and I am a little nervous to meet my students parents.

This last weekend was really good. It started out a bit shaky when one of the Chinese students (we have about 30 students come from China to learn english) passed out and started seizing during Bible class. She was rushed to the hospital and it was discovered that she has had this problem before. No one thought to tell us this rather important piece of information when she came here. Her classmates were pretty shaken and she was banged up from when she fell (apparently she had just stood up when it happened), but she is doing ok now.

Friday evening we had a special vespers planned at the KB Bridge. When we got there we were supposed to have fire wood waiting for us, but it wasn't there. So a couple of the other SM's went on a quest for firewood. Apparently they had quite the adventure when they thought that they were going to be attacked by a dog, but I wasn't there so I can't really tell the story well. After we got the fire going we started singing then some kids did a skit about leaving our burdens at the cross. After that Nicole told a story about when she had lost her best friends because of an accident. Then she had each kid write a problem or burden that they were dealing with on a piece of paper and then throw the paper into the fire. This was supposed to symbolize giving all of our worries and burdens to God and trusting that He will take care of them. All the kids seemed to respond well to the vespers. And of course after wards we had smores because you cant have a campfire without smores.

Every sabbath before sabbath school begins, one of the classes presents something before we split for the lesson study. This week was the Freshman class. And since I am one of the Freshman class sponsors I and Scott (the other sponsor) were in charge of organizing it. Only about 12 of our students actually showed up at church, but they did very well. Three of the girls did a skit about spending time with God every day. After the skit, one of the girls explained the skit a little. I found out later that her family practices traditional Palauan religion, so it was a bit surprising that she took such a strong roll in the program. After the skit all the kids got up and sang a song. I was so proud of my kids. Some of the kids stuck around for the lesson study and they seemed to really like the class. I hope to see them in church more regularly.

Anyway, I will try to get some pictures up soon.

God is good and the Devil hates it!

2007-09-20T17:28:00.000+09:00

Today I had an awesome Soph.A World History class! We are studying Egyptian history right now and we had been talking about ancient Egypt. One of my students asked a question about why the men that found King Tut's tomb died and if the curse was really real. So, I started to explain to them that because the ancient Egyptians were very much into the occult and the supernatural that Satan had a strong hold on them and the curse probably did exist. As to whether the people died from the curse, I couldn't say for sure, but it was possible if they believed in it, because Satan can take a hold of the smallest things and use them against us. However, if we trust in Jesus, then we have no reason to worry. Then, one of the girls raised her hand to ask a question. When I called on her, she said that she had changed her mind. I asked her if she was sure and she said, "Yes, it's really more of a Bible question not a history question." Now of course no matter what class I'm teaching I am always more than willing to answer any spiritual questions. So, I told her to go ahead and ask it anyway. Here was her question, "Why does Satan bother some people more than others." WOW! What a question to ask and what a complicated answer it has. Now you have to keep in mind that most of our students aren't Seventh-day Adventist, and they don't have a very good foundation in the Bible. So, how was I supposed to answer this question?! As I started to answer the question, she interrupted what I was saying to clarify her questions. "Miss, I mean, I know this lady who is a really good Christian. She's always praying, when she is in her car and everywhere and she sees a lot of demons." Yowza! Way to complicate an even more complicated questions. So, I sent up a quick silent prayer to God, knowing that He was going to have to answer this one through me. Here's what God brought to my mind. I told the students that when Satan was kicked out of heaven, he became very angry and bitter at God. And because he is angry and bitter he doesn't want us to be happy, so he tries to make us angry and bitter too. But when people start to grow close to God, he realizes that he is losing control and he tries even harder to draw us away from Jesus. But, we don't need to worry if we have God on our side, because no matter how hard Satan tries, he can't touch us as long as we stay close to Jesus.

As soon as this student asked the question, the class started to get loud. It was as if Satan was trying to drown out my words. I can tell you, the supernatural forces are very real. I saw both sides working today. And I am so happy that Jesus wins!

Sharks, Jellyfish, and Ocean Currents

2007-09-03T09:10:00.000+09:00

We had an amazing weekend! It was our staff retreat, and a much needed break too. We spend Friday evening through Sunday camping on the Rock Island called Ngemelis. Ngemelis is about an hour away by speed boat, when we got there the tide had gone out, so we had to walk a ways in on a sand bar. Before sundown we spent some time swimming, but by that time the tide was coming back in and the current was pretty strong where we were, so we were all exhausted by the time we came back in.

Sabbath we decided to walk around the island, which we estimated was about 3 miles. Part way around the Island, we decided we were thirsty, so Nelson (our principal) just started climbing up a coconut tree like he was a monkey or something and the started sending coconuts down. It was pretty cool. So then some of us decided we were going to try. My attempt was really more of me hugging the coconut tree.

Sunday, we decided to go snorkeling. Most of the group had gone out before and we were trying to find them. When we got out farther, the current started getting pretty strong because the tide was going out. Finally we decided that we should head back to the edge of the island where we could walk along the edge of the rocks and the current wouldn't be as strong. Right before we start off, Tania says that she isnt a very strong swimmer. So we start out and I am swimming as hard as I can and finally i reach the rocks and stand up and start looking for the others. They are a little farther out, but most of them have reached the rocks also...except Tania and Jeri. Tania was screaming, "Help me guys, I can't fight the current anymore." So, I start freaking out and trying to make my way up the rocks. And Jeri is swimming with Tania trying to bring her in. I'm praying so hard with every step I take. Of course by the time I reach the others Jeri and Tania were around the corner of the island and we couldn't see them anymore. All we could do was wait and pray. Thankfully, Jeri is a strong swimmer and she was able to bring Tania in safely. I think the angels were swimming with them though. Tania said that she was actually able to stay calm the whole time. She thought it was funny that I was freaking out more than she was. But I think it is justified, because when you are fighting the current all you can think about is keep swimming. When you are standing on the safe rock, watching your friend and boss get swept out to ocean, it's easier to freak out because you are safe and you know they aren't yet.

Sunday afternoon we loaded the boats and did some snorkeling on the way back. We stopped at a couple different spots, and I finally saw some sharks! We even stopped at this one place that is known for sharks. At one point I had about 15 sharks swimming under me! Of course by under me I mean I was snorkeling at the top and they were about 20 feet below me. It was so cool. Oh and don't worry the sharks that are on the reef aren't really dangerous. The dangerous ones are out in the open ocean.

We also got to go to Jellyfish lake. For those of you who have never heard of it, Jellyfish lake is a land locked salt water lake. And in this lake, there are millions of Jellyfish. These Jellyfish are the only ones in the whole world that have lost there need to sting. They don't even have their stingers anymore. There was one point that I was swimming though thousand of them! I couldn't swim with out bumping into jelly fish. they are so cool. They range in size from the size of a pea to probably about 8 inches in diameter (at least from what I saw). I think Jellyfish lake is one of my favorite places!

Well, that was the basic overview of my weekend. It was great fun and we all got sunburned. I would have put pictures up but my camera batteries decided to die on me, so I didn't have my camera for the whole weekend.

First day of classes.

2007-08-14T18:28:00.001+09:00

Here are some more pictures I thought I would put up for you all to see. Enjoy!

Yeah, I have a starfish on my head!
My roommate, Katie , is amazing. We get along really well! She teaches second grade at the elementary school in town.Drinking coconut water. YUM!

Today was my first day of actual classes. Over all it went very well. I was a little nervous because my first class was the problem class, but I walked in laid out my rules and they didn't give me any problems for the rest of the class period. In fact, all my classes were good. I know that there will be problems, but I know that I can handle them with God's help. Over all, God really blessed me today. I am very enthusiastic about teaching after today, and I really believe that it will be a good year. Most of my students claim they don't like History or at least don't want to admit if if they do, but I am hoping to be able to make my classes fun enough that they will change their minds after this year.

Did I mention already that our enrollment is higher that it has ever been here at PMA? Our freshman class just about doubled first day of school! Now we have so many students, we are having trouble accommodating them all! we are already having to order more text books for most of the classes as well as more desk, since several class rooms don't have enough. We could also use more teachers, which God has already been in the process of solving. We have two individuals who are very interested in coming to Palau to teach. So, God willing we will have two new teachers soon.

well, that is about all I really have to say about today. I will try to get some pictures of the school up soon, however I don't currently have any on my computer.

Some Pictures!

2007-08-12T11:29:00.000+09:00

Here are some pictures from snorkeling on thursday. This pictures got a little washed, but I still wanted to put it up.
This was one of the spots we stopped to snorkel at. Palau is so beautiful!Some of the SM's I'll be spending the year with.

In Palau

2007-08-10T10:51:00.000+09:00

hello! We have been in Palau for a week now and have been very busy. I will be teaching World History, U.S. Government, U.S. History, and Speech this semester. I am getting very excited about school starting, which is good because it's almost here. We start on the 13th. Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go out to the rock islands and do some snorkeling. It was so Amazing! We saw so many pretty fish as well as other ocean life. We picked up star fish and sea cucumbers. At one place some one picked up a sea cucumber and it started squirting out sticky stringy stuff. It was really hard to get off. We also got to swim with a school of fish...i think they are called Yellow Jack. They were very pretty fish. There were so many different types of fish and coral that we got to to see. It was beautiful. There were lots of star fish and sea cucumbers that we could pick up. It was all so cool! One spot we stopped at, there were lots of giant clams. They were so cool, we could swim down and touch them and watch them close up and slowly open again. I can't wait until I get Dive certified!

It seems like something exciting happens every day. The other day we went swimming down by the bridge and as we were climbing out Stacy, who was the only one with goggles, saw a Lion Fish right where we were about to climb out. We were very thankful she spotted it! So we found another place to get out and watched it from out of the water. They really are interesting looking fish, but you wouldn't want to come in contact with one, so God was watching out for us that day.

Well, that's all I have for now. I will try to get some pictures up soon.

One week left!

2007-07-22T02:49:00.000+09:00

Hello everyone. I am starting this blog to keep you all posted on what is going on in my next year serving as a missionary. It is hard to believe that I have one week left here in the U.S. For those of you who don't know or maybe just forgot, I will be spending the next school year working as a teacher on the beautiful island of Palau, which is in the south pacific. I will try to make regular updates on what is happening, as well as post pictures for you to see. Thanks so much for all your prayers and support.