Some random pictures from my year.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.