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.