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.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
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!
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!
Friday, January 4, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
I had Taco Bell for lunch yesterday!
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
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
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Pictures to go with my last blog.
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.
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.
Monday, October 22, 2007
my weekend
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.
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.
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