Palau Day 13: Heading Off Island

Day 13
Today was our first and only entirely free day of the trip and it was quite lovely! Some of us met for a late breakfast at the Rock Island Cafe, a true luxury as I think it was almost 9am by the time we ate. After breakfast, people shopped, picked up last minute gifts and relaxed a bit.

What would be the most fitting way to tie up our trip? A midday swim / potluck at Long Island! We were worried about the weather, as it again stormed (again knocking out the power) this morning; however, the weather held and in fact, all the storming kept the day at a very comfortable temperature. As we swam and ate, many of our new friends came by to say hi and goodbye. We lounged, laughed and felt somewhat Palaun ourselves, as it we now have our very own family here in Palau.



When I got back to the dorms I did something I’ve been waiting this whole trip to do; I went for a run!! Not more than 100 yards from my room is a beautiful track, that I’ve been staring at and wanting to try out; yet, I’ve either always been too tired or it’s been too hot, but as Goldie Locks would say, “today was just right!” Ahh it felt so good to stretch my legs, pump my arms and sweat from something other than just standing in the hot humid air. It was also fun to run with the Palauans, some of them running barefoot with their coach rooting on from the stands, pushing both them and me to keep going and run harder.

After a glorious cold shower, it was time to head to the Flamingo for some tunes and some food….and some bat… All the students had been well briefed on the bat at the Flamingo, from last year’s photos and campus buzz. However, when we first went to the Flamingo they were out of bat and then the buzz around the bat died out. Tonight, being the last night to try it, a couple students took the plunge and batted up! Guess what, they liked it!



From the Flamingo it was to the SLC for dancing and a fantastic view of the lightening in the distance and now it’s now… It’s 12:45am tomorrow (if you’re reading this from the states), we leave at 4:20 am and will be home by 9:40am LA time. I’m trying to stay awake and reflect on these past two weeks at the same time, perhaps it’s sleep deprivation, but my words fail me. My words and pictures cannot do Palau justice. You have to experience Palau, feel it, breathe it… Maybe that’s why much of Palaun tradition isn’t written down, so much of the character is in the story telling, in the heart of the people. When we walk around town, people honk at us just to say hello, strangers on the street stop to wish us a good morning. For us Americans it is hard to compare Palau to anything back at home; it’s just differently wonderful.

I’m excited to go home, for warm showers, my soft bed, stable electricity, clean clothes, to see the people I left behind, but I will greatly miss Palau. Sitting in the same room I resided in last year, I have a feeling I will be back again, so it is with a grateful (not heavy) heart I head “off Island”…

Day 12

Today I woke up to a crazy storm, wind howling, rain pounding, if this was California, I’m sure our dorms would have just floated away. The power went out (again), but other than that we faired pretty well (other than me crawling into the fetal position in my bed, back to the window, it Really was stormy out there, it was kinda spooky!!).


The rain paused and the lights came back on just in time for our big meeting with the Governor of Korror and his board. This meeting was particularly important as our proposed site is in the State of Korror. After the presentation we had a thoughtful discussion of how our proposal might fit into their plans and we look forward to potential collaboration that might make Long Island an amazing destination.


It rained off and on today, so water activities didn’t seem like the best idea; instead, during the break many of us toured some of the local museums and gift shops (it’s our second to last day so people need their souvenirs!). We stopped off at Yanos for lunch (how did it take me till the end of my second trip to find this place?!) one of my new favorite places to eat and walked the length of Korror, finally having a few moment that we weren’t being rushed.


In the evening time, we had an outdoor public meeting at Sam’s Tours. As we waited for the presentation to begin, people sat quietly looking out into the bay, reflecting over the past two weeks. We’ve seen so much growth in the students, their confidence levels have been elevated, many have conquered fears or found a new perspective in life; it’s been pretty awesome to be a part of.


After the brief respite, it was presentation time! Many of our favorite locals were in attendance, Sam, Rene, Doug, Cliff, as well as the local yacht club and the US Ambassador, Ms. Helen Reed Rowe. Though we’ve me Ambassador Row a few times, this was the first time she had seen our presentation and she was quite impressed…. And then we were done with final presentation and it was time to celebrate!


The entire group of us, students, faculty, staff and even a couple locals headed to the Drop Off for a celebration meal (and as much fresh fish as we could stuff ourselves with!). There is a lot of food we all miss (especially the access to fresh fruit and vegetables); however, the fish here has ruined us for all other fish. I mean when they say “fresh” they REALLY mean it, most likely the little fishy was happily swimming in the ocean just hours before dinner time. The sashimi here melts in your mouth, ok, ok, I’m making myself hungry…

Day 11

I limped in early last night (not an actual limp but a slow shuffle due to a blown out flip flop – don’t worry mom no actual damage to me, just the flip flop) with the plans to take a shower and work on the blog, flipping on the light switch all the lights flashed and ceased to work… SO now I’m taking a COLD shower in the dark… Only in Palau could this combination of conditions happen and it still be an awesome day!

People’s emotions are more heightened each day as we near the end of our trip, each meeting is more intense then the next and each day feels like a week. Today was another double header, but before we started without own presentations we sat in on a special non-Otis presentation. In the same room we were later presenting in, PCC was holding a signing ceremony to commemorate the start of the Education USA center in Palau. Education USA has 400 centers worldwide offering unbiased info about studying abroad in the US. It was special to witness this signing; also a perfect opportunity to hand out all the Otis literature Matt had packed for us to the high school and college counselors.


After the signing ceremony it was our turn to present to the PCC president Patrick Tellei and other PCC representatives; however, we had no idea what a turn out there would be!! People kept filtering in, more and more, it was the largest crowd any IL class has presented to and again it was very warmly received.


After a quick lunch it was off to Otv to film a television episode where the students presented their projects and then had a short Q&A session.


While at Otv we learned that some of the crew members would be playing at Cramer’s (one of our favorite local restaurants) so of course we had to go out and support our new friends and indulge in some fine food and beverage.

Day 10

Today was a big meeting day. Our first meeting was at the state building in Korror with the President of Palau, Johnson Toribiong , the Minister of State, Victor Yano and others from the presidential cabinet. Just like last year the President was very pleased with our progress and had a thoughtful response. President Toribiong talked about the long road Palau has been down, how they have swelled from a nation of only 5,000 people around WWII to nearly 20,000 people today and how they survived Spanish, German and Japanese occupation to finally become a sovereign nation less than 20 years ago; a memorial for the Palaun people is long overdue.


After a lunch break to Yanos market for some good Palaun food (and veggies yay veggies, we’re all severely missing veggies in our diets) it was time to present to the Council of Chiefs. Like England and Canada, Palau has both a democratic body and a traditional body of power. Unlike any other country I know of, the traditional side is divided equally with the lady’s (the matriarchs) and men’s (the council of chiefs) having one woman and one man representing each state of Palau. With each presentation the students are gaining more confidence, they’re looking at their notes less and one presenter flows seamlessly to the next. The chiefs LOVED the design, their first comment was, “I think they got it.” The chiefs were impressed and touched how the students really captured Palaun culture in their design, how thought out everything was and how functional. The chiefs asked “how long will it take and how much will it cost?” also acknowledging that a memorial for the Palaun people is long overdue.


The heat, time change, activity level and what nots are starting to wear on everyone, but presentations like these are reinvigorating! We spent an hour after the presentation discussing future plans of how to move forward and fundraising ideas. Not long before we were about to disburse for the evening Rich entered the room grinning with an envelope in hand. The Chiefs had given us a beautifully written letter announcing their official support of the project and their desire to help with our fundraising efforts.




Not long after we left our last meeting, a group of us picked up to go dinners from the cafeteria and trekked out to Sunset Park, for what else, a sunset. We quietly sat and watched the sun gently slip into the water leaving a trail of pink and golden behind; it was a nice way to polish off another amazing day in Palau.

Day 9

Today we toured around to historical sites that related specifically to the students’ project. We started off by stopping by the capital building. The capital is currently located in Melekeok, not Korror. The reason for this is that Korror and Melekeok used to fight for power, each wanting to be the most powerful state of Palau. To allow equal grounds for the two, it was decided the capital would be in Korror for 50 years and then Melekeok for 50 years. We are just a few years into Melekeok’s term, so the capital is very pristine looking and since it’s new, is pretty high tech too.


Palau’s government is modeled after the US government, there are elected officials, a legislative and judicial branch, etc. However, unlike any us capital I’ve ever been in, the capital building in Melekeok is basically a museum of Palaun art. Each court room and all the hallways of the Judicial building are lined with art about Palau, by Palaun artists, it was better than a lot of museums.


One more interesting note about the judicial system in Palau; we noticed that there was a jury box in the court room, so we asked about juries and if it was like in the states where the potential jurors could not know the defendant, our guide laughed and said that would not be possible in Palau, everyone knows everyone (or is related for that matter), so yes the jurors do end up knowing the people on trial.

From the capital we headed to Badrulechan to view the stone monoliths. The stone monoliths are a component in the students’ design; they plan on having 8 monoliths (16 sides) to represent the 16 states of Palau. The monoliths carbon date to about 150AD and are thought to be the foundation structures to a massive bai (meeting house). It was very interesting to see structures of something so old and something the students had been reading about so long. Plus the view out there was gorgeous and there was also a gentle breeze, win + win!


From the monoliths we hopped on a boat to the stone quarry, where they mined for Yap money (the stone money beads that are common for women to wear). Also very interesting to see as it was such an old site and something we had only read about in books.


Then on the way home, it was swim time! It’s so fantastic that in Palau you can swim on your way to and from activities. Adora took us to this fantastic cave and another reef that had different colors of coral. Just another awesome day in Palau.

Day 8 Peleliu

At the same time Pearl Harbor was being bombarded by Japanese soldiers so was the Philippines (even though they are past the International Date Line so historically, the Philippine invasion is recorded as being December 8th). When Commander Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines he claimed, “I shall return.” Part of MacArthur ‘s return was to take control of a small Palauan Island, Peleliu. The Marines landed at 08:32 on September 15, 1944; the 1st Marines to the north on “White Beach”, and the 5th and 7th Marines to the center and south on “Orange Beach”. A siege began that was supposed to only last 3 days, but instead lasted close to three months in what has been called one of the bloodiest battles in history. Today we visited Peleliu, an hour’s boat ride away from Korror, hailing a population of under 500 people; Peleliu today is a lush, quite island with whispers of the past.


Peleliu is hot and humid, much more so than the other parts of Palau that we visited. Vegetation is quite thick on Peleliu, so it is hard to imagine the island with 85% of its greenery burned to the ground as it was in 1944, and how unbearably hot that would make things. Many of the people that died in the battle of Peleliu did not die from combat, but heat exhaustion and lack of drinking water. We did a short hike through the interior of the island, high arching trees created a leafy canopy letting small rays of sunshine cross our paths, protecting us from frying in the direct heat of the sun and still it was H-O-T. I can only imagine soldiers in full combat-gear, clothed from head to toe, toting heavy weapons. I drained 4 water bottles in my first 2 hours on the island and it was cooler than last year when we were here.


Today was a very different day then yesterday’s snorkeling tour (geez was that only yesterday). It’s hard to imagine the kind of horror that unfolded underneath our own footprints, only the rusted remains give us eerie clues to what was once there.

At the end of the day we were all hot, tired and for the first time, somewhat somber; however, that all changed when we got a bonus snorkeling stop, Fantasy Reef, on the way home! You know how people have aquariums because they’re calming, well imagine swimming in a king-sized aquarium and that’s kind of what it was like. We practiced being “fish whisperers.” You wiggle your fingers around to summon the fish and then magically they come by the 100’s; it’s pretty awesome!

Day 7 – Spectacular and Surreal: Rock Island Tour

I like to call the Rock Island Tour the visual highlight of Palau. By now the students know how special of a place Palau is, but they had yet to be on the open waters… until today. Today we spent the entire day in the water visiting 4 different snorkel sites:

The Milkey way: which smells like sulfur, but has “magic” mud, the kind you find at Glenn Ivy or can buy in the store for $100 a bottle. Yep, that’s fancy mud we have ALLLL over ourselves.


The Drop Off: Characterized by its shallow waters and then quick “drop-off”


The Giant Clams: Pretty much self-explanatory.


And finally, Jelly Fish Lake: Basically, outer space… I mean there’s really no better way of describing it… What on Earth can you compare swimming with a plethora of pulsating, tentacle laden, pink jellys? I ended up at jelly fish lake twice last year and I STILL wasn’t prepared for what I saw today, the jelly fish were THICK, it was almost Claustrophobic feeling. At one moment your worried that any sudden move might hurt an unsuspecting jelly fish and then the next second, your rational mind kicks in and say OH MY GOODNESS, this isn’t normal, where am I??


The rest of the day was spent skimming the crystal blue waters with Charles at the helm and Malahi our guide (also a friend from last year’s trip). Our crew was so awesome, they ended up staying with us 2 hours longer then intended, which meant we had more time to dive and had a longer lunch. Sams Tours (the awesome folks we schedule all of our site seeing through) packs us special Bento box lunches to take with us to the beach; however, the highlight of the lunch was Malahi and our “coconut hunt.” A few of us had noticed coconuts on the ground and wanted nothing more to crack them open. But these weren’t chopped coconuts at the store, these were full husk still on coconuts. Malahi not only showed us how to pick a good coconut, she also showed us how to husk them and then crack them open. YMMM Fresh coconut.

After we arrived at the docks we were all ready for food. So instead of having Sams drop us off at the dorms, we had them drop us off at the Flamingo for a hearty dinner of fresh fish, fries and other tasty treats.

Tomorrow is Pelelu, we will travel in the same boat across the same waters, but it will be a completely different experience tomorrow.

P.S. A special thanks to all the folks (especially Timon) this trip who have grabbed my camera to make sure I too can be in some of the pictures, you make my mom a happy lady!

Day 6 Part 2: Adora does it all… I think she might be a real live wonder woman

Adora is one of our main contact at PCC (Palau Community College), she helps make things happen for us. Scheduling, touring, telling us where to and where not to eat, technology like getting us a projector for our presentations, translating, well you get the point; Adora is our go to gal! The other day we were seeing if Adora would like to join us for our celebration dinner at the Taj, when she said she had to practice the piano for church. Interested, I asked if I could join Adora when she performed at church. So last night at 6:15, Adora picked me up to go with her to the 7th Day Adventist youth service. Short and sweet, the service had short sermons and beautiful music. As I mentioned earlier today, I’m not the most religious person, but I love spirituality, when I traveled to Korea I went to as many Buddhist temples as possible, so attending church with Adora was a lot of fun for me, I particularly enjoyed the music!


As we were leaving church, Adora checked her phone and found that she was still in time for her softball game, so straight from church we headed to the softball field, a quick car change (aka telephone booth: superman reference), Adora went from church pianist to second basewoman for the PCC softball team.

I played softball growing up and coed softball as an adult, but I was not prepared for the level of softball in Palau. Pulling into the park, I was greeted by the sounds of a loud speaker with what I’m assuming was baseball patter in Palaun. It was kind of like hearing a Mexican soccer game, lots of excited words you don’t understand and then GOAAALLLL… Though instead of Goal, it was lots of words I didn’t understand and then HOMEYYYYY (yah, they said homey instead of homerun). The air was perfect, not too hot, not cold with a gentle breeze and the smell of wet grass and dirt, the crack of the bat echoed over the cheers and jeers of the crowed. And what a crowed! It felt like half of Korror was at the ball park! In the end the PCC triumphed over Surangle and Sons grocery store 11

Day 6

Today instead of the morning swim I slept (till 7am yay, take that jetlag!). We met early to go over last night’s changes to the presentation and then headed to the Belau National Museum to present to the United Artists of Palau. Not only was the museum a very interesting place to see, the presentation was again a hit! The critique this time helped with further refinement, comments like specifying that the shell we were looking for was not so much a conch shell, but a trumpet / Triton shell, which is the same shell that Andy Leeka used our first full day in Palau in our trip last year (and still one of my all-time favorite photos). It turns out that the blowing of the shell is a call to gather, it brings people home and together…. We found our shell! I’m not a very religious person, but from the beginning, this project in Palau has felt blessed. Every time we have been presented with an obstacle a solution has presented itself to us. Every time we have had a challenge our change has been better than our original intention; the Triton shell is no different.


The group at the museum was again as warm and friendly as everyone else we have met in Palau and we posed for a group picture outside one of the traditional Bai’s at the end of the meeting before dispersing for our first half day of unscripted fun.


Matt and I left the students for the first time since we’ve arrived in Palau to meet up with our old friend Soline at the Flamingo. After a hearty lunch we headed out for a slightly less traveled tour of Palau. With Soline at the wheel we traveled through Korror and to the neighboring state Irad. Along the way, we saw an old Japanese war station, a rock quarry, an old traditional war canoe, the US embassy a traditional Bai, a modern Bai and ended up taking a bathroom break at one of the fanciest hotels in all of Palau… Not bad for a afternoon’s touring. However, the best part was just talking and hanging out with Soline in Palau. If you followed along last time we were in Palau, you know, there’s something almost magical about Palau. Somewhere, where the beauty of the country meets the beauty of the people there is a peace and a happiness that you just can’t find anywhere else.

Internet has been down at the dorms and the internet café was closed this morning (it’s Saturday here) so blogs might come more slowly the next couple days… Oh, ya I’m actually coming to you from a shell gas station right now…

Today is our Rock Island tour, the visual highlight of the trip; I can’t wait to see the students’ reaction to it all!

Day 5: Today the Freedom Memorial came to Life

The day started with a trip to Long Island, to what is quickly becoming our morning ritual swim. We took a leisurely swim, watched the fish and relaxed a bit before it was time to get to work.

After lunch we met to go through a final rehearsal for the first presentation, which was a big presentation at that. For the first time the students were presenting, they were presenting to the Bieljun (the equivalent of Palau’s Queen) and the other Matriarchs. Palau is a matriarchal society, so this presentation was the biggie!

I’m not sure how to sum up the presentation, other than to say: Otis, be proud! The students did fantastic! The designs for the Freedom Memorial were extremely well received, but what was even better was the heartfelt input the Matriarchs had for the students. The presentation itself took about half an hour, but the ladies stayed another close to two hours going through different elements of the design and telling the students how they could make it more Palaun. The students were impressed right back at how well the ladies were able to analyze and articulate the design elements. Furthermore, Palau has an amazingly rich history; however it is mostly oral, making it very difficult to get your facts right from America or books you can find in America about Palau. Our American books become like a written down version of telephone and it was very interesting to hear from the history-makers the differences in the literature that the students had studied. By the end of it all, many of the students were literally shaky with excitement; all were inspired. I think this was the first time the project became real to everyone; the entire group was on an exhilaration high of what we are doing here in Palau and what it will mean to the Palaun people. Leaving the presentation room, people were remarking how today was one of their best days….ever! I guess that’s the best way my jet-lagged self can describe what happened today.


After a brief decompression moment, changes to the project for tomorrow’s presentation were discussed and then it was time to celebrate! For dinner, the entire group of students went to the Taj, an amazing Indian restaurant (one of my favorites from last year) about a block away from the PCC campus. The students are so much fun to travel with. I love how inclusive they are with everyone and how willing to share with each other they are. Meal times have been so much fun with everyone sharing food and getting to know each other a little better.


Ok, so I went upstairs to the common room and there were the students also working away in their pj’s and swimsuits, taking the input from the matriarchs and making the changes to their presentation… Yep, they rock!