Palau - Babeldaob

Babeldaob is the biggest island of Palau. It also holds the Capital which was modeled after the US Capital Building. This is relatively new since Palau only got it's independence from the US in October 1994. The government seems to do a really good job at keeping the island clean and building tourism. This is the island from which Hiob originally came. Hiob, Leah, and Micah took us for a tour of the island on January 2nd. It is very scenic with dense jungles and mountains. Of course being an island it is also surrounded by plenty of water.

This is part of Bethiana High School (pronounced B-Tanya) This is a girls' Christian High School from which we often get students.
Micah found a huge pile of sand to play in while Hiob and Leah were showing us around.

We hiked to this gorgeous waterfall. It was not an easy hike but well worth it.
Several parts of the hike you have to walk in the stream. Sometimes I felt if it weren't for the Palm trees that it was a bit like some of the woods in Pennsylvania.
Hiob's friends made us lunch in the middle of the journey. A bunch of delicious seafood and other local foods. Yum! Thanks Betty and Julian!
This is called a Bai or a Men's house. It was built a long time ago. It is built without the use of nails. The Cheifs of the village still have meetings in this house.
This is a shot from inside the Men's house.

This is left over from the Japanese occupation of Palau. It is a cable car tower. They would mine Boxite in the mountain, send it by cable car to the dock.
A statue of a warrior in Ngiwal.
A statue picturing the legend of the Breadfruit tree.
A momument to all those who died during World War II while fighting in Palau.
Me.... Just in case you forgot. :o)

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words.... Or less...

One of the popular items in Palau are storyboards. They are carved out of wood and tell one of the legends of the Palaun culture. This one tells the story that originally there were only two islands in Palau. Then the one lady had this baby who became huge and everyone in the village had to feed him. They got tired of feeding him and so they asked the Mom if they could kill him. One day they brought wood around him and started a fire. They baby died and fell over and pieces of his body formed the other islands of Palau. That is one of many legends. This is my favorite depiction of it.
Carving story boards is one of the skills they teach the prisioners in Palau. They then sell them in the "Prisioner's Gift Shop". Most of the money that is made is give to the prisioner when he gets out so that he will have a skill and a bit of money to start over after he leaves prision.
Here are some of the examples of their work.
Since the larger ones can be quiet pricey - I picked a small one as a rememberance of my trip to Palau.
Hiob thought I should bring the big one in the middle of this picture home for my Dad but all I could afford was this picture. :0)

Palau - Koror

The main place we stayed while in Palau was Rob Watt's apartment. Rob is a fellow Liebenzell USA missionary who works at the PIBC Palau teaching facility. It was just our luck that he was in the states and allowed us to use his apartment and his car while he was gone. Besides the flat tire and the dead battery, the car (one with the door open) was very useful. Although the island is not as big as Guam, there are definately places too far to walk. Another tricky thing about the car is that it is a used car from Japan. The steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car even though you drive on the same side of the road that you do in the US.
Our Living Room.... Although not pictured - the kitchen also was very handy since we did not have to go out for all our meals.
This is the Etpison Museum. It has all kinds of display on the culture of Palau and the rest of Micronesia.
This was one of the displays in the museum displaying some fo the cultural dress.
Here is a mural on the outside of the building. Where's Laura?

In Koror, we also met up with Hiob, Leah, and Micah. Hiob is the Dean of Men at PIBC. He is Palauan. Leah is his wife and Micah is their son. He was working with the Palauan Evangelical Church over break and they took time out of their busy schedule to show Laura and I around some of the Island.
One of the places that Hiob took us was the aquarium. Aparently there are more than 1500 types of fish and marine life in the waters of Palau. This is extremely high compared to most other people which is why it is famous for diving.
This is a Jellyfish. On one of the islands in Palau they have a lake which is full of Jellyfish called Jellyfish lake. You can take a long hike and swim there among the Jellyfish. This particular type of Jellyfish does NOT sting. We settled for seeing the Jellyfish only in the aquarium.
In Koror there are quite a few restaraunts.... although there are no fast food chains. We treated ourselves on several occasions by trying some of ones with good reputations, including this Indian restaraunt called "The Taj" and a Mexican restaraunt called Bandidos.
This is Koror Evangelical Church. Classes for the PIBC teaching facility are held here. Rob Watt, the teaching facility coordinator, also preaches here at the English Speaking Service. Hiob was preaching here over Christmas break.

New Year's Day

On New Year's Day, we had a quiet day. Most of the Island was shut down. One thing we did was visit with Mesikt and Emeraech. Emeraech graduated from PIBC this past May with her AA. She is currently teaching at a Kindergarten in the neighborhood which we were staying.
The other thing we did was go snorkling. We didn't have a boat so we decided just to try to find a place on the main island. We tried Long Island Beach park. We did not see many fish in the sea grass and the water was kind of murky so we tried this place. We were the only one's there. When we told the locals about it - they chuckled but they would not share what was so bad about it. It looks nice enough.
When we returned from Palau we were told by some fellow PIBC'ers who lived in Palau that this park is next to the Sewage treatment plant. I thought I was a bit stinky when I finished, but such is life. We showered and survived and saw some nice fish in the process.

Sashimi Instructions

1. Put the Tuna on the Hook.

2. Place the Fish on the Boat
3. Put the Fish on the Plate in Small Pieces.

Palau - Pelelui

Pelelui is one of the islands of Palau. For you history buffs, you may already know that one of the bloodiest battles was fought there. 12,000 people died when the US tried to take the island from the Japanese. This is Joel, one of our students. This break was the first time that he has been back to his island, Peleliu, in 2.5 years since he has been at PIBC. They were so happy to have him back. They had him preach about 4-5 times in the time he was home on break including the Sunday we were visiting. Laura and I were there about 2.5 days.
This is the Pelelui Evangelical Church. We went on Saturday night to hear their choir practice and on Sunday to church. We could not understand much but everyone was extremely friendly.
One of the beaches on Pelelui
Coconut Crab - a specialty of Pelelui. They clean the crab out of the shell cook it with coconut milk and put it back in. It was just one of the many types of fresh seafood that Joel's sister prepared for us when we were there. Joel's family showed us incredible hospitality. We felt like royality during our stay.
Joel showed us and his nephews how one really climbs a betelnut tree. Not only did he climb this tree he was able to swing from tree to tree before coming down so that he could gather enough betelnut to take to his mother. Betelnut is not allowed on PIBC campuses but it is a big part of Micronesian cultures, especially in Palau and Yap.

There are a number of leftover World War Relics on Pelelui. Joel and his nephews showed us some tanks, a cannon, and some monuments.
Laura is standing next to a blowhole where water from the waves sprays through the crackes in the rocks.
This is me walking on the beach directly behind the house in which we were staying.
Right behind our house.
Our House on Pelelui.

Palau - Rock Islands

One of the most famous things that Palau is known for is their Rock Islands. Besides the main islands there are about 70 islands which are mostly made of rock.... although some have places where there are beaches. They are beautiful and are known for their amazing scuba diving and snorkeling places. Unfortunately I don't scuba dive, yet. We did get to snorkel there once. However we did get to ride past them on a boat about 4 times. They are very gorgeous and the water is very blue. My pictures do not do them justice.

This ariel shot was found on another website although we did see similar views in the plane when flying into the Koror airport.
This is me with my friend Laura (also from PIBC) who traveled with me. Joel (one of our students from PIBC from Palau) toured us around the Rock Islands one day on his boat. We stopped for some shade and a drink on one of the islands.

Mac, Is this a Pandanus tree?

Last year over Christmas break I went to the island of Yap. Some of the students were on the island and one day we went for a hike. Before I left for Yap I was reading about Yap on the internet and it stated that there were many Mangrove trees in Yap. I had no idea what a Mangrove tree was. So we were hiking and in the middle of a hill, I saw a tree. I had seen many like it. So I thought to my self.... I wonder if that is one of the many mangrove trees of Yap.... It would have been ok had I left the thought in my head but I opened my mouth and asked.... Mac, is that a Mangrove tree? Well Mac and the other students laughed and laughed and laughed since Mangrove trees only grow in the Ocean. (Which coming from Pennsylvania and even Guam this is not something I have prior experience with). The tree happened to be one of the many Pandanus trees found throughout Micronesia. THIS picture however is one of the many MANGROVE trees that I saw in Palau. It is also home to one of my favorite new foods The Mangrove Crab tastes similar to Maine Lobster.

Christmas Around the World

Or at least in my little part of the world.... This is my second Christmas in Guam. I of course miss all of my friends and family back home. However the cost of flying back and forth does not making celebrating the holidays at "home" very feasable. I celebrated the holiday with several of my friends here. On Christmas Eve I had dinner with the Boydstons and the Farnsworths. Cheryl prepared their family's Christmas traditional meal.... Ham and Swedish Meat Balls.... (Brad has a Swedish background) and we ended the evening by attending the Christmas Eve service at the Lutheran Church. It was a very nice evening.
On Christmas morning, I got up and went to the Farnsworths. First we enjoyed a nice breakfast. I contributed waffles made on my new waffle iron using my Mom's yummy recipe. Ned made "egg in the eye" (Toast with a hole with an egg cooked in it) along with bacon and sausage for us. Then I got to watch Amelia and Joel open some of their presents.
Amelia got a stroller for her baby.
Joel got a scooter.
In the afternoon I joined the Owens, Cundalls, and the Plaxtons for a traditional Turkey lunch. We followed the meal with a game of "Hoopla". We had great fun and a lot of laughs.

Afterword it was an evening of packing for an early morning flight to Palau.

Happy New Year

Hope you and your family enjoyed a happy new year! My new year in Palau was very quiet but relaxing. I am now safely back in Guam and am recouperating from crazy flight schedules. Then I will have to get busy preparing for the coming semester.