Finding Normalcy

Life here is an interesting combination of a ridiculous amount of action and calm. For instance, a few weeks ago, my friends and I spent a Saturday hiking through rivers and Temple of Doom-like jungle scenes, to sit under waterfalls and view monoliths:

(To get to the Ngardmau Waterfall, Palau's largest waterfall, we had to hike along this river. It posed a challenge for me and my chacos, but we made it, with only one near-fall, which is thankfully undocumented.)

(During our hike, the trail follows the tracks created for the bauxite mining that took place during the Japanese colonial times. We waited for a little cart to take a ride down to the waterfall, and then realized we weren't at the Epcot Center.)

(Ngardmau Waterfall, http://www.ngardmau.com/index.php?section=nature, is Palau's largest waterfall at 100 feet high. It's located in the State of Ngardmau, which is on the island of Babeldaob, north of Koror, where I live. The waterfall is a gorgeous site, and because it's gentle, we got a chance to wade out and sit underneath the falls!)

(Climbing through mud and hiking in the heat for about an hour were quickly forgotten after getting a massage, compliments of the waterfall!)

(The Stone Monoliths are located in northern Babeldaob. The myth is that the gods were creating a meeting place, called a Bai, at night. The gods turned to stone when the sun came up earlier than they expected. Needless to say, they're worth a visit. We decided to make this angry-faced monolith a little girlier.)

And if we're not climbing through the jungle or scuba diving, we'll spend a lazy Sunday snorkeling, sunning, reading, and swimming at the Palau Pacific Resort (PPR).

But then Monday evening rolls around, the work day ends at 4:30, I've already worked out, and I wonder what to do with my time. So lately I've been seeking out ways to find a normal routine to remind myself that even though every weekend is like a vacation, Palau life is actually pretty normal. Here are a few things I've been up to lately...

1. Chatting.

I thought I'd feel a bit guilty coming to Palau armed with English and a few random Spanish words remaining from high school. But here my ability to occasionally form a proper sentence is actually useful! I've started meeting with an extremely bright and sweet Korean woman, helping her with her conversational English. After learning that she was teaching herself grammar and didn't want to learn anything technical from me, I got a lot less nervous about how I would explain the crazy conjungations commonplace to our language. Instead I'm feeling guilty that she'll most likely adopt my Wisconsin accent and colloquialisms. Then again, who doesn't like the sound of a nice girl asking for a "Plastic baaaag" in the grocery store?

2. Teaching swimming

From the ages of 16 to 22, every summer was spent lifeguarding, teaching swim lessons, and coaching synchronized swimming (yes, I'm proudly admitting that). And I had a blast doing it. The kids were fun, the people I taught with were enthusiastic, and we got to play in the pool all summer long. Sadly, my teaching certification has long since expired, and apparently once one graduates from college and grad school, one is expected to work during the day. Even in the summer.

Lucky for me, here in Palau, it's warm enough to teach lessons outside after work, and they really don't care if you're a certified instructor. All you need to do is volunteer! So for the past several weeks Veronica and I have been teaching a small group of 5 to 7 year olds swim lessons! We've had a blast playing Red Light Green Light, Duck Duck Goose, Tag, and learned a few skills here and there. It's been a great way to end the day and to get to know some of the kids in the community. And to all my former FPMP colleagues, Freddy the Fish has made his appearance!

3. Cooking

Sadly, while I've been living in Chicago I've learned to love the restaurants a little bit too much. It got to the point that where I didn't go out to eat, I wouldn't have a clue what to do in my apartment and often ended up with crackers and hummus or cereal. I've been dating Jesse since the end of May, and all I've done is chop vegetables at his directions and mess up an order of pancakes. But I have picked out plenty of good restaurants for us!

Now that restaurant choices are somewhat limited, I've started enjoying cooking. I'm hosting brunches, looking up recipes, and baking all sorts of desserts. Whereas before I got here I was just showing up to family events with a frozen Lou Malnati's pizza, now I'm hosting brunches where I make strata. Strata!

And this weekend I got together with some girlfriends to bake Christmas cookies. This is one of my favorite holiday traditions, and I'm thrilled to have some fun ladies to cook, chatter, listen to Christmas music, and watch Christmas movies with. It might be eighty degrees outside, but it'll feel like a traditional Christmas!

4. Basketball...?

I just agreed to play on the Palau women's basketball team. I'm 5'4" and was cut from the team my junior year of high school. And my only experience playing basketball for the past ten years is losing to my siblings in games of high contact lightening. So you'd think I'd run screaming away from the courts. But this team is a great way to meet people, it's low pressure, and apparently I can't resist the chance to publicly embarrass myself. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

So those are my attempts at normalcy in a place where my weekends are anything but!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving, and that you're all enjoying the holiday season! I'm sure you're all wondering what the holidays are like here. In a word, they're BRIGHT--this place gives Clark Griswold a run for his money. Describing it doesn't do it justice though-- I'll be posting photos of the sensory overload that is downtown Koror very shortly!

Silver & Gold, and Sensory Overload

As I mentioned, this place does NOT skimp on Christmas decorations. I don't think there's an official competition between the stores and resorts, but it sure seems like they're trying to one-up each other. A description doesn't do it justice. Here's some photos:

Right next door to the courthouse, you can get some holiday cheer and a ginormous snow globe at the Rock Island Cafe.

Surangel's light display is on each side of it's building. My camera could only get part of it.

Not to be outdone, WCTC took a more firework-ish approach. You can't tell from the picture, but these things are flashing and twinkling like crazy. And it just gets more festive indoors...

These two greet you as you enter Surangel's. I guess it wouldn't be Christmas without a creepy full length Santa statue!

And this is my favorite display, compliments of WCTC. If I could post a video of this, I would...it moves and plays Christmas music. I've had to curb the amount of groceries I buy because otherwise I can't get through the hallway. And I couldn't fit the whole thing in one picture...

Hmmm....what's missing??

Of course! Santa see-sawing with his reindeer! And, last but not least...

This guy is probably about 20 feet tall...they had to put scaffolding around it to decorate it properly. It blocked the traffic through the hallway of the grocery store for about a week.

Given all these decorations, it's physically impossible to avoid the holiday spirit. Not that I needed any help. I've been listening to Christmas music since the day after Thanksgiving (that's nothing--my sisters start in on the holiday tunes on November 1). And, as I mentioned, I had a cookie baking party with my friends Alexis, Holly, Sarah, and Veronica. We made some islandy sangria, listened to some Christmas tunes, and whipped up some cookies.

Sarah and Alexis getting creative with icing.

Holly and Veronica happily toiling away in the kitchen.

And, of course, my Mom made sure that my apartment was stocked with a tree and stockings!

Thanks Mom/Santa for the tree, decorations, and presents!

I must have been pretty good this year because I get my first Christmas present early! Jesse is arriving here in Palau this Sunday morning at 1:00 a.m. My parents asked me if I'd be picking him up from the airport, and after a lot of consideration, I figure it's the least I can do for the guy who wakes up early to skype, sends me coffee and DVDs, and travels halfway across the world to see me! He's here through January 2, so we have big plans to scuba dive, snorkel, sit on the beach, attempt to play soccer, and one-up each other in trivia. If I had to gauge my excitement on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say I'm at a 17.48 right now!

Even though we're thrilled to see each other and hang out in paradise, we'll miss our families and friends. Have a fantastic Christmas and New Year everyone!

Midwesterner's Guide to Palau Living

I've been here for about a month now, so I can say with no confidence whatsoever that I'm the authority on all things Palau. But I've survived so far, so for you Midwesterners out there, here are a few tips on adjusting to life in the middle of the Pacific on the equator.

1. Perspiration.

Living in Chicago, one of the biggest challenges is adjusting to the changing weather. We have to dress for the crazy wind, snow, sleet, rain, and occasionally heat. So I've learned how to handle the July/August weather without too much difficulty. Wear flip flops on the train, carry a water bottle, wear lighter clothes and sunglasses, chew on ice while blow drying my hair, run with sunglasses or a hat and take water breaks. The basic survival techniques.

Here, all of those tricks have gone out the window. My flip flops feel like they're melting all the time, my water bottle doesn't stay cold, my clothes aren't light enough to avoid the heat, I can't even fathom standing under the stream of hot air from a blow dryer, and running past 8:30 a.m. in the sun is, in my opinion, asking to faint on the side of the road. Not that I'm complaining. I'm absolutely loving this heat. But it's taken a bit of time for me to adjust. Here are a few things I've changed:

-No more makeup. It's way too heavy and uncomfortable. When I have worn it, it's all ended up on my chin within about five minutes of application.

-No blow drying or hair product ever.

-Combining running and swimming. If on a weekend morning I haven't made it out of my apartment before 8:30 a.m., I have learned to make a pit stop at the nearby pool. So I run for about a half hour, jump in the pool and swim some laps, and run/walk home. By the time I'm home, I'm completely dry and sweating profusely again. It's not perfect, but I definitely prefer it to heatstroke!

2. Getting Around

No one walks around here! Having lived in Madison and Chicago, I've come to appreciate walking long distances on a pretty regular basis. Because Koror, the state that I live in here in Palau, is so small, I expected that I'd get to know the area by walking around. I quickly learned that driving is the much preferred means of transportation because of the heat and constantly strong sun.

(I took this during a ten minute walk at lunch, before which one of my co-clerks told me that if I got tired she'd pick me up)

The cars here range from pick-up trucks that look like Tonka trucks to fancy beamers. And for the most part, looks certainly don't play a big role. At least that's the case for my car. Homer, my Honda Odyssey (yes, that's a minivan, and no, I do not have any kids), may not be the sharpest car on the road, but he gets me around!

In addition to the difference in the looks/style department, cars operate on the road here differently. Homer, like most cars here, has a steering wheel on the right side of the car, which is strange because we still drive on the right here. This quirk has definitely thrown me off. Adding even more confusion, most cars operate under kilometers per hour while the speed limit signs are all in miles per hour. Luckily my longest car trip around town is about 2 miles, and so far the guestimate approach to checking my speed has worked out.

The one adjustment to driving that I LOVE is the parking situation here. Basically there is no rhyme or reason to parking. If your car can fit and you're not in the middle of the road, consider it a spot for as long as you want. My car broke down on the side of the road and I left it pulled off to the side for well over a day. If this was Chicago, my car would have been ticketed about 3 times, booted, towed, and they would have put a lien on my firstborn child. In Palau? It's no biggie at all.

3. Food.

To be honest, this adjustment hasn't been nearly as difficult as I'd anticipated. I was told before coming here that things like alcohol and dairy products would be quite difficult to come by. To most Wisconsinites ("sconnies"), this would be a complete dealbreaker. Not for me! I'm a bit unique in that I don't crave milk. So that hasn't been a problem. But, like most Sconnies, I do enjoy a good beer. Not a problem either. There's a Palau brew, plenty of Asahi, and yup, Miller products a plenty here! Sadly, wine and liquor will be a special occasion this year, but with a lunch like this...

I can't complain!

The only aspect of food shopping here that's been different is that there are three different grocery stores along the main road that I frequent for different reasons. Surangel's is usually my first stop. This place always has almond milk and fantastic produce, but not my tea or granola bars. The WCTC is across the street, and it has both of these items, but then if I need any sort of bread or bakery products, I have to hop in my car and drive down to the Payless Market (nope, they don't sell shoes). In addition to the baked goods, Payless has great spices, but definitely DO NOT buy produce there. It's just not as fresh. So learning the matrix of food shopping takes a little time. In contrast, I've learned very quickly that the food here is expensive! I'm somewhat accustomed to Chicago prices, but I consider $20 for a large bag of dried mangos to be a bit excessive. They tell me they're the "World's Best Tasting Mangos," and I love them, but I'm still kicking myself for buy them [twice].

As for restaurants, I've got two words for you. Poke Shashimi. I'm not going to elaborate. Just visit me and start eating. Amazing. It's like butter. I still have many Palauan dishes to sample, so I'll fill everyone in on the local fair as I try them out. I'm especially excited for coconut crab!

4. Daylight

Every fall for as long as I can remember, I dread the shrinking sunlight. Every morning, I get a little bit sadder as my run becomes darker and chillier. Here, besides the constant warmth, the length of daylight stays the same year round. So that means that I'm up with the sun at about 5:30,

and watch the sun set every night at about 5:45 or 6.

Although I'm sure I'll start to miss the change of seasons and reason to bundle up, right now I'm loving the fact that my day will always start with the sunrise.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! Believe it or not, this is my first Thanksgiving spent away from home. I'm not sure how I'll cope without my Mom's stuffing, but I won't mind not getting roughed up by my younger sisters during the family football game!

Take care!