A Relative Experience

Today we got off to a late start. We left the house on three separate occasions always unsuccessful in actually walking more than 50 feet away. The last time we went back to the house, we had forgotten sunscreen. We were both a little annoyed since the third time was not the charm but by the end of the day, we were very glad for our scatterbrainedness! As we were walking up to the house, the neighbor, who is also an Adventist pastor here, pulled into the driveway and asked if we wanted to go to the capital with him. It was his day off and he wanted to drop something off at his mother's house. Up for adventure and realizing that if it was up to us it seems that we would never get out of the house, we agreed. Off we went to the big island. Here is a map of the Palau islands. It is pretty obvious which is the big island, no?

So we headed up the east side of the island. We visited the Adventist academy and and then headed up to the new capital building. And wow. The pastor was telling us how it looked just like the white house, but he wasn't kidding! Actually, it looks a lot like our capital building but I can understand the confusion. It was weird because you are driving past all these rainforests and no civilization and then standing there in the middle of it all is a big white building on a hill. We drove around and took some pictures of the building (we have never been to our capital building so we figured why not?) Then we headed off to the new capital city. It has been a city for a long time, just not the capital. It really isn't a city. It is more like a stretch of beach with a few houses on it. But there was construction going on everywhere and the pastor said that it is changing every week. He said that he was going to visit some re-lay-tives (that is how he pronounced it). The first relative was an uncle of his. The uncle and his wife loaded us down with freshly picked papayas and bananas. Neither of like papaya (we tried, promise), but the bananas are all gone now. And they gave like 3 bunches. Anyway, next, we stopped at his mother's. His mother has a nice new house. It was just finished this summer and it very modern and pretty looking. I went around the back and was surprised to see the kitchen outside. The shower and bathroom were also separate little houses outside. The bathroom was the cleanest, prettiest little booth! It is interesting how islanders build houses differently.
The pastor then took us up a stone pathway that led up the hill to the back of the house. It took us up through taro fields and between mango trees. Under such a tree, we found a couple very pretty red dragonflies. The pastor then showed us an amazing trick! He taught us how to catch the dragonflies. You sneak up behind them and twirl your index finger in a circular motion. Their eyes follow you and soon they get so dizzy that they are incapable of moving. You then grab them by the tail! Pretty ingenious eh?

Up the pathway, was where the native Palauians used to live. They used to live up on the hills but then they moved down to the beach to be closer to supply ships and fishing. We began to pass foundations of ancient houses! They were tucked in amongst the "spirit tress" (they call them) and palms. The pastor explained that the Palauians who are still under customs, bury their dead at their family ruins. He showed us the ruins of his ancestor's house and his grandfather's grave.We walked back down to his mother's house and found that they had harvested a plethora of avocados from their tree for us! Oh my. Jason and Larissa both love avocados. Unfortunately none of them were ripe. But they ripened fast and we had one for breakfast this morning! They also harvested a couple coconuts for us as well as a bunch of star fruit. We were loaded down with succulant goodness! Then to top it all off they hit some mangoes off of a tree for us. Those aren't ripe either but we are waiting excitedly. About the time that the pastor opened a coconut for us to drink, a friend of his came walking up. His name is Clayton and he is quite the character. He sat down on the stone path next to us and began to talk. Here is a picture of him telling us all about his ancestors:We had a hard time understanding him since his four front teeth were missing (from chewing beetlenut?) and he had an accent. He told us to tell all our friends back in the states to come here to Palau. "We have enough food for them all!" He then said, "I am a free man! I go out, fish, take only what I need, eat from my trees and I am free!" He promised to take us fishing before we leave. Fishing on his raft and everything!
Before we left Larissa mentioned liking sugar cane. The pastor said he thinks that his auntie had some. So off we went to the other side of the island. It was a long drive but he gave us like 5 canes. We have been chewing sugar ever since. Jason had never had sugar cane before but quickly got used to the texture and flavor.
Jason and Larissa agree that today was pretty much the best day they have had since coming to this island. Combine the local fruit and people with sightseeing and riding in a car and we had ourselves a winner. We wish we could tell you more eloquently how cool this day was unfortunately, we aren't that good with words.