Green Pastures, Fiji, Golden Opportunities and Fried Chicken On Board

Willard enjoyed the kava ceremony!

As my title implies, this will be four blogs in one since we have been quite remiss in updating our adventure. I am not offended if you skip over parts, just happy you care enough to keep up with us; thanks for reading!

Green Pastures

Willard took off in April to check out a boat. You all are aware that he has spent years shopping and a Hylas 44’ was always at the top of the list. So when one became available in Hawaii he jumped at the chance. He came back excited and anxious to hear from the surveyor who eventually called and gave us the Good, Bad, and the Ugly. The biggest issue was that she needed new rigging. We had figured for that so negotiations were made and Willard was off to ready the boat. He figured he’d be gone four weeks, two to fix the rigging and do some other odd jobs, and two to bring over the boat. He assured me he’d be back well in time to help me with the graduation ceremony. Meanwhile, he talked a friend into flying over to meet him and help him with the passage.

Shortly after he left it became evident that four weeks would be five and it seemed every time we spoke there were a few more days added to the duration. The rigger discovered the chain plates were corroded (these anchor the rigging and are in the walls behind the cabinetry). This meant we needed to have the plates custom made and then cabinets had to be rebuilt. Four weeks became seven.

On my end I found myself very lonely and depressed. I could tell myself it was all okay but somehow I didn’t convince myself very well. Being the boss at work doesn’t afford me many friends, and the locals are all very nice to me but we are not buddies. A lot of the expats here are young and they don’t see running around with a 55 year old woman their idea of a good time. And we live in the sticks, without a lot of neighbors. So I wasn’t having fun.

My in-laws had given us a book, Traveling Light, by Max Lucado. It is about how to apply Psalm 23 to your life. It became my life-line. I read it and re-read it and then ordered more Lucado books. The things I took from them were that God makes us lie down in green pastures and He gives us our daily bread. I started to focus on my green pastures: my twenty something neighbors, young men who would come over for Sunday dinners and who would chat with me when I played catch with Mischief, my co-principal and her partner who took me to dinner, my son who patiently walked me through Mischief’s health issues, my maintenance worker who happily changed my flat tire, and my other maintenance worker who volunteered to dumpster dive for the car key I inadvertently tossed into the dumpster when throwing out a piece of paper. I also began to focus on getting through one day at a time. Lucado points out that we are given daily bread – enough to get through 24 hours – not for a week or a month. This helped tremendously. Prom and Graduation went by and were great successes. And boy was I happy when I got the call that the sailor men were back in Majuro with our “new” boat, Figment!

Figment before she left Hawaii

Fiji

One of my American employees became engaged to a Fijian man and we were honored with an invite. When two others decided to go and invited us to be part of their group I couldn’t resist. I didn’t think we’d get to Fiji for years, if ever, and now we were going! The wedding was one most brides can only dream about. The venue overlooked the ocean with palm trees and a gentle breeze. Katie, the bride, was in a simple and stunning American wedding dress, and Joe, the groom, wore traditional Fijian wear. The reception involved delicious roasted pig, curry, and other Fijian dishes and the live band and dancing were memorable.

Fiji has two major cities and a few towns. The rest of the land is very open and is scattered with villages. We flew into Nadi the smaller of the two cities. It was close to noon and we thought we’d get some lunch and look for a couple of things like a pair of sunglasses for me. It took no time at all to learn that most of the shops and restaurants are owned and run by the East Indian population. These folks comprise almost 40% of the population; they were initially brought by the English to work the sugar cane fields and are now a significant part of the Fiji population. I am not sure they could be more different from the indigenous Fijian people who come across as easy-going, polite islanders. The Indians are aggressive business folk who will do whatever it takes to make a sale. They make the Mexicans of Tijuana look like amateurs. While we were vacationing Willard caught a really nasty cold and was out of drugs. We learned we could drive fifteen minutes from our resort to a town to get some. It didn’t dawn on me that in this town we would find circumstances similar to those we had on our first day in Nadi. When we came to the town some women told us where to find the pharmacy. We bought the drugs and then thought we’d look around for a minute. A man asked us if he could help and Willard wanted a book store. After he bought a used book we found we were beholden to the man who gave us the directions. He asked if we could just spare a minute to look at his little shop. There was a building full of small little stalls, each the size of a card table. His had inexpensive, imported jewelry, nothing we wanted. But he was insistent. First he put a “free” bracelet on my wrist and then insisted we look at the rest.  We have not learned to haggle and agreed to pay exorbitant prices so we could leave. We were relieved to be done and going when two women suddenly accosted us, interrupting our exit. “Come and see our shop now,” they said. “No, no, no, we are leaving,” we said. “THAT’S NOT FAIR! We were the ones who showed you the pharmacy!” Oh boy, we didn’t want a scene so we followed them to one of the women’s stall. She thanked me saying, “It means so much to us. The men, they always do that to us, they always take our business. Thank you for helping my poor family.” Her jewelry was even worse. I saw some little bracelets that I thought would be about $4 each and agree to buy three, thinking they’d make little gifts for young girls at home. I asked how much they were and she said $19 each. Before I could respond Willard said, how about if I give you $50 for all three. Of course she agreed. We paid and were leaving when the other woman said, “Now you come to my stall!” We didn’t look back, just kept walking (almost running). It turns out this is the norm in the cities and towns. We have some learning to do if we are going to go back and survive it all financially! By the way, I saw the very same bracelets in the airport for $4.95!

We did get to visit a traditional village while we were there. Our visit was via an organized tour and we did pay dearly. We felt a little silly signing up for something so touristy but we wanted something to do and so bit the bullet and shelled out the dough. It turned out that we took a fun boat ride up the river to a remote village. The villagers are happy to have us because they get a percentage of the fee. With this income they were able to bring in electricity for the first time a year ago. They ring a bell that tells their village of about 65 members that guests are arriving. They have no machinery but hand plow their fertile land with horses and cattle. They raise chickens for eggs and meat and of course they fish. They raise cucumber, pineapple, papaya, bananas, coconut and more. Everything is fresh because there is no refrigeration. They live in simple wood and corrugated tin dwellings that are scattered on the land. Everyone is related with the exception of the pastor and his family who rotates villages every three years or so. They treated us to their kava ceremony, a feast of delicious food, and song and dance. It was the highlight of our trip!

We did see Suva, the capitol city as well, for a couple of hours. Our visit was long enough to see their huge produce market where locals sat on the ground or stood at small tables selling all sorts of produce, most of which I couldn’t identify. We also saw their handicraft markets. We bought a little of their painted tapa bark and some fabric. I would have liked to see more of Suva, maybe next time!

Katie and Joe's wedding

Women aren't allowed to wear pants or shorts in the village so they cover us up!

Kids in the village

Golden Opportunities

Living on a small remote island, there are some interesting opportunities that come and we take advantage of all of it! The Japanese had invited a martial arts expert from the States and hosted a welcome dinner. We were happy to be invited and to have delicious food at the Japanese Ambassador’s house.

Another opportunity was a silk screening class I got to take last month. There will be  a Pacific Forum here in a couple of months on the topic of Climate Change. Dignitaries from all over will be here and the island is working hard to get ready. We see litter pick-ups and painting parties working overtime. Meanwhile, the First Lady decided she wanted traditional designs printed on shirts for all of the dignitaries. So she asked a woman from the University of the Pacific to write a grant to teach the weavers how to print their designs on fabric. Tamara wrote the grant and two professors from Hawaii came to instruct. Because they arranged it on the Co-op campus they told me I could join the group. What fun – I got to make a screen, create designs and print myself happy. My art-soul has been nicely fed!

The U.S. Navy has arrived! They are on a humanitarian mission doing all sorts of good works in several Pacific Island countries, including the R.M.I. Their deeds include putting a roof over one of our basketball courts, providing clothing and toys, and all sorts of medical assistance. They brought a team of vets as well and so we were able to get Mischief a check up. They just happened to be here on the Fourth of July and so we got to board the U.S.S. Pearl Harbor and enjoy a ceremony with the Commodore, the U.S. Ambassador, and the R.M.I. President. Meanwhile, Willard decided it would be fun to take a group to a local island to picnic and snorkel and so he put out an invitation. We took eight out on Saturday and had a wonderful time. They were really appreciative of getting a day to play; one man had never been in tropical water and wouldn’t have gotten in if we hadn’t taken him! The whole day was a joy!

Fried Chicken Aboard

We have slowly been moving onto Figment now that we have returned to Majuro. I worked at Co-op last week while Willard would generally go out most days to the house and grab as much as the dinghy would hold. We then brought it on and unpacked it. Storage is tight and so there is downsizing and rearranging to do. The boat is nice and I think we’ll enjoy this new aspect of our adventure once we’re completely settled. As I had another week of vacationing coming to me we thought it would be fun to go to an outer island. Maleolap  is about 20 hours away so we figured we’d take a day to travel, enjoy  a few days and then return. Yesterday, we went into the house to gather a few more things, planned to hit a grocery store to finish provisioning, and then be off around 2 p.m.  It was an unusually nasty day, one with a lot of rain, and while we were at the house we heard a lot of thunder and lightening. Just before we were ready to leave the house we got a phone call; our mast had been hit by the lightening. When we returned to the boat we found that most of our electronics were dead. Three men from nearby yachts were soon on board with us volunteering their expertise and telling us they had never seen anything like it. Our mast looked like a huge sparkler. The men spent the whole afternoon helping Willard check different parts of our system and giving us advise. Eventually they all sat in the cockpit and Willard started writing up a list of things we will need to replace. On the list was “chicken.” When I asked why he would put a chicken on his list and he reminded me that on top of the mast the device that indicates direction is called a “chicken.” “And,” added one of the other men, “yours is now fried!” So we cancelled our trip and are licking our wounds. But we are thankful we are all safe and that some things do in fact work. We have also begun to realize how nice and helpful the yachting community is here and are grateful for their help and assistance. New green pastures…. We’ll spend the week working on what we can, and if you have been wondering what the Cabana Boy will be up to I bet you have a pretty good guess now!

Love to all of you, again thanks for reading! Becky

Which Way is Home and Church Ladies

My blog update is long overdue, I apologize. We spent two wonderful, albeit crazy weeks in Washington, and being gone took its toll at work. I have spent the last couple of weeks madly working to catch up!

I was pretty introspective about the trip home over the holidays. Many of my friends and family have stayed in contact and were welcoming us before we arrived. But I wasn’t completely sure how others who haven’t been in touch would respond. I prayed for a happy homecoming. And happy it was! Nate picked us up and we were off to Willard’s folks down past Olympia. Because of flight issues we were running an hour late and were concerned we were showing up around midnight, but we were welcomed with open arms and hot chocolate. The Lathrop family Christmas was one of the nicest I can remember in many years. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to be together and to celebrate as a family. There are eight little ones under the age of 6 and having them all together took me back to our days as young parents. Plus, I got to hold my own grandbaby for the first time.  What fun! Christmas Eve began with church at Messiah where we were able to say hello to many friends, and then a fun evening with my sister and brother-in-law, Cheryl and Phil, and Nate. The Michael family Christmas was another wonderful family gathering, and of course I got to hold my grandson again! After Christmas we attended a wedding in Canada and spent a little time in Bellingham with Will and Marcia - and got to hold the grandson some more. We then trekked back down to spend time, including bringing in the New Year, with friends and run a few zillion errands.   We enjoyed everyone and are grateful for the hospitality and good beds (Thanks Mom and Dad, Phil and Cheryl, Rose and Stacy)! Sadly, too soon it was time to go. Some asked how we could go back, especially to leave a brand new beautiful grandbaby.

What I have come to realize is that we now have two homes, one in the Puget Sound, and one in Majuro. Our friends and family are in the Puget Sound. But my work, and I believe my current calling, is here. My contract will be fulfilled in June and I have prayed about whether it is time to stay or to go. The door to stay has been completely opened, even in unexpected ways. The door to The Puget Sound has not at this point. Our friends are mostly still working.  Willard is retired and I do not have a job waiting for me. Health insurance is a big issue too. While I don’t have great care here, what I do have is, for the most part, affordable. Our children are all in different places and busy with their lives.  And the return here was every bit as welcoming as the visit to the States. We were greeted at the airport with hugs and smiles. The people here are genuinely grateful for the help we can provide for them. I feel I am making a big difference with my high school students and I wish you could all be here when we open up gifts from you like the laptop for my cook or the dictionaries for the high school students.  Juanita, a retired teacher who attends First Lutheran where we were for many years, sent a box of much loved books and the third grade teacher went nuts claiming them for her classroom! In addition, Willard is still having fun and I still find the job interesting and challenging. At the end of the day there isn’t much of a paycheck, but there is a huge feeing of helping to make a difference in the lives of 60 high school students. We like the pace of life here too. Life at Co-op is crazy - just as busy and demanding as any school I have seen in the U.S., but outside of school, Island Life is a reality. We have a new church family as well. Willard has donated some time here and there but I have been too busy to do much except worship on Sundays. Until now.  I have made a commitment to change this as much as possible and to have fellowship with the other members.

This is where the Church Ladies come in. They have a Women’s Meeting on Thursday nights. The last meeting of the month is a cooking night, something I couldn’t resist. I was welcomed immediately the first time I attended and had a lovely time learning to make a Filipino dish. It was also fun to see the amazement on the local women’s faces when a ball of oatmeal cookie dough “magically” flattened in the oven! Two weeks ago I made it to a regular meeting where the women shared, had a Bible Study, and prayed. This last week it was time to cook again. I agreed to show them scalloped potatoes and ham. This is such a “no-brainer” for Americans, but was completely new for the rest of the group. During the same session we had a Korean woman show us the Korean way to make sushi, Fijian women demonstrate beef curry, and a Filipino woman teach us how to make a pickled papaya salad. The only other American, a woman from Florida, demonstrated chicken wraps. Wow! There were 17 of us from all over: Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Korea, Marshall Islands, Philippines, U.S. and more. They are fun, funny, and warmly welcoming. For someone who hasn’t really been able to make real friends here (I am the boss in my work world), this has been a real blessing in my life. Being able to laugh,  pray and get to know these ladies from all over the Pacific is a new happy chapter in my life here in Majuro.

So, yes, it was very difficult to leave our new grandson, along with our children, friends and other family, to come back to this side of the world. But Will and Marcia are doing marvelously and we take comfort in the fact that they are confident and capable parents. Plus they send pictures and videos that I watch over and over! We look forward to all of your cards, letters, Facebook connections, and even packages that keep us connected.  I just spent an afternoon reading all of the wonderful Christmas letters we received. Thank you! We miss all of you and trust the Lord will allow us to reconnect soon.

Thank you for reading, and I’ll try to catch up more frequently!

Love to you and your family,

Becky



Grandma and Papa Lathrop with eight great grandchildren, including our baby, Will



The Usual Suspects



This family got a lap top thanks to a good friend from home. They now Skype their family in Hawaii and Arkansas several times a week!



The fun church ladies and the night's creations



Willard and Mischief on a Saturday afternoon - We took the high school students to a nearby island for a Welcome Back Party and, as you can see, it was a tough day!

The Cabana Boy Returns

Well where to begin.  I guess the update about the Cabana boy is that the Principal (Becky) found a new algebra teacher so since the first of the year I have been back to my old routine. You know, taking Becky to work, cleaning the house, walking/playing with the dog, reading books, practicing my guitar, playing my X-box, and generally taking it easy.

We had a great time over Christmas. We returned to Washington to see our friends, family, and especially our new grandson. We saw a ton of people and missed a ton more but we had to return to the Marshall Islands before school started on the 8^th. We really had a good time but it was really nice to get back to where it was warm.

Last week I had to drive the office manager in to the hospital every day to get his bandages changed. He had an unfortunate crash on his scooter and broke his right ankle and lost a bunch of skin on his leg and arm. The break was clean and will heal in about eight weeks but the scrapes are very susceptible to infection so they wanted to see him every day. The care seemed to be good but the waiting drove me crazy.

For the weekends entertainment, Becky and I spent Saturday at home, Sunday we went to church, and Monday was a Super Bowl party at the Marshall Islands Resort. It seems we always have something to do. Today is Tuesday and about 2:30 this afternoon I had a couple of neighbor kids stop by to play with Mischief. She is still an oddity here and the kids love her. Mischief loves to chase a ball in the surf and she will run up and down the beach as far as we throw the ball and then bring it back to us.

We are shopping for a sailboat and hope to have one here in the islands by this summer. It makes it a little tough, shopping long distance but there are several boats we are looking at on the west coast. We’ll let you all know when we become “Yachties”.

Our internet is down right down so I don’t know when this will get posted but not everything can go right all the time. Life’s tough when you’re a Cabana Boy.

 

Willard

 

The Principal of a Small Private School on an Island

We are living on a small island with no theater, bowling alley, skating rink, mall or public parks. There are those who complain about being bored, but that has yet to be the case for me. When I was first thinking about working as a principal of a small school with but a handful of teachers I thought, how hard can it be? Let’s just say everyday keeps me on my toes and there is never a dull moment!

Last week our seniors worked the concessions for the opening of the new movie, The Sound of Crickets at Night. Yes, I said we don’t have a theater. But we do have a large meeting room at the hotel that can be set up with a projector and screen. Our board president has been making local films for the last few years (the last two have been award winning at several international film festivals) and his new one has just released. So the seniors are taking advantage of the opportunity to fundraise and are selling microwave popcorn and hotdogs at 22 showings over two weekends. So that occupied most of last weekend.

As to my week, I am teaching Algebra 2 and a College Seminar class. I am also my own secretary, counselor, and custodian. Of course there are staff and parent needs to continually. This week I also gave placement tests to two new students and welcomed them to the fold. I am also responsible to write multiple grants so we can keep afloat financially and also improve our school. I was relieved to finish a mid-term report and send it off yesterday for one of my grants

There is both PTA the Board of Directors to write monthly reports to and their meetings to attend. This last Thursday we had a general PTA meeting planned. All parents and staff are expected to participate. We were all ready to go when we heard one of our beloved board members had just passed away. Our power was out and the internet down so we couldn’t really connect with parents to let them know the meeting was cancelled. It was a tough evening, sharing the news and trying to figure out how we’ll move forward without such a vital voice in our community. It turns out that folks here care in ways that are similar to home; we take up a collection and bring food to the family. One difference is that the children often attend school the next day. Robert, the little 2^nd grader wore his father’s flip-flops to class. Evidently this is how the family gives the children a place to be so the adults can tend to the business of grieving and planning a funeral. In the midst of this, school still goes on.

There are folks who constantly call or drop in with invitations for the principal. Sometimes they give me an hour’s notice, sometimes a week or two. There is an expectation that I attend and I try to comply as much as I can. So far this school year I have been invited to opening and closing ceremonies for community college/Taiwanese exchanges, a hearing deficit workshop,  a 3-day diabetes seminar and a high school college fair for the University. The USP Day was how yesterday began.

All of my high school students met and sat outdoors on USP’s beautiful campus grounds. The ceremony started 45 minutes late because the RMI President was invited and they cannot start the ceremony until he either comes or sends his regrets. Once we knew he couldn’t attend, we heard speakers and watched cultural dances. The students were then given tours of the campus, saw the facilities and looked at displays the college students had produced. Meanwhile, the high school teachers and principals were gifted with plates of sandwiches and desserts.

Shortly after returning to the Co-op campus I had visitors. These two women came by to introduce themselves and ask our participation in an upcoming Bob Festival (bob is the Marshallese word for pandanus, a tree that grows on the islands. The islanders eat the fruit and use the leaves for thatched roofs, woven mats, handicrafts and more). They want us to sell raffle tickets and build a Bob Float. The student body officers are excited to participate so we are in. Before we finished our conversation, I had another visitor.

We are getting ready to celebrate Manit (Marshallese culture) in a couple of weeks. My next visitor was looking for my students to help lead some traditional games at the island-wide fest. He announced a meeting for us to attend at 5:30 that (yesterday) evening. I asked the students but they gave me the impression they weren’t going to be able to come, even though I volunteered to pay for their food. Meanwhile, I had students in the library earning community service hours.

Several of you have been very kind to donate books to our high school library. Some of you have even garage sale and/or bargain book sale shopped. We have some lovely reading choices now, thanks to folks like the Chutes, Smiths, Riefs, Jaquishs and Williams! We were able to shelve some of the books but quickly ran out of space. This summer one of my priorities was to have new shelves in the library, just for the high school students. Our maintenance man just finished building two new sets of shelves and the students spent their Friday afternoon happily sorting, alphabetizing and beginning to shelve the books. It was wonderful! They told me they might not have enough shelf space and I told them not to worry, that we can figure out!

Oh, how I underestimated the group of students I volunteered to feed! Five of them showed up for the dinner meeting and were happy to order at my expense (I was thinking 2)! I think the committee didn’t quite know what to think of us all showing up at their planning meeting but the students made me proud. By 7:00 the meeting was wrapped up and we had some idea of how we would fit in to the program.

Now it’s the weekend. Willard is off fishing and the internet is down. I am writing my long overdue blog, doing some school work, walking the dog on the beach, and enjoying some new art supplies. I may get a snorkel in and hopefully there will be fresh fish for dinner!

Our love to you,

Becky and the Cabana Boy

High school students organizing the new high school section with their newly donated books.

My beautiful high school students at the University of the South Pacific for a presentation

Cabana Boy update 9/8/12

I must beg the pardon of those who read our blog for not keeping it up to date but it seems that since returning from our vacation I’ve found one thing after another to occupy my time.

With school resuming the first week of August, Becky has been immersed in running the high school. She has had a need for an algebra teacher for one period a day (first period) and although she had a couple of candidates, neither of them worked out. So, for right now the Cabana Boy is teaching algebra one every morning to 15 students, mostly 9^th graders with a few from the other grades. I’m so not a morning person. One morning I got up, put the water on for coffee, put the beans in the grinder, washed out the French press and when the water boiled I poured it in to the press. Oops, no coffee, still in the grinder. No problem, pour coffee from the grinder into the press. Oops, forgot to grind the beans. Throw out the mess and start over. This teaching stuff puts a crimp in my Cabana Boy duties but I soldier on and Becky is trying to find a permanent math teacher.

I’m still working on my guitar practice and at times it even sounds like something you could recognize as music. Amazon continues to be my friend and is the source for most of our reading, music, and movies.

Fishing has been poor the last few times I’ve been out. The boat I fish with won the yearly President’s Cup and last weekend we represented the Marshall Islands in the “All Micronesia” tournament. We did terrible and after two full days we were lucky to have a Wahoo to take home for dinner. If fact, we had to barrow a small skipjack tuna for the team picture. Very embarrassing.

We still get out to snorkel our reef and, during the past month, we have been to two of the other islands on this atoll and done some snorkeling there.

We continue to enjoy the people here in Majuro. Our house has become a regular stopping place for the neighborhood children. We try to keep fruit on hand for them and it is fun to talk with them about island life.

 Mischief loves the beach and water. When we take her out she doesn’t want to come back in and we usually have to leave her and sit on the porch until she figures we won’t be coming back out and then she will reluctantly return.

Can't keep Mischief out of the water

I’m still busy with my Cabana Boy duties, but it’s a great retirement job. Life’s tough when you’re a Cabana Boy.

Great Sunsets

Becky reading while the Cabana Boy slaves

Becky on the deck after being served by the Cabana boy

Willard

Pohnpei

We decided - actually I begged and Willard acquiesced - that we would spend a couple of days in Pohnpei after Palau since it was on the way home. We have heard both good and bad about Pohnpei so I didn’t have huge expectations.

But first, it was back on the Island Hopper. It was brutal in a new way. We had to board the plane in Palau at 2 AM which meant there was no sleep that night. I was wearing a skirt since I had visited the Ministry of Education that morning and found out the hard way that they frisk you if you are in a skirt. When we got to Guam we saw Cheryl and Phil off onto their flight - they had to make a mad dash and almost missed their connection - and then we went to chill for two plus hours waiting for our next plane. We were up, then down in Chuuck, then up and down again in Pohnpei somewhere around 2 PM. By this time we were exhausted and I was questioning my sanity for wanting to make the extra stop.  In addition to being tired, we had not made any reservations - we were flying by the seat of our pants. The only thing I’d done is to research hotels online and I thought I had a reasonable place to try.

After we collected our luggage, we started to stagger outside. Willard approached a young man who said he’d be glad to take us to the hotel; it was on his way to his place of business. We hopped in his rig and off we went. He dropped us off and Willard handed him $5.  The Rainbow Cliff had room and it was exactly what the Internet said - somewhat outdated but clean, fine, friendly help, and good food. It didn’t seem like a $100/night room but we were too tired to argue. After unpacking our things we went down for an iced tea and Willard began looking at the map/brochure and asked what I wanted to do. Nap. By this time I was beyond tired - that was that for the day.

The next day, however, we were able to get on what we thought was a day of snorkeling. A cab driver took us down the road to a spiffier hotel, The Village, where we met five Japanese JICA folks, an Australian woman, and a young man from America who is doing firefighting in Kwajalein. When one of the Japanese began to explain JICA (these folks do a two year volunteer stint akin to our  Peace Corps), I explained that I had just said good-bye to my JICA Japanese teacher and was getting ready to welcome a new one. It turns out they all knew the new teacher; she was in their training classes! Our guide was a Pohnpei man named Ward.

 Our first stop was to go to Manta Road, a channel of water between islands that has manta rays. The whole time we were in Palau, Phil, Cheryl, and Willard, mentioned repeatedly that it would be very cool to see a manta ray. I was indifferent really. I have seen large eagle rays off of our reef and so a ray wasn’t on top of my list. But, immediately, when we pop into the water, everyone is excited - there is a ray! But it is really deep and I only see it for a couple of seconds so I decide not to concern myself and move over to the reef and enjoy the coral and the fish. After a half hour everyone climbs back in the boat so I figure that is that.  It turns out we needed to hang out for a while, while the tide changed and while we did Ward showed me where there is a school of fish. He showed me how the water bubbles or looks like it is boiling and that’s how you know the fish are there. Then he goes on to say that the manta rays like to circle these fish and the next thing we know, he has jumped in. We follow and, true to his word, there is the ray! This creature was over 8 feet wide and swam right to us, within a yard, before turning off.  It was too fast to follow but we found that if we stayed with the school of fish, sure enough, it would come back around. Before we were done there were two, doing all sorts of acrobatics right in front of us. I almost got an affidavit signed by all of our witnesses because I don’t think Phil or Cheryl will ever believe us! The manta rays are amazing and now I understand why the others were keen to see them.

From there we went to a small little island to eat a nice lunch and we snorkeled off its shore. We then went to a waterfall. We hiked for five minutes to a fall that was about 200 feet. It was beautiful and I think it is the first time I have swam under a fall! Ward then took us to the Nan Madol Ruins. This looks to be a village that is made from huge basalt stones. The walls are 15 feet or better and the stones are up to 6 tons. These ruins date around 500 A.D. and no one knows the real story of why they are there or HOW they got there. Archaeologists say there are several tombs that were for royalty and a place of worship but mostly the 150 acres of 93 man-made islets of ruins are all a mystery.

We finished the day feeling like we’d made new friends and had an incredible tour. We called for a taxi driver and a man named Keeper (not lying) came and got us. He took us to a local saceu (the Pohnpei version of kava) stop and we passed the coconut cup of brew. He agreed to come for us again this morning and take us around the island for $50. Since it cost $65 to rent a car, we felt we had a deal!

Keeper was right on time and took us around the island. Almost all of it is very rural and the jungle is beautiful. The main road that goes around is paved and in good shape. There are no roads that go across - it’s uninhabited hill and jungle. Once you have headed out of town you better have eaten, peed, and have gas in your car because there are no facilities. We saw the national capitol building, the state capitol building, several schools and a pepper farm.

We liked Pohnpei a lot and would come back, even to live! The people are friendly and the island is cleaner than Majuro. The locals live poor but they have all they need; Keeper says they do not know starvation. They are able to grow bananas, coconuts, mango, papaya, breadfruit, taro and more. And of course they fish.

Tomorrow we are back on the Island Hopper and back to Majuro. It has been a good vacation!

Love to you, Becky and C.B.

Pohnpei

I didn't take this picture but this is exactly like the rays we saw

Keeper and Willard

In my new skirt from Pohnpei!

Vacation in Palau

We are on vacation! My sister and brother-in-law, Cheryl and Phil, joined us in Guam where we got on the plane for Palau. While this destination was highly recommended to us by islanders and tourists alike, I really didn’t have much in the way of expectations except a clean hotel, decent food, and great snorkeling.

We arrived at the nicest airport I’ve been to in the South Pacific (except Guam which doesn’t really count). It’s clean, attractive and efficient. We were picked up by a man from our hotel and brought to the Waterfront Villa. It is not posh, but rather funky. For $80/night we have our own furnished apartment that is nicer than our house in Majuro. It is run by Seventh Day Adventists so there is absolutely no help from sundown on Friday to 6 PM on Saturday, but they forewarn you and beyond this little inconvenience, the help is warm, friendly, and eager to please. There is a restaurant that serves a decent breakfast and a pool.

Two of my favorite Palauans so far are the two ladies we met at the Budget Rent-a-Car. They were happy to chat with Cheryl and I about their customs, including the money beads the Palauan women receive from parents and husbands that is worth more to them than actual money. They told us that their country was originally Belau but people said the name so fast that others misunderstood the B for a P and so it because Palau. They recommended restaurants and things to see and do. They were wonderful!

My other favorite person is Swing. On Sunday, we helped ourselves to the posh resort, eating lunch and snorkeling off of their beach. I asked the bartender what he would do if he was a visitor here with just a couple of days. He said, “I’d call Swing and have him take me out on his boat. He is Palauan and he knows all of the good spots.” We got a phone number and thought we’d give him a call later on. Later that evening we were at a restaurant, chatting it up with the waitress. She wanted to know what we were up to and we told her we wanted to snorkel. She told us that she knows Swing and that yes, we need to go with him. In fact, she said she would call him on the spot and she did!

So yesterday we go with Swing. He is funny and friendly and he does know all of the good spots. We started out a little crabby because we found out there is a $100 permit we needed to purchase in addition to the boat ride but we buy our permits and board. From there we pick up another couple who are from Germany and off we go. The snorkeling was amazing and just kept getting better. He took us to four different spots in addition to Jellyfish Lake.

This is a lake that is 60% saltwater and 40% rainwater. Somehow the jellyfish made their way through crevices from the sea into this lake and over time lost their stinging tentacles through evolution since there are no predators to threaten them in the lake. Willard and I hiked up some very uneven and quite vertical steps for several minutes until I thought I would die (there are no steps in Majuro to keep me in shape) and then down into the lake. You just put on your mask and fins and hop in and swim with a gazillion jellyfish that range in size from a marble to larger than a softball. There are a couple of species of fish as well but you don’t notice them - you just see that you are surrounded by these gentle moving peach colored sea creatures, everywhere! We were also surrounded by two hundred Taiwanese. It turns out that these folks can come to Palau for $500 on a chartered trip and they come in droves. What cracked me up is that we kept crossing paths with them in the lake and the ocean and every time they were out in the water just chatting it up with one another. Very few were actually looking at anything beneath the surface! It made me even happier we had chosen to go with Swing!

As I said, the snorkeling here is amazing. We have seen more varieties of coral than I have ever seen and there are fish galore! There is absolutely no litter on the sea floor which makes me happy to have paid the permit fee. I think my new favorite creature is the giant clam! We find the shells on our beach in Majuro but I have not seen one live until now. They can weigh up to 400 pounds and can be 3 feet high. What is amazing is that most of the ones we have seen have these brilliant, electric colorings - almost psychedelic - and each one is very different than the next. Some are blue, others green or pink or ….. Anyway, at the end of our last snorkel, Swing told the six of us to grab the tow rope and he drug us through the water. It made me feel like a kid and it was a fun way to end the day. We all had to admit we were very tired; Swing had given us our money’s worth!

We are loving our time with Cheryl and Phil and happily eating our way through Palau. We have eaten in several places and feel we struck gold every time. They even have a brewery here that makes a very nice amber! We’ve also toured the aquarium and museum and found them to be nicely done. Today we are driving the islands so we’ll see what kind of mischief we can make on this new adventure!

Being with Cheryl and Phil makes me realize how much we miss all of you. Please let us know how you are doing – throw us a line once in a while! Take care, we send our love,

Becky and the Cabana Boy

Having an amazing snorkel day in Palau!

Swing driving the boat

 /s

The Rock Islands

A picture of a giant clam - no I didn't take the picture but this is what they look like

The jellyfish - I didn't take this picture either

This is a cave the Japanese blasted out and used to hold fuel