Triathlon...WHAT!?

And I'll go back to the good stuff. although your comment about steak made me absolutely ravenous katie. jerk. SO, last weekend I participated in a triathlon here in Palau! Before you get too excited, I did it as part of a team, which felt a little bit wussy compared to the japanese men and women who came here and ran half iron man races all by themselves (that's a 1.5 mile swim, 90 km bike and 20 km run... in 90 degree heat people). I did only the run part of the olympic distance triathlon, which was a whopping and VERY painful 6.2 miles. The problem wasn't the distance per se (although that didn't help), but rather the 90 degree heat, humidity, lack of any wind and the roughly 3 miles uphill. I literally almost died on the side of the road... but I think I looked pretty cute while doing it. i'm attempting to post a picture.

After that, I went sailing on the Sea Gypsy, my friends' awesome 23 foot sailboat. we took it to one of the rock islands the Americans call Margie's beach. There, we consumed some tequila, swam with glow in the dark plankton, did some chicken fighting, and slept under the summer house to the sound of rain on the tin roof. It was pretty awesome... until sunday happened. I woke up incredibly hungover, dehydrated from the race, and got incredibly sea sick sailing back. oh, and like REALLY sunburnt. But I'm gonna say it was all worth it and really a wonderful weekend altogether. I really like it here. I've mentioned that before I think.

Alex, how on earth did you not know I had a blog? I talked about my amazing pun like ALL summer....!

Some minor things...

I'm beginning to feel a little bit like I'm bragging about how awesome palau is, when it's so cold at home, and that feels unfair. so this blog is dedicated to some things that aren't that great about Palau.  

1.  It's sweaty here.  All the time.  like dripping, unstoppable sweat.  

2. Things take a long time here.  The internet, waiting in line for things, driving places. It's definitely island living and I am definitely an uptight east coast girl who needs to learn to relax.

3.  There is no Marshalls here.

4. I'm doing the running part of a triathlon this weekend (oh, just 6.2 miles) and because it's so hot here, we start at 6 am. oof. It's also about 3 miles uphill.  I'll blog about that next week.

5.  There is no good steak here (sorry mom, I'm sad about this too). 

6. It's been 11 weeks since I've been on perezhilton.com or any other celebrity "news" site and I feel very out of touch.  updates people????

7. I only get one radio station in my car, and it's A.M.  we get a mix of palauan talk radio, BBC news, palauan songs, and palauan re-mixes of american songs (my favorites). I have no idea what songs are new (again, updates are welcome here) and good.  my ipod mixes are suffering.

8.  Rats and Roaches.  There aren't THAT many, but it's not fun to nearly have a heart attack at 7:30 on the way to work.  or stepping out of the shower. or getting out of the car.  Ok, so I've only seen two rats, but that's plenty. 

Ok, that's about it. I really do love it here. these are minor setbacks for what is altogether a tropical paradise.  

Hash Run!

Not that kinda hash, people…

This past weekend we went to the island of Anguar, which is the southernmost island/state in Palau. IT takes about an hour and a half on a speed boat to get there, and about 40 min of that is in HUGE swells of water (thank you sea bands, I did not lose my lunch). Anguar is an amazing little island that is about 7 miles around and has about 200 people living on it. It is known for its abundance of monkeys in the wild. Like the rest of Palau, the jungle is on the inside of the island and the beach on the outside. The whole island was destroyed during WWII and there is still a lot of paraphernalia from the war leftover. Airplanes, ships, cannons, railroad tracks, etc.

The purpose of our weekend down there was to do what is known here as a hash run. This involves running through the jungle, almost purposefully lost. Christy and Rick set the trail this time, and put markers up through the woods. When you come across two sticks crossing, there are paths in all 4 directions, only one of which is the right way. If you find all the right ways, you end up at a cooler with beer. Totally awesome. However, some of my friends who did this a couple months ago got lost in the woods after the sun set and were stuck in the dark jungle unable to move until someone found them at 9 pm. I wanted to avoid that.

So I ran as fast as I could, and luckily, all the time I spent in the woods as a kid paid off. I ended up being the first lady to finish and the second overall (even beating the four air force guys that were running with us). I felt pretty awesome about this. All I won though was an extra turn having to chug a full beer out of a (hopefully unused) bedpan. Apparently there are ceremonies after these hash runs where people drink a lot.
The rest of the weekend I spent on the beach, fishing and collecting sea glass. It was pretty incredible and really, just another weekend in paradise. Oh palau.

I'm a little burnt today

Happy almost thanksgiving!

I don't have much to write this time, but I wanted to see if I could add some pictures. I've tried the last three times I've posted, but failed. It's still absolutely amazing here in palau. I am becoming quite comfortable under the water with diving and I think I may now be addicted to the sport. I saw about 7 sea turtles last weekend during one of our dives, as well as an eel, which freaked me out completely. I've been here for over 8 weeks now and still can't believe I wrangled my legal career into this paradise lost in the pacific sea. It's pretty incredible. I am trying not to take a single second for granted!

So far these are the sports I've learned in palau:
1. ultimate frisbee
2. Scuba diving
3. Badminton (highly underrated in the U.S.)

So far, my absence has done these things for the US:
1. lowered gas prices
2. elected Barack Obama

...based on this information, it seems unwise that I come home ever.

I never want to see snow again. for serious.

Palau Updates:
1. I am now SCUBA CERTIFIED! I went on my first two dives this weekend, which were ridiculous amazing first dives. The first was this reef wall that extends down 2,000 feet. You swim up to it and it looks like you have to jump off this cliff to descend, but you’re in water, so you just float down about 85 feet and look around. The second dive was Ulong channel, which is this channel created by two huge reefs with a valley in the middle. The reefs create a current and you just float down the channel in the current and feel like you are flying. For most of the dive, we hooked onto dead coral and baited the water so that about 30 sharks swam around us. Apparently this isn’t dangerous in Palau because there is so much to eat here in terms of fish that we humans are not appetizing. It is, admittedly, hard to remember this when they are eyeballing you from 4 feet away.
2. I took a day trip to the Ngardmau waterfall yesterday. It’s about 200 ft (?) high and totally freaking amazing. You have to hike through the jungle and river for about an hour to get there, which was treacherous and felt a little bit like the scene in anaconda where everything is all peaceful until a huge snake jumps out of the water and sucks the breath out of you. Luckily that didn’t happen. Palau is ridiculous to me because it has all these islands with white sandy beaches, but then also these rivers with fresh water and jungle and waterfalls. It’s like a made-up paradise where all the fun stuff you ever wanted to do is within an hour drive/boatride from town. I find it impossible to believe that even us egocentric Americans didn’t know about this place until I got this job.
3. Go rent Survivor Palau. It’s a stupid reality show BUT it’s a beautiful film about Palau otherwise. IT’s filmed on Ulong beach, which is one of my favorite beaches, about 45 minutes from Koror by boat.
4. I have killed roughly 15 roaches so far here. I am becoming a woman of nature. My kitten kills a lot too, which is another reason she is so awesome.
5. Palau time is wayyyy slower than American east coast time. I’m working on becoming a patient person and practicing by spending 45 minutes in line at the bank and going to 5 different offices to get my car registered. I am still very bad at waiting, but slightly better than before.
6. Someone asked me the other day if I was Palauan!! If you are white here, you stick out like a sore thumb. They call us “howleys.” So to be mistaken as Palauan was super exciting. Of course, it was a teenage boy at the supermarket, who may have been lying to hit on me, but exciting nonetheless. I like to think that this means my tan is going well.
7. I’ve learned some Palauan words: Ma Kukluk means see you tomorrow. Alii is hello, Mesulang or just sulang is thank you or thanks.

Four weeks today!

Hello everyone!

I know, I know, it's been a really long time since I've updated this blog. The internet here is hard to come by and I'm doing my best. I'm working on a picasa account so you'll be able to see all my pictures, but for now I'll upload a couple highlights.

Basically, here's what I think about Palau: If I could wake up anywhere and be doing anything, it would be here, doing what I'm doing. The work week is pretty much the same as home, except that here my weekends are all ridiculously amazing. Last weekend it was this man's 70th birthday. He lives on a sailboat, so he had a party on one of the deserted islands (Ulong, which is actually where they filmed survivor). HE looks about 50 years old because he lives on a boat and lives an amazing life. Lesson: try to be happy, you'll look younger.

So this deserted beach was completely beautiful. Every beach here, in fact, looks like you've jumped into a screen saver on a computer screen. Ever wonder where they take the pictures of white sandy beaches and colorful fish? it's here. About 60 people came out for the party, by boat, and what's great about palau is that everyone knows everyone, and for the most part, they all get along, regardless of age, nationality, religion, politics, etc. We spent the day playing frisbee, hiking, snorkeling, grilling and talking.

The picture of everyone coming straight down a cliff is just that. We went on a "hike" which started with a vertical climb up a rope. Being the wuss that I am, I stayed in the water and took pictures as everyone else scaled the cliff. It looked intense, and someday I might be able to do it, but it wasn't that day.

The next day I went to another deserted beach and did all of the above all over again. We ate lunch out of banana leaves, which are huge and make great plates that are recyclable too!

Oh, one last note. I got a kitten. Pets here arent treated well and kittens frequently get eaten. so this one showed up on my friend liz's doorstep and I took her for "a week." Then I took her to the vet, and she needed a month of medication because she had a horrible bladder infection. 3 and 1/2 weeks later, I am in love with this cat. She's mostly better and she's the sweetest kitten in the world. Her name is francis, and I call her baby, after (of course) Dirty Dancing.

Also, I'm getting scuba certified. It's totally scary, but really the most amazing thing I think I've ever done.

Katie: I would like you to know that I'm ROCKIN the ultimate frisbee field. I play 3-4 times a week and I'm planning on being totally awesome by the time I come home. so get excited.

I'll try to write again soon. There's so much more to be said. Like how I ate fish out of a fish carcass last night and how it was really delicious.

So I'm still figuring out how to blog.  You have to stick with me.  here are some pics from the first couple days.  Bottom left is a picture of flooded Houston after Hurricane Ike, which blew through the day before my flight. 

The top two pictures are from the dock where we left for our boating trip last saturday.  The top right is a picture of a bar with a monkey outside (top right of picture, you can see him in his little box).  Apparently this monkey isn't all that nice. 

I'm also trying to upload  a picture of my house and my car.  If that works, you can see my awesome beater of a car (the forerunner). It doesn't turn left, but it's a fighter.  Oh, and the steering wheel is on the right side. I'm getting used to this as well.  

I'm HERE!

Hello everyone, gossip girl here...

Right, so maybe I've watched the entire first 18 episodes of gossip girl on the plane over here and every night since. My email and phone aren't set up yet, and to be honest, that show is super addictive.

SO, I'm HERE! My flight was 25 hours and 80 billion minutes long. Aside from dealing with a very very very annoying man sitting next to me for 18 hours of it (who was on his way back to palau from florida, and has been an attorney here for over two years), the trip was just fine. That guy turned out to be an anomaly though, and everyone I've met SINCE him has been amazing. Palauans, and the american ex-pats here are so welcoming and wonderful.

Here are some highlights from my first three days in palau:
1. The scenery here is unreal. water is crystal clear and the palm trees give me a warm feeling inside.
2. They wakeboard here. I will fit right in.
3. I went snorkeling yesterday and it's truly the best in the world.
4. There is a family of roaches living in my bathroom.
5. Taro is not coconut. it is gross.

More from palau later. my time at the internet cafe is running low.

xoxo
Betsy