Sawasdee Ka!!! Hello from BEAUTIFUL thailand! I know that this is my Palau blog, but this trip happened because I was so close to Thailand in Palau, so it's going to count as something bloggable. I'm having, quite possibly, the best two weeks of my life here. The first day I was in Manila, I wasn't so sure, but after purchasing my new hot pink travel watch, things started to brighten. My first stop was Bangkok, to see the Grand Palace and the lovely Jolie. Bangkok was great, and the grand palace was grand, but once I tripped into Chiang Mai, I fell head over heels (pun intended, and admittedly bad). Chiang mai is an amazing city in the north of thailand, surrounded by hills and jungle, as well as waterfalls and many, many elephants. Tara, my travel partner extraordinaire, and I were off as soon as we landed. we shopped, and then shopped some more, and bought as many $3 shirts and $1 wooden elephants as we could stuff in our bags. WHen we couldn't stomach buying anymore souvenirs (for a day or so), we signed up to go ziplining through the jungle. This was incredible. I nearly vomited many times, but in the end I think I conquered a fear or three! Tuesday we took a thai cooking class. I made springs rolls (see below), chicken with cashew nut, green curry paste, red curry chicken, and a chicken coconut soup. #1 rule in thai cooking: NO OLIVE OIL. a distinct digression from the cooking I have known all my years.


Tuesday night we went to see Muay Thai boxing. This was also incredible. the women were my favorite. Tara and I tried our hand at it, but I think both of us are too smiley for boxing. Then wednesday we set out for a two day trek in the mountains. we jumped on the "van" which is a big glorified (not so much) taxi, where you sit sideways, and in our case, with 13 people on about 5 feet of wood. Thank goodness for motion sickness pills! We stopped at a karen longneck village, which was sadly set up for tourists to buy their local artifacts. I knew this, but I bought some anyway, because apparently the government has put the karen there and based on one translation, they may or may not be permitted to leave.

We also stopped a local market, where, yes mom, I ate this grasshopper (see below). It wasn't so bad. not so great either. I won the respect of all these spanish guys though (there were 5 on the trip, and they paid a good amount of attention to tara and I while we struggled up the mountain). The rest of the trip went like this: we hiked for 3 hours up a VERY steep hill. I lost about 5 pounds that day. we stayed on top of a mountain, listened to a thai guy sing a romanian song taught to him by an australian, ate amazing homemade food, got massages by the locals (amazing), woke up, hiked down the mountain for 3 hours, whitewater rafted down the river, sat on a bamboo raft for a while, ate more homemade pad thai, then pilled back into the van for our long and sleepy ride back to chiang mai.

Back in Chiang mai, tara went off to an elephant sanctuary, while I pampered myself with a massage from teh women at the chiang mai women's prison ($5.50 of the best money I've ever spent). Saturday we were VERY sad to leave, but tara had amoebic dysentary by then and I was anxious for some beach relaxation time. I'm now in ko samui, after riding on teh smallest plane of my life, and loving the sun and the absolute power to sleep as long as I want!

Helicopter pics

Blue Corner from above
No doors!

The beautiful and protected Seventy Islands 

I'm an idiot

Uighurs is not spelled with a Q. I'm a moron. To be fair, they don't teach us how to spell in law school.

In other news: I got to go on Helicopter ride last weekend!!!! It was, hands down, the coolest thing I've ever done. I have the most incredible pictures but I can't upload them the moment... stay tuned.

Summer in Palau

Happy Fourth of July!

We have had a very nice summer here in Palau.  The weather is exactly how it has been every other day this year, but somehow summer just always has a nice ring to it.  We had a big ex-pat party on the 4th, where I wore my sparkly headband and proud Barack Obama '08 pin.  I had a lot more to be proud about this year as an American and actually felt excited for our wonderful nation.  I also felt wonderful about the open bar, and the beach frisbee that happened!

These are some pics of our third trip up to Kayangel. We did Special K olympics for the second time, where Rick and Christy dominated spouse-style.  I did not do so well this time, as I had some trouble keeping my butt off the ground during the marathon crab walk.  There's always next time I suppose!  When we arrived on friday, the owner of the island showed up proudly displaying his catch of the day: 3 lobster, a very big grouper, a clam muscle for sashimi, and an octopus!  Not wanting to scoff at this hospitable gesture, I womaned up and tried the freshly boiled octopus.  To my astonished delight, it was AMAZING! I tasted like really chewy lobster, but rich enough to eat without salt, butter or lemon.  I am officially a new woman: eating things with tentacles and raw fish right out of the water.  

Oh! also, this is a picture of a blowfish that Curtis accidentally speared.  All of their spikes are poisonous, but if you really, really know what you're doing, you can eat them.  Our fearless ranger Lazarus promptly took the blowfish into the boat and told us that they are find to hold, so long as you stick your fingers through their eyes.  He proceeded to do so, and I nearly lost my lunch.  

Other things that have happened in june and july here in Palau: 1) new crop of navy boys arrived.  much better than the air force so far.  a little on the young side, but a chivalrous group, which is hard to dislike; 2) I've decided to go to thailand next month for two weeks; 3) we're getting some quighers, and I hope I spelled that right; 4) R.I.P Michael Jackson. we did a very long tribute night at the karaoke bar, where I discovered that it does not sound good when I do "I want you back" in falsetto; 5) It rained a lot and I discovered that "The L Word" is a really good show.  

A little over two months left here in Palau, and I'm still enjoying every second of this place! 

Jesse comes to Palau!

The pillbox
Jesse, Me, Rubak

It’s been a while, I know.   I scared my parents with the last entry, which resulted in a stern lecture about sailing outside the reef, and something about “knowing better than that.”  I agree, and I promise mom and dad, I will be staying far inside the reef from now on, although mostly because I’m “risk-adverse” and not because  you said so.  

My very dear friend Jesse came to visit Palau the first week of May and arrived just in time for the sun! It rained a lot before then and it's rained an awful lot since then, but Jesse got sun almost every day she was here, and we had a blast.  While we accomplished a lot in the two weeks she was here, the most memorable were our three day trip to the deserted beach of Ngerbalas, getting to see some very well-trained dolphins, and taking a kayak tour of the islands with a personal palauan tour guide.  

I had been to Ngerbalas before, but only very briefly.  The waters surrounding palau's northernmost island, Kayangel, are absolutely breathtaking and consist of more hues of blue than you can imagine.  we camped, and ate, and for the most part made the difficult decisions about which hammock in which to nap.  On the third day, I made everyone play beach olympics.  Events included hit and spin paddle ball, the machete toss, coconut bocce ball, and a driftwood obstacle race.  Mihnea came in first place overall, and sang the Romanian national anthem for us.  It was a glorious end to a glorious weekend. 

During the following week, Jesse and I got a free trip to dolphin's pacific.  A trainer here rescued seven dolphins from japan, where they are hunted for food.  He has since trained them and raised them next to several rock islands here.  Dolphins have never really been my thing, but i was really impressed by how smart they were, and how well they could be trained.  Considering that I can't get my cat to stop biting my achilles tendon when she's hungry, I was amazed that a small hand movement could yield a very large backflip from the dolphins.  Here's something interesting I learned: dolphins can't digest leaves, and they eat them all the time.  the trainers have to catch them about once a week, hold them down and stick their hands down their throats and into the dolphin's stomachs to take the leaves out.  gross, but fascinating. 

THe next day, Jess and I took a day-long kayak tour of the islands.  We had our own power boat driver, and our own tour guide.  we were plunked down in some of the most gorgeous little lagoons between islands and learned so much about palauan history, biology and chemistry.  ONe stop we made was to an island that had on it a "Japanese Pillbox."  These were little, roughly 8 x 5' cement structures that Japanese soldiers made for the war.  They have one tiny hole in them for their guns, and one smaller hole for a flashlight.  We stopped at this one box where we were told that a chinese soldier was held captive for leaking information to the U.S.  He wrote a note home to his family in three languages (korean, mandarin and japanese), but unfortunately died inside.  I was amazed at how well preserved the pillbox was, and that the writing (which appeared to be in charcoal) remained untouched.  People can walk right inside, but unlike in other parts of the world, the structure could remain tamper-free.  

Palau continues to amaze me.  I am amazed that I never even knew this country existed before last year, and amazed at how few people have come to soak up all that it has to offer.  

Skiffing!

Hello!

I've been sailing this amazing boat with an couple here in Palau, Richard and Rita.  They are incredibly inspiring people who have taken the American dream, injected it with saline and sailed it around the globe.  They live here in Palau on a beautiful sailboat and awake every morning to the serene alcoves of the Rock Islands.  Richard is a lawyer here, so to all those legal naysayers, the answer is yes, you can be a lawyer and be totally rad too.  

Richard and Rita started sailing an Australian 18-foot death wish about twenty years ago.  It's flat bottom, super high mast and short hull make it a very unsteady, very fast machine.  Four people sail at any one time, and two people are attached to harnesses, and balance the boat out on racks that extend from the boat.  Because the wind is so variable here, and comes in short bursts, some filled with rain squalls, balancing this boat is often precarious and often results in capsizing.  Of course, those several seconds all the way out on the rack with only your feet touching the boat are worth all the fear and bruises. 

Last sunday the boat capsized in high seas, a couple miles off shore.  The waves and the wind were such that getting the boat back up was nearly impossible, and proved to be too time consuming with the setting sun.  Luckily we had enough extra crew members that day to have had a dinghy out with us with a motor, so we went back to get some help from the good palauan rangers.  At about 9:30, with a very tired, cold, head-wounded (for Vivi) crew, we made it back to land.  

All in a good day of sailing!  Here is a picture of the skiff on a sunny, calm day.  It doesn't look nearly as scary as it is in real life!

I forgot

My Frisbee boys! and ariel and nick

oh also,
14. Nick and I tried chewing betelnut. it was incredibly gross. Nick's cheek was swollen for over a week.
15. Karaoke. Yes. To all who doubt it, I watched my brother sing a country western song at a karaoke bar. I have it on video. it's amazing. He even admitted that he had a ton of fun doing so. I also made ariel sing Edelweiss with me, as an homage to our sixth grade play "the sound of music," and we got high score of the night! (these scores, as far as I can tell, are arbitrary, but we will take this praise nevertheless).

BFS goes to Palau

Me and nick and a pretty awesome sunset.
Nick goes Lord of the Flies on us. minus the angry killing anarchy bit.
The Ngardmau waterfall

Hello Everyone!

I know it's been some time since I last posted. About a month ago I went back to the good ole U.S. of A for the wedding of my dearest Meredith. It was beautiful and amazing and absolutely freezing. While it was very nice to be home and hug most of the greater philadelphia area, I am very happy to be back in hot, sticky Palau. I am gonna be honest, I really loathe cold weather, even when it surrounds my family and friends. After the nice visit in PA, I set back to Palau with none other than my oldest friend Ariel and my best brother nick. Ariel could only stay for a week, but we made it worthwhile. In a very brief and inadequate summary, here is what we did that week:
1. We stopped in Hawaii and got matching saraongs. obviously obligatory travel wear.
2. Took ariel snorkeling for the first time ever at the lovely palau pacific resort.
3. Went on a windy/rainy/high sea-ed sailing trip on the Sea Gypsy to Margie's Beach with Mihnea. It took about 2 hours, and ariel was dreadfully sea sick for about 1.5 of those hours.
4. Camped on Margie's beach, where nick knocked down his first coconut and split it open on a sharpened stick in the sand. Pic included.
5. Sailed back with glorious winds. Played games involving singing. boys not happy.
6. Went kayaking in Nikko bay. nick got to explore caves with old war stuff left in them. he was a happy happy boy.
7. Kramers for foozball and socializing. Nick likes Palau's very own Red Rooster beer.
8. Went to the Ngardmau waterfall! Pic included. Some nice hiking, ariel meditated. Nick tried to climb every rock he could see.
9. Ultimate Frisbee! ARiel plays this fabulous game for the very first time. We have an awesome time.
10. Nick and Ariel get to go to Dolphin's Pacific and play wiht a dolphin named... Ariel. for real.
11. Happy hour at the resort, where young palauan boys did some traditional warrior dances. I had a very gross and very alcoholic drink called shark attack and was drunk about half way through it.
12. Nick played some tennis, found a new friend.
13. Nick and ariel get to be extras on French Survivor. They are filming here this year and needed some white people to be stand ins for the helicopter shots. Ariel's character got kicked off and she did an oscar worthy job of crying on a rock.

Ariel left shortly thereafter and I'm sure slept for a very long time. it was a full and amazing week. Nick and I had an equally amazing week last week, full of diving, sharks, snakes, hikes and kayaks. I have begun the process of convincing everyone I know that they need to live on this island. It is just frankly amazing.

In the next post...

I went Skiffing! If you don't know what this is, I will explain later. If you do already know what this is, you know how cool I am.

Pictures!

This is the new president of Palau at the inauguration January 15, 2009
This is Cadence. we sailed her up to Kayangel. It was just mildly awesome.
This is Zoey. My newest kitten. 
This is the bridge from Indiana Jones and the Temple of doom.  No, actually, it's not, but it is a scary bride up in Airai. that's mike courageously crossing it. 
Palauan dancers at a first birth ceremony. It's a big party for everyone except the new mom, who is covered in hot oil and stands in the sun for hours to let the evils of childbirth melt off her. or I think that's what I was told.

friends

Also, these are all my friends at christmas holding the presents from our gift exchange. top row: sarah, siobhan, yours truly, rick, mihnea, travis. middle row: jonathan, joel, liz, curtis. bottom row: christy, mike.

The Suri (yeah, that one...)

First Darryl Hannah and now Tom Cruise? Yes, apparently Palau is the place you run to when you are a crazy scientologist and don’t want to be disturbed because you are hiding on a boat with your gay lover. Ok, so no one actually saw his gay lover, but we did see a shirtless guy in a cowboy hat getting off the dingy and onto the Suri, the name of Tom’s yacht. So Tom was here for about a week after new years, without Katie and Suri. I didn’t see him or anything, but I heard he was actually quite nice. Anyway, we are so almost famous here by association.

In much more interesting news, I went sailing last weekend and finally made it to Kayangel, Palau’s northernmost island. It’s a tiny island, with no roads or cars, just cute little paths made of sand. They are known for their amaaaaazing lemons and bananas. We were showered with both by the kind people that live there (see picture). We spent the night on one of the small islands next to Kayangel, called Ngerbalas (I’m spelling that wrong). We built a big bonfire and cooked the fish Jirka had caught on the way there. Spanish mackerel makes delicious sashimi also. The following day he caught five more mackerel just trolling behind the sailboat. Two were twenty pounds, and again, delicious. Dad, you will be happy to hear that I actually filleted one of those mackerel. AND ate it raw!
This past weekend we celebrated my birthday! I’ve always wanted a summer birthday so that I could do fun outdoorsy stuff, and this year temporarily gave me that chance. We took a speed boat out to a very cute beach for the day. Some of my completely wonderful girlfriends choreographed and performed an amazing water ballet in my honor. Most of the day we just spent floating in the water and eating. It was fabulous. The nighttime celebration went as my birthdays typically do: I got drunk, forced my friends to sing karaoke (Joel, that was an amazing rendition of “can’t take my eyes off of you”) and danced a LOT. Oh, I also go serenaded by the mamasan at the karaoke bar with “loosen up my buttons,” which was a first. Totally rad.

THis is vivi during our sailing adventure.

Darryl Hannah and other christmas fun

Darryl Hannah? That’s not random at all…

Yeah, so the big news in palau last week was Darryl Hannah. She was here for about a week, staying at the resort where I, too, am a member. I wouldn’t say that I tried really hard to bump into her, but I will say that while playing tennis there one day, she walked past me. She was coming from the massage parlor with another incredibly tall woman. They were mostly just very tall. I don’t have much else to say, except that I am under the assumption she’ll go back home and tell her manager that she saw a lady in palau who just looked like she could be a movie star and then he’ll come find me and I’ll be the next big thing. I’m like, basically, really famous now.
Last weekend I got the chance to paddle a traditional Palauan outrigger canoe. They used to have sails, and this was how Palauans got anywhere. Now, they are just very skinny canoes, which look a lot like the skulls we used for crew, except they have an extra balance thingy off of one side. Several Palauans that used to paddle on the Palauan national outrigger team get together every Wednesday and Friday to paddle. So Vivi and I went last Wednesday for about a half an hour. It was amazing fun, and FAR more enjoyable than crew ever was in 20 degree weather at 5am. They invited us to paddle with them on Saturday, as they were heading to one of the closer rock islands where there is an old German lighthouse and incidentally where Survivor had its voting off ceremonies. The paddle was long, and fairly challenging, but it was a great opportunity to hang out with Palauans and do something that tourists don’t get a chance to experience.
Moving on…
A word about Palauan Christmas. Awesome. Every establishment here has neon lights and huge blow-up santas in the windows, on the roofs, and tripping you on the way to the produce aisle. I’ve never seen a small town so alight. Palauan Christmas songs have also been out in full force. They are mostly adaptations of American Christmas songs, such as my favorite “cling cling cling” rather than jingle bells. We had our office Christmas party last weekend and the other court counsel and I were recruited to perform a dance to this song, as well as several other Palauan classics. I’m looking for a good picture, but I’ll say that there were grass skirts and some rockin traditional Palauan dance moves. I also won first place in the fashion contest!

For Christmas eve, my friends and I drove up to a beautiful beach in the northern part of Babledaub, the biggest of the Palau islands. We camped, cooked, danced and drank a lot of southern comfort. Felt very traditional…. Christmas day was gorgeous here. It was about 85 degrees and sunny. We swam and floated in the shallow water most of the day. Not the most traditional Christmas ever, but it was really a lovely way to spend the day.

Last Friday, I attempted to be a part of a group sail to the northernmost Palauan island called Kayangal. It’s about 50 miles north of Koror, so we set aside 4 days to get up there and back. We went on our friend Frank’s 40-foot catamaran, which was amazing. It had a full kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms, couch and what looked like a little fireplace inside. We got about half way to Kayangal on Friday, and anchored just north of Babledaub, by a beautiful beach.
After a very rocky and rainy night, we decided Saturday morning that the seas were just too rough outside the reef to make it all the way to Kayangal. So we waited. WE spent the day fishing, kayaking, kite surfing, eating and drinking. When the wind still hadn’t died down by Sunday, we gave up and sailed home. Not to sound defeated though, because the three days on the sailboat were absolutely beautiful! A spotted eagle ray about 3 feet wide jumped out of the water about 20 feet in front of the boat, Jirka caught a great barracuda, and we saw these amazing fish called Dugongs, which look like manatees, off the port side on the way home. We also had enough wind to fly the spinnaker, which was really, really fun! It was truly incredible. I also got some good sun, so that’s always a worthwhile endeavor! Dad, you should know that I caught a fish, albeit a very small fish!

Oh, on a completely different note, I may be directing a high school production of Mamma Mia this spring! I really love this island. REALLY.