Downtown Koror (by Eliz.)

Since Koror and surrounding states/hamlets are basically connected by one main road which branches off at times, the main stores, restaurants, schools, etc are found on that road. Unfortunately, when school starts again, the traffic is crazy since everyone essentially has to be somewhere at the same time. So the 25 mph speed limit changes to 2 mph, then my road/traffic rage kicks in…Here’s a map of Koror, compliments of Lonely Planet (just in case you didn’t know, the white lines are roads):

Here are some various pics around town…

Palau post office (which doesn’t exist according to some individuals at the U.S. post office)

Moving west on the main street in downtown Koror

Yano’s-our favorite local market

Maris Stella Catholic school-Andy’s new school this fall (a little blurry)

Western Caroline Trading Company-locally owned grocery store

Mike’s home away from home…

Aquarium Field Trip (by Eliz.)

We took another field trip to the local aquarium, Palau International Coral Reef Center, this time with the Pfalzer family who live upstairs from us. This is another facility that performs research, increases community awareness about marine life, and kept the kids busy for an afternoon!

Front view of the PICRC.

I’m suspicious of this alligator since it’s always in the same spot each time we come here.

Andy and Alex checking out the cool fish.

Andy blatantly ignoring the “do not touch the glass” sign.

Helen, Alex, and Andy looking at jellyfish.

Click this picture to read the Palauan message.

Waterproof? I don’t think so… (by Eliz.)

We had a tragic mishap with our camera during our last dive at Blue Corner..our “waterproof” case did not live up to it’s name (or maybe we just didn’t read the directions right, you know anything’s possible). So long, dear digital camera…Please keep visiting as we continue to post pics from our current collection to keep the blog going while we get another camera (according to the shipping schedule will be sometime next year…kidding I hope).

Andy Gets His Yellow Belt (by Mike)

After many long hours of practice, painting the fence, and waxing the floor, young Andy has finally been promoted in his karate class. After demonstrating that he knows all of his kicks, strikes, and blocks, there was only one task left for him to accomplish: he had to demonstrate Form One. Form One is a Kata that incorporates all of those elements one after the next.

After successfully demonstrating Form One, Andy was given a certificate suitable for framing and his Yellow Belt. Yeah Andy!

done

Mike

Another Day, Another Dive. (by Mike)

On July 12th, Liz and I went for another dive with an operation called Splash. We were lucky to find two of our friends, Carmen and Erin, going out on the same boat.

The dive was nice, we saw several huge schools of fish, a few sharks and some turtles.

Between our first and second dive, we stopped off at a little island and had lunch.

Except for Erin’s emergency rescue of a Japanese diver who shot to the surface, it was a really relaxing dive. All-in-all, it was a nice way to spend a Saturday.

Check out the video.
done

Mike

Turtles, Sharks, and Jellyfish Lake (by Mike)

Last Saturday we met up with Michica, a Japanese friend of ours, and went for a dive.

Our friend is somewhat of a celebrity in Japan. She’s a singer who has been in a few musicals such as Cats and the Lion King, and she has her own fan club.

Anyway, we had a nice time. We went to a place called Turtle wall first. After that, we stopped by a little island and had lunch.

Then we went on to the Big Drop off, and finally Jellyfish lake.

I should mention that jellyfish lake is a salt water lake that is disconnected from the rest of the Ocean. Because of that, the jellyfish have no natural predators to worry about in the lake. Over the last million years, they have lost their ability to sting. So it’s one of the few places where one can swim with millions of jellyfish without having to worry.

Checkout the video, (if it loads!) done

Mike

Ngerbodel Hamlet (by Eliz.)

Palau is made up of a group islands (Babeldoab, Malakal, etc.) connected by causeways and bridges. Within the islands are states (16) and within each state are hamlets. We live in Koror state, Ngerbodel hamlet. That’s about the only way you can describe where you live. Then it becomes, “we live next to the hospital by the pillars, but not the first set of pillars, the second set–then down the street across from the gym–but not the green house, it’s the white house with the coconut trees in front” since there are no street signs.

All homes here are either concrete, or combinations of wood/tin. A Palauan told us that the better the neighborhood, the greater the percentage of concrete homes. Each home generally has an open outdoor area where they welcome visitors, but the inside is for family only. Here is a video of parts of Ngerbodel hamlet near our apartment…Please let us know if you’re having trouble loading this, we’re not so sure it uploaded very well…

done

Happy Fourth of July! (by Eliz.)

Of course Palauans could care less about our Independence Day, or so I thought until I saw this nice little sign today while driving downtown…

I wanted to shoot off some fireworks, but since they’re illegal here it would have been somewhat embarrassing to have your husband prosecute you…Have a great holiday!

Are you sure it’s not a golf cart?! (by Eliz.)

This is just a quick entry about the cars in Palau. Apparently, they have some deal with Japan in that when Japanese vehicles are 5 years old, they sell them to Palau very inexpensively. Because of this, you can get a decent vehicle from $2000-$4000. Some people here just buy directly from Japan and have it shipped over instead of shipping any cars from the U.S. because it’s so expensive (about $5000+). Anyhoo, here’s a pic of our family truckster, and some other cars our friends drive…

Our car, the Mazda Demio.

Inside our car.

This is the Nissan March, very popular around Palau.

Another view of Elise’s car.

This is the Honda Logo.

Another view of Gabe’s car.

Notice all these cars have the driver on the right side only because they come from Japan. In Palau, you drive on the right side of the road like the U.S. We’ve been here 5 months now, and I still get in the car on the left and put the blinker on when I want to use the windshield wipers (slow learner, I know). More posting to come on cars in Palau, there are some really unique ones here…