So much to talk about!!!
Sunday was our "free day," but some of us chose to drive to the southern tip of the
island with David in the morning until lunch. I went and am so glad that I did! We saw the spot where Magellan landed, Umatac, a spanish fort, a m
onument to Chief Pagao and Chief Quipoa, and some beautiful, beautiful views. I rode a carabao! It's this awesome type of water buffalo, endemic to the Philippines. The guy who owned them said that the two he owned can tow 150 and 300+ lbs. each. They are used for huntin
g: the animals killed (like deer) are draped over the carabao and the hunter leaves the carabao to find his way back to the village on his own. Today, the carabao are creating problems because of their excessive population numbers, so they are trying to kill them off :[ It was a lot of fun and we took some awesome pics. I found some mermaid tears! We let hermit crabs joust in our hands and we went to a dock where the locals hangout.
Afterwards, we headed to the beach Tuman Bay, where all the hotels and tourists are. The song Dynamite by
The beach 
was full, FULL of green algae, mostly because of the nutrient runoff from all of the urbanization around that area. Otherwise, it was wonderful. We came just after 1:30 P.M., when low tide hit. Thereafter, the water got progressively higher until by the time we left, where we were kneeling before we would not have been able to stand on our tippy toes. Whoa! The coral was sharp and hurt
our feet though.
After a good swim and fun, a group of us decided to walk around, looking for tropical drinks. We walked down the beach toward the hotels, thinking we would find a "Tiki Bar," or something. The first hotel did not look very welcoming, but we found a path o
ff the beach that looked like it might lead to the street... oh, but no. We found ourselves looking at a strange glass building with a bunch of seats and a beautiful pool surrounding the building. It was all very nice looking. I was afraid that someone would find us and chase us out, like the mean ballerina teacher from the Little Rascals. Anywho, no one found us. Let it be known: I was walking with two white guys and five ethnically Asian girls. Okay, so fastforward from that note: we walked next to tennis courts, indoor tennis courts, golf courts, then... AMAZINGNESS. At least two pools, waterfalls, a lazy river, kayaking through a waterfall, water slides, a Tiki Bar, and... Asians. Nothing but Asians. Lots and lots of Asian boys, girls, families. Only Asians people. Yes, I felt like an outsider. I felt the stares. I felt the discomfort and awkwardness. OMG. Here's the kicker: we were running through Gu
am's Pacific Islands Resort. Bhaha! The white guy in front of the pack felt super awkward and started to book it through the hotel. Our group got very divided and lost amongst the Asian children in rash guards and parents staring at us. I tried to stay back a bit and keep the group together, but it was a lost cause. Oh well! We made it through the madness and then calmed down a bit, recovered a few people, and crossed the street to the Jamaican Grill, where we had eaten dinner a few nights ago. We ordered our much-anticipated tropical drinks yummmmmmm ;] we called Bridget McDonald (who was still at the beach) to tell her that we would be late, so everything was good.
We walked back to the beach and headed to dinner... Marianas Trench, a Thai restaurant. Unfortunately, I love spicy, but That food does not always sit nicely with me, so I was a bit cautious about dinner. Everyone else was stoked though! I ordered a seafood salad with mussels, shrimp, and calamari, and it came last. Of course. But it was pretty good. I survived! And this was challenge for me, eating mussels, because I had made a promise to myself never to eat them again. But Ibroke it, and I lived! I guess it's not a rule anymore. Also, dinner was hilarious because everyone was freaking about about how spicy the food was. Mine wasn't bad at all, but some people got more spice than they had anticipated, and they were definitely throwing water down their throats and very red in the face. Haha!
Back at the dorms, we had to pack our bags for Palau!!!! because we would not get an opportunity on Monday, with all that was planned. It didn't take me as long as I thought it would, and I was able to pack my personal Scuba gear (fins, booties, etc.) in my suitcase, whereas before I had Christine stuff it in her suitcase. Phew! The local kiddies came back with a lot of energy and cake for us. Yummm. They were playing old music really loudly and practicing their boxing: the one guy is good, and may have taken part in the Micronesian games that were occuring as we were there! Boom Boom Boom Boom by Venga Boys has been in my head all trip and was, coincidentally, one of the four songs on their repeated playlist. Bhaha.
Sunday was our "free day," but some of us chose to drive to the southern tip of the
island with David in the morning until lunch. I went and am so glad that I did! We saw the spot where Magellan landed, Umatac, a spanish fort, a m
onument to Chief Pagao and Chief Quipoa, and some beautiful, beautiful views. I rode a carabao! It's this awesome type of water buffalo, endemic to the Philippines. The guy who owned them said that the two he owned can tow 150 and 300+ lbs. each. They are used for huntin
g: the animals killed (like deer) are draped over the carabao and the hunter leaves the carabao to find his way back to the village on his own. Today, the carabao are creating problems because of their excessive population numbers, so they are trying to kill them off :[ It was a lot of fun and we took some awesome pics. I found some mermaid tears! We let hermit crabs joust in our hands and we went to a dock where the locals hangout.Afterwards, we headed to the beach Tuman Bay, where all the hotels and tourists are. The song Dynamite by
The beach 
was full, FULL of green algae, mostly because of the nutrient runoff from all of the urbanization around that area. Otherwise, it was wonderful. We came just after 1:30 P.M., when low tide hit. Thereafter, the water got progressively higher until by the time we left, where we were kneeling before we would not have been able to stand on our tippy toes. Whoa! The coral was sharp and hurt
our feet though.After a good swim and fun, a group of us decided to walk around, looking for tropical drinks. We walked down the beach toward the hotels, thinking we would find a "Tiki Bar," or something. The first hotel did not look very welcoming, but we found a path o
ff the beach that looked like it might lead to the street... oh, but no. We found ourselves looking at a strange glass building with a bunch of seats and a beautiful pool surrounding the building. It was all very nice looking. I was afraid that someone would find us and chase us out, like the mean ballerina teacher from the Little Rascals. Anywho, no one found us. Let it be known: I was walking with two white guys and five ethnically Asian girls. Okay, so fastforward from that note: we walked next to tennis courts, indoor tennis courts, golf courts, then... AMAZINGNESS. At least two pools, waterfalls, a lazy river, kayaking through a waterfall, water slides, a Tiki Bar, and... Asians. Nothing but Asians. Lots and lots of Asian boys, girls, families. Only Asians people. Yes, I felt like an outsider. I felt the stares. I felt the discomfort and awkwardness. OMG. Here's the kicker: we were running through Gu
am's Pacific Islands Resort. Bhaha! The white guy in front of the pack felt super awkward and started to book it through the hotel. Our group got very divided and lost amongst the Asian children in rash guards and parents staring at us. I tried to stay back a bit and keep the group together, but it was a lost cause. Oh well! We made it through the madness and then calmed down a bit, recovered a few people, and crossed the street to the Jamaican Grill, where we had eaten dinner a few nights ago. We ordered our much-anticipated tropical drinks yummmmmmm ;] we called Bridget McDonald (who was still at the beach) to tell her that we would be late, so everything was good.We walked back to the beach and headed to dinner... Marianas Trench, a Thai restaurant. Unfortunately, I love spicy, but That food does not always sit nicely with me, so I was a bit cautious about dinner. Everyone else was stoked though! I ordered a seafood salad with mussels, shrimp, and calamari, and it came last. Of course. But it was pretty good. I survived! And this was challenge for me, eating mussels, because I had made a promise to myself never to eat them again. But Ibroke it, and I lived! I guess it's not a rule anymore. Also, dinner was hilarious because everyone was freaking about about how spicy the food was. Mine wasn't bad at all, but some people got more spice than they had anticipated, and they were definitely throwing water down their throats and very red in the face. Haha!
Back at the dorms, we had to pack our bags for Palau!!!! because we would not get an opportunity on Monday, with all that was planned. It didn't take me as long as I thought it would, and I was able to pack my personal Scuba gear (fins, booties, etc.) in my suitcase, whereas before I had Christine stuff it in her suitcase. Phew! The local kiddies came back with a lot of energy and cake for us. Yummm. They were playing old music really loudly and practicing their boxing: the one guy is good, and may have taken part in the Micronesian games that were occuring as we were there! Boom Boom Boom Boom by Venga Boys has been in my head all trip and was, coincidentally, one of the four songs on their repeated playlist. Bhaha.
• • •
Monday morning we were up and out the door at 7:15 to go to the Naval Base. I was super excited for this, because my grandfather was an airplane mechanic on the island of Tinian during WWII, and I was hoping to get some more insight into what it was like for him from this tour.
At the base, we were not allowed through the gate; as it turns out, the tour guide was waiting for us at the museum, just outside the gate. We picked her up in our van and another guide in the other van, to get tours while driving. We stopped and got outside at a flag pole. In about 20 seconds I wanted to crawl into a hole and die, I was dripping sweat! Ew. We drove on (phew!) and stopped to see a lot that used to be an amphitheater. I was overtaken by jungle and forgotten. An old, old Japanese war veteran recalls the amphitheater back in the day, and once when on Guam remarked that he remembers it, but he didn't not elaborate, so historians know little about it. Japanese P.O.W.'s constructed the wall around it. I don't know why, but it gives me the chills to think that those men made this wall, where so many people congregated, and now it looks like a haunted house. Yikes. We stopped to see a cemetary with Chamorro families who used to live in Sumay, the town where the naval base now sits, the town which was decimated by war and now no longer exists. Very sad, in my opinion. It creates conflict, though, because Chamorros complain that they are not allowed on the land, but the lady who was touring us (Annette I think?) says that the families are free to come onto the base, as long as they talk to her first. She is frustrated that they are not listening; they are frustrated because the land of their ancestors is completely taken over. Sad. We stopped for the tribute to the war dogs and the statue of a dog, in the center of the graves. Aw! And we saw the beach, where the Chinese? or Japanese clippers landed in the water, and ships brought people to the Pan Am Hotel. The whole tour, flies were cleaning the bacteria off of all the cuts on my legs. It was gross, but kind of good for me... ew.
After we stopped at the naval base museum, watch a thirty minute movie on the war (in which they showed decapitated heads/bodies and some sad videos, among other cool shots. It is mind boggling to stand on land exactly where guys my age and younger (for reference, I am twenty) were holding guns and fending for their lives. Unbelievable. It scares me to death. A guy in the gift shop brought in a rifle gun for us to hold, but I was distracted with a book of photos of war dogs, and another book with old war slogan postcards. So cool! We took a group picture in front of the torpedo outside.
We were starving at this point, despite plans to do more things this afternoon, so we hastily decided on T.G.I. Friday's. Meh. Okay. Fun. Meh.
After, we went back to the dorms to pack and leave the dorms by 3:30. I'm sad to say that my rash guard has been taken for good. Stolen is the word. I told our R.A. that she gets to keep a nice, long sleeved black rash guard as soon as she finds it. She was happy!
We left, me alone in the van with Jerry, where I had better A.C. than the other peeps. As we turned into the airport, Jerry's wife called (she's also on the island with us, but doing her own thang). Our flight was delayed 2 1/2 hours. Great. Figuring out what to do was hectic, though it needn't be. We ended up checking our luggage but not going through security yet. My bad weighed 57 lbs., 7 lbs. overweight. Bhaha oops?! She let me pass after taking out some stuff and dropping to 54 lbs. Nice lady!
We ended up back at the same Thai restuarant. Thai two nights in a row? Ugh. But I survived. The fried calamari, papaya salad, and chicken satay were on nom nom good. I had a lot of fun. We talked about ENST (Environmental Studies) grad school options. Yale anyone?!
Back at the airport, we got through security in a breeze. Literally, there was absolutely no one there. Hello small airport! There were a lot of nice stores, but I didn't feel much like looking around. I settled down with my laptop to watch The Life Aquatic, but the sound was too low for us to hear (me, Christine, Lauren, and Laura); so we decided on Finding Nemo. Perfect, eh?! I forgot how much I love this movie. I can still quote most of it. Chyeah! Christine went to the bathroom at one point, but the security guy would not let her back into the gate area. He lectured us on being "sterile" and not being able to mingle with the people getting off the plane, or else we would all have to go back through security, immigration, blah blah blah. So Lauren, Laura and I went outside of the gate area to sit with Christine and finish the movie. But we watched people walk freely back into the gate area and were confused. So we just went back in no problems. What? The mean security guy started talking to us again, apologizing for coming off as mean, yahtah yahtah. Bhaha drama! They also provided free beverages and snacks for us because of the insane delay. Thanks!
On the plane, I slept, and I'm glad I did because for the few moments I was awake, I could feel the plane getting higher and lower in altitude much too often. In other words: scary flight.
Flying into Palau, I peered out the window. I could not see a thing... then some faraway lights, a few more, then... land. So suddenly! And rough, eek. We turned to each other excitedly: guess what? WE'RE IN PALAU!!! Finally!
We scurried off the plane (side note: I realized that there were a ton of empty seats at the back of the plane, where I could have had three to myself and slept a little more comfortably. Eh, oh well.). Through immigration quickly, and onto our awesomely-Asian style shuttle bus. I remember buses like this in China! I thought the drive would be fast to the Sea Passion Hotel, but I was very wrong. We were winding through jungle for a long, long time. I commented that I felt like I was on a DisneyWorld ride and others agreed. It was weird too because it was dark out and the windows were fogged (humidity!), so we really felt confused.
Finally at the hotel, we were dumbfounded. I was shaking. No words. Just. Right. WHOA.
We're in paradise.
!!!
The hotel is beautiful. There is a pool, decks, lounge chairs, a gorgeous, gorgeous beach and water (though we couldn't see it well in the dark), an outside bar with steps into the water, AHHHH! I'm so happy!
Sabrina and I decided to room again, rushed to our room (everyone was hyper at this point), only to find only one bed to share. Not okay, apparently, and we were switched to some yucky room with an ugly view of some jungle, rather than ocean, which everyone else got. Not fair :[ oh well.
Despite the rush of adrenaline, we passed out. Really passed out. I didn't move all night. Ahhhh
P.S. pictures aren't uploading again, sorry. I'll do that later. And my battery power is at 10%, and my plug doesn't fit into outlets here SO, a demain, B
At the base, we were not allowed through the gate; as it turns out, the tour guide was waiting for us at the museum, just outside the gate. We picked her up in our van and another guide in the other van, to get tours while driving. We stopped and got outside at a flag pole. In about 20 seconds I wanted to crawl into a hole and die, I was dripping sweat! Ew. We drove on (phew!) and stopped to see a lot that used to be an amphitheater. I was overtaken by jungle and forgotten. An old, old Japanese war veteran recalls the amphitheater back in the day, and once when on Guam remarked that he remembers it, but he didn't not elaborate, so historians know little about it. Japanese P.O.W.'s constructed the wall around it. I don't know why, but it gives me the chills to think that those men made this wall, where so many people congregated, and now it looks like a haunted house. Yikes. We stopped to see a cemetary with Chamorro families who used to live in Sumay, the town where the naval base now sits, the town which was decimated by war and now no longer exists. Very sad, in my opinion. It creates conflict, though, because Chamorros complain that they are not allowed on the land, but the lady who was touring us (Annette I think?) says that the families are free to come onto the base, as long as they talk to her first. She is frustrated that they are not listening; they are frustrated because the land of their ancestors is completely taken over. Sad. We stopped for the tribute to the war dogs and the statue of a dog, in the center of the graves. Aw! And we saw the beach, where the Chinese? or Japanese clippers landed in the water, and ships brought people to the Pan Am Hotel. The whole tour, flies were cleaning the bacteria off of all the cuts on my legs. It was gross, but kind of good for me... ew.
After we stopped at the naval base museum, watch a thirty minute movie on the war (in which they showed decapitated heads/bodies and some sad videos, among other cool shots. It is mind boggling to stand on land exactly where guys my age and younger (for reference, I am twenty) were holding guns and fending for their lives. Unbelievable. It scares me to death. A guy in the gift shop brought in a rifle gun for us to hold, but I was distracted with a book of photos of war dogs, and another book with old war slogan postcards. So cool! We took a group picture in front of the torpedo outside.
We were starving at this point, despite plans to do more things this afternoon, so we hastily decided on T.G.I. Friday's. Meh. Okay. Fun. Meh.
After, we went back to the dorms to pack and leave the dorms by 3:30. I'm sad to say that my rash guard has been taken for good. Stolen is the word. I told our R.A. that she gets to keep a nice, long sleeved black rash guard as soon as she finds it. She was happy!
We left, me alone in the van with Jerry, where I had better A.C. than the other peeps. As we turned into the airport, Jerry's wife called (she's also on the island with us, but doing her own thang). Our flight was delayed 2 1/2 hours. Great. Figuring out what to do was hectic, though it needn't be. We ended up checking our luggage but not going through security yet. My bad weighed 57 lbs., 7 lbs. overweight. Bhaha oops?! She let me pass after taking out some stuff and dropping to 54 lbs. Nice lady!
We ended up back at the same Thai restuarant. Thai two nights in a row? Ugh. But I survived. The fried calamari, papaya salad, and chicken satay were on nom nom good. I had a lot of fun. We talked about ENST (Environmental Studies) grad school options. Yale anyone?!
Back at the airport, we got through security in a breeze. Literally, there was absolutely no one there. Hello small airport! There were a lot of nice stores, but I didn't feel much like looking around. I settled down with my laptop to watch The Life Aquatic, but the sound was too low for us to hear (me, Christine, Lauren, and Laura); so we decided on Finding Nemo. Perfect, eh?! I forgot how much I love this movie. I can still quote most of it. Chyeah! Christine went to the bathroom at one point, but the security guy would not let her back into the gate area. He lectured us on being "sterile" and not being able to mingle with the people getting off the plane, or else we would all have to go back through security, immigration, blah blah blah. So Lauren, Laura and I went outside of the gate area to sit with Christine and finish the movie. But we watched people walk freely back into the gate area and were confused. So we just went back in no problems. What? The mean security guy started talking to us again, apologizing for coming off as mean, yahtah yahtah. Bhaha drama! They also provided free beverages and snacks for us because of the insane delay. Thanks!
On the plane, I slept, and I'm glad I did because for the few moments I was awake, I could feel the plane getting higher and lower in altitude much too often. In other words: scary flight.
Flying into Palau, I peered out the window. I could not see a thing... then some faraway lights, a few more, then... land. So suddenly! And rough, eek. We turned to each other excitedly: guess what? WE'RE IN PALAU!!! Finally!
We scurried off the plane (side note: I realized that there were a ton of empty seats at the back of the plane, where I could have had three to myself and slept a little more comfortably. Eh, oh well.). Through immigration quickly, and onto our awesomely-Asian style shuttle bus. I remember buses like this in China! I thought the drive would be fast to the Sea Passion Hotel, but I was very wrong. We were winding through jungle for a long, long time. I commented that I felt like I was on a DisneyWorld ride and others agreed. It was weird too because it was dark out and the windows were fogged (humidity!), so we really felt confused.
Finally at the hotel, we were dumbfounded. I was shaking. No words. Just. Right. WHOA.
We're in paradise.
!!!
The hotel is beautiful. There is a pool, decks, lounge chairs, a gorgeous, gorgeous beach and water (though we couldn't see it well in the dark), an outside bar with steps into the water, AHHHH! I'm so happy!
Sabrina and I decided to room again, rushed to our room (everyone was hyper at this point), only to find only one bed to share. Not okay, apparently, and we were switched to some yucky room with an ugly view of some jungle, rather than ocean, which everyone else got. Not fair :[ oh well.
Despite the rush of adrenaline, we passed out. Really passed out. I didn't move all night. Ahhhh
P.S. pictures aren't uploading again, sorry. I'll do that later. And my battery power is at 10%, and my plug doesn't fit into outlets here SO, a demain, B
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