Youth SS & Pathfinders

Here are some photos from youth Sabbath School & Koror Pathfinder Induction. Meaning that last Sabbath was the Palau Islanders Pathfinder Club induction at the Koror SDA church and that this Sabbath we have a second induction ceremony at the Airai church. We are doing two inductions because there are kids and staff in the club from both churches and we want both church families to know that this club with almost 70 kids in it is their Pathfinder club.

We were making shoe towers learning about the importance of a solid foundation. The kids that are in these pictures are all PMA students. Most of them are the students that live in the dorm. The ones that don’t live in the dorm are the Chinese, Taiwanese, Koreans that live with their parents here in Palau.

Enjoy!

Daisy Pearl: our cutie puppy pie

Hello to all,

Latest news: DOG!!!!

The latest news is true. We have a dog. Not only a dog, but a sweetie pie puppy! We named her Daisy Pearl (she is all white, except for black ears and a spotted nose) She actually was named Sheba for a day, but my Korean students laughed at me. Apparently, Sheba is very close to a terrible Korean cuss word. I liked Sheba because it means, “Renowned for her beauty.” I think she is very beautiful and found it fitting. I called her Queen Sheba.But alas, her name was changed to Daisy Pearl. Pearl because we are reading “The Scarlet Letter” with my Juniors and it seemed fitting. Daisy Pearl is also “her mother’s only treasure.” Well, maybe not QUITE that dramatic. But, she is my treasure. AND, I think Daisy Pearl has a nice Southern twang to it. Keeping the south alive here in Palau…..

You may be asking yourselves, why would they get a puppy? The answer: it’s lonely here! And, this poor thing was a stray. Here’s what happened.

We had a holiday weekend this past weekend (now, two weeks ago) I had three glorious days off, except that Sunday I had to help the student association at their booth where they were selling food. There is a type of fair/concession stands/people selling stuff at the big bridge you have all seen pictures of. There are also boat races, which my students say makes this weekend the best weekend of the entire year. It was fun. But, the most fun part was there was this poor puppy sleeping at our stand. I picked her up and was asking people if they owned her. She had no collar of course. I took her to this one family and there was a definite language barrier. What I gathered was it was their dog. The five kids took the puppy from me and carried her around by the head the rest of the day. Well, it was sad for me. I felt so terrible for this tortured dog. Eventually, my kids ran out of food to sell and it was time to go. I left a little before my SA kids because the transportation was leaving (of course it was, I HATE the transportation system here) So, my kids stayed behind to finish cleaning up. According to them, this family that I had left the puppy with left the dog.  They caught up with them and asked about her. The family sad, “oh, we just found her on the road and our kids wanted to play with her for the day. She is not our doggie.” ( I discovered from some locals that this bridge is where they dump strays) My kids then got the BRILLANT idea to take her home and surprise me at school the next day.

When I got off the bus Monday morning my kids were by their cars calling me over. I went and there was Daisy in a little box. My heart did a little flip flop. Long story short, I kept her in a SM’s apartment until Jesse came at noon for week of prayer. I took him to the apartment and showed him the doggie. He was a bit surprised. But, he loved her too. And…he loves ME. So, it wasn’t to hard to sweet talk him into a dog. She pretty much did that herself, because she is ADORABLE!!!!!!!

Le My puppy is now cuddling on the couch with me right now. We took her to the vet and they said she was only about a month and a half. That was a guess by a local bum (in my opinion he was a bum)so who knows. But….too young to get shots. Only the worm medicine, we have to go back for shots. The worm medicine was only 10 bucks, as are shots. I love that about Palau!!! Dogs are so much more expensive in the states. But, the downside to the worm medicine is my puppy has the runs. We had a little disaster before school this morning which resulted in a fast shower before 7am for my puppy pie. She now smells like lovely “Joy” dish soap. Which is good, because she likes to sleep with us. We have an old pillow for her, but who wants to sleep on a pillow when you can sleep on a bed, is her motto! Last night, I was on my side and Daisy’s head as on my neck. It was the sweetest thing. So, our bed feels a bit smaller.  After all, the poor thing is only a month and a half old. She probably misses her doggie mommy. I have discovered that I am “Mama” to Daisy and Jess is “Daddy” It is pretty crazy. I never would have thought that I would refer to myself as “Mama” It is just what comes out of my mouth. I guess I’m more Southern than I thought.

Prayers please for Daisy. She is a little malnourished but not terribly. We gave her a flea bath and found two ticks on her the first day. She has a flea collar and pink/purple collar. She has a home. She needed a home. She makes Palau feel more like home.

Palauan Independence Day

Palau commemorates  its independence on October 1 . Here are a few paragraphs (exactly 3 possible boring paragraphs you might want to skip) taken from the Palau Visitors Authority website. (It is actually a pretty good website if you want to know more about Palau. www.visit-palau.com )

Foreign governance of our islands officially began when Pope Leo XIII asserted Spain’s rights over the Caroline Islands in 1885. Two churches were established and maintained by two Capuchin priests and two brothers, resulting in the introduction of the Roman alphabet and the elimination of inter-village wars. In 1899, Spain sold the Carolines to Germany, which established an organized program to exploit the islands’ natural resources.

Following Germany’s defeat in WWI, the islands were formally passed to the Japanese under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. The Japanese influence on the Palauan culture was immense as it shifted the economy from a level of subsistence to a market economy and property ownership from the clan to individuals. In 1922, Koror became the administrative center for all Japanese possessions in the South Pacific. The town of Koror was a stylish metropolis with factories, shops, public baths, restaurants and pharmacies.

Following Japan’s defeat in WWII, the Carolines, Marianas and Marshall Islands became United Nations Trust Territories under U.S. administration, with Palau being named as one of six island districts. As part of its mandate, the U.S. was to improve Palau’s infrastructure and educational system in order for it to become a self-sufficient nation. This finally came about on October 1, 1994, when Palau gained its independence upon the signing of the Compact of Free Association with the United States.

So interestingly enough, Palau actually celebrates gaining its independence from the United States.

I share all of this because that meant there was just recently the biggest holiday of the year here in Palau. It is a weekend long celebration, starting with a fair-like event here in Koror on Friday, something must have happened on Sabbath (we did not attend), and ending with the best event of the year the BOAT RACES!!! Here are some photos from our time at the bridge helping the SA with their fundraising booth. You will notice there is a dog that appears in Hailey’s arms. At the time this puppy was a stray, but it now has a home. That story will appear here sometime soon. 

 

Melekeok

We went on a trip to Melekeok a couple weeks ago. We were going to go SCUBA diving but the instructor thought I was going to call and confirm. That is not how we had left it two weeks before, but anyways… it meant that we could not dive that day. So, since we had the van and nowhere to be I figured we would take a trip. We ended up going to the State of Melekeok. We live in Koror State, the academy is in Airai State, and Melekeok is one state further north from there. Of the states that we can drive to Koror is the only one that is not on Babeldaob (the big island).

Melekeok is the state in which the new capitol was built a few years ago, it should look pretty familiar. After checking out the architecture we went to the beach close by there in Melekeok.

Here are the pictures.