We have some houseguests. I think I've mentioned before that we like the little geckos that share our house with us. They're cute, they eat bugs, and that's all good with me. Sometimes they surprise us though, and I'm not too fond of that.

Lucy is about 1.5 inches long and loves the kitchen.

One day we were making lunch and Shauna reached up and grabbed the honey. Lucy, the gecko, jumped from out of nowhere, onto Shauna's shoulder. There was screaming and jumping and flailing about. Shauna flicked little Lucy onto the floor as she let out a blood-curdling scream. She so startled me, across the room, that I jumped and knocked a plate of food on the ground.

Well our boards have arrived!! It's such a great feeling knowing that our boards have completed their long ocean journey and are here, just miles from our house. I can just picture them now, sitting in their boxes in a warehouse.

I know they are just aching to see us. They set sail from California way back on October 29^th. I'm sure they have been in shock for these last weeks, wondering what happened to us. They were accustomed to being taken out for a paddle just about every day, then one day it all changed. They were packed up and taken away. No explanation. They may even think that they did something wrong. Poor babies.

We are aching to reunite with them too. I see the beautiful waters each day and imagine us out there paddling. It was easier to handle the wait when we knew our boards were still en route. Now that I know they are here in Palau, I'm a bit antsy.

We are waiting for them to clear customs. We thought Customs might give us a call on Friday if they had any questions, but they didn't call. See we didn't just send two boards. We sent 12 total.

It's been just over a week and I think we have done pretty well adjusting to life in Palau. We are trying to let go a lot of our American ways of doing things and take on a more Palauan style. Let me play a bit of show and tell to describe some of the new parts of our lives.

We have running water (some Palauans don't, by the way). We live a concrete house with plumbing, but we also have a water tank out back (along with another home that is just feet away).

 

Anyway that tank collects rainwater. We can come around the back of our house, turn the spigot and get water from here, when the running water is cutoff, limited, or delayed by the government for various reasons. We get a ton of rain so this collecting and using rainwater makes total sense.

Ok, so today we went back to the car place over on T-Dock to pick up the car.  To buy the car, you actually go to ACE Hardware and pay the cashier - like you're buying groceries or something.  Then, you take the receipt (and the car) to the police station.  There are these guys (picture in t-shirts, board shorts and flip-flops) hanging  out at the police station that do a little inspection of the car - which I captured some of that on video as it was just hilarious to watch.  I really don't know what they were looking for, but I'm pretty sure all cars pass this ‘inspection'. 

Then you go to Koror State - the capitol building.  Find the nice lady behind the glass and tell her you just bought a car - she collects $35 and gives you a sticker - you know, just like in the US - the registration tags.  Then, you go to the National Treasury and offer them $75 and I think all you get from that is a little receipt saying you paid it.  Then, you go back to the inspectors and talk to the lady inside, who promptly types up your registration card to be kept in your car.  The inspectors, meanwhile, put your new license plate with stickers on the car, but there are no screws, so you have to buy them from them for a $1.  Ha!  Two screws for a dollar! 

Whatever, the car is ours now and legal - there is no insurance or anything like that, so we're now set.  Overall, the process is probably quicker than in the US, since we completed the entire transaction in less than 2 hours.  In the US, you can spend more than that amount of time just at the dealer trying to buy the car and sign all the papers!  Here, you walk away with your plates, tags and registration card and no waiting for it to come in the mail.  Here are a couple of pictures of the car.

 

I love this place! We've been here a week now and everything is really great. We're learning our way around, where to get this or that, and even how to say Surangel like a local - sur-ahn-el (almost like it has two syllables). We are even good with the heat and humidity. We even getting used to the quick weather changes - hot and sunny, then 10 minutes of pounding rain. Rather fun, if you ask me.

I tell you, sometimes you are just hoping some rain gets busy falling. It's the one sure way to cool off.

I only one complaint - and it's not really a complaint. It's more of a battle I can't seem to win. The Poof! My hair isn't really digging on the humidity. No matter what I do, by the afternoon I have Poof. My hair is all  . . .  well "poofy". Kind of frizzy, definitely fly away.

Ok, so this is a short entry.  We got word today (just now in fact) that our boards will be here on 11/27!!!  That is the best news we've had since arriving.  We've been watching the flatwater and boiling in the heat here and just want to get in and go for a paddle. 

Here is a pic of our house too, that we moved into this week!

 

The hunt continues for a car.  I think I have asked everyone I have run across where to get a car here in Koror.  Yesterday, we met a guy named Benny who pointed us in several directions and while all were good places, we still haven't found the car we are looking for.  We need a car with roof racks so we can attach the boards to the top and we need a small(er-ish) car so it fits in our driveway.  So, we did finally at the end of yesterday, locate a car that would suit our needs.  We contacted the seller last night to give our offer.  She says she will sell it to us for the amount we offer only after a week, so she can see if she can get a better offer.  So, today, we are out on the hunt again for a car.

Ok, so we love our new house - it's awesome really.  Good location, good neighbors, etc.  However, when we first moved in, we had some unwanted house guests which are very common here on the island.  We also had some wanted house guests, one of which I named Harvey.  Harvey was so cute.  I knew the moment I saw him, he and I were to be pals.  His cute little eyes, looking up at me.  I know he wanted to snuggle, but he was a little shy.  Unfortunately, he sacrificed his life for us yesterday.  He was a cute little gecko, but he got into the poison we sprayed in the house to get rid of our unwanted house guests.  It was sad, but we had to launch a war on the other guests, otherwise, we just couldn't live here.  So, goodbye Harvey and thank you for a wonderful few days.

Today was exciting!  *The* ship arrived today and so the containers were on the streets in front of store fronts in all of downtown Koror. Rachel and I noticed this after we walked to the internet café with our laptops, so with our laptops swung over our shoulders, we headed into Surangel.  We decided to split up and Rachel was headed to get our customer card - a very exciting event and I was headed to the produce section.  Ok, so the produce section is less than half the size of Mesa Produce back home, but it is exciting anyway, seeing all the hustle and bustle taking place.  In fact, while I was bee-lining it to the broccoli crowns, I noticed a woman with her head down racing around frantically, grabbing all she could.  We had met before, but she really didn't notice me until she was done shopping in that section.  It was funny, she looked in my hands and said not to be shocked at the price of the blueberries I had snatched up.  Yes, we got fresh blueberries - well as fresh as they can be after being on a boat for probably 4-6 weeks.  I also grabbed lots of red potatoes as I wasn't sure I'd ever seen those here before.  Finally, right before leaving I asked a Palauan about these big leafy things she was buying.  They are sweet potato leaves she said and she gave a few pointers on how to cook them.  I think we'll be using them like we use kale at home, where we sauté the kale with garlic, onions and olive oil and put over pasta.  Anyway, today was fun and I can't wait for the next boat to arrive and see what it brings!

 We began making our new (temporary) home in Palau right away. We arranged a long-term rental at Tree-D Hotel for a very decent rate - $600 a month. We had a simple two-bedroom apartment, complete with a full kitchen, some basic cooking tools, air conditioners in every room, and cable tv. The staff picked us up from the airport and made sure we were all set. They have been nothing but helpful. It's a 10-15 walk minute to downtown.  We would recommend that anyone staying in Koror for an extended period of time might want to consider making this your home away from home.

We got a lot done in our first few days here. We got a cell phone, found a house to rent (cutting our time short at Tree-D), and gotten a loud message from the voice of reality. We went to the post office to see if the packages we mailed from the states had arrived. Back in the US, they told us that if we shipped our stuff parcel post that it would arrive in Palau in 10 days.  When we told the Palauan Post Office that, we got that look - the "you must be crazy" look. They informed us that it's more like 2-3 months! Uh-oh. We shipped five, 18 gallon containers filled with things we actually thought we would need, thinking they would get here just after we arrived. Time to adjust. Luckily we sent 3 more containers priority mail. Now back in the US, they told us these would take  3-5 days. Let's make that a week to 10 days. We should have known.  The folks in our local post office didn't even know where Palau was, and very little about how to ship stuff here. Oh well. This will just make the adventure that much more exciting.

So here we are . . .3,6003 feet in the air, halfway to Honolulu. This is the first part in our long flight to Palau, our home for the next year.  It all feels quite unreal. Only 6 months ago we were coming home after 1 month in Palau, fairly certain we would never be back. Funny how everything can change with just one  event or one thought.

We are excited and nervous and just plain unsure of what will happen next. We've shipped eight, 18 gallon containers filled with our personal items to Koror via the United States Postal Service. We've shipped 12 boards and other equipment via ocean cargo carriers. Though the plan is that we rendezvous with all of our stuff, inside we are a bit afraid that we may not get all of it, maybe any of it, or maybe not for months. This whole shipping internationally thing is all new to both Shauna and I.

Oh, did I mention that this whole "leave everything and travel half way around the world because of some crazy idea in our heads,"  is all new to us as well? But, why not? Why not take a chance? Why not try? Better to try than to play it safe and look back later with a sack of "what ifs" in your lap.