1 post tagged “christmas”
"It is so HOT out here," Rhea said, covering herself with a sarong to shield her skin from the sun. I could feel the sun burning through my carefully applied SPF 55 with Helioplex. Apparently Neutrogena didn't consider the Pacific Islands when testing their products.
Christmas Day. For me, those two words usually conjure up images of ripping open piles of presents with my family after eating a huge meal and watching the snow drift by the windows outside. And on this Christmas Day, that's all that was - an image.
On this Christmas Day, I met up with David, Garth and Rhea to head out to the Rock Islands, the postcard Palau that I had yet to see. They assured me that I would not be disappointed. As we sped through the crystal blue water, surrounded by tiny islands of coral jutting out of the sea, bursting with wild green plant life, I can assure you that I wasn't.
I met David at the end of my first week at the office. He was the first American I'd met, and I had begun to wonder if any of these American or ex-pat lawyers existed in Palau. That weekend, I had my first visit to Kramer's, which I am sure will reappear more than once in this blog as my year progresses.
"It's like Cheers, except on an island," Renee, the owner of Kramer's informs me as we watch people slowly filter in and out of the bar. Renee is from Germany originally, doing stints in California and various other worldly locations before ending up in Palau. His wife, Jane, helps to run the bar, dishing out advice as she winks at me over the counter. "Don't trust any of these guys!" she yells playfully, sliding a beer to a customer.
Despite the wet blanket of heat that had settled over my shoulders and the blaring Christmas music streaming through the speakers, I had a great time meeting the local Haule population of Palau. I'm sure I've messed up the spelling, but Haule essentially means "white person." You can interpret that however you want, but it's not always said in the nicest of ways here. In the circle of people who frequent Kramer's, Haules use the term to affectionately classify themselves in an amusing way.
And so Christmas rolled around and we boarded the boat for a nice sunny day of relaxation. I wish I could go into greater detail about the scenes of the Rock Islands, but my words can't compare to the pictures. There are only so many times you can say "crystal clear" or "impossibly beautiful." I had to put my camera down at one point for fear it would become attached to my head. And that's what it looks like. An impossibly beautiful, crystal clear blue ocean, speckled with tiny eruptions of rock and lush green foliage and white sand beaches shaded by palm trees, surrounding you, no matter where you look.
We settled on a deserted little island for a lunch break after David and Garth decided our first choice was too crowded. Two families had anchored there. "See, there are so many islands here, if one person's there already, it's crowded," Garth said as David turned the boat around.
On the island, I dug my feet into the sand and listened to the advice of the more seasoned attorneys. "Everyone in Palau is here for a reason. Some of them are good reasons, some of them are not so good. You'll see for yourself in time." I'm certain I will.
As we made our way back to the "marina" area (loosely described - some boats tethered to concrete), the Rock Islands slowly disappeared and we were faced with nothing but ocean that seemed to go on forever, stopping at the horizon point and flowing off of the side of the earth. As I propped my feet up on the cooler in front of me and leaned back into my seat, letting the wind cool my sunburned skin, I realized that on this Christmas, there really was nowhere else I'd rather be.
