A Letter from Palau (Part 2)

Beth and I hiked this morning at Drakes Estero in Pt. Reyes National Seashore. A beautiful hike thru pastures, forests, marshes and Drakes Estero.  I found a few ripe berries to munch on. One was like a small thin blackberry. The other was something like a wild raspberry. 







Back to the letter from Palau, May 13, 1992:

The Palauans are helpful and friendly but reserved. I think they have seen too many Americans come and go to develop deep friendships with them. Palauans are incapable of being direct in communications. The are horribly prejudiced against Filipinos, several thousand of whom work in Palau. Almost all of the Palauans work for the government here. About 90% of the national budget comes from the U.S. government. The Palauans can be quite arrogant. They have been called the "Jews of the Pacific". The funny thing about it is that they take that as a compliment. They love Jews here. some of the expatriates joke that the Palauans are the lost tribe of Israel.

The service in restaurants is atrocious; but tips are not expected. Nepotism is a way of life here. Everybody gets their family members jobs. Once a Palauan is in a job, there is practically no way to fire them, even if they never show up to work! I am only exaggerating a little. The beauracracy is horrible. They could fire half of the Palauans working for the government and get along fine. I could do my job with just a secretary. Instead, I have a secretary, a legal researcher, an assistant legal researcher and a "dispatcher". Your tax dollars are paying for this.

This is definitely a better place for a man than a woman. I have many more activities and distractions than Beth: basketball, fishing, poker, drinking and grabass in general with the boys. We have made a lot of friends and in general have been well received in the ex pat community.

I really enjoy fishing. I take pleasure in catching fish and also just being out on the water. The water is very calm here, compared to California, especially inside the reef. If you have engine trouble, the next stop is Manila; not to mention other dangers. Fortunately, the water is warm (85 degrees) so a long swim is possible, but certainly not something I look forward to. I am definitely more comfortable with land in sight.

We are certified scuba divers. The diving here is phenomenal. Most of the dives are drift dives, where the current takes you along a coral wall. The visibility is regularly over 100 feet. You can usually see the surface. Aside from the beautiful and varied fish and coral, we have seen turtles, marlin, sharks, etc. The only scary part is relying on the boat driver to find you when you come up. Periodically, someone drifts out to sea. The good news is that they are always found. bad news is that they may drift for a long time.  Overall, diving has been a great experience. I had to overcome a serious fear of the water to dive.

Even snorkeling is great here. I do most of my snorkeling when fishing. We end up in the water every ten minutes or so to retrieve a lure snagged on coral. Giant clams everywhere in shallow water. They make great sashimi. 

Regular sashimi is plentiful and cheap. At one of my favorite restaurants (Furusato) a side order of sashimi costs $2.50. The best sashimi, however, is when you catch a fish and eat it immediately on the boat. We always take big ice chests full of food and drinks when we go fishing. The fish we catch go in the same cooler. You have to get used to budweiser that tastes a bit fishy.

TO BE CONTINUED

the bear

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