Ak Milruul a kall. (I prepared food)

I’ve gotten the question, “Rob, what do you eat?” so let me go over each meal and tell you what is normally on the menu.

Breakfast: Bread- white bread with peanut butter and jelly. Everyday.
Lunch: Rice with fried fish, crab patties, or fried chicken
Dinner: Rice with a wider selection of main dishes- Fish (raw, fried, grilled, or in soup), Chicken (fried, baked, or on a special occasion grilled), Crab (crab patties, ogaib, or whole coconut crabs), and canned/processed delicacies (SPAM, Hormel Luncheon Loaf, hot dogs, and corned beef).

For the most part my host family cooks for me and when I get to cook it is a little bit of a novelty for me. So, I got a chance to cook last night and my main dish (chili) won the approval of my host mother. I made her take a picture of me cooking so that I could let the people at home know that I’m actually cooking for myself a little bit.

Also, as an update for my garden- the only thing that has turned into anything edible are the green beans. I was able to get enough to go with a meal of some sort. My host mother took them and told me she’d “fix that one”. It was thrown into a pot with a can of corned beef. Not quite what I had in mind, but good nonetheless.

Update... and some pictures

Well- the tests have finished and a new quater is upon us here at Angaur Elementry School. We did alright on the quartly assessments. We are short a teacher so everyone is doing a little more than normal to help bridge the gap. I'm now teaching 6th and 8th grade English; 8th grade math; 6th, 7th, and 8th Health; and 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Career Guidance. I've got a much busier schedule, but like it a lot.

Besides that, there's not much new to report. I now leave it up to you- after being scolded by my parents for not updating my blog, I've decided to do a Q&A format. So ask away. Let me know your questions, if you have any- and I'll write a post to adress it. You can email me at rsteffens@gmail.com or leave your question as a comment.

Also- I'm looking for some pen-pals for my sixth grade class. There are seven student who would love to team up with some kids their ages in America. So if anyone can help with that, I'd be aprreciative. We're in the US postal system, so mail comes very quickly and it doesn't cost any more to send a letter to Palau than it does to send a letter anywhere in America.

Enjoy some pictures:

Just a normal, everyday sunset in Angaur, Palau

My host brother, Cortez, taking a dive off the dock.


My host family's house

A little lizard that I found in my house.

The retired principal of Angaur Elementry- also my host uncle.

Another sunset.

The school kids at Christmas with Santa there to visit.

My host father, Emiliano.

My host brother, Valdez

My host brother, Cortez.

Testing, Testing, 1...2...3... (January 7, 2010)

It’s a cold (relatively) and rainy day in Angaur today. There has been a constant rain for the last six or seven hours. I’m not adverse to the rain, as it brings cool breeze and will inevitably help my garden grow. However, this time it is a bit excessive. There are small ponds where small ponds have not previously existed. Overall it is just the beginning of a gloomy Thursday.

Right now in school we are preparing the students for their quarterly exams. Each quarter, the Ministry of Education tests the students in Science, Math, English, Social, Palauan, and Health. About a week before the tests, we are given a “review sheet” from the MOE to provide us a guideline as what to prepare the students for specifically. Unfortunately for the students, this means an intense review/cram session. Also, since the school is so small, each student’s grade is even more significant.

I have one eight grade student. And we’ve been working this quarter doing some writing, fiction reading, character analysis, grammar rules, etc. I got the review sheet which has a list of ten items that will be covered on the test. Having just the one student, and being her only teacher, I’m starting to feel the pressure for her to succeed. If she fails the test, that means that Angaur Elementary School will have a 0% passing rate for 8th grade English, which needless to say, looks bad on paper.

Needless to say, I’m looking forward to the new quarter to begin.

Open for Business!

So for the last few months, the “C.V.’s” (U.S. Navy Civic Action Team) have been on my tiny island doing random projects. One of which was building a new restroom for the school. What the school had before was a set of outhouses that were nowhere near as nice. Since its creation back in 1945, this is the first time there have been flush toilets.

Anyways, the restrooms were finished back on Thanksgiving, but we were not allowed to use them until the official “Ribbon Cutting” has taken place. So, nearly a month later and after much preparation there was a big ceremony. Principals from the other schools, the governor of Angaur, representatives from the Ministry of Education, the C.V. Team, PTA members, representative from the U.S. Embassy, parents, teachers, and students all gathered to celebrate the ribbon cutting.

Needless to say, I’m grateful for the new amenities. Enjoy the short clip of the actual ribbon cutting.

We wish you a merry Christmas!

A nice Christmas song from my students:

I’ve got a green thumb!

I’ve got a green thumb! Well, not really. Here in Angaur we are far from the capitol city and so all imported foods (read: fruits & vegetables) are very hard to come by. So, I’ve expressed interest to my host mother that I wanted to start a garden. I’ve dropped enough hints to her and those in her circle of my desires that finally one day she found me some seeds, planters, and designated a part of our yard that I could use to grow.

The first step was the seeds. As of now, I’ve got 300 seedlings started. Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, snap beans, cucumber, squash, watermelon, okra, and a few other vegetables are soon going to be on my dinner plate. They are all growing decently, and should be ready for transplant soon. The part of the yard designated for my project is said to have “good soil”. Cortez and I worked to clear the land. We cleared it completely, which is no easy task. There were trees we chopped down that were at least as old as me, stumps that we had to dig out, tons of root-rich ground cover, a bunch of crabs, beetles, ants hills, and remnants of WWII (nothing interesting, just rusty scrap metal)- and everything had to go. After a gnarly sunburn (we cleared the trees providing shade before clearing the undergrowth- poor planning on my part) and nearly suffering heat stroke, we finished. I’m pretty proud of myself. I’ve got blisters on both hands from the digging, chopping, and swinging of the machete.

I’ll let you all know as soon as I can how good the veggies taste.

Before

After

Happy (late) Thanksgiving Everyone!

Thanksgiving is celebrated here in Palau. Although I didn’t have turkey, I did have grilled chicken- which is close and welcome substitute. No stuffing, no cranberries, no mashed potatoes, no gravy- but plenty of good food and people to share it with.

I’ve been in my site now for a month, and I cannot believe how fast the time is actually going. Every week has gone faster than the last. Nothing too notable has happened, so I’ll just share a few random thoughts:

1. I love fish now. For 23 years I’ve not eaten fish. I’ve refused, avoided, and even lied about possible allergic reactions to get away from eating it. Now I eat it every day. My parents marinate it with fresh lemon from our lemon tree and pepper and then pan fry it to perfection. Also, I’m learning to eat Sashimi (raw fish). Usually, it is caught only a few hours earlier, expertly cut, and chilled. Dip that in some lemon juice and soy sauce- and you’re set. The fish I eat is also sometimes in soups- that is my least favorite, but that’s only because, in my opinion, it’s way to hot here to eat soup.

2. Last weekend I took the 6-8 mile walk (I’m not really sure how long it was) around my island. Although I might be a little biased, I think it is awesome. There are multiple war memorials, remnants of battles, abandoned mines, and even a coast guard base that’s been aboandoned since the 1950’s. Nature is slowly reclaiming everything left behind- it is truly amazing to see. My island also has numerous beaches and rocky cliff-like shorelines that make for some amazing views- especially during sunrises and sunsets.

3. I’ve got two toothbrushes in my bathroom. One I use for brushing, the other was used to clean. There is no storage area in my bathroom except for the medicine cabinet, and every time I brush my teeth, I tell myself, “You should really move that toothbrush, you’re going to use the gross one next time”. I then get distracted and never move it. Well, Wednesday morning, it happened. While brushing I noticed the texture of the bristles were different, and was slow to realize what was actually going on. I was brushing my teeth with a toothbrush that has been on every surface in the bathroom (including toilets and drains) and was now in my mouth. Immediately, I rinsed with mouthwash and brushed again with the correct toothbrush. You would think that I’ve learned my lesson, but to this day the cleaning toothbrush is still in the medicine cabinet, only inches from the correct toothbrush.