Catching up: Kayangel and Airai

Kayangel Atoll

So what have I been doing these past few weeks instead of writing my blog?

Well, first two weeks in Kayangel, the northernmost chain of islands in Palau, where I ate my weight in bananas. At least. With its hibiscus studded paths, rich marine life and orange beaches, Kayangel could be an island out of the Odyssey – the book I read in the first week I was there.

With roughly 60 permanent residents, life on Kayangel is peaceful and slow-paced, but never simple. The island is slated to be the first island in Palau to suffer damage due to sea level rise. Talking to Melanie, who records the weather each day for the island, high tides this year are breaking records and the wind patterns are inconsistent. Up in the Nguarangel reserve just north of Kayangel, an incredible reef where I had the chance to spend a day with Lazarus, the Conservation Ranger, the local turtle population is slowly coming back after years of overfishing. We had a chance to swim with a giant green one afternoon, and from the boat we spotted tiger shark and sting ray. It’s here that there’s rumored to be oil deposits – a discovery that could change the future of this place.

Apart from rice, sugar and coffee, I ate completely locally. Every day I went running around the ring road, a sandy path that cuts through lush green jungle. Running, I found myself alone with my thoughts - apart from flocks of white egrets and the occasional monitor lizard (up to five feet long).

I spent my first week getting to know the community. The governor set me up to stay with Ungilreng (Good-heart), one of the female leaders in the community. Palau is a matriarchal society, so titles are passed down through the mother’s side. It’s the women who designate the next chief, and they play a very important role in decision making.

Ungilreng might be the most self-sufficient, well-rounded person I have ever met. When she’s not planting taro, or weaving pandanas mats and baskets, she’s running a small store (the first on the island), caring for her grandchild Chance, or leading a meeting at the Sita – the summerhouse by the dock.

Then there was Elsie, returned to Kayangel after years abroad, light-hearted and people-loving, and Miriam, the principal, whose memory from Kayangel after she left for the U.S. as a child was always the full moon. Thomas Obak, the quirky old man who lives by the school and who was always ready to talk story over a coconut. Rengelasth, Lazarus’ wife, always brimming with advice and reminiscences from childhood. I spent a day doing an audio workshop with the 16 kids at the local elementary school, and my second week in, Crista Daly the new Peace Corps Volunteer arrived, and we hit it off right away.

I’m heading back in January to do another week or two with the community and give something back to them in audio.

This last week and a half I’ve been settling into a routine in Airai, the second most populated state in Palau. Hiking up through the hills above my house through centuries old terraces with the 10-year-old twins that live down the way, acquainting myself with down-town Koror (not quite the city of Male’), in and out of the Belau National Museum and Bureau of Arts and culture, Palau Conservation Society, and interviewing different members of the Filipino migrant community and visiting and getting to know the residents of Echang, the Tobian community in Koror. Tomorrow I embark on a trip to the Southwest islands. Sonsorol, Merir, Hatohobei and Helen Reef lie 400 miles south of the rest of Palau. They speak a different language, and their customs are drastically different from other Palauans. The islands are now sparsely populated – Hatohobei with only 5 permanent residents. It’s a long trip, and the boat is notorious for breaking down. We’ll see what happens, two weeks could be 2 months! Wish me luck!