Black Gold and Coconut Crabs

Recently I’ve fallen victim to writer’s block, but not for lack of inspiration!

The past month has been a maelstrom of interviews and experiences. Each interview has been a treasure, and I hope to update soon. This past week I spent learning to dive with Soai, a friend of Chris’. On my last day he took me to German Channel and Blue Corner, where I had a chance to swim with manta rays, black and white tipped sharks, turtles, napoleon wrasse, and huge schools of fish! To think of the world that exists below us.

I returned to Kayangel for a second time in mid January, to play back the recordings of the students at JFK Elementary and to interview a few more people. Before leaving in November, I promised my host family I would teach them to make pizza, and so they constructed an oven out of an old oil drum, and for several nights the outdoor kitchen transformed into a pizzeria – we even went so far as to experiment island style, young coconut and barbecue tuna! Christa, or Bosch (pronounced Bosa) the Peace Corps Volunteer from Kayangel, gave her family an icecream maker for Christmas, and we tried making it while I was there. Who would have thought, pizza and icecream on a remote pacific island?

I had a chance to interview Christa’s host father, Johnson, who told me about his life in Kayangel – and his decision to return to the island when many of the young people were leaving. Johnson has helped to construct most of the houses, including his own, on the island, cutting lumber. His memories and his perceptions of change were a joy to listen to!

In other news, Kayangel’s changed their baseball team name from the Kay-Angels to the Oilers. The president recently signed an agreement with a Texas based oil company to allow for drilling on Velasco Reef. The discovery of what Johnson jokingly called, “Black gold” has the potential to generate internal revenue for Palau, and could even harken the return of families to Kayangel with the advent of much-needed jobs. But other people worry about the changes that such a movement could have on the environment and the society. While the agreement dictates that any drilling shall be done in an environmentally safe manner, they have not been explicitly outlined.

Potential affects on community cohesion have also not been addressed. I like to joke that the national motto of Palau is “You come an eat!” But in all seriousness, the culture is one of communal living. The strength of a chief is measured by his ability to provide for the community, to feed the community. If you pass by a home, you shouldn’t be surprised to be invited in for a banana, a coconut, coffee, a full-fledged meal. One of the people that I learned the most from was Lazrus’ mother, who you can always find weaving intricate baskets in the shade of her summerhouse. Elsie helped translate a truly touching interview, in which she offered me advice in finding a husband, raising my children, but also offered her experiences. She remembers a time before money on Kayangel, when people used to gather on Saturdays to clean the roads and gather taro. With the introduction of currency and western governance, she explained, people became more individualistic. What will happen if oil money has people building walls and houses that will keep others out?

It was wonderful to return to Kayangel, where the pace of life unwinds to a slower pace. I’d forgotten how wonderful it was to listen to the breeze that blows in from the western shore, tempered by the crash of the breakwater on the reef, the regularity of rainbows and brilliant sunsets. I’ve learned to fish in Palau, and spent several evenings on the beach or the dock chatting quietly and immersed in that wonderful concentration that clears the mind, as Obak would say.

The night before I left, Lazrus took a group of us to hunt for coconut crab on one of the adjacent islands. Coconut crab are a Palauan delicacy – at one time they were numerous on the islands, but overharvesting has left them scarce. That night we fell into rank behind Lazrus, who leapt nimbly ahead through the jungle, his flashlight roving the tangle of roots for a healthy specimen. With similar gusto, if perhaps less coordination, we followed, weaving through walls of vines and towering palms that shone silver in the half moon. With each crab we caught, Lazrus flipped it over, clicking and spitting, to measure its back plate with a tape measure. If it was too small he tossed it back, “Come back and get this one next year,” he told Skiwo and Kobe, in 8th and 6th grades. Lazrus told me he once competed in the Micronesian Olympic Games in the all-round island skills - general athleticism and handiness, including fishing and climbing coconut (the equivalent of the He-man competition in Maine's state fairs, I'd reckon) and came first. It's his dedication to protecting the environment that provides for him and his family that makes him such a great man, I think.

Using young palm fronds as plates, we ate the crabs with rice just as the moon was descending over the horizon, the water glowing cold in the early morning darkness. We slept a few hours in hammocks before returning to the main island at dawn. I became very close with my host family on this second visit and with Bosch and her family, it was great to swap stories and experiences!

Last minute I’ve decided to extend my stay in Palau for another few weeks. I was offered a chance to sail with Sisario Sisaru, one of the last traditional navigators of the Pacific, to Ngulu atoll in Yap. It was Sisario’s father who was invited by the Hawaiians to reteach them traditional navigation after it vanished from cultural memory. These next few weeks I’ll be learning the Carolinian constellation compass with the group of Palauans who will be joining us, and finishing up some tailends of interviews in Airai. Most recently, I’ve been recruited to play volleyball with the Tobi women’s team of Itop, creating quite a spectacle standing head and shoulders taller than everyone else!