Walk and Pick

This weekend they opened the new capitol and as part of the celebrations they had some community bonding activities. On Friday afternoon they held a walk and pick. This was a city-wide walk along the main road picking up garbage to beautify the city for visitors. The court was assigned a stretch of road, so a group headed out to pick up trash. I've been here less than a week and my introduction to Palauan culture is picking up their garbage. It is certainly a unique way to get to know my new neighbors. The majority of what we found was cans and bottles, some stuck in the mud by the side of the road. I had never been to the area where we were walking , so it was a good way to get to know the area. It rained off and on, but as we neared the end of our assigned area it started pouring. Then the wind came up and the thunder and lighting began. We found shelter under a little convenience store and waited the storm out. When the storm would not relent, we called the marshals and had them come pick us up and return us to the court.