Storyboards and Beach

The group's flight out of Palau left at 1:15 am on Sunday, so Saturday was their last day. After the previous night's festivities, everyone slept in later than normal. Tiff and I prepared a hearty breakfast of waffles and eggs. Our goal for the morning was gift shopping. Our first stop was the woodcarving shop in my neighborhood. Tiff wanted to buy a storyboard and they had a nice selection. Storyboards are the popular keepsake from Palau. They are usually rectangle pieces of wood with traditional Palauan stories carved into them. Tiff found a beautiful one the carvers had just finished. It had two large turtle outlines on it and on the shells were a stories. One was about a local man who had gone turtle hunting and while wrestling the turtle managed to lose both the turtle and his canoe. It was a finely crafted piece and Tiff was very happy to buy it. Sara also found and interesting storyboard that wasn't just a board, but a cylindrical section of mangrove wood. She was very intrigued by it but decided to give it some more thought as storyboards usually cost over a hundred dollars. From there, we stopped at another small crafts store where Katie got a pitcher with carved turtles and Sara got a bowl.

With shopping concluded, we drove to PPR and got ourselves some beach chairs to relax. Tiff spent some time in the hammock. For lunch, we ate at the beachside bar. Matt, Tiff, and I had excellent pizza, Katie had a Palauan wrap, and Sara had fried rice. After lunch we spent some time just kickin' it on the beach. We later went snorkeling and explored the coral at PPR. We were treated to another pretty sunset with fine coloring. On our way home, we stopped again at the wood carving shop and Sara bought her storyboard. We returned home and they packed their bags while I prepared discs full of all the pictures we had taken. With their departure approaching, we had a quick dinner at my apartment while reminiscing about old times. I drove them to the airport and managed to arrive without breaking the car. They checked in for their flight and Sara narrowly avoided causing an international incident when the mud from milky way was discovered in her bag. They finally allowed her to have it and took their baggage. We then said our goodbyes and they headed for the gate while I headed home. I was exhausted from the week and spent the next day recovering.

We had an amazing time. I was really happy that they all could come and share this experience. Palau really exists, it is not a figment of my imagination. They got to experience many of the great things Palau had to offer. Most importantly, we got to experience it all together and we will be able to enjoy the memories of their trip for a long time.

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