Courtney's Travels: We're not in Michigan anymore...

I have been in Palau almost a week, and I have had many firsts: first time shimmying up a coconut tree, first raw coconut, first cockroaches killed (2-i am i the lead of our cockroach-killing contest), first time in my own classroom, first time climbing a deserted rock island, first time body boarding, and first time cooking for myself for an extended period of time (no disasters yet!). Most of my “firsts” have been pleasant (minus the cockroaches), and I am enjoying myself greatly.
There are twenty SMs total, nine girls and eleven guys. Seven of us girls are living in an apartment right across the street from the elementary school. The others are living at Palau Mission Academy. Other than the cockroaches, our accommodations are nice, and we have air conditioning, which covers a multitude of sins. The weather here is hot and humid, although not unbearable.
The start of school has been delayed until at least the 24th due to an outbreak of swine flu. There are over 600 confirmed cases, and the president himself apparently took ill. We are hoping that school will not start any later, as it will push the end of school back.
All the extra time certainly has its advantages, however. We went to a nearby waterfall (name unpronounceable) on Sabbath and cooled off by standing underneath the falls. On Sunday all the SMs and local teachers went to the Rock Islands. We spent the day snorkeling, swimming, and relaxing on the beach. I also got to go body boarding on Wednesday.
We got our teaching supplies and keys to our classroom today. I am pleasantly surprised at the amount of supplies that I have. As I looked at the classroom, saw my desk and the cheerful alphabet border above the blackboard, I finally began to see myself as Miss Tait, 2nd grade teacher. Memories of 2nd grade with Mrs. Good came flooding back, with snack time, worksheets, and the hated skillpacks (the bane of my elementary school existence). I am excited, although I have not totally lost my pre-teaching jitters.
I plan to update my blog to update my blog every 1-2 weeks, and hopefully will manage to post a few pictures as well. All other pictures will be on my Facebook (although with about a 54K bandwidth, pictures will be few and far between). I’d love to here from you and get feedback, so please feel free to email me or comment me.
Some facts about Palau: *the ‘ch’ is silent in Palauan, making church ‘ur’ and the pathfinders “mar” *the water is so clear, you can see 200 feet down *there is a place called Milky Way where the water is nearly white because of the white clay-like substance on the bottom (supposedly a natural exfoliant) *there are four churches in Palau, though only two have buildings. There are also many small communities of Adventists that we will be helping with evangelism *raising the eyebrows and smiling means “yes”
(Jeremy, I am shamelessly stealing your idea as I think it's a good one)

Some of the SMs at Waikiki beach in Hawaii where we had teacher training for all Micronesian missionaries. All but the 3rd from the left are from Andrews.