Last few hours

Goodbye, Palau

Me + Taro Patch

Old Japanese ruin

Things have been busy even after the end of school, what with everyone leaving in the middle of the night, and with packing and cleaning.  Then everyone wants to spend time with us before we leave, so we've been going out a lot with various people to enjoy our last days and hours together.

At any rate, the time is coming to a close, and I'm writing this about 19 hours before we're scheduled to fly home.  I don't have much time for getting really reflective since we plan on taking a last little trip to sight-see, and then we have to get ready.  But I just wanted to give a thank you to all the people who all the people who have helped me out...the people at church who prayed and supported me; the friends and family who paid for me to come; the people at Southern who coordinated things and prayed for us all and sent little care packages; for the people at the churches here--especially Koror Church--who were so generous and kind; for the teachers and staff at the schools here who were helpful and friendly even though we were just some short-term SMs who didn't know what we were doing; for our Palauan families (especially my "mom," Bilung) who gave us a place to sit at church and spent time with us and showered us with gifts; and of course, a really big thank you to my parents who always wanted to talk, who listened to my ramblings about was going on here, and who sent lots of care packages.  :)  Everything helped, and I really appreciate it.

Goodbye, Rock Islands

It's weird to think I'll be leaving Palau in less than 24 hours, and that I won't see a lot of these people again for an indefinite amount of time.  They all keep asking us to come back and visit, or come back (with a husband or wife!) and stay.  I don't know what will happen in the future, but with God all things are possible...

Yet another rainbow

Anyway, I just wanted to write one last little post for closure, and to ask for prayers for the flight.  There are 4 of us headed back to America, and we all have different challenges and different futures to come back to.  The transition won't be easy, and there are a lot of things to deal with after our year of living in Palau.  Things don't end here...it's just another chapter in each of our lives.  I just want to make sure God is leading in the chapters to come.

Credit for painting goes to Jaucelyn Carter, SM artist of the year

Now to get started on our last day here.  By this time tomorrow I should be in Hawaii...and I'll have gone back in time!  God willing, I'll see everyone back home within a couple of days.  Thanks again everyone!

End of school!

The past couple of weeks were incredibly busy.  First we had finals week at school, and then we had a last day of school party by class.  I went from room to room and found kids playing games and eating pizza and fruit and whatever else they had brought.  They had fun, but I heard that some kids (and teachers) cried as they said their goodbyes. 

Last pictures with the teacher

After the party I thought in the back of my mind that things would quiet down a little.  But how wrong I was!  There were three graduations to set up and attend, not to mention a staff dinner and four student missionaries leaving on airplanes in the middle of the night. 

The first SM left on Friday night, with students and everyone else there to see her off.  The next one left Saturday night…again, students and missionaries all sent her on her way with hugs, prayers, etc.  Unfortunately, planes heading to Guam usually leave around 1 or 2am, so sleep was pretty scanty over that weekend…

Then we had the Palau Mission Academy graduation.  It was the first class that Principal Sanchez had seen all through their four years of academy (since this is his fourth year), so it was kind of special.  I didn’t really know most of the students, but it was special for me too because I could tell they were really happy, proud of themselves, and sad at the same time to be saying goodbye.  They got showered with leis and balloons afterward.  There were real leis with plumeria flowers, fake plastic leis, leis made from candy, and leis that had blinking lights in them...I'm going to be so disappointed when I don't get a stack of leis at my graduation.  

Leis and balloons

Not the graduates, but the clean up crew

Some of the students will go to college in the U.S., the Philippines, Guam, and Palau.  They seem like great people who enjoyed their time at PMA, and I’m praying that they’ll do great things.  They said that not only did they learn a lot academically, they learned a lot about God too, and it makes you realize how big an impact the school and teachers have on the kids.

After the academy graduation was kindergarten promotion…I’d never seen one before, but it was cute.  Ridiculously cute.  Little bitty kids in graduation caps with tassels.  It’s for the parents, really. 

A lot of stress went into creating this...

And then 8^th grade graduation was the next day.  It’s amazing to think that these kids will be moving on to high school next year.  I didn’t get to know them that well, but I taught them social studies for a while, and they are a cool bunch.  Over 25 teenagers with a huge variety of backgrounds, interests, and goals.  I think they had a good year and a good teacher in spite of all the ups and downs.

Watching their slideshow...awww

 

Anyway, it was really a busy, crazy, stressful week with a lot to do, a lot of emotions, and not a lot of sleep.  I'm glad I'm writing about it now, not reliving it.  But there are a lot of memories for everyone.  The sad part is that more missionaries are going to be leaving by twos and threes, so our numbers are going down.  It feels strange to say goodbye and watch them disappear on a plane, and knowing we’ll probably never be together again—not like we were this year in Palau.  But at least we’re all a family, and there’s a chance we’ll see each other again.  The internet makes it easy, too.  We chatted with Erin (who left first) on a video just last night.  

Blurry, but it's what it feels like at 1am in the Palau airport saying goodbye

Probably the hardest part is saying goodbye to the people on Palau.  It’s not easy to get here, and when they ask if we’re going to come back, you can’t always promise anything.  The kids and parents are always asking if we’ll come back to teach, to visit, to live.  But no one knows if it will happen…it makes you realize how nice it will be in Heaven, when everyone who loves each other and God will be together.  No more goodbyes…

I’ll end now by telling a little story about the kids.

When a joke is going around third grade, all the students want to tell it to you.  So by the end of the day you might have heard it three or four times.  

One of the jokes started out with a kid saying, “Tell me your name.”

“Ms. Hillary.”

“What is this?” asks the kid, pointing.

“Your nose.”

“What am I holding in my hand?”

“Nothing.”

“Aha!  Ms. Hillary…nose…nothing!”

Hahaha, very funny.

The latest one I heard was in Ms. Krissy’s class.  One of the kids comes up and asks, “Will you remember me tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

“Will you remember me next week?”

“Yes.”

“Will you remember me next year?”

“Yeah…”

“Will you remember me when you leave?”

“Of course.”

“Will you remember me when I’m gone?  When I die?”

“Always.”

“Knock-knock!”

“Who’s there?”

“Ahh!  You’ve already forgotten me, Ms. Hillary!”

Of course, by the third time, I would jump in and say, “I know who you are!  You’re [insert name]!” 

To them the joke was incredibly funny if they could pull one over on a teacher, so I probably spoiled it for them.  But all I could think of is that I don’t know when I’ll see them again...  They’ll be half a world away by June.  Technology and fast travel makes it more likely that we’ll see each other, but the joke made me think about when we really will be far apart.  So it was kind of bittersweet.

“Ms. Hillary, will you remember me when you leave?”

Absolutely.

May Days

The past few weeks have been fairly busy.  Here’s a little update about things that have been going on…

 I’ve officially subbed every grade in the school now, Kindergarten to 8^th grade, and the only classes I haven’t subbed for are Computer and Palauan (it wouldn’t do much good if I tried that last one, since I only know about 5 words…). 

I’ve been trying to figure out my flight home—from changing seats to sit next to my roommate, to wondering what Jen and I should do with our extended layover in Hawaii.  (I have about 26 hours there, and she has about 12, so we’re looking at activities like the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Dole Plantation tour…we’ll see.)  

I was sick for a while, and was afraid the cough might get nasty like it did before, but thankfully I was able to rest and get better and not go on antibiotics and IVs like a lot of people do here.  Some of the students were saying, “The first time I had an IV was when…”  And these are just 6-year-olds.  I guess that’s the go-to remedy around here.

Some 3^rd-grade girls hooked up the TV in the library, so they can now watch videos like Veggie Tales and Bible stories that are on the shelf.  I’m letting them do it most days after school since it keeps them quiet and they didn’t get to use the TV all year.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to figure out how to use coconut flour.  It’s cheap here, so why not?  I’ve already made peanut-butter banana cookies with it…interesting texture.

The SAU U-Quest mission trip team arrived—about 25 students from Southern or academies, some of which were teachers here in Palau last year.  We greeted them at the airport with leis and coconuts and signs.  The kids were delighted to see their old teachers, and the teachers were thrilled to be back on the island.  They’re going to be doing some random construction jobs and they’re hoping to do VBS and/or summer camp too.  We’ll see what they end up doing.  They almost weren’t able to come, but in the end…here they are.  I’m praying God will lead them to do some great things here in the two or three weeks they have.

Several girls from the elementary school were baptized on Sabbath.  They’re from Adventist families, and they’ve now made the decision to give their lives to God.  It was a really beautiful ceremony, even though it was raining (rain can’t hurt you when you’re being baptized…).  There were tears and leis and a drone hovering to capture footage.  I’ve seen more drones in Palau than anywhere else…

In 3^rd grade a lightbulb fell and shattered on a girl’s desk, spreading glass everywhere.  But—get this—the girl who normally sat at the desk was out sick.  If she had been there, she could have been hurt by the flying glass.  It’s neat how God works in little ways…

At the resort

We had a staff dinner at a fancy resort on Saturday night.  The principals thanked the staff—from the poultry farm workers to the teachers and office staff—for their hard work.  There were lots of good things to eat, from Cuban bread to jicama, from salad to watermelon, from baked potatoes to chicken.  It was impressive…I’m not used to fancy places like that.  There was even a singer who played an electric piano.  Half-way through the dinner he said, “We have a special guest here tonight…a student from SDA school here who wants to dedicate this next song to her teachers…” and he proceeded to sing, “Pass it on,” from the “He is Our Song” hymnal.  The girl was sitting nearby, a student from 5^th grade, and we all clapped at the end.  It was really sweet.  Then we walked on the beach in the dark, and saw some fish through a glass floor in a gazebo, and some sort of heron (I'm assuming a night heron).

It’s finals week here, so everyone is doing tests, and teachers are trying to get all the grading and folders and paperwork done.  I don’t have nearly so much to do, but I help out.  We’ll be having our final goodbye parties on Friday, and then it will be the end of the school year…I won’t say it has flown by, because I feel like we’ve had school for a long time.  But probably it will seem shorter once I’m packing up and leaving.  

One of the students came into the library before I left this week.  She’s one of the older girls, and we talked for a bit.  She’s going to visit her family in the U.S. over the summer.  “Are you coming back next year?” she asked, and I said no…I need to finish school…and it’s so far, and lots of money…  “But,” I said, “you never know.  Other teachers have come back for a visit.”  “Yeah,” she said, maybe a bit hopefully.  She told me that it’s really hard to say goodbye to the teachers.  “It hits us hard when they leave,” she said matter-of-factly.  “It hits the students every year when we have to say goodbye again.”  I thought about it.  We only have to say goodbye once, but they have to say goodbye almost every year.  That can’t be easy.  I felt kind of bad, but at least nowadays it’s easier to keep in touch with the internet, and travel is easier too.  Who knows…

Anyway, that’s the news around here.  Not much time left for us here, but we’re trying to make the most of it.  Pray that we can make a good impact on the kids and their families in the last few days and weeks.

A night heron fishing in the dark