Go with the Flow

Today I have been doing a lot of thinking about my future plans. I told myself before I left on this journey to paradise that I was going to keep myself open for whatever life throws at me. I wasnt going to set a plan out and follow it to the T. I dont want to live my life like so many others do, in a routine, following schedules, and worrying about what to do next. I want to be open to the things life has for me and not be structured into myself.

Go with the Flow - these are words to live by

The flow is life. Life is flowing. I want to go where life wants me to go. I dont need to tell life what my intentions are or plan out my next move in life. Life will figure it out for me and let me know, not the other way around. I feel that in today's world people think they need to have structure and have things planned out or else their life will fall apart.

Life seems to have a natural energy of its own and I dont think we need to tell it what to do, it will figure it out and as long as we are willing to go along for the ride, it wont steer us wrong. That is not to say that you can just sit on your ass and think life will just magically make everything perfect. No, you do have to do some work. But the key is to work with the flow of life and not against it. You cant be scared that life is going to lead you down the wrong path. You have to be willing to go down that path and not only hope for the best but KNOW that the best is down the path. Only then will you actually experience Real Life.

I have people ask me all the time, "What are you going to do when you have to get back to real life?" I usually just give some generic answer that satisfies their curiosity. But really I think quietly to myself, I am experiencing my real life. I am in the flow of my life.

Yup

Just thought i would hit up the blog with a short little entry. its Sunday, nothing really planned, just a lazy day here on the island. Work is going ok, i am still working on this equipment inventory and control numbers. its a slow process and really boring. but whatever. it pays the bills. Still not sure what im going to do after this or when. I am thinking New Zealand, or San Francisco, or back home. i really just dont know, everything sounds like a great idea. Yesterday me and tom went out to drive around and ended up going to see these two waterfalls, they were cool, and the hikes down to them were fun, but they were hard. we also hiked up to the top of the mountain beside our apartment, there were some great views.

Amazing Weekend in Palau

This past week i have been working with Eric Whipps. he is the son of Surangel Sr. and part owner/ Vice President of Surangel and Sons. he has had me trying to figure out their equipment lists. They really have no idea what equpiment they have, if it still works, if its been sold, what job its on. really no info. so i am trying to update the master equipment list and im going out to the sites taking pictures of the equipment, that way we have a record of what it is. its kinda tough though cuz most of the serial numbers and other information has been scratched off or is unidentifiable cuz its old or rusty, or its been painted over. so i have been busy with that. tomorrow i am supposed to go out with this guy and get some more pictures. hopefully i can figure out a system for the equipment.

So last friday night, me and tom went out to this bar thats really close to our house and i meet the Palauan peace corps people, they seemed really nice and we exchanged emails and will hopefully get together sometime. there were only 4 of them and they said that in total there were like 15 palau peace corps volunteers. but it was cool to trade stories for a little bit and tell how different out two situations were. i also meet this guy that knows how to kitesurf, he is from Chezch Republic and is named Jirka, which is really hard to pronounce, cuz its got some wierd sounds in it. but we trade info too. cuz i really want to learn how to kitesurf. so we got to talking over email and i ended up going with him and this girl Viviout to this private beach called Long Beach Garden, it was really out in the middle of no where but it was private and amazing. beautiful sand and water, really just picturesque of the perfect beach. But yeah it was me, Jirka, and then his friend ViVi, who is a Vietnamense American that was born in NB and then randomly got a job here 4 months ago. Cute little girl. so us three show up at this little private beach place. There was a guy named Toby and his Wife Chica. they were really friendly and let us just grab some spots on the beach for free and cooked us dinner and made us coffee and we shared some of our food. it was so cool, we just chilled there with them and learned about some palauan stories. We also had some "special" Mahogany tree. So, the whole reason for me to go with them to this beach is cuz Jirka let me use his kitesurfing equip and try it out. i didnt get on the board but i got the kite in the air and flew it for alittle bit. the harness didnt really fit me so it kept coming off. and let me tell you, i thought i was going to be able to just put that kite where ever i wanted it. and move it and do whatever i wanted with it. THAT WIND IS STRONG. it picked me up like a ragdoll and tttthhhhrrrrreeeewwwww(threw) me in the air and water. it was cool and scary. but mostly cool. the power of the wind was amazing to have hooked up to you. Jirka got some good waves and wind and musta rode for a few hours. I crashed the kite about 4 times but jirka was really pleased with how fast i was learning and was a great teacher and really helped me understand what was going on with the wind and the kite. there was this one time that got the kite into the "power zone" ( you can imagine what the power zone is, where the wind has the most strength and take the kite whereever it wants) but yeah i got it in the power zone which is where you would have the kite if you were riding the waves but i was standing there thinking, " oh crap this is going to be rough" and then i saw Jirka outta the corner of my eye, lunge after the harness and try to grab the it to help keep me down but it was too late, the power of the wind hit that kite and dragged me through the water. it was so cool. i mean it was like a calm before the storm and then all of a sudden, enormous power. But yeah we ended up staying the nite with Toby and Chica, we slept out under this little shelter it was really nice, open to the wind and the waves were crashing about 20 feet away from us, and just listening to that and chilling there was such the classic surfer/beach bum kinda thing. it was an amazing experience. although i couldnt help while i was sitting there in black next to this shack of a house that Toby and Chica live in, out in the boonies of palau. i was like wow this is the making of a horror movie, i was like a crazy young american traveler meets a guy at bar and then they go surfing down at this private beach and he is never heard from again. haha. but then i like Oh well. haha. actually at one point Jirka pulled out his diggaradoo (the australian pipe musical thing, its that thing that makes the BOOOOMMMMOOOOMMMMOMMM sound). and we were just sitting there in the dark. it was cool. Vivi just chilled the whole time and read some of some book and slept in the hammock. just soaking up some rays.

Ok so then i get back to the house on sunday around 2 pm on sunday (yesterday) and i have this note from tom, saying what he did for the weekend and that he and the family went out to the rock islands and then at the bottom its said, "oh yeah, we are judging a Philippians Beauty Pageant at 7pm." and im like oh crap what did tom get me into. i was dog tired from surfing and the whole beach experience and lack of sleep the night before on the beach. but i was like whatever lets do this thing. so me and tom were two judges for the Miss Valentine 2008 pageant. which is apparently a big competition. we went with Eric and Joy Whipps. Joy was Miss valentine 2005 or 2006 ( i cant remember). but it was really fun, we got our picture taken with the winner, which isnt the one i voted for, i actually didnt think the winner was that good. but she had the most fans in the crowd and also raised the most money, so she won. So then we were sitting there after the pageant and im like falling asleep standing up and my buddy JV ( a philippian worker at surangel and son's and also Joy whipps brother) is like, "hey we are going out!", so come on. and i tried to be like no no no, im tired, but he wouldnt have it. and im half scared cuz who knows where this guy is going to take us. SO!! on a sunday night after a weekend of surfing and judging philippian beauty pageants i am taken to a KTV lounge.......ok so for those of you who dont know what i KTV lounge is, which was me last night before i entered the bar. but it is a kinda karaoke/call-girls/bar lounge. it was quite interesting. but anyways Eric and Joy went with us and they bought drinks for us and the owner of the bar/lounge bought a bottle of really good scotch wiskey for tom. Today is tom's birthday(feb.11) so that was another reason we went out to the bar. but yeah basically you can buy girls drinks and then they come and sit with you and talk and basically keep you company. of course the more drinks you buy the more company you get. So Eric and Joy pay for the VIP room. so we got a room where you can dance, sing and basically do whatever. The room came with 6 shots of Tequila which were drank by our lovely lady friends(Gwen and Faith). ha. but we all drank alittle and danced and YUP...you guessed it, sang alittle karaoke. haha. we had Sweet Home Alabama and Hotel California blaring in VIP. Got some rap music and taught the girls how to grind american style. and just had a good time with the ladies. It was a good birthday present for tom and im glad i got to get in on it. Good times, Good times. needless to say me and tom were alittle late to work this morning but we had the bosses approval beforehand. its always nice to take the boss with you to the bar the night before, it really helps things the next morning. haha. But yeah so that was my amazing weekend. it really was a great little weekend.

Adventure Ideas

01/29/08

January has almost closed its doors and I still love it here in Palau. I know I should be in the moment and living the life down here in Palau, but my mind wanders from one future possible adventure to another. Right now I am planning a future trip to New Zealand. I think this would be a great country to visit and they allow people to come into the country and obtain a Holiday Working Visa, which will allow me to work in New Zealand for up to a year. That’s my plan as of now. I would go down there sometime in early May and try to get a job at a ski resort on the South Island. Work there for a few months getting into the culture and figuring out my next move. I would prolly wait till the resorts closed for the season which is October for most places and then take the money I earn and travel the rest of the country, hitching and staying in hostels, I also am entertaining the idea of buying a car while im there. It seems like a pretty good deal. You can usually buy a car from another backpacker that is leaving the country for a good deal. Just gotta worry about how well it will run, but I usually have a good eye when it comes to cars. So I could just chill in New Zealand working odd jobs for a year or so. And then maybe hit up Australia or something, who knows. I like having the plan of No Plan. Just sorta go with the flow. Always a good outlook on life. It hasn’t served me wrong yet. But right now Palau is such a lucrative spot for funding my future travels I want to stay here for a few months and save my money. I mean I will be saving roughly $900 a month. And then im thinking that Mom and Dad will send me some more funds if I need them. Plus they are paying for my travel insurance, I just have to make sure that the insurance will cover me in New Zealand, especially if I work and snowboard at a ski resort. I mean I do have the tendency to break. So I would defiantly want to have insurance. But I love this feeling of traveling the world. Its so much fun meeting new people and experiencing new cultures. I mean I went from Mali- crazy relaxed, fought for survival, hard life….to Palau- chill, island life, living pimp style in a banging apartment and working in the accounting dept(blah)…..to Possibly New Zealand- who knows what awaits me.

Right now im loving just going with the flow and figuring it out as I go. Getting into everything and anything. Trying to test Life and see if I can understand just a morsel of what it holds for us. I cant wait for the next piece of life I will get to experience.

Go with the flow….

All an All a Great Week

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Well it’s the end of my first week here in Palau and I survived just fine. I would say I more than survived, I would say I did great. I mean we have this lavish apartment with every accommodation I would have in the states. I got to go ocean fishing and caught 4 big fish. I am playing in the national basketball league for Surangel and Sons. I am an advisor for the Junior Achievement here on the island. I got paid $200 to get me started, Marilyn said she would pay me and Tom both a thousand dollars a month, which will be great to save up so I continue to travel around. I am slowly making some new friends in the office. All in all its been a great week. So the basketball stuff I just mentioned was great. So Eric invited me to play for their sponsored team in the national league. I said I had played some basketball in the past and he loved the idea of having some height on the team, I am 6’3”. So he sent in my name for the roster. We had our first game this past Monday. I only played for a little bit cuz im outta shape. But it was a 40 minute game and I’d say I played about 10 to 15 minutes of it. I was really winded but it was fun to be out there. It was really hard to figure out what was going on and im sure I didn’t look like I knew what was going on. But that’s because I didn’t know their plays I cant understand their language and I have never meet, let alone play with the guys on the team before. So I’d say I did alright for those circumstances. I didn’t make any points but I got a lot of rebounds. I mean the players on the other team were only like 5’10” so I could just jump up and grab the ball. Although I underestimated their ability to shoot 3 pointers. They prolly scored 4 or 5 three pointers cuz I didn’t think they would be able to shoot them, so I left them unguarded. I had a great time meeting the guys and playing a little basketball.

I am one of the advisors for the Palau Junior Achievement. Surangel Jr. asked me and Tom to help out with it. I had heard about it in Mali from Holly so when he told me that their company was sponsoring part of it I jumped at the chance to help. Its going to be a lot of work but I am looking forward to helping the kids with there project. They are going to start their own company, its basically COB 300 but they actually raise real money and make products and sell them. I am also looking forward to helping any of the students with their English if they want it, since I am looking into teach English as a foreign language I would love to get some 1^st hand experience. I am currently looking into teaching English in an Asian country. I am prolly going to get my TEFL certificate and then try and teach in either Thailand, Korea, Japan, or possibly Vietnam. I am also thinking of teaching in Italy, Spain or France, although Asia is my first choice right now and there are plenty of jobs for English teachers in Asia right now. The TEFL certificate is a few thousand dollars so I may stay here in Palau for a while trying to save some money and getting my information straight.

Fishing Trip

Sunday, January 13^th 2008

Today Me and Tom went ocean fishing. We were supposed to leave at 11am, so we went down to the dock around then, but something was wrong with the dock and Surangel Sr. wasn’t there yet. He was going to take us out. So we ended up leave around noonish I think, it was me, Tom, Surangel Sr., the houseboy, and another helper. After about 5 minutes Surangel asked me if I wanted to drive. So I climbed into the captain chair of our small fishing boat and took off. It was one of the most nerve racking experiences I have ever had to deal with. Surangel is shouting me orders which I cant hear in the first place nor can I understand most anything that comes out of his mouth. All I get is his hand motions telling me to go left, then right, then straight, then right again, as I try to navigate through the 100’s of reefs. Mind you, im doing all this going 40 mph, which doesn’t sound that fast but out in choppy water, its fast and its bone jarring bumpy. Tom took a turn driving once we got out to open water. The water was kinda rough so he hugged the reef for calmer water, but it was still very bumpy and hard on the body. Me and Tom both were very nervous and extremely stressed out about driving. The water was kinda rough and every time the boat hit a wave it sounded like the wave could rip a hole in the boat at anytime. It was extremely nerve racking. Me and Tom both wanted Surangel to drive since he kept shout orders and we had no idea what we were doing. On land I love speed, but out on open water Im not too keen on the idea. The water is too unpredictable for me and the waves jar the boat and hit it so hard im afraid the boat is going to break apart. But we finally end up at our fishing spot about 3 hours after we had taken off. It was a long way out, it didn’t help that me and tom were drive and had to make a course correction every 3 minutes. So we through out our lines as we hugged a reef far away from land. The first fish caught was a Mahi Mahi, which the houseboy caught with a hand reel. It bled a lot. Then Tom got a Wahoo and then a Barracuda. Then I got a Tuna. We only fished for about 2 hours. But it was a fun experience. While we were our fishing our two helpers got seasick and we ready to pass out and threw up. I felt bad for them but I was glad I was able to hold my own stomach. After we caught the four fish it was about 5ish and the water was a lot calmer, almost glassy. So we cracked the throttle and headed home, it was dark by the time we got back to the dock. One of the helpers cut the Mahi Mahi up and gave it to us. The rods and reels were put away and the boat docked up. I took a shower and afterwards started prepared the Mahi Mahi, which wasn’t easy. I had to filet the fish first with my little Garber knife. It was a tough job but I enjoyed it. I like cooking and that’s part of cooking. I fried them up with some butter, orange juice, and black pepper. Nothing fancy cuz we didn’t have any spices or anything fancy. They turned out pretty good, there was some left over. That one little Mahi Mahi had a lot of meat on it, probably enough for 4 people. So all in all it was a good day with good people and good fishing.

Island Life

I'm living in paradise down here on the island of Palau. The water is crystal clear with shades of blue I have never seen. The islands jut out of the water and are covered with some of the greenest greens on earth. The sun shines beautifully overhead and warms the Earth beneath my feet. Even when it rains its an amazing experience. The night sky is filled with millions of stars, ones I have not seen since my time in Africa.

I am living the true island life down here. Such a chill atmosphere where time doesn't seem to matter. People seem to have a different outlook on life. They seem not to take life as seriously as the rest of the world, at least not as seriously as Americans do. I found the same chill attitude toward life in Africa. I love that outlook on life, it's less stressful and gives you more opportunities to actually enjoy and live life. I'm still trying to figure out this whole life thing and what its all about so the more opportunities I have to live and enjoy life, the better.

So this Blog will hopefully be a small record of the places I visit and the people I meet in my travels. I hope that I never take life too seriously and experience all that it has to offer me.