Japanese couples sometimes come to Palau to be married; it's cheaper here, I've heard. The ceremony is usually quite Western, with a translator, and the couple wears traditional Western dress. A Justice from the Court always presides, and the wedding ends with Celine Dion's "A New Day has Come." This is, clearly, how all weddings should end.
Yesterday I had a bit of a "girls' night" with the wives of the two new Court Counsel. They're wonderful ladies, and I wish I was staying so I could get to know them better! Well, there's always the Mainland!
We were in the pool at PPR, this wedding (pictured) was going on behind us, the sun was setting, and we were all feeling a bit contemplative. One of the ladies asked me what I'll miss most about Palau, and the first thing that came to mind were the sunrises and the sunsets. I've never seen anything like them: every day is a beautiful, celestial event with colors I've only seen in a polluted sky.
But what I'll really miss is the community here and how everyone knows my name. I love going to, for instance, a basket-weaving class and already knowing half of the class. I love that I can wave to people when I'm driving, or go to the grocery store and do "stop and chats" in every aisle because everyone else is grocery shopping at the same time. I love that every time I go to the post office, without fail, I see at least one person I know. Where else does this happen!?
We were in the pool at PPR, this wedding (pictured) was going on behind us, the sun was setting, and we were all feeling a bit contemplative. One of the ladies asked me what I'll miss most about Palau, and the first thing that came to mind were the sunrises and the sunsets. I've never seen anything like them: every day is a beautiful, celestial event with colors I've only seen in a polluted sky.
But what I'll really miss is the community here and how everyone knows my name. I love going to, for instance, a basket-weaving class and already knowing half of the class. I love that I can wave to people when I'm driving, or go to the grocery store and do "stop and chats" in every aisle because everyone else is grocery shopping at the same time. I love that every time I go to the post office, without fail, I see at least one person I know. Where else does this happen!?
Before I went to PPR last night, I met up with my friend Jose, a reporter here. He gave me some candies from the Philippines, his home, and where I'll be headed first on my long trip home. He said, "Megan, you really did everything here, at all the events I would see you." I feel so lucky that the community here welcomed me and made it easy to join classes and events and races. I realized how accustomed I have become to seeing Jose bicycling around town, and I started to get a little emotional. There are certain faces and people who have been a part of my world every day for a year...and after Tuesday, they'll be gone. So, I will miss my friends here.
On the beach at PPR, one of the Justices with whom I am particularly close was performing a wedding ceremony. A little farther down, the House Legal Counsel was relaxing after a meeting we had just attended for the juvenile justice commission, another group I will miss. I also ran into one of the other attorneys and his young daughter in the pool area. And that was just at PPR!
Later I went to Surangel's, the grocery store I go to every few days. One of the checkers asked if I had been off-island because she hadn't seen me in awhile. I said no, just busy with friends and packing up. She wished me a good trip home. And today, when I went to pay my last bill at the communications company, one of the cashiers said, "Is this is the last time we'll see you? You'll come back, right?" And I never know what to say to that, because who knows? So I just nod and I feel grateful for such a kind group of people who made this year so memorable.
Later I went to Surangel's, the grocery store I go to every few days. One of the checkers asked if I had been off-island because she hadn't seen me in awhile. I said no, just busy with friends and packing up. She wished me a good trip home. And today, when I went to pay my last bill at the communications company, one of the cashiers said, "Is this is the last time we'll see you? You'll come back, right?" And I never know what to say to that, because who knows? So I just nod and I feel grateful for such a kind group of people who made this year so memorable.
