Last night we arrived in Palau under the cover of darkness, while the rain fell down we we're quickly whisked away to our secure compound. Well that is what it felt like anyway.
We are staying at the Penthouse Palau in Koror, It's hardly a penthouse but is clean, comfortable and has aircon. Speaking of which the temperature and humidity haven't been that bad. Not even at the level of Brisbane summer... Yet! It was a mostly overcast day so we'll see what a bright sunny day brings.
The flight over was interesting to watch the islanders sort themselves out. There seemed to be a lot if swapping of seats and milling around. It was rather comical and even puzzling at times. Also it was a first for me to hear the no smoking announcement include a mention of betel nut.
Last night we were told that the whole country's Internet service was down. Quite a laugh if you think about what would happen if the whole of Australia went offline.
This morning we went for a walk around the main street. It's pretty much what I expected, lots of random buildings. It reminds me a lot of Northern Thailand. We also scoped out the two main supermarkets/grocery stores. Most things are available with similar prices to Australia. Some higher, some lower. Fruit and veg might be a little hit and miss though. They stock plenty of hot sauce, Asahi and Sam Adams beer but for some reason have Fosters! At least there was no Yellow Tail wine.
After seeing the food prices I am a bit worried about making ends meet with the volunteer salary we are on. It's kind if hard to know how it'll all work out until we properly get settled in. I'm sure we'll be right.
We started our orientation at midday today, going through various country specific information and standard safety & security protocols/processes. We then had a drive around the three main islands which was great to get a feel for the place. I think we are both excited and nervous about our time here. I'm very keen to kick off searching for a house but it appears most happens by word of mouth. We have the feelers out though.
The wifi in the hotel has been so bad today I couldn't post this blog with a photo. I understand the load on the country's Internet is less at night and hopefully I have better luck.
Update: no luck with photos, so you'll just have to use your imagination.
Updated update: still struggling to post even a text based entry.
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