| P-MAN XII Progress
Report #23 - Lotions, storyboards, lectures, diplomacy, and goodbyes.
Everyone's finally home. Well, we have reached the end of P-MAN XII. I am typing this update from my home in San Diego. The entire team is home now in the States, except for Joe of course. The last day was packed with running around the country and dropping off the short version of this year’s report. It is a quick outline of this year’s events and finds and goes to all the appropriate offices and personnel. We did sleep in a little and had breakfast at 8:00 instead of the usual 7:30. After that we dropped off last minute laundry to be cleaned so that the TSA agents didn’t have to dig through our filthy clothing that we wore through the jungle. Debra met us in the lobby of the hotel to offer us some of the lotions she makes for her business to give to our girlfriends and wives.
From there we piled into the van and drove off to the post office to mail packages home. The packages home this year were fewer, as several members decided to leave gear in Palau instead of packing it back and forth. After that it was off to the Bureau of Arts and Culture (BAC) to drop off the report. When we finished at BAC we realized we had some extra time before we needed to be at Palau Community College (PCC). Pat was giving a presentation there on BentProp. So with our time we stopped into Bem Ermii for a shake and burger. The diet doesn’t start until we get back to the States. We also stopped at the Tebang Wood Carving shop to pick up a storyboard that Mike had had made. Perfect timing: they were just finishing it as we drove up.
The turn out of people at PCC was great. The crowd seemed very interested in BentProp and had some great questions. They asked us to come back again next year for another presentation and the President of PCC said they'd add it to the school calendar now.
Once we finished up at PCC we headed up north. First to the newly built US Embassy, where they have signs posted that cameras were not allowed, but they allowed us to bring ours in. With that we were able to take a picture of the great view from the front of the Embassy and one of their interesting signs.
From the Embassy we ran over to the CAT compound to drop off some photos of them and us in the jungle. When we got there, we realized that the only pictures we didn’t have were the ones we needed to give to the team. So we agreed to link up with them later at Kraemer’s. We continued our drive North to the Capitol building to deliver our summary report to the President’s office. From the Capitol it was back to town. We had to stop at the Bureau of Arts and Culture again and pick up some maps that Paul was having printed out for distribution. Paul dropped the rest of the team off back at the hotel to do some last minute packing and prepping, while he dropped off Joe and the maps. At 7:00 we met Joe, Esther and their two boys, Doyle and Quint, for dinner at Fuji. We enjoyed an hour and a half of dinner and conversation before Quint had had enough.
We said our goodbyes to Joe, Esther and the boys, and ran back to the hotel one last time to pick up our luggage and head to the airport. One last stop though: we met the CAT at Kraemer’s and gave them the correct photos this time. Mason Whipps, who had again very graciously lent us a van for the team's use during the trip, agreed to meet us at the airport so we were able to keep the van and not have to take the hotel's airport shuttle. This is a good thing because we can drive straight to the airport. The shuttle makes about seven stops around Koror before going to the airport. Only problem with this was the amount of luggage we had. After packing in our suitcases and bags, we looked like something out of the Keystone Cops - or the Joad family heading west. The van managed to make it all the way to the airport despite the extra weight, although it was moving quite a bit slower. Our check-in went smoothly. Everyone had their passports and the requisite amount of cash for their exit fees. Mason picked up the van and we enjoyed a nice conversation with him before moving through security and boarding our flight. At 1:10 AM we were off to Yap where most of us had to get off the plane for security inspections. From there on to Guam and Hawaii. From Hawaii we went our separate ways. After crawling through customs, Mike and Paul had to run to catch their flight to Houston, but they made it. Pat’s flight was delayed, so he, Warren and I started our diets and had a salad at one of the airport restaurants. The transition had already begun as we all had our cell phones in hand, going through the email that had piled up since we were last able to check. Warren and I said our goodbyes to Pat as he headed to his gate for the San Francisco flight, and shortly afterward boarded our flight. Warren and I landed in Los Angeles this morning at 4:30 a.m., I dropped him off at his place around 7:30, and made it back to my place at around 8:00 a.m. That brings to a close the operational part of P-MAN XII. The planning has already begun for P-MAN XIII and we are very excited about it. As always, it'll be here faster than expected. - Derek |
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