"Most visitors who flock to the idyllic, equatorial archipelago of Palau are drawn to the pristine diving in this underwater wonder of the world with colorful coral, stingless jellyfish, and uninhabited islets. Others are mesmerized by the wooden, carved storyboards depicting the legends of the land: tales of breadfruit, lovers, and the introduction of natural childbirth by Spiderman (not our superhero). But our focus was not to just visit the lovely coral reefs, eat the fruit bat soup, or view the impressive art in the local jailhouse. Our (almost) mission impossible was to locate and collect traditional musical instruments from the independent country of Palau in northwest Micronesia and ship them to a new American museum. After meeting with everyone from fishermen to museum curators we discovered a coconut shell shark rattle, a 300-year-old conch shell, as well as a spear and war club used as rhythm instruments."
WITH LOVE FROM IRIS AND JON
