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Palau has been full of new and wonderful encounters, but nothing beats the genuine kindness and generosity of the people that live here. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but I often forget that humans can be, well.... good. Not to sound pessimistic (usually I am reminded that I can be too optimistic), but as far as nouns go, I find it easier to read places and things. Take last Saturday, for example. Natassia and I were at the store picking up water and looking for a volleyball to bring to the beach for the afternoon. We found a ball without the price tag and brought it to the register to have the price checked. Much to our amusement, the register displayed $58. Now, this was a nice Wilson ball, complete with alternating yellow and white bands, but no way was it worth $58; the guy checking out next to us agreed. We all laughed about it, and he recommended another store to check out for a cheaper price. We thanked him and continued our mission to find an affordable ball. We stopped at another of just a few "one-stop shops" on the island, like the equivalent of a mini Wal-Mart, where we found a cheaper price: a whopping $28. We decided to pass, and the cashier fully supported our decision. She said we could just ask any Palauans that were playing to join their game or to borrow their ball when they were done. Everyone on this island has been extremely pleasant, and this idea sounded like a great way to make some friends. We cruised down to the park, jamming to our fire Palau Playlist, and parked Franklin (our little Toyota box car) in the shade. When we got out, we noticed our new friend from the first store had the same idea as us. He was sitting with some people in the shade around a table, beer in hand, enjoying a day off. When he saw us, he asked if we were able to find a more affordable ball, and we told him we decided to skip; we would try and join in on existing games. We waved, bid him a nice afternoon, and we made our way to the sunshine. A couple of hours later, as we were leaving, a member of his friend group flagged us down and told us that 'the man had something to give us.' He was so excited to present us with an old volleyball that they had sitting around in someone's car. We told him we couldn't take it, but he insisted, and we promised to bring it by every Saturday for an afternoon game. He welcomed us to Palau, as many of the locals have in our time here and promptly rejoined his friends. We left the park that day with an overwhelming sense of appreciation for this man, our new home, and the little things in life. He was just one of the many people we met over our time on the island that had a lasting impact on us. Natassia and I made a pact to pay the deed forward whenever we had the chance, and we promised to take nothing for granted. We brought donuts to the road workers on our morning commute, watched eagle rays dance until dark, and always took the opportunity to go swimming. Life bloomed with no shortage of imagination. Note to self: a little kindness goes a long way.