Fireworks crack open the dusk over Koror’s lagoon, and the whole island seems to be dancing. Palau’s Independence Day — October 1st, the day this Pacific nation stepped into the world on its own in 1994 — fills the capital with parades, boat races, and the rolling thunder of drums, dancers in hibiscus-threaded dress swaying beneath a sky stitched with blue-and-gold flags, the Japan-Palau Friendship Bridge glowing gold behind them. It is the loudest, proudest night of the year on these Rock Islands, and for everyone watching, it is impossible not to fall a little in love with Palau. Teach English in Palau