Welcome to the worlds smallest independent republic. With a coastline of 30km, Nauru is the smallest country we have visited so far. To give you an idea, the airport is so small that the actual airport manager is the one that organized our visas and chatted with us while we waited for our luggage. He said the country is so small that people on the other side of the island usually know what you had for breakfast!

The island is mainly known for its phosphate mines. There is much more to the place though, as we were soon to find out.

Capelle, the main store and Coke retailer hosted us. They took us to a school where the minister of education had prompted the students to give as a real Nauruan welcome. At first the kids were very shy. We were told that this is a typical Nauruan trait. The first performers had to literally be dragged to the stage. Soon though they realized we weren’t going to bite and were crazy enough to join them in their dances, so they started to feel more comfortable. 

We were invited to a school where the kids gave us a wonderful welcome. They performed for us and even composed their own Coca-Cola song for us. It goes something like :"Coca-Cola is our favorite drink, we love Coca-Cola" The people here tend to be very shy. They had to drag the first performers out. But after a while they grew more comfortable with us and were keen on sharing their culture and many talents. We had a lot of fun!

We enjoyed watching them dance and sing for us. I particularly enjoyed the typical Nauruan dances and Antonio couldn’t get enough of the hip-hop performances. In the end, Antonio and I tried one last push against the shyness by trying to get the crowd to go crazy for a few second. This did not work well… But then Antonio turned to the DJ for help. As soon as the music started something amazing happened. All the kids in the school created a huge circle and started taking turns leaping in the center to show off some moves. We couldn’t believe these were the same kids who were almost too shy to say hello! All you need is some music and some good vibes. We reluctantly left with a grin plastered over our faces as the kids waved goodbye and ran behind us for pictures with us.

What I will remember of Nauru?  The friendliness of the people (there is no such thing as crime here!), the tight-knit community (you will always find someone to help you) and the amazing potential of those kids from a tiny island lost in the Pacific.