New Directions...New Blog

Hey everyone! Been some time since I've been on here. I am home in Montana now for the summer and I have been here almost two months. In two weeks I am flying out to Moscow, Russia!! You may have noticed that my web address for this blog is pretty specific for Saipan, so I have decided to create another blog that is a little more generic for my travels. That way I shouldn't have to create a new blog every time I move to another country! I probably won't be posting much more on this blog site, so if you'd like to see what I am doing this year in Russia, look me up at my new address. It is: www.notesfromsarahslife.blogspot.com

I am very excited about Russia and the new adventures, but Saipan will always hold a very special place in my heart! I hope to come back some day!

Beam me home, Scottie

It is now officially the 23rd of June...the day I come home. It is shortly after midnight and I will be leaving for the airport at 2:45am. I am determining whether I should really try to stay awake for the next couple hours or if I should catch a little shut eye.

I have great internet access right now, so I am taking advantage of it by uploading pictures to facebook, which normally took me hours on my slow internet. I am out of my apartment, and have been staying in the spare bedroom of my pastor's home until I leave. I am so thankful they have welcomed me into their home for a couple days.

This last week has been really great. I have finished school, spent a lot of time with friends, and enjoyed the island. I had my last Street Market and really enjoyed my eggplant curry soup. It was some of the best I've yet had. I got a manicure, pedicure and a haircut for 1/4 of the cost you would pay in the States. I swum in the Grotto and it was beautiful. What an incredible place. The tide was not low, but not overly high, but unfortunately there were a ton of Korean divers in the grotto today. Not quite as relaxing when there are so many people, but it was still good.

It has been a wonderful year in Saipan, but I am ready to come home for a little while. I dread the flight, however. On the way out here I was so excited that I didn't care how long the flight was, but now I am feeling absolutely drained and 24 hours of flying is not appealing. I really wish they could "beam me home, Scottie!" I just know that on the other end of the long trip are my wonderful parents and puppy waiting to greet me!

Well I am actually kind of exhausted, so I think I will try to take a short nap before I have to get up and fly home. I hope to see many of you soon!

Managaha

I just realized I have never told you all about one of the best parts of living on this island--Managaha. Managaha is a tiny, uninhabited island just off the western coast of Saipan, and is located in the reef. The island is considered to have some of the best snorkeling spots in the world. These are a few pictures taken here. My friends in their snorkel gear are the sisters Andrea and Amanda Allen. Andrea was here visiting for a week.

My friend, Daniel, owns a small boat and he is frequently willing to ferry a few of us across the half mile of azure blue ocean to Managaha on the weekends. Half of the island is covered in bright yellow tents teeming with Korean and Japanese tourists laying on the pristine white sand getting massages. The other side of the island has slightly smaller beaches, is more private, and has covered shelters with picnic tables and BBQ pits. My friends and I usually find a quiet spot to lay around on a Sunday afternoon. It is the perfect place to read a book, take a nap, BBQ, and snorkel.

"To life, to life...L'Chaim"

I am sorry everyone that I am such a bad blogger. I will try to be better at it, but I won't promise you anything.

I am finishing up my year here in Saipan. It is amazing how time flies. I have been here for 8 and a half months and sometimes it feels like I've just arrived. I still vividly remember my first meal on the island--Oish. In my opinion, it is still my favorite place. There is just no sushi or sashimi like it. And Thai House. Their eggplant curry soup is to die for. I will miss that so much when I leave. Thursdays just don't feel like Thursdays without it.

"These are a few of my favorite things..."
Melona bars
Chocolate pillows
Sashimi
Eggplant curry soup
Mangos off the tree
Sour sap fruit
Amazing sunsets
Managaha
Watching stars up on Suicide cliff
Salty dogs at Johnny's
Meat on a stick
Oish
Saipan Community Church
Daniel's boat
Amanda Allen
$12 pedicures
The ocean and views from Beach Road
Ube flavored Otap
Ukulele music
Carolinian dances
Street Market

When the boonie dog growls, when the cockroach stalks, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel "plenty" bad.

I will miss you Saipan. You have been good to me!

But I love change. I love new things, and I get a thrill out of the unknown. I am leaving Saipan (hopefully not for good), and embarking on new things. In August, I am off for Moscow, Russia!!! I will be teaching 4th grade English, and middle school English at Moscow Economic School. I will be living in downtown Moscow and am so excited to live there. I've been hoping and praying to live in Russia for years, and the Lord is answering my prayers. As I learn details, figure out my visa requirements, and buy my plane ticket, I will try to keep you updated.

Before Russia though I have "plenty" things to do with family and friends this summer in Montana. I cannot wait to come home. I miss my family and my dog and look forward to nights that cool down in the evening. And fishing--I can't wait to get in the river--even if I never catch a fish.

Life is so good and I am so blessed.

I just spent an afternoon windsurfing with the Matson Duo! Mel and Emily are sisters and are both teachers at Cha Cha Middle School.

The surfing itself was very fun, but rather difficult actually. The trade winds can gust pretty hard and throw you off balance. But I got a few good runs in!

So I suddenly remembered something...

I have a blog! Well, a lot has happened in the last two months or so since I have posted. I am still in Saipan and still enjoying it! School is going really well. I really enjoy my students and am finding that this teaching thing isn't so bad after all. But other than teaching, what have I been up to, you might ask?

I read a really good book called The Name of the Rose that Roommate and Ian sent me for my birthday. It's by an Italian guy named Umberto Eco, and I highly recommend it to people fascinated with history and books. The story takes place in 1311 in a monastery in northern Italy and is entirely about monks, books, libraries, and murder. It is chock full of history and fascinating factoids.

I also spent a weekend on the little island of Tinian, just a mile off the shore of Saipan. Seven of us took the ferry and went to enjoy the Chinese New Year and the Tinian Annual Red Pepper Festival. We spent an entire day exploring the island on scooters that we rented. I saw the loading sites of the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan and raced down one of the six massive abandoned runways that used to be the busiest in the world. It was quite an enjoyable trip.

A couple weeks ago I accepted a teaching job in Moscow, Russia! I had applied in early January and had really been hoping for the job. I will be teaching elementary ESL at the private international school Moscow Economic School. I will be leaving Saipan at the end of the school year and returning to Montana for a couple months before heading to Russia. I am looking into the possibility of exploring South-East Asia before I head back the the US of A, but we'll see how expensive it is.

I am feeling anxious to get in all the fun things I want to do before I leave here for good. I am SO excited to go to Russia, and yet sometimes I feel like I just barely got to Saipan and now I am leaving. It is a little bit sad, but I look forward to new adventures ahead!

One last thing I will leave you with. I am continually fascinated with language and words and my parents got me this great book for Christmas called the Verbivore's Feast. It gives the origin and use of many words and phrases. Here is one of my favorite that I just came upon.

"Parents Pay Through the Nose for Kid's Admission." "Phone Callers Pay Through the Nose." "Paying Through the Nose for Blogs."
These are titles of recent articles appearing in newspapers and journals from India, New Zealand, and the United States. Each story, of course, bewails the high price of a service.
The bizarre sounding idiom pay through the nose, used with gusto throughout the English-speaking world, has some explaining to do. How could this combination of words possibly have any synonymy with "pay too much" or "pay until it hurts?"
The tale commonly associated with this cliche alludes to a tax the Danes levied on the Irish in the 9th century under the code of Scandinavian rules called the Danelaw. Anyone faling to satisfy the tax assessor's request was punished by getting his nose slit; he literally "paid through the nose."

I will leave you with that happy thought! Maybe next time I will tell you all about PEZ!

School Activities and Pictures

Here are a few pictures of my wonderful students. Top left is my 4th period class on our last day before Christmas break. We had a Christmas party and they were more than happy to pose for me.

Top right is Jia and Lora.

Bottom left is me with Veronica. She was a wonderful student to have in class, but because of some scheduling conflicts she was unfortunately moved to a different class. By the way, I mentioned I might post some of these pictures and they gave me permission to use their names.

Finally, bottom left is me with Mrs. Svetlana Atalig. She is from Russia and has been giving me weekly Russian lessons! In the background of this picture, you can also see the school principal, Mrs. Borja in the bright blue shirt.

My Apartment

Here are a few pictures of my apartment. You may notice that the walls are rather bare, but that is because they are concrete and next to impossible to hang anything on. Since these pictures I have been able to use command strips to plaster a couple pictures to the walls. Hopefully they will stay. I also hope to get curtains, but I am finding it is not a big priority. At first I was always aware of how bare it looked, but I guess I have gotten used to it. This little place has really become my home away from home.

Life in Saipan

This Jake and Steve attempting to stay warm by the "fire" at Christmas dinner!

The children dancing are doing a traditional Filipino stick dance. I tried it too, thinking it looks easy...it's not. Note: rhythm required.

This is Amanda and I at Saipan Community Church's annual Christmas Feast!

This is me with Lani at our Christmas party for MHS. She has become a good friend and she is great to work with!

Wow, it's been a while

Well it has been quite some time since I last posted--sorry everyone. I have been doing really well here in my slice of paradise. Since Thanksgiving I have finished student teaching, I have finished my Jan Term class and I will be officially graduated on February first. Then I have six months of relaxation until the real work begins...paying back my student loans:(

This week I am finishing out the semester with my students and look forward to the next. The way things are set up at my school, students take a Language Arts class all year long and don't change at the semester, so I will continue with most of my students. There will be a little bit of moving around where I will lose a few students and gain a few different ones, but in a way it is nice to keep these same ones.

I have really enjoyed this semester for the most part. It has brought a lot of challenges, but also a sense of accomplishment. I was expecting to student teach, and found myself as the main classroom teacher instead. I have certainly gone through a baptism by fire in that way, and I have had moments where I never want to see some of my students again. But the last month and a half has been so good that I am glad I made the choice to be a teacher.

Sometimes teaching is a profession where you give and give and see very little reward, and other times the rewards come so unexpected and in abundance. Today I had a student make me feel like I had done something right. This young man is a part of the special education program here and he has a very low reading level. In the past he has been very disorganized and will not turn any assignments in. I have done my best to modify and help with organizational skills and I think it is starting to pay off. This last month we have been working on a huge project and he completed it on time, got all of the components finished, and did not plagiarize anything. I am so proud of him. He can definately be successful and I think he is finally starting to believe it too.

Besides teaching, life on island has been great! I had a wonderful and blessed Christmas, and I was not alone! It is great in a way that I am among other people with like professions that are also far from family for the holidays. You become family together and make a point to make the holidays special for each other.

It has been very rainy and windy here again. Typhoon season quit some time ago and for a couple of months we had little rain and lots of sun. At the end of December, however, we hit our second rainy season and it has been cloudy and cold. By cold I mean 75 degrees. I know that sounds perfect to you all, but I have actually gotten quite chilled. Because it is humid and rainy and windy, it is easy to get cold even when it is technically 75. In a way it is nice to sleep all night with the covers on and hot coffee in the morning is wonderful.

Because it has been rainy, however, the chances for spending much time at the beach have been slim. The snorkeling has been difficult with the chilly water, but soon the dry season will be upon us and beach hopping will be great again!

I will try to post a few pictures here, but my internet at my apartment is so slow that it can take up to an hour to post 3-4 pictures. I will do what I can though. I hope you're all doing well. Drop me a line sometime to let me know.

Thanksgiving

This has been a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for. My family far away, the church family here in Saipan, and my Lord and savior, just to name the most important ones. I spent this Thanksgiving at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Winkfield, and they were gracious hosts. I didn't count exactly, but there were probably between 30 and 40 people at their home for Thanksgiving dinner. There was so much food, games, fun, and more food. Here are a few pictures of our time together as well as a picture of my church, Saipan Community Church.

Another gorgeous sunset

Totally "Solid"

I just want to show a few pictures of some of my students, my classroom, and my school. The lady at the top is my cooperating teacher, Leilani Iramk. She is wonderful to work with. She grew up on the island and graduated from MHS herself. She attended a university in Hawaii and came back to Saipan to teach. She taught at a junior high for two years, and then moved to MHS. She has been teaching here for 3 years.

Also on top is a picture of my school. It is a very large school and this is just one section of building D.

These students are in my 4th period class and this is a day they are presenting the creative writing books they have been working on for the last 4 weeks. I really love this group of kids. In a class of 19 students, I only have 4 girls. They have a lot of fun, and as they would say, "Miss, we're solid." And it's true--they are.

Halloween

Above is a group picture of those of us who went cave style. From left to right is Kristie Mhyrum, Isaac Mhyrum, myself, Jackie Van Dam, Amanda Allen, and Jake Van Dam. This picture to the above right was one of the most beautiful I'd ever seen. The sail boat has a sail of the American Flag and against the sunset it was breathtaking.

To the left is Amanda Allen and Jake Van Dam

This is the view of the resort just outside of our room at about midnight.

To the left is Amanda and I on our balcony overlooking the ocean

Hallween this year was really fun. Normally I'm not into the dressing up and going out, but generally that was because it was always freezing. But here it was actually fun because the weather was great. A group of us dressed up as cave people and went on a sunset cruise. It was part of a package deal that came with a night at the Palms Resort, the cruise, dinner on the cruise, and breakfast the next morning. I had a roommate so it was only $44 a person!!

The cruise was a couple hours long and there was music, dancing, and dinner. It was right at sunset, and because it hadn't been a cloudy or rainy day, the water was crystal clear and the sunset was gorgeous. There were a lot of people I knew or recognized on the boat. It was advertised in the newspaper, yet most of the people that came were "mainlanders" who are teachers or lawyers or work at the resorts. I had a steak, and was quite surprised at how good it was since this is obviously not cattle country.

We spent the evening at Godfathers and then retired to our hotel. Although the rooms were nice, they were a bit outdated. When I opened the door I felt like I was going into an old James Bond movie set from the 60's or 70's. We had a balcony overlooking the pool and the ocean that was breathtaking. The only thing bad about the stay was the beds. I have probably never slept in a more uncomfortable bed. Even the most shabby motel on the mainland would have softer beds, but since I got a good price for it, I didn't mind. My theory is that they make the beds so hard that their guests will wake up with only the thought of scheduling a message at the day spa.

It was a very fun time with friends and was probably the first time I ever truly enjoyed Halloween.

Club 200 Mad Hatter's Ball

Well...I'm Back

Well...I'm back. (Any true Tolkien lovers will understand this line and the meaning behind it):)

But more than just being one of Sam Gamgee's best lines, I mean it in that I also am coming back to write my part of the tale. I have actually had my internet problems fixed for over a week, but I haven't felt like blogging even when people have asked me to. I think part of the reason is that the newness of Saipan was beginning to wear off. I wasn't as eager to tell about every delicious meal and every trip to a beach. But despite this, I really do feel the need to keep in contact with family and friends from home. And not just for my own sake, but because I do understand that my life is not just about me, but that there are others out there who do care about how I am doing here on this paradise of an island. Wow...now that that is out of the way I guess I have a bit of catching up to do. I certainly won't tell about everything; I'll just mention the main high points.

Last weekend there was a large fundraiser on the island for the American Red Cross. It is an annual fundraiser at $200 a ticket and thousands of people come. The theme was The Mad Hatters, so there were thousands of people sitting around in crazy hats. It was held at the Hyatt resort with dozens of huge tents and lights set up right on the beach. There was free food and about 40 very large prize packages generally giving away free flights, hotel stays, messages, and cash. I was actually given a free ticket by some people who had never intended to go in the first place. It was very fun, and I promise I will be posting some pictures of it shortly. The best part of this event however, was what it showed me about these people. Many of them do not have very much money, and $200 a person is very significant, but many of the locals still go every year. They are very generous people and they give everything they have to support someone in need. It is so neat for me to see this, as it is not nearly as normal to see stateside.

I think I should tell you all a little about my school as well. After all, my teaching is the main reason why I am on the island in the first place. I teach at Marianas High School which is in the village of Susupe (pronounced as Soosoopee). We are the Home of the Dolphins and the largest high school on the island. There is also Kagman High school and Southern High, but MHS is of course the best. The MHS campus is made of about 40 different buildings with open walkways and should comfortably house about 700 students. However, there are almost 1300 students attending at the moment, so the class sizes are fairly large to say the least.

My classroom is in the gym conference room and it has its challenges as the students are really crammed in there in 5 different tables. Tests and quizzes are my biggest challenge as the students are already practically sitting on top of one another, so cheating is rampant. I need to figure out if I can somehow take them outside my classroom into a corner of the gym to spread out.

I have two classes, both of which are Language Arts 10th grade. I have 27 students in one class and 17 in the other. 4th period is much nicer simply for the reason that that there are fewer students. It is a nice way to end my day. I really enjoy my students. I had some behavioral issues last week, but I think I am beginning to understand this group of students a little better, so things went much better this week. Part of it too is that I am new, white, and don't completely understand the culture. So the students were really testing me to see how much they could get away with. But I have set up some clear boundaries, and I think they are beginning to see that I will do what I say. I am truly realizing that consistency is probably the biggest key to classroom management along with proper instruction.

Today was actually Halloween Fest at the school. Classes were shortened to 50 minutes and the last two hours were spent doing dances, fashion shows, and booths. Because I am new and don't have a homeroom, I was asked to judge the performances along with 3 other people. Some of them were very good. My favorite dance was by the Chamorro Club and they did the traditional dances in traditional costume. I took my camera, but unfortunately was having some trouble with it, and was only able to get a couple pictures. I will have to see if I can clean them up and get them on here, because it was quite neat.

Tomorrow night, for Halloween, I and a bunch of people are going on an ocean cruise. There was a package deal from the Palms Resort. $88 for an ocean view room, cruise, dinner, and breakfast. The whole group of us going are doing the caveman theme. I just spent 3 hours making my costume, and honestly, I think it looks pretty awesome!

Well, I am going to wrap this up, but it felt cathartic to get this all out. Please drop me a line to let me know how you are all doing. I miss you all and hope that life is going wonderfully for you.

P.S. the snorkeling is amazing!! I have seen so many fish exactly like what you see in Finding Nemo. And many more. I certainly have seen Dory and Gill a lot, but no little Nemos. I'll have to go see if I can find him!

Internet Issues

I just want to let you all know that I am having some issues with the internet. A couple weeks ago, Tyhoon Melor went through and it knocked out some of the main servers on the island. So my school didn't have internet for over a week, and unfortuanately it was the same week that midterm grades were all due electronically. That was interesting. But the servers are now back on. The issue I now have is that I don't have my own internet at my apartment yet, and I am not sure when I am going to be able to get that hooked up. I have internet at the school, but this blog site is blocked, and I don't have a computer in my own classroom, so I have to borrow from other teachers.

At this very moment I am catching a few minutes of unexpected internet access off of someone else in the building. It hasn't been able to connect for 2 days, and then suddenly it came on. I am finding that here on island, internet connection is more an answer to prayer than an expectation.

So if I am not able to post very often in the coming weeks you will know why.

But since I do have a few minutes I will let you know that I am doing really well. I am all moved in to my apartment, but will continually by getting things to furnish it totally litte by little. When it isn't such a mess with suitcases and shopping bags all over the floor I will take pictures and post them.

This weekend I wil just be preparing for classes next week, but will hopefully get out and do something fun. Please send me an email occasionally to let me know how you are all doing. If you don't know my email already it is katialev09@hotmail.com.

Going Home

Some of you may have heard of all the difficulties I have had in getting into my apartment because of lack of power. Well, it was finally turned on and I am moving in tonight! I had already moved over a lot of stuff that I wasn't using at Jake and Jackie's, but I am taking over the last load this evening. I think once I move in, it will really feel like I belong here.

I am coming to really love this island, but there are some cultural things that I just have to wonder at. For instance, the utilities corporation had my power on several days ago, but for some reason, it still wouldn't turn on in my apartment. For over two days I've kept calling the landlord about it, and she told me the building maintenance man was trying to figure it out. When I finally got a hold of the maintenance man about my power to ask him why it was still not on, we had a conversation that went kind of like this. "Do you know why the power is not on yet?" "Yes, ma'am. " Long pause. "So...is it fixable?" Yes. I find this morning main outside breaker not on." "Can you turn it on?" "Yes...when you want me turn it on?"

When you found the problem!!!! It is not that the maintenance man is dumb or lacks proper English, it was his culture and way of taking things as they come. I am finding that people here don't do much unless you get in their face or call on the phone a hundred times. Oh, well. I am not mad; frankly it kind of amuses me. I suppose this is a good lesson for me to learn to chill out occasionally.

I am finding that as I face some of these cultural issues that I truly am flexible. And I am so thankful for that. When I do feel frustration, I try to remember the verses about not worrying. Worrying is not going to help the situation; it will just make me more stressed. I can't change some things--so I need to just go along with them.

Although different, I am finding little things about this place that I appreciate more and more every day. Not only am I surrounded by one of God's most gorgeous creations, I am also surrounded by friendly, open people to whom materialism isn't even an option. I like this simple life.

Forbidden Island

Well I just finished the grueling hike to Forbidden Island. The hike was VERY steep and nearly vertical for most of it. I was exhausted when I got there, but it was very worth it. Friends first took me to a hidden pool that we had another small hike to get to. The rocks there appear to be volcanic because they are very jagged and black. The pool was very hidden in a small cave. The water was cool and very clear. I got a few pictures, but nothing can actually capture the awe-inspiring nature of that place. There was an opening to the ocean, but the tide would not come over the main part of the pool. There is another small pool beyond the main one that people sometimes go swimming in, but it is very dangerous. There is a rip tide and it will pull you out, and there is basically no way to get back. There are always a couple people that die there every year. So we were very careful and did not go close. There was no one else at the main pool and we just enjoyed it for quite a while.

Eventually we went back to the main part of the beach. When the tide is low you can actually cross the 20 feet to Forbidden Island, but today the tide was coming in and it was too dangerous to cross. We probably would have gotten across okay, but coming back would have been impossible. So we stayed on the shore of the main island and there is a deep pool there that does not get the tide. It is full of all kinds of amazing tropical fish. I borrowed Daniel's snorkeling gear and explored for a little bit. The fish were flocking around me, but I got a little scared when I got too close to a gigantic lobster! So we had lunch on the beach and laid in the shade. I put on a ton of sunscreen again today, and didn't get too burned. I am trying to be very careful with that because I am so pale and burn easily. It was a glorious day! The hike was difficult but the views were spectacular and it was absolutely worth it!

Three day weekend

Hafa Adai everyone! I'm sorry it has been a little while since I've updated my blog; the internet connection has been sketchy here lately. Occasionally I will have it, but lately it has been down often. Apparently the typhoon we had last weekend knocked out some of the main servers on the island and the main company, IT&E, has had trouble in fixing it. But since I have connection at the moment, I will try to update you on some of what has been going on recently.

First of all, I found an apartment! It is fairly close to the school and it is very nice. It is a one bedroom and is fully furnished. It is in a nice area away from the main road, and appears to be really safe. Unfortunatly I am not moved in yet. I have paid the utilities deposit, but apparently the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation (CUC) is fairly corrupt and very slow to get things done. They said they'd have my power on by Friday, but the locals tell me not to expect it until Tuesday or Wednesday of this week at the earliest. So I am staying with Jake and Jackie until I can move in. I have been so blessed by them. They have just been so wonderful and helpful in getting me settled on the island.

Secondly, I am starting to teach my own two classes full time starting tomorrow (Tuesday). My school is on a block schedule and only has four periods in a day. The 1st period I will be observing my cooperating teacher, 2nd period I have a prep, and then 3rd and 4th periods I will have my own students. Those two classes will be separate of the classes my cooperating teacher is teaching. This is quite different than the way they do student teaching on the mainland, but actually I think I will like it this way. I really like the students at MHS; they are respectful and fun.

This three day weekend has been full of fun activities. On Friday, I went with friends to the Palms Resort to look at the missile hitting the moon. They have very large telescopes, and NASA said the dust cloud could be seen with a good telescope. Unfortunately, when we got there the resort told us the telescopes were on the wrong side of the building opposite the moon and we wouldn't be able to see anything. So we had to watch it on CNN in the lounge, and it was completely lame. But fortunately Friday at the resort was ladies night and we got cheap drinks and free food!

Yesterday after church J and J, Amanda, and I took some church kids to the beach where we played in the ocean for 5 hours. I put on gobs of sunscreen about every hour, and thankfully didn't get too burned except for a little on my shoulders. It was the first time I'd swum in the ocean and it was glorious. The water is so warm--so warm in fact that the locals tell me the water around Hawaii is freezing in comparison! The only thing I don't like--the mixing of salt water and contacts. Trust me, they don't mix well. I will learn in the future to take out my contacts and swim blind, or to wear goggles.

And today (Monday) I am going on a hike to Forbidden Island. I'm told it is a short (15-20 minute) hike but that it is difficult (vertical most of the way). It sounds very fun, however, and I am excited to go get more sun and fun. The rest of the afternoon though, will be spent preparing for class tomorrow. I will take pictures and upload some of them here.

I continue to love it here. No homesickness yet. The culture is very different in some aspects, but not so different that I feel completely out of my element. The locals are very friendly and accepting and I have felt very welcomed by the expatriate community and the church. I think it will be a very good place for me to live for a year or more.