I do not have a car in Saipan which I love because driving is among my least favorite activities. But because of that, I walk a lot. For example, yesterday, I walked to a local farmers market, ran 3.5 miles, walked to the beach, walked to a restaurant for lunch, walked to a pool, and walked to a different restaurant for dinner. Whew..makes me tired typing it out. Although, I should note that in all of that I probably only walked a little over 2 miles not counting my run. I notice that when I walk, I pay attention to so much more. I notice the trees and the flowers and the people and the buildings and of course, the ocean. Yesterday, I was just reminded once again of the creative God we serve. Everything was beautiful and as I was running, you could see at least three different colors in the ocean water. It was breathtaking.

After my run, I spent the rest of the day hanging out in the sun. We didn’t have power most of the day, so outside it was. Thank goodness it didn’t rain! I read some more of my book and spent the day relaxing. An art form I am slowly learning to enjoy. Relaxing.

But time to run! Write later.

I have become good friends with one of the other new teachers-Anna. I am pretty sure God sent her here for me:) We eat dinner together at least three times a week and it’s becoming a more and more regular habit. Food here is expensive and neither of have microwaves so instead of trying to figure out what to do with leftovers we just both pitch in part of a meal and eat dinner together. The company is much better and I think it’s much closer to a Christ-like community. And we have spent the past two nights planning trips to Bali and Japan. It’s like having a partner in crime to travel with and to enjoy life with. Almost all of the other teachers are married so it is nice to have someone to share meals with, to go to the beach with, and to (hopefully) travel the world with. Plus we get along really well which is a major plus!

I have had a rough week and I am ready for a few days to re-focus and re-energize. To anyone who thinks being a teacher is easy, they are so wrong. And trust me, those few months off in the summer are so needed because the work of a teacher never ends. I am always planning, grading, writing notes or a test, and even when I think I am finished, I will run out of time in class or get done too soon and then have to re-arrange my whole plan.   

I have realized this week how much of a perfectionist I am. Failure is just not an option in my life and therefore, when I feel like I don’t get it or am behind, I get frustrated. I mean, I am now on day 9 of teaching. That’s it..9 days under my belt of teaching on an island I have been on less than a month. I didn’t go to school to be a teacher and I have students that for the most part don’t speak English as a first language. Some of them barely speak English at all. I have 8 different classes everyday and have students from Kindergarten through 8th grade! So honestly, I realized that I am way too hard on myself. I mean, I haven’t killed any students or cried in front of them yet. I am working my butt off and doing the best job I can do. I just have to let myself learn and grow as a teacher. I will get the hang of it and get into a groove. So instead of stressing myself out over feeling like a failure, I need to recognize that God will give me the strength I need and that asking for help is not a sign of failure, but of wisdom. 

Overall though, I love being a teacher! It is seriously one of the greatest jobs ever. And teaching on a beautiful tropical island is pretty good too:) 

So today we hiked to Forbidden Island. Aptly named because the locals believe that there are spirits living there and therefore will not go near it Although I believe it should have that name because of the hike to get there! My legs are going to be sore tomorrow! However, it was so worth it. We hiked down the side of a mountain basically..if you can imagine a mountain on and island..and then ended up at this small collection of caves and pools that you can swim and snorkel in. First of all, we hiked back into this cave and found a small pool of water you could swim in and another small pool filled with sea urchins! So cool-kinda scary, but cool. You can’t swim there because sea urchins can puncture through shoes! Then we hiked back out to this small pool where you can snorkel. First, I decided that an underwater camera may be my next purchase. I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful the fish were. And how many different kinds-I don’t think I have ever seen that many different kinds of fish..except at an aquarium. They were beautiful. It made me realize how creative of a God I serve. That He would create all these different beautiful fish. and as I sat in awe of the fish I looked around and saw a group of people-as different as you can imagine, all coming together to stand in awe of God’s creation. It was a beautiful picture.

All of these experiences just draw me closer into the amazing God we serve. As I stand in awe of His creation, I can’t help but think that I want to praise Him with everything in me. Because truly, sometimes I feel that I can hear the rocks crying out. So may my voice be louder than the rocks and may God have all the glory as I explore His amazing creation!

So I had an awesome weekend! I went hiking on Saturday with some of my new friends here! and Sunday spent all day site-seeing around the island. This included a trip to the Grotto. A cave of sorts that fills with water and you can swim in it. So of course, I had to jump in. and once I jumped in once, I needed a new challenge. I saw these kids scaling the rock wall on the side to jump in. Being scared of water, my first thought was not to follow them, but the more I watched, the more I wanted to jump. So a really nice local boy helped me up the rock wall to a cliff about 20 feet above the water. I was looking down thinking, “what did I do???” but there was no turning back. So in I jumped. With a whole gamut of spectators cheering me on! It was awesome!!!! The not awesome part is that I cut my hand climbing up the wall. It wasn’t that bad of a cut, I washed it out and by the evening looked like it was healing up nicely. But at about midnight, I woke up with a horrible pain in my hand..I kept waking up off and on throughout the night with this horrible pain in my hand and fingers. When my alarm went off, I looked at my hand and thought..”uh oh” But lunch time, it was red, swollen, and filled with pus. (sorry for the details) The office staff was concerned so I called in a favor from a dear friend and went off to the urgent care. The diagnosis-an infection. and possibly a serious one. So I am on heavy antibiotics for the next week and under strict orders to come back if it doesn’t get better soon. It’s crazy-you just have to be so much more careful here because bacteria lives on everything and most of the coral is really sharp. So first casualty of the trip..an infected hand. I promised the doctor I would TRY to not come back again..but no promises. I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie:)

It’s still weird to think about the time difference. I talk to my parents on different days. I am in the future. Kinda freaks me out if I really think about it. So I don’t. 🙂 Thankfully I do get to talk to them almost everyday. Skype is quite possibly one of the best inventions ever! 

So I am almost ready for school to start. In fact, probably too ready. Probably too stressed out about it. But it’s a big deal. I have never taught before and I am kinda nervous. Plus, I still feel like I am trying to figure out living in a new place. Although I am getting pretty settled in and enjoying my get-off-work-go-to-the-beach schedule. It’s pretty great. Although it makes working inside sometimes no fun..and it makes me want to be rebellious and leave a little early. 🙂

I have also decided that I am going to work on memorizing the Sermon on the Mount this year. I am re-reading The Irresistible Revolution-one of my favorites. And I am studying through the gospels so I figured that would be a good challenge for the year. (as if I need any more!) 

I don’t really have much to update today. I am still loving Saipan. Although missing some pretty special people back home..thank goodness they are so supportive! 

That’s all for now..write more later! Back to work!