Yeah, we did that!

You know you're a "cool" teacher when your students ask you to do awesome things with them.

Example: Repelling with ROTC.
Teaching Algebra II verses any of the other math classes means I am teaching the older kids. I don't interact much with freshmen and sophomores and I kind of like it that way. The juniors and seniors have established themselves as role models and leaders across the campus and in various areas of study. They are not the puny little wimps getting yelled at for not doing something right. They're the ones doing the yelling.

They have more responsibilities and therefore, for the most part, are more reliable people. This last semester I had most of the commanding officers in the JROTC in my classes, including the top student leader for our school. Needless to say, these students are some of my highest achieving students in my classes (and they don't usually complain when they have to do work which is very nice.)

Anyway, several weeks ago these students randomly asked if I'd like to go repelling with the JROTC. It was part of this weekend camp the group was having and they thought I might like to join them. Not for the whole weekend but for the repelling Saturday morning. It took me about .0003 seconds to answer them. Heck, yes! But more than me loving it I knew Josh would jump on the the opportunity.

So early one Saturday morning in back in January, Josh and I and a couple of our friends went and literally, jumped off the side of a cliff.

This is where it all went down:


We're harnessed in a ready to go.

A view from the top.

Almost time!


Down we go






Did I mention that I was the only teacher invited? There were no other school staff members there expect those that work with ROTC on a regular basis. Yeah, I'm pretty cool.

The clock is ticking...

We landed in Saipan August 25.

Today is January 26.
Yesterday (January 25) marked 5 months of living in Saipan.

The school year ends June 17. We'll probably spend a few days enjoying this island without school pressures before we leave, which will probably be about the 25th.

If you do the math we're over the half way mark!
We have been here 5 months and we have about 5 months left.

We miss everyone soo much!

Happy...

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

One of the funny things we've encountered here in Saipan is how the student's view themselves.

We have had several discussions about their skin tone/ ethnicity. They think they're black. I have to keep reminding them that the term "black" when referring to people is synonymous with African American's. They are not, nor are any of their ancestors, from Africa. Saipan was settled by the Spanish, German and Japanese before the US gained control in WWII.

Don't get me wrong. These kids look like islanders. They have darker skin with dark, beautiful, hair and eyes. But they're not any darker than some of the Mexican-Americans that live in South Texas. These kids only think of features in terms of black and white. According to them, people have black hair or blond hair, nothing in between. There can be black eyes or blue eyes, again, there are no other possibilities. They are black and I am white. Me, with my olive skin, and fabulous tan that I am able to maintain year round, I am considered white by these kids. What do they know! I almost took offense to that!

Anyway, last week someone asked why we even bothered to take MLK day off. Before I had a chance to answer, another student said, "If it weren't for MLK you'd be sitting in the back of the class. We all would!" I just thought, "well, no, because you're not black!" Could the whole class have to sit in the back? If there were segregation on Saipan, there would be no one to sit "up front."

Oh, these crazy views. They suffer from small world mentality, but it adds some humor to my day.

A Year in Review

The past year has brought many changes for us. It was without a doubt a year filled with adventures!


We brought in 2010 with the Franklin's and the Carroll's in New Braunfels. Brady stayed with us.


Took pictures of Emmerson Biggins in the freezing rain.


Went to OKC for my birthday. Ate some great Mexican food.


Josh took pictures in the bluebonnets.
Trevor flew to SA for spring break.

Squished all of us into my dad's put-put truck to go to Mustang Island.
Camped at the beach.

Almost got blown away at the beach. Took the Praxis II. Passed.

Josh took pictures on Padre Island. Officially submitted our applications to teach in Saipan.

Played Catan.


Went to Chicago for Mother's Day. Cub's game!
Moved out of our first apartment, into my parent's house. Celebrated National Doughnut day at Round Rock Doughnuts. When to a Round Rock Express game. Decorated for VBS. New Braunfels flooded.

Spent our first nights apart sponsoring at Teen Camp.

Grilled. We did lots of grilling.
House sat.

Went to Austin to celebrate the marriage of the Ladd's. Took the Praxis I. Passed. Drove to OKC, then on to Dodge City.

Went back to OKC. Ate some really great fried chicken.


Played Catan.

Went to Alaska. Froze.
Saw some animals, caught some fish. Stayed awake nearly all night because the sun was still up. Stayed on the River Walk. Visited with Kendall and Denise in New Braunfels. Sewed a skirt.

Packed (almost) all our things into a total of 5 suitcases and 2 carry-on bags. Waited in agony to find out when we'd actually leave. Played Catan. Finally signed our contracts with the Public School System.

Moved to Saipan. Flew on the longest flight of our lives. Stopped playing Catan regularly.

Lived in a hotel. Lived with friends. Finally found an apartment. Started our first "real jobs." Sold our cars.
Celebrated our first anniversary.

Made new friends.


Snorkeled.


Bought our first car together. Struggled with the prospect of giving up my Texas driver's license. Never got a CNMI driver's license. Not planning to get a CNMI driver's license. They look like someone made them in their garage. Became a senior class advisor.


Hiked.

Realized that here, the seasons change but the weather stays the same. Ate some turkey. Snorkeled.


Made some pasteles.


Made some tamales.



Celebrated the Christmas Season 10 different times in 10 very different ways.


Camped on an island for Christmas. Snorkeled.


Went to Guam. Visited family. Sucked in everything ounce of American Culture we could.

Only God knows what adventures lie waiting for us in 2011. There are somethings we really hope happen. We hope our families will be able to come to Saipan. We hope to do some more traveling in the eastern hemisphere. Most of all we are looking forward to coming home this summer.

Saipan I

Our tiny island... I drove and Josh took pictures and this is what we got:

Saipan Holidays

We've been MIA lately. School has gotten the best of us. We have found some time to do some pretty great things around the island recently. Last weekend I, Elizabeth, went hiking to Old Man by the Sea. A small beach area on the eastern side of the island with a rock that looks like the profile of an old man.


Hence the name, Old Man by the Sea.

We spent Veteran's day out at Managaha, the small island in the lagoon.



It is beautiful. Managaha is one of our favorite places out here. The west and south side have beautiful white-sand beaches, while the north and east sides have rocky coral. The water is crystal clear and there are hundred of thousands of fish.



Each time we have visited the island we have seen something new. On this visit we saw a baby shark. It was probably a 3 foot long black tip reef shark. He caught us off guard, but it was so neat to watch him and how the fish reacted to his presence. We also saw a small octopus. These guys are really rare to find, they blend in with the coral so well. This guy was purple when we first spotted him but quickly turned brown to "blend in" after we spooked him.

Another one of our favorite finds are the starfish. Saipan's starfish are pretty unique, they're bright blue.



They were all over on this trip. The first time we went out the island we only saw one, but we saw at least a dozen this trip. I think they're gorgeous! If you hold them long enough, they start to wrap their legs around your hands. So cool.

Today was Thanksgiving here on the island. It was a beautiful day. I am so grateful for all the friends we have been blessed with on the island. They have been our life support in tough times. It was great to celebrate today with all of them.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family back home. We love you all and miss you tremendously. Enjoy your holiday!

Anniversary Celebration

Last weekend was our 1 year anniversary. We decided to go cheapo and stay at one of the local resorts with our "local discount" it was worth every penny we spent and then some.

We started the weekend with an AWESOME seafood buffet at one of the resorts. The buffet was spectacular. We walked away completely satisfied and we'll definitely being going back, soon.



Josh was sad his crab leg broke...



This was the view from the room we stayed in the first two nights we were there. This picture doesn't really do it justice... it was beautiful.



On Sunday, our actual anniversary, we stayed in one of the resorts Ocean Villas. It was a small one room bungalow. It was so quaint, I think we've decided someday we'll have something like this somewhere in the world.



The view from the back patio




Our personal jacuzzi on the back patio. We made it into our own personal flower bath like the one in the spa. Those plumeria are so fragrant and we could hear the waves crashing over the reef in the lagoon. It was so relaxing. The perfect remedy for the longest week of the school year so far...


Not only were the rooms and the view beautiful, everything about the resort was first class. This is the little church on the grounds. We thought it looked very Greek.





The view from the bell tower



That evening we went to the resort's spa and watched the sunset from the infinity pool. It was incredible.




We ended the weekend with dinner at Country House.

We probably should have moved to the other side of the room to get the picture with the huge Texas flag in the background.

This restaurant claims to be the only "Texas Style Steak House" on the island. I've been waiting to try this place out since our first week here. Maybe our standards are a bit too high for a Texas Steak... This place definitely missed the mark. But we now know that Saipan would be a great market for a Texas Roadhouse. There's absolutely nothing like it on the whole island.

Random: We almost ran over this little crab when we came back from dinner... These things are everywhere right now.