The Grotto and FEBC

                                                          Just arriving at The Grotto!

                                                                             From right to left: Allison(new teacher), Kara(2nd year teacher married to Grant), Becky(Allisons mother in law who came to hang out with her while she waits for her husband to arrive), and Becky(another 1st year teacher)

                                               Me and Grant after swimming for a while

                                             Me and Grant at Wild Bills for dinner tonight.

                                          Me, Brian, and Kara getting ready to play President


So yesterday a group of us teachers went to The Grotto and then to FEBC(Far East Broadcasting) for a potluck and to play games. It was a great day overall. The grotto is one of the most beautiful places on the island I have seen so far. It is a cave system that has filled with water from the ocean. It makes a wonderful swimming hole and there are some great rocks and cliffs to jump off. I cant wait to dive it and see all the marvels that are hidden underneath the surface. The exact depth is unknown because not all the caverns have been mapped out but the entrance to the ocean is at roughly 100-120 ft. It is rated by almost every dive magazine as one of the top 5 cave dives in the world. It was also great to just relax after swimming and hang out with other people that live here. These pictures were taken by Grant and Kara. Still waiting on my camera so it will be a little while before I can take pictures on my own to show y'all.

Setting up my office

So today I met my principal Mr. Winkfield. He seems like a super cool guy. I am excited to work for him this up coming school year. My office is located in the school library. I am in here looking through materials and trying to sort out what will be useful and what i can ignore. On the iMac I am given for this school year i came across a folder that has some pictures in it. So I thought I would let you guys see what the area by the school looks like. Trust me when I say that these pictures are nothing compared to what it really looks like. I think the island must have gotten much more beautiful since these were taken.

Becoming a local

Yesterday me and another new teacher went around with pastor Greg to see the island and get some things accomplished. We started out by getting our CNMI drivers license. Having a local license makes you one of them so I am told. I know when it comes to eating out, travel, and lodging that i get those cheaper. There is a ferry out to the island of Managaha that I get to use for free now. It is normally 15 dollars for tourists. Managaha is a tiny little island that is a fish sanctuary about 3/4 of a mile off of Saipan. One of the other new teachers went yesterday and I plan on making the trip tomorrow to do some snorkeling.
     Pastor took us on a quick tour of the island which involved checking out Bonzai cliff, Suicide cliff, The Grotto, The Last Command Post, and a few other attractions. It takes about 30 minutes to go from one side of the island to the other. It was breath taking to see all of these places and then think to myself "I really live here" Pastor Greg has lived here for 5 years now. He is a very active man and says that he still hasnt seen the whole island. So that is encouraging. I cant wait for my camera to arrive so I can show you all this beautiful place that I will soon call home. But for now it is almost 7:30 so I am going to go make myself a cup of coffee and walk the 35 yards to the beach and put my toes in the water, ass in the sand, and do some morning devotions. Peace and Love to you all.

5:45 AM......I HATE JETLAG!

As the title of this post says it is very early in the morning and sleep has not been my friend for about the past hour. So I decided to get my blog up and running so my family doesn't kill me. I slept almost the entire trip coming here so it doesnt surprise me that much that i couldnt sleep all the way through the night.
    I arrived at about 9 last night in the town of Susupe, Saipan and was greeted by the senior pastor and his wife. I cant remember his name so i will have to find a sneaky way to figure it out. I should probably start writing these things down! I was greeted with a ring of beautiful flowers that goes on your head. Again not sure what the name of it was but it smells great and will be the air freshener for my apartment for a while.
    The plan for today is to head over to the pastors house in about an hour and a half and then drive around and see the island. He will take me to the bank and to the DMV so i can get a local drivers license which will give me about 50% off everything on the island. He is a big golfer and he told me that golfing is VERY cheap here on the island. As a local (with the drivers license) I can gold for around 15 bucks for 18 holes and a cart. sounds pretty good. He is also an avid diver and is on his way to getting his dive master certification. So i think i might be spending some quality time with this guy. Well im going to shower and then figure out what my breakfast will look like. Peace and love