Spear fishing in Saipan

Here are some pictures I have taken the last few weeks. Kinda just shows some of the adventures I have been on lately. Enjoy! Peace and Love from Saipan.

Nate checking out the tank 

Nate coming out of Lau Lau Bay

My octopus attached to my leg ghetto rigged up

My first Parrot fish

Our way out of a new spear fishing beach we found

Jake getting ready to head in the water

Josiah starting to climb out

Another Parrot fish

The Wrasse I shot 

Giving it a little love

Looks like a good day at Lau Lau

My catch

All loaded up and ready to head home

Attack of the killer octopus

So today was Labor Day so we decided to celebrate by going spear fishing. We had been out on the water for about 2 1/2 hours with very little luck all day. Jake had shot one decent sized parrot fish and Brian had another nice parrot fish. Me, Nate, and Aaron were getting skunked. Earlier in the day the band on my spear gun broke so me and Jake we taking turns making dives while the other one was getting their breath back and slowing their heart rate for the next dive. This system had been working pretty well. I dove really well all day, but my shooting was just off. I had probably 5 great chances at parrot fish which I miss every time. I was getting pretty upset at myself. Jake had just made a dive on a parrot fish at about 35ft. when I saw something on the bottom moving. It didnt take long for me to realize it was a nice sized octopus. I remembered Jake telling me that if I ever got the chance to get one that I should shoot it. So as soon as Jake surfaced he passed me the spear gun, I then dove down about 35ft. and lined up on this beauty of an animal. As soon as I shot I was a big cloud of ink and felt a tug on the spear line. I knew I had landed a great holding shot. The octopus took off and went in a little cave with my spear. I tugged and tugged but couldn't get it free. So I swam to the surface to get another breath. When I surfaced Jake told me it was a good thing I didn't try to grab the octopus from under the rock because they will grab you and the rock at the same time and you wouldn't be able to get free. I was out of breath so Jake swam down and finally pulled the spear free with the nice 3 1/3 foot beauty on the end. We spent the next 20 minutes or so trying to kill the dang thing. Finally we killed it and cleaned it. It was a great experience and a very big adrenaline rush. When I got back to school I showed Mr. Ramel and he told me that his wife could show me how to cook it and make a nice octopus salad. So I spent the afternoon cooking and eating octopus. It was a great holiday! Peace and Love from Saipan!

One Month Down!

Sunset on the tank

Spear fishing

Upside down soldier fish

The tank

It is crazy to think that I have been on island for a month and a half! Wow, where did the time go? Since being here in Saipan I have learned a few things about island life. First: If asked to do something a common answer used would be simply "can" or Cannot" Full sentences are only used if you have to. Second: Never make plans more than 6 hours in advance. I overheard a conversation the other
 day where a man was asked on a Thursday afternoon what he was doing on Saturday morning. He answered "I don't know its not Saturday yet." This may be one of my favorite things about living on an island. Life here moves at a very slow pace. Everyone is living in the moment and enjoying the Sunshine and the beauty that is surrounding them. Why make plans ahead of time when you can be surprised constantly by things that happen. Third: Even though it is a small island some sort of transportation is key to living a social life. I think you could squeak by with just a bicycle but it would be rough. There are so many places on the island to see that having a means of transportation is very important. So here is a picture of my new wheels.

Isn't she beautiful?

Island Life is great though! I still can't believe that I live here. Today was the 4 week mark for school. I have made it through the first month of teaching. It has been a great experience so far. It is a lot of work but it is rewarding as well. But here are some pictures from my new camera. Its been a pretty good month if I must say so myself. Sorry not all of the pictures would upload. Peace and Love from Saipan!