ONLY a DRAFT!

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Hey Guys!!!!

Sorry i haven’t posted in a while!…i have been busy and i wanted to put at least a bit of effort into writing…lol…So i get to do it now! Anyways, I am really doing great! I am having such a fun summer..I won’t go into all the tropical and wonderful details and make your mouth drool and your face turn green like i did to one of my friends!! lol (i added the dramatic effect just cause… but he DID say he was very jealous lol) So yeah. I am having fun! The people here are VERY nice and i find that i like them all ALOT! It does get pretty lonely though here….There are no people who are close to me who are here…I haven’t been here long enough to become anything more than acquaintances with the teens my age here, and i am getting to know several people fairly well at work, but then…i only see them at work. lol (duh!) So i get pretty bored and lonely at times at home…which is why i am SOOO glad for Facebook, Skype, and e-mail!!! lol BIG TIME! It is VERY interesting being immersed into a TOTALLY different culture here, even if it IS a US commonwealth (territory). There are sights, sounds, smells, and tastes that are all VERY new and exciting! I have been enjoying my time ever since i stepped off the plane! I have a great schedule working an 8-5 job “learning, listening, watching, and assisting” at the dental clinic. I also help in the Dental lab too, well….lol….i can’t really say i “help”…hehe! i more like, um..well… lol just watch and talk and laugh with the lab techs! hehe! They are pretty cool guys! Everyone at the clinic is SOOOOO welcoming and open to me learning and watching ever since day one! I have a couple people though that have “drawn me under their wing” so to speak, and make a special effort to help me learn more and more each day! I love them! They really have helped me grow in my experience in being in a “work” environment, and helped me learn a TON more about dentistry. It is really neat to be able to watch and learn…but as i have started to “see all” and what dentistry is about, i am still in the process of deciding if this is the perfect job for me. My aunt and i spent till the wee-hours one morning and the next afternoon discussing what i like to do, what my hobbies are, what i DON”T like about life, what i DO, and who i think i am as an individual. I pretty much responded with the typical teen….”Uhh…..um…..i’m not sure…(nervous laugh)…I don’t know!” But she just kept asking me questions and through the “interigation” of sorts, i learned a bit more about myself. My Aunt and Uncle are SOOO generous. They have spared nothing to make me feel at home and help me experience the island here! I am very thankful and grateful to them for their love, sacrifice and commitment to make my summer wonderful! And it has been for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have grown and learned MANY things this summer so far…And its only been 3 weeks!! BUT it seems like that time has gone by SOOOOOOO fast! Man! i can’t believe i only have one month and 2 days left. It is really just amazing how time flies when i am working and having fun! Anyways….I am sure you actually DO want to know some of the “tropical things” i have done here….lol…my aunt got me off work early today to help her with VBS stuff, and then we went to the “tuesday farmer’s market” . we got lots of cool stuff like, kankoon (like spinach), papaya (which i have yet to experience)…we got um….lots of stuff that i don’t remember right now. But anyways, that isn’t what i was going to talk about, i was telling you about the tropical things i have done here. which, that is ONE of them, but after we went to “tues. street market” we went to a small little coffee shop (Cafe at the Park) and over a “mocha Chilla” and a “strawberry coconut italian soda” (i got the coffee) we made a list of things like 1) Places i have to go 2) places i have gone already 3) Foods i still have to try 4) foods i’ve tried and restaurants i have already been to AND (this will be YOUR guys’ fav part!) 5) what i want to bring back as gifts and souvenirs to the states. So Here is a list of all the different things i have gone to and a description of them!

Have Gone To:

Bird Is. Lookout —An island that is like a “reserve” with no fishing or anything near or on the island…cause it is a sanctuary for the birds. Went here the 1st sabbath i was here. The youth group (my S.S. class) went on a “tour of the island”. And this is one of the places we went. We went here and then to Mt. Topochau which is coming up in our list.
Grotto– A place where people go scuba diving. It is basically a “hole” that you have to climb down 110 steep and slippery stone steps to get to. It is very cool but kind of dangerous to be out in the water in. You have to cross over to a rock to be able to jump into the water and do your diving, so you have to time your crossing correctly with the surge of the ocean and stuff. It was REALLY cool to see, but kind of scary to watch the water surge up so close to where you were, and then retreat and then come back with full force again. It is kind of like a cave, and has 3 small outlets into the open ocean. We went here the 2nd Sabbath i was here.
Kamakazi trail–a nice trail through the jungle that takes you by bird island and you ends up at the Grotto.

Suicide Cliff– A cliff where during WWII, lots of the local Chamorro and Carolinian islanders plus a host of Japanese plunged off of. They had been told that the Americans would treat them terribly and so the islanders, because of this propaganda felt it was better to die than to be under American powers. So men and women, often clutching their children or throwing them infront of them, would commit suicide off this large cliff. The Japanese soldiers and civilians thought it would be more honorable to their emperor to die than to become prisoners, thus they commited “holy suicide” (i think that is what the Japanese word meant or implied) Thus it got its name. It is a very sombering story…the history that went on here during that time.
Mt. Topochau– The highest mountain on the island. (it isn’t very high!) lol From the top, you can see the entire island. it only takes about 1/2 an hour to drive from the North end to the south end. You can also see the surrounding islands, Goat Island (named appropriately for the goats that live there), some island whose name i don’t remember, and Tinian. Tinian is the island from which they actually flew the bombers that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Mt. Topochau is a VERY beautiful mountain and the way up the mountain is dotted with homes and run down “mansions” that, with a bit of fixing, could once again turn into shining beauties over looking the vast sparkling ocean. You can’t even envision how beautiful everything is here. Anyways, moving on to the next place i have been too! lol (i could go on and on…so i gotta stop somewheres)

Street market– This is a very fun, exciting, aromatic, and cultural place to go. It is a street that is closed off and the people from different hotels and restaurants and local people bring their food and produce and drinks to sell. Things are VERY cheap there too! Most everything is “one dollu” and i haven’t really seen anything go over 7 or 8 “dollu”. The very first evening i was here, we went to the street market. There are always groups of local dancers performing in a little square there. There are all ages of dancers, most are little children though, and some looked like no older than 5. They have “warriors” and “hula girls” and other little dancers. It is quite interesting to watch! Anyways, everytime (ok…2 out of 3 times) i have been there, i get green coconut juice! It is very refreshing and sweet and supposedly has Gatorade type qualities and stuff in it! Then we typically get rice cakes while we are there as well. They are really yummy! We also get a box of Thai food from the booth that the “Thai House” restaurant has there. They have really good Pad Thai and fried spring rolls. We also have gotten really good “smoothies” there too! It is great cause the booth just has a bunch of flavors in pitchers and you can combine ANY flavors you want! And believe me!!!! They have just about any flavor too! They sport everything from Mocha and chocolate, to peach and strawberry, to coconut and mango, banana and melon flavors! We only got smoothies once and i got Peach/Banana/Coconut. It was good, but a bitt too banana-y! Anyways, i could go on and on about the street market so i am not going to and i am gonna move on now….
Farmers tues. Market – I just went there this last week (july 20)! I described it above some, but basically it is a farmers market! All the little booths have lots of different fresh produce… starfruit, sweet sap, sour sap, jackfruit, melon, watermelon, avocado, papaya, kankoon, a very VERY bitter squash that the locals love, green coconuts, and a TON of other fruits and vegetables that you wouldn’t normally see. And everything is cheap there too! $1 for somethings, and about $1 a pound for others
Managaha– A tourist island where you can camp, swim, boat, snorkel, play beach games like volley ball, and such cool stuff! They even have electricity and running water! but it turns off in the evening after the last tourist boat leaves the island at 4 pm. It was great! We went there one of the couple days i was first here, and i learned how to snorkel! That was SUPER fun! My A. and U. took me and the “new” dentist and his wife here to experience the water and such! Speaking of water! I can’t tell you enough how WARM it is!!!! lol VERY NICE water to swim in and as salty as can be! I LOVE IT!!!!!

PIC (Pacific Island Club) — Dr. Stafford and his family have a membership here. It is a resort. VERY fancy and kind of like a cruise ship in that some Asians and Europeans stay at the hotel for MONTHS at a time, and to have fun you would probably NEVER have to leave the hotel grounds. They have EVERYTHING it seems like at the resort! Lap pool, beach front with kayaks and snorkeling gear, slides and a kids water play area, tennis, paint ball, basketball, laser tag, tennis, mini golf, driving range, spa like place, 4 honey moon sweets that run outrageous rates, and even a “chapel” where you can hold wedding services before you spend a night or two in the honey moon sweet! I have only been to probably less than a 1/4 of what there is to do at PIC!!!
American Memorial Park/ Museum– My Aunt dropped me off at the Museum at American Memorial for about an hour one day. i watched a dovumentary about what happened in WWII as the US tried to gain a gateway to Japan by capturing the major N. Mariana Islands. It was a bloody and visious battle that was fought upon this island and many many people suffered and died on ground that i have stood on!!! It is a CRAZY and sobering thought especially since i have visited or seen many of the places the video and exhibits talked about.
Coral Ocean Point Beach

COP
Ladder beach
Cafe @ the park
Big dipper

FOOD!!!!

Starfruit
Thai
Breadfruit
Sweetsap
Coconut juice
Rice sticks