It was great chatting with you. and i will drop another note sometime again. (hopefully within the next year! ) lol Have a good one and ttul.

~Yanni

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

Walked 3/4 mile and then ran bak…
Got a mile and a 1/2 in.

Tried on scrubs that were the right color for the uniform. The pants were too tight in the butt and the shirt was too shrt. Too bad I am fatter than the philipeno lady! Oh well, I need a diet.
So I went to work….and first thing Anthonee noticed and mentioned wad that i was matching everyone else. Andth first thing one of the other older ladies noticed was that my pants were butt tight… So I was like…ok. Someone noticed. And I can’t stretch out the butt. So I went to change back intoy reliable blue scrubs. I actually REALLY like them! And so then Anthonee asked why i changed. I was like, ” they didn’t really fit. They were too small.” he gave me a weird “girls these days” look and Ceji (see-gee) came to my rescue and piped in about me having to be comfortable. I really like Ceji. We get along great and I can relate to her and she to me becuase we both just started working at the clinic…me 2 days ago, her 4 months ago. Anyways, after that I started on the whole, ” read till I like start to fall asleep” until I decided to watch u. Mike do his work. That kept me awake…kind of. Anyways, nothing exciting happened this morning. Just the normal stuff.

At noon, I left for lunch and came home to the kids and “Ya-Ya” the babysitter. A. Andrea works on Tuesdays so she gets Ya-Ya to watch the kids. She had made Tofu eggrolls for lunch with rice and lentil curry. It was yummy. After I ate, I called Jo and talked to her for a whole 15 minutes then I talked to dad for like 30 seconds as I was walking out the door to work at 1.

–woke up at 4:45 and didn’t get out of bed till 5

–got a shower and was ready to go barely by 6…

–left at 6 to go jogging on the beach trail! That was REALLY FUN! uncle mike and i played “i pass you now you pass me” the whole time. I ran/walked 2 miles today!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!! I am really excited! i listened to “Podrunner” a music podcast for running. i did about 15 minutes of running and about 14 minutes of walking…i listened to the 176 bpm (beats per min.) while i ran, and about 140 bpm for a fast walk. i really had a good workout and i seriously sweat buckets! It is so humid here, and i was so hot that even after i got back, took a very cool shower, completely changed clothes, and stood infront of the fan, i was still as wet and sweaty as i was when i first ended my workout. It was crazy…it took me like almost 45 minutes to completely cool down.

ANYWAYS… after trying to get myself ready to go, which took forever cause i was wet and sticky….i finally got around to eat a breakfast of cold cereal and a sweet sap (its a really good fruit)

– i headed over to the clinic at 8 to start work…Turns out, i didn’t end up following U. Mike around at all. His assistant was my teacher. He had a pretty busy morning, so Atseko (ats-c0) his assistant taught me stuff. everyone is SOOO nice!  I learned how to clean up from and prepare for a patient, i called a patient in, i studied a book on Dental Assisting that Atseko gave me. i liked it, but i was just so tired from jet-lag and my horrendous sunburn and stuff, that the lulling and constant noise of the fans and tools and jabbering on of all the assistants, just made me want to fall asleep right there at the desk…lol.

–then we came home around 12:30 for lunch. A. Andrea had made rice and we ate it with a nice curry and seaweed! so i made sushi! It was yummy! I never knew a 1/2 hour could go so QUICKLY! OMW! It was like i walked in, and then i had to walk out! lol…i tried calling my mom about 10 minutes before i headed  back to work, and…lol…of course she was in the shower cause she had mowed the lawn…lol so i didn’t get to talk to her. its ok. i had lots to do…Anyways, after that i headed back to work. Things were pretty slow the first bit of 2nd shift. I didn’t have much to do but read, and i helped clean up a bit, but it is AMAZING how even though i had nothing to do, the time went by SOOO FAST! i guess i wasn’t bored! cause if i was the this afternoon would have seemed like forever! Around 4:30 a patient who was in for hygiene, complained that one of her wisdom teeth was hurting her, so U. Mike decided that he had time to take it out. It was SOOOO COOL! i got to stand behind Atseko and watch! Blood spurting everywhere! it was gross! but it was cool at the same time! I couldn’t help but smile! If that is a little bit of “the worst” that we have to do in this profession, then i am all good with becoming a dental assistant while i work my way through university…Anyways, so that lasted 45 minutes instead of only a 1/2 hour. I got bored by the time he was putting in the last of 3 sutures, so i went to finish cleaning and bagging the last of the instraments that were left over from the day. By the time U. Mike did his paper work and stuff and finished updating all the info, and we had chatted with Atseko for a while, it was 5:30.

I came got home and VERY PAINFULLY got out of my scrubs and into shorts and a tank top so i could bath my burnt skin in aloe vera gel. U. Mike gave me pain killers the last couple days because my sunburn has hurt so bad!!!! i am REALLY REALLY regretting i didn’t wear a short sleeved shirt to the parade….and that i didn’t keep my shorts rolled down, but oh well such is life i guess. lol…I don’t think i have been this burnt since my family and i were at our custom home, and we went over to Laney’s (the neighbor girl) house to swim, and i forgot sunscreen until mom told me about 2 hours after swimming and hanging out by their pool that had lovely, reflecting, hot concrete all around it! I cried for a long time! lol and i couldn’t even wash my own hair because it hurt my shoulders too bad to move them at all! lol              I hope THIS doesn’t turn out like that. I JUST WANT MY MOMMY HERE! So she can lather me in aloe till i feel like i am part of the plant…and so she can kiss me and give me air hugs cause my shoulders hurt too bad… I want to cuddle on her lap! i miss you mom! Anyways, it is like only 1/4 after 9 and i am completely exhausted. So i am gonna try and work on my other posts a bit…and then post them!

loves and hugs to all, and i will hopefully be able to write more later! it is hard to imagine that i got here less than a week ago! it already seems like i have been here forever! i am starting to think in my mind… “ok, so i need to start thinking about the trip home now.” lol but i have BARELY started! which is both a good and bad thing! lol Anyways, i am gonna go to bed. i love you all so much and miss each one of you who is reading this!

Take care and stay in touch ok? and PLEASE comment! That is like the only indicator that shows me that people are actually reading and liking my posts, so please feel free to drop me even a quick “i read it! i am glad you are having fun” or something like that. so i am looking forward to comments from each one of you!

Talk to you later!

Loves and hugs,

Yanni

Got a shower and ate breakfast

at 9 we went to the Fourth of July parade

walked with the pathfinders..

watched the floats go by…

came home…i am a burnt cookie

i got a shower

had lunch

then chatted with my family for a while

A. Andrea went over our summer schedule with me…

we went to the carnival again to let the kids play on the “jumping castle”

we found out that there weren’t going to be any fireworks this year..

went to subway for supper…i tried the salad..it was good

went to Big Dipper for icecream i got Espresso Almond Fudge (Jamoca)

Came home…and am writing this now…

SUMMER SCHEDULE

4:45/5:00 — Wake up

6:00-7:00 — Run on Beach Trail with U. Mike

7-7:50 — Shower off, breakfast, etc.

8:00 – 12:00 — WORK

12:00 – 1:00 — Lunch break, Call Family/Friends (7 pm for ya’ll)

1:00 – 5:00 — WORK

5:00 – 6:00 — Piano Practice

6:00 — Supper

So yeah….that is my life…i will write it all down as i get the time! lol

Well, Sabbath was cool! I don’t remember all the details cause i am writing this after the weekend…which seems like years long! so yeah…lets see…what DID we do on sabbath?

Ok, so sabbath morning as i was getting ready, i think i was doing my hair, no mind…anyways…A. Andrea comes and tells me that the youth are leading out and are in charge of sabbath school for that sabbath and they were wondering if i would be willing to do special music. I was like….”um….ok…” So that was it! We finished getting ready for church, and then Alissa and i walked to church. i played a hymn for the “special number” that i was supposed to do, then we had a special feature about the good and bad of the tongue. After special feature, we were all dismissed to go to sabbath school. So i went with all the “youth” and mr. Ernie, who is the chief organizer person of the clinic….i was THE ONLY non-asian…which i guess isn’t really surprising…and it wasn’t that awkward, but it was still…interesting. lol

Anyways, after S.S. we had church, and it was good, they have a BLACK preacher…he spoke on the Sabbath. it was good…anyways, after church, we went home for lunch. U. Mike invited the current SM (student missionary) Jacob, to have lunch and spend the afternoon with us. Mr. Ernie invited me and the new dentist couple (the Joseph’s) to go with the rest of the youth on a “tour of the island” so around 4:30 we all met at the church with a bunch of other members and decided where to go first. We went to Bird Island look out and i finally took my camera somewhere for once, and so i took pics. I will post them later or something! my computer is too slow to upload them now. Anyways, after we left bird island we headed up to Mount Tapachao. It is SOOOOOO beautiful up there!!!!!! I can’t believe that a bloody war was fought on the exact same ground a long time ago during WWII. i was able to take lots of pictures of the gorgeous sunset and of the “lil cuzins”, but a camera can NEVER capture a moment! I think i would like to honeymoon in Saipan, or even have my wedding on top of Mt. Tapachao! On the drive up the mountain, there are very nice mansions! They are all nice and large. Some need a paint job or two and i am sure some of them are not good at all, but they all have priceless views! From the top, you can see the ENTIRE island of Saipan AND Tinian island (where they have like 7 airstrips..they flew the atomic bomb to japan from that island)….and you can also see a small island called “Goat island” that is supposedly only over-run by goats and animals of different kinds….one of the few white men here, commented that they should release a family of Bengal tigers onto Goat island or something because the animals are running over the veggies!

Anyways, we had sundown worship up there, and then all headed back home. I had a most enjoyable day!                          I don’t really remember what happened that evening, except that we went to bed, and i..yeah…i don’t remember. ANyways, i am gonna be done with this post finally now so that i can publish it!

Loves and hugs to ya’ll!

yanni

So this morning i woke up around 9:30…It was great cause i woke up, looked out my crack in the blinds, saw the BeAuTiFuL tropical scenery, and went “WOW!!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE I AM HERE!!!!!!!!!” It was sooo exciting! Shortly after i got up, A. Andrea and the kids and i, had breakfast…U. Mike had already gone to the clinic to work. After breakfast i took a shower and got ready for the day. Then after i was finally done, i played games with Alissa for probably a 1/2 hour. I have re-learned what it is like to have an inquisitive 4 year old CONSTANTLY around!  i would say something or do something (or even NOTHING at all for that matter) and the first words out of her mouth are “Whyyyyy?:” WHy this, why that…lol  She has GOT to be the most cute and sassy and rebellious and funny 4 year old girl there is…So we played “her version” of monoply and we played “Alissa’s Version” of Go Fish …Nest….My bad…we were dealing with birds…not fish. Finally after probably 20 minutes i was able to tear myself away  from her so i unpacked my room…

(at this point in my post, i had fallen asleep on the couch…and my aunt came and woke me up and then i went to bed and now it is morning…and i am finishing writing this…)

so yeah….pretty much i just spent all my time this morning messaging and talking to people on Facebook… lol…so i don’t have time to put this in anything but point form….

So after i unpacked, we had lunch…we had rice and curry and cucumbers! it was yummy. Then after lunch, i completely finished unpacking. In the afternoon, A. Andrea took me on a tour of the clinic! When i walked out the front door, i felt like i was in a TROPICAL paradise! It was AMAZING! to be able to see the outside beauty pretty much for the first time…cause i came in so early that morning. It was beautiful! Anyways, at the clinic, which is right across from the house… I got to meet some of the staff, and talk to them. I am really looking forward to working there! It is going to be really fun! I met the visiting doctor! Mr. Joseph. He is really nice! Anyways…i am running out of time so i need to make this short. After the tour of the clinic, we went to take the kids to swimming lessons…After swimming we came home and just chilled until U. Mike came back from work. I got on the computer and caught up a bit on how everyone was doing. Then we drove to the Carnival! It was fun. I went on a ride with Allen (my 7 yr. old cousin)  then “the girls” (me, A. Andrea, and Alissa) rode on seat of the Ferris Wheel and “the boys” rode on the opposite seat!! man i haven’t been on a Ferris wheel in YEARS and it was SOOO MUCH FUN! We also walked to the beach to get a picture with the sunset! If it weren’t for the rock music in the background, it would have been a VERY lovely night to sit and contemplate life! Anyways, after we finished the ride on the Ferris Wheel, we drove to the street market for supper. BOY! that was an experience all of itself! it was SO cool! We first went by the Hyatt Hotel to take the kids to the bathroom, then we walked down into the market! It was really neat! U. Mike got me a FRESH green coconut to drink from! It was really cool cause the lady just took a huge knife (i am sure it was a machete) and cut a hole about the size of a dollar coin in the top of the coconut, and then just stuck a straw in it!!! lol…it didn’t taste like what i originally thought it would taste like, but it was still really good! I enjoyed it! We walked along and bought other things too. We got spring rolls, and a kind of bread that was similar to “Subway flatbread” but it was sweet and tasted like coconut. Then we went to a booth that sold smoothies. It was cool cause they had a bunch of flavors and we could pick whatever flavor combos we wanted! I got Orange Coconut Banana….it was a bit too banana-y.  But it was still good! I didn’t realize until i looked later, but they had mocha flavoring….i was like “snap!” lol i should have gotten that…but i am glad i got more “island like” flavors! Well, after we got all the food we wanted, we went and sat down on the side of the street to eat. After a little bit, it started raining, so we all jumped up and moved to a covered place to finish eating our food. After a couple minutes the rain stopped and so we went to see the entertainment they had going on further down the street. We got up there just as a group of little hula girls were dancing. I bet the youngest one there was no older than 6 or 7! But they did a great job! Then “the warriors” came out and did they little routine. They are a group of boys dressed up like warrous a then do a couple nice dental moves!pretty tricky hugs to say the least! Anyways, so after we watched them, we headed back to the car and I went to bed and crashed!

Sights:

-tile floors

-pink walls

- a peek at the back yard through a crack in the blinds

Smells:

-Plumeria blossoms

- muggy air (you know that smells…)

Sounds:

-The fan humming

-The laundry running

-Kids playing

- My keys typing

Touch:

-The thick air

-fan blowing wind on me

-my back sticking to the wall

- the soft sheet on my bed

This was recorded at 5 PM…just before leaving for the street market.

Well, my journey has ended. It was all very uneventful in the first place. Except for the fact that I hve been to japan now!!!! My flights all went well an stuff. I just got off the phone with my parents…..it is their anniversary yesterday….lol….I mean today their time! (this Is gonna be wierd!) I talked to them for 52 minutes…
Tomorrow, I am gonna “not be a sucky tourist” and shall “do what the Romans do” and wake up when ever my aunt decides the rest of the family is gonna wake up….which she said was around 8 am….so since I like have only 3 hrs and 10 minutes of sleep to take the opportunity of, I guess I had better go….oh by the way…I stayed up for a bit over 30 hours with NO sleep…. (doesn’t include the “trying to sleep” or “wanting to sleep” that I did)
Catch y’all later guys!
Lves and hugs,
Your World Girl
Yanni

P.S.
4:57 am ST
Just for the heck of saying so….
I can’t sleep! I am sooo not tired anymore. We’ll see if listening to music works…..it doesn’t help though that I can’t use the hour of the day as an excuse. I potentially could already be up at 5 am….anyways…..sleep HAS TO COME…