Six Months

I have been living in Saipan for six months now! In six months I. . .

       am so used to the heat that 68 degrees is freezing to me.

       I now consider brown rice to be an essential part of every meal.

       I have learned how keep two clocks in my head, one here and one
       for the time zone back home.

       In six months my clothes have become tattered and worn from
       watching my clothes in semi-salty water. Good thing my once
       rather vain view of what is "fashionable" has also changed quite a bit.

       I no longer feel like a minority, but rather just a
       piece of a very culturally colorful collage.      

       I've become used to the sight of the ocean, and palm trees, and the
       orangish toothy grins of betel nut chewers.
     
       I finally mustered up the courage to use a machete. It went well.

       In six months I still don't understand anything in Tagalog but I love
       listening anyway. Its a beautiful language.

       I am sobered by extreme poverty, but not shocked by it.

       I have learned to always keep a spare children's story or worship
       thought at the back of my mind when called upon.

       I have learned not to resent being volunteered for things without
       being asked, but rather view it as being considered part of the family.

       I have learned what Christianity as a way of life truly looks like.
     
       I have found a second home.

       I have made friends for life.

Its amazing, this trip, and these last six months. I praise God for every moment I have spent here. I never pictured that I would travel this far away from home. I can't even really pin point exactly what has changed in me, I just know that my views on life are different from what they once were. Six months has gone by so fast, and I am trying to soak up every moment that remains, good or bad, because I know that sooner than I think it will be gone and I will be watching this island grow small on the horizon as I fly back to my first home. One moment I was sitting cross-legged on the floor across from someone whom I would come to consider one of my closest friends and enjoying one of my first meals on Saipan. Next I was a co-youth leader posing for a picture with the group of youth from the SDA church.. a group of young people that Carolyn and I are responsible for, from teaching Sabbath school to leading out on weekend activities around the island.

 One moment I was sitting in Walla Walla Universities library reference room staring at a map of this island, and the next I am sitting here surrounded by ocean, and staring at a list of classes and the books I will be studying when I get back to that library reference room.

I love every new dream and aspiration that this year has inspired. Dreams to travel more, and to experience the world through eyes that see beyond the superficial. I've been taken up mountains and through valley's. I've grown up. Of course, that might just be 21 talking...