Thus far...

Thus far I haven't shared any negative experiences about my time here. The truth is, there are so few they haven't been worth sharing with the rest of you good people. I love Saipan, I love working at the school, and I love being a part of this uniquely diverse community. It wasn't until today, standing in front of the cashier of San Jose Mart and $14.00 of produce/household cleaning supplies, did it begin to dawn on me that the cultural differences between me and the people here have had caused misunderstandings.

At 1pm this afternoon our school's office closed the shutters, locked the doors, and sat back in our chairs to soak in the beginning of the weekend. My co-workers at the school had kindly accepted my plea to drive me home so I wouldn't have to wait an hour for my roommate to finish her work. On our way we stopped by San Jose Mart to pick up a few things. It was to be a quick shopping trip. Jean and Dany got what they needed and I scrambled to remember what was on my shopping list as I put whatever good looking produce I found into my basket. 

At the counter I added everything up in my head. I needed $10 worth of stuff so that I could use my card, the only form of payment I had on me. As the Filipino gal at the register scanned my items, I noticed that one of the things I bought was waaaay more expensive than the sticker on the shelf had said. I declined to buy the over priced item. Now I had a problem. I was just a hair under the $10 mark. Knowing that my roommate and I were out bleach, I ran to the isle with cleaning products and quickly weighted out my options. I grabbed a bottle of Lysol and ran back. The cashier rang it up. "Six dollars! For that tiny bottle? The price tag on the shelf said three..." 

At this point I began to get frustrated. You'd think seven months of living here would have taught be to just roll with it, but every time I shop, I manage to forget that accurate sticker prices in the grocery stores on this island are a grossly overlooked thing. I ran back, grabbed a six dollar bottle of bleach that was double the size, deciding that if I was going to spend that much, I might as well get my moneys worth. The bleach rang up as only three dollars. How ironic. At this point I had asked them to void two items and add one additional item, and right before discovering the last of the pricing mix up's, the cashier had gone ahead and charged my credit card. Now the girl had to void the transaction and re-charge my card, a process that took almost ten minutes. All this time I stood there, my patience waning away to nothing and my attitude increasingly negative, the cashier didn't look up at me or give me any explanation as to why they were making me sign a whole pile of receipts or where they had taken my credit card for almost ten minutes. I walked out of San Jose feeling frustrated and confused.

Back at home I began to think about the whole thing from the cashiers perspective. Regular day, regular customer. Only, she's American, and she's not happy about the sticker prices being wrong on some of her items. With a relatively small staff it is hard to keep up with accurate sticker prices. The high turnover rate of merchandise doesn't make keeping up with it easy either. She is getting frustrated and I don't want to make her feel more so.. better to give her space. 

I don't know if these are the exact reasons she had, but I am sure it was something along these lines. When it comes to the cultural differences between the Filipino people on Saipan and Americans, one of our misunderstandings is over the non-confrontational approach embedded into Filipino culture. I have seen it demonstrated by so many of my friends here. Confrontations seem to be avoided at all cost, and if they do happen, they are very subtle. I didn't get any explanation from the cashier because she didn't want to upset me. Her natural response was to be passive and indirect. My natural response to the situation was to demand answers. When I saw the way she was behaving and didn't think as to why, I began to think even more negatively. "People could steal my credit card information. My friends are waiting on me and this is wasting their time and mine! Her answers are so vague, and she isn't giving me any eye contact. Rude?"

I am embarrassed to admit it, but this is the frame of mind I walked out of that grocery store with. Saipan is so similar to the states in certain aspects. I wasn't aware that I had expectations that were setting me up for a reality check. Frustration, confusion, and all simply because I didn't take the time to understand the facts about living here or where this girl was coming from.

On my next trip to San Jose Mart I plan on being more careful to check the prices and careful to not come across like a crazy American girl. Then again, perhaps she understood where I was coming from. :)

Managaha Outdoor School

The annual trip to Managaha to host outdoor school for our elementary and daycare students happened this last Friday! Students from our toddler class all the way to our eighth grade class hopped on the Jambalaya and took a 20 minute boat ride out to the bright and sunny island of Managaha to learn about conservation and history.

At Pavilion #1 students were taught by a professor from the Northern Marianas College about the rhinoceros beetle and the toll this invading insect is taking on the coconut trees on Guam. We learned that the value of a full grown coconut tree is anywhere from 4,000 to 5,000 USD!

At Pavilion #2 students learned about the history of the Carolinian people, and were taught about the Carolinian chief by one of our islands Historians (guy in the orange shirt). 

At Pavilion #3 students learned about reef conservation. This session was taught by employees of the Bureau of Environmental Equality. As part of their lecture, students invited "Manny," one of the islands popular fish, to come up on shore. This fish (apologies, I don't remember the name!) is found only in the reefs of this small island. 

To wrap things up, students at Pavilion #4 learned about sea turtle conservation. Although the red tape did not allow the presenter to bring a live sea turtle, he did bring several models and lectured on the life of a sea turtle and the dangers that are drastically reducing its population.

After the educational sessions, students ate lunch and then separated by grade levels for games and swimming. As one of the game leaders, I initiated a sand castle building contest, and several games on the beach that bought a crowd of tourists around to watch us. The students had a lot of fun, and the teachers had what slightly resembled a vacation day. 

The best part of this day? Getting to enjoy the outdoors with the kids before tropical storm Bavi sent us all indoors for the weekend.

School Garden

In the last several weeks our school garden has made a lot of progress! Thanks to a donation by our local agricultural department, we now have the materials to build a dozen raised beds. Ten of the raised beds have already been assembled, and we wasted no time in filling them. Since the beginning of the year our maintenance men have been adding compost material to our garden, and with the amendments the soil is becoming richer.

Our first grade class spent some time this last week helping plant oregano, mint, basil and tomatoes! I couldn't resist pulling out the camera and taking a few pictures. We have added several more papaya trees, and I hear that eggplant is next on the list. We have received some packages of seeds, (donations from my Grandma and a few others) and so we are going to be adding a lot more to the garden in the months to follow. I am excited to see this idea put into action, and I can't wait to see it grow!

candid pics & a little narrative

Friends and family have asked me how I've done it.

"Was it hard to leave home knowing you would be gone for a whole year?" 
"Were you scared to fly half way around the world to work on an island you knew nothing about?"

That was the best part, really. Other than what I could pull off the internet (which wasn't much) I knew so little about this place and I had no expectations. I didn't know what my time here would be like, so I prepared in the only way I knew how (prayer) and let the whole thing be a surprise. In some ways Saipan is just like home. Joeten Superstore is stocked up on Kirkland products, and the inside of the Hollywood theater is just like every Regal Cinema on the west coast. When my roommate and I remember to flip on the water heater breaker we have warm showers and on most nights the WiFi in our apartment is decent enough to use Skype. But the cookware cardboard box that has been my laundry hamper for the last seven months reminds me that although there are things that make this place feel a lot like home, living on this island definitely has some differences.  

    

It was during Emily Wilkens chapel talk during my junior year of high school that I first aspired to be a long term missionary and embrace the differences that come with living in a new environment & culture. Emily shared her book "African Rice Heart" and some of her experiences with us and then she gave us each a copy of her book. After reading her book I knew if I ever had the opportunity to do something like it, I would jump in a heart beat.
Two years passed.
By the time I got to Walla Walla University I had somewhat forgotten my mission ambitions. What I did not realize until later was that I was attending the same college Emily went through to be a student missionary. A Missions Highlight Vespers that was held a couple weeks in to my Freshman year reignited my desire to serve, and I started filling out the application for student missions that very next week. God has His own timing though, and it was a year and a half before He opened the door for me to come to Saipan. His timing is perfect, and I know that with my whole heart.

Its a little like being a counselor at summer camp, though rather than spending one week with them you are around them for a whole school year. Working in the office of an elementary school, you see the students grow and mature. Kindergarten students whose heads barely reached the counter are now tall enough to peek over it without needing to tip toe. Three-year-old's who were once inconsolable at the thought of parting with their parents for a few hours now boldly march ahead to their classrooms. Boys and girls who labored to count to 100 by themselves can now add six digit numbers...and looking back it leaves you wondering how time managed to crawl and fly at the same time.

Last night I was standing outside our apartments and staring up at the sky. I felt the wind pick up and as I stood there enveloped in this warm blast of air I caught a scent of the trees around me and something about it reminded me of home. I got this overwhelming feeling of homesickness for a minute. "Its only three months away" I told myself. 10 months may seem like eternity when you first start out, but it passes so quickly. 10 months ends up being barely enough time to do everything you want to do.

These are some candid shots I took the other day for our yearbook. One of the many perks of my job is getting to run around and take fun photos of the students and teachers. I am really going to miss these faces when I leave. Quirks and all, I am going to miss this island. I am going to miss coconuts!!!

A shout-out to WWU! What an amazing college, they are such an incredible support system for their student missionaries. A couple months ago the missions department sent these pedometers for our P.E. classes. They will definitely be put to good use. A big thank you to everyone who sent notes in the last package from the missions office. If only you all knew how much getting those notes mean.

Its nearing spring quarter and the applications for student missions are open. I am sure there are awesome posters up reminding everyone. To all of you who are considering being an SM, I have this bit of encouragement for you. 

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for for," declares the LORD.
"Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."

Go. :)