It has been a while since I have posted, It seems like most of my posts start like that. I haven't had much desire to write anything lately and life here has become so “normal” to me that I don’t find anything that happens to be “post” worthy. I guess that will happen after nearly 9 months. I just typed that out and can’t believe I have been gone for that long. It is starting to feel like Saipan is my new home. Not quite yet though. I tried to log into my wordpress account this evening so I could write this post. Unfortunately I forgot my password, so while I wait on WordPress to reset I am using google docs to type this. I guess it really has been a while if I forgot my login info…..
Before I get into the trip a few things I have been up to lately,
So since Saipan celebrates every single holiday known to man, we had Friday (Chinese New Year) and Monday (Presidents Day) off giving us a 4 day weekend. A few of us decided to go to Guam for that time since the evangelist Taj Pacleb was speaking there during that time. We left Saipan at 4 am on Friday morning, and arrived in Guam with no issue. However at the airport I checked out one of those charging stations (Left).
Notice anything? That's right! No support for Type C connections! What is this 2013? What about us Google Pixel users? Oh wait we have all day battery... Still kinda crazy though. Type C is pretty common these days.
We rented our car, which turned out to be a Prius… Those of you who know me well, probably know that a Prius is not my favorite car, but no one I knew saw me driving it so it was cool. I joke but the gas mileage on that thig was incredible, maybe there is a place in this world for hybrids… Just not Prius's.
We got to the mission unloaded our luggage. Then it was straight down to the SDA store to buy some Veggie meats. (cant get them in the third world country of Saipan) I also spent time in the book section and got a book called Daring to Ask for More, one of the SMs recommended it to me. Y’all probably know I’m not the biggest reader but i got to say I can't put it down. It’s so great, I highly recommend to anyone looking for a great book about prayer. After some resting we went out to eat, I can't remember what we ate, so you can rest assured it was NOT Mexican Food, I would have remembered that. After lunch we went exploring the North side of the Island (the part I hadn't been to yet) and had a great time exploring out there. On one of the straighter roads I decided to see what the little wimpy Prius could do, and I hate to admit it but that thing moved! Its no race car but when I punch it, the car responds.
That night we went to the meetings. They were incredible. It is very rare that I am that captivated by something someone on a stage is saying but it was really a powerful message. Anyone interested in hearing Taj Pacleb's Hope of Revelation Series should head over to his site Here. I really enjoyed his talk. Another thing I really liked was, the people at the meeting were so friendly, so welcoming, so genuine. Something I haven't seen or experienced in a very long time. Everyone was so nice and friendly, it felt like a real community. I could see myself living in Guam someday, You know if they ever add a Chipotle.
The next day we went to the Church that is associated with the SDA Dental Clinic. It was a great experience Taj spoke, the sermon was great and once again the kindness and friendliness of the people blew me away. I met the pastor of the church and he was taking us around introducing us to all sorts of people who were just as friendly as he was. Truly a great experience. After church those of us who came from Saipan went exploring around the southern part of the island. Here are some pictures,
[gallery ids="1363,1361,1356,1359,1354,1353,1349,1350,1346,1341,1337,1334,1352,1355,1351,1347,1343,1338,1335,1330,1326,1327" type="slideshow" orderby="rand"]
That night we had some Mexican food, so good! And after that headed to the mall to do some shopping and walk around the town just to see what they had. Below is a picture of a restaurant sign (Below) . I thought i was funny so i snapped a photo of it.
Sunday morning we went to a food fair put on by Guam Adventist Academy. I didn't realize what it was until we got there, but when I did realize it, I discovered how much I miss that type of thing, all the classes selling different types of food to try and raise money. It was a real blessing to be able to be there and enjoy that. That evening we went to the meetings again and really enjoyed them. We talked with Pastor Taj after and since it was our last night, he took a photo with us. Really disappointed we missed the rest of the meetings.
The next morning we took a tour of AWR (Adventist World Radio) I enjoyed that so much, but it deserves its own post which I will put out later this week. So stay alert for that, you won't want to miss it. After that we had a quick lunch and then two of our group headed back to Saipan, I bought the later flight for myself and Alan (Saipan SM), because we wanted one last meal. And of course I had to stop at The Home Depot before I left. It's the little things that make life great.
[gallery ids="1317,1321,1293" type="rectangular"]
Shortly after we were getting ready to head to the airport i got a text from one of the ladies that had left a few hours before saying they were back in Guam, that the plane had turned around. Turns out, a small touring plane had crashed on the Saipan and no one could land. Thankfully both the pilot and passenger were fine. I figured at worst our flight would be delayed a few hours but it would still take off. Well it didn't, we get to the airport and are told that our flight was canceled and they can't put us on another until Thursday, and since it "was not our fault" United would not be paying for anything. not rental car, no hotel, no food. We were able to find a car, and the Mission House was still available. We got one more night of sleeping in and relaxing but thanks to the help of a friend on island, we got a special contact number, and they had us on a flight that night (Tuesday) at 7:30. After one last Mexican meal we started preparing to pack up and fly back. They flew us out on a 737 which is much larger than what they normally fly, Apparently according to some people on the plane they made that flight special, just for the people whose flights were canceled, apparently ours wasn't the only one. I feel they should have done that sooner, and you know maybe contact the people who were displaced but if they did that then they wouldn't be able to keep the reputation of most hated airline that the apparently so desperately want to hold on to.
So we lost a day of relaxing but as they say its always good to be home. Did I just refer to Saipan as "home"? Someone get me out of here! All things considered it was a great trip and mark my words United WILL be hearing from me, in a nice Christian way of course.
PS even in Guam you got to look out for the brightly colored cars, I guess you cant escape "tourist" driving anywhere.
Before I get into the trip a few things I have been up to lately,
- I moved! I finally got into a place on the schools compound, which to me means, since it is a school owned building, I can renovate or remodel things I want. If i want to tear out a wall, I can do that without having to risk the building manager finding out. Shoot I think the principal reads this, (at no time have walls been removed from this apartment.) I will be doing a separate post on my move later once my orders from Amazon get here.
- Our school is getting a new website, and I got tasked with creating it, it is a very simple WordPress thing, but I am learning some CSS and really enjoying it. It is far from done and still needs a lot of tweaks but if you want to check out the progress it can be found at www.saipansda.wordpress.com this is the temporary domain until we transfer it to our already owned domain.
- I got new glasses, not very exciting but I didn’t realize how clear things can be if you have proper eye equipment. Before I saw the world in 480p now i see the world in 4k. So not too exciting but I’m happy I can see again.
So since Saipan celebrates every single holiday known to man, we had Friday (Chinese New Year) and Monday (Presidents Day) off giving us a 4 day weekend. A few of us decided to go to Guam for that time since the evangelist Taj Pacleb was speaking there during that time. We left Saipan at 4 am on Friday morning, and arrived in Guam with no issue. However at the airport I checked out one of those charging stations (Left).
Notice anything? That's right! No support for Type C connections! What is this 2013? What about us Google Pixel users? Oh wait we have all day battery... Still kinda crazy though. Type C is pretty common these days.We rented our car, which turned out to be a Prius… Those of you who know me well, probably know that a Prius is not my favorite car, but no one I knew saw me driving it so it was cool. I joke but the gas mileage on that thig was incredible, maybe there is a place in this world for hybrids… Just not Prius's.
We got to the mission unloaded our luggage. Then it was straight down to the SDA store to buy some Veggie meats. (cant get them in the third world country of Saipan) I also spent time in the book section and got a book called Daring to Ask for More, one of the SMs recommended it to me. Y’all probably know I’m not the biggest reader but i got to say I can't put it down. It’s so great, I highly recommend to anyone looking for a great book about prayer. After some resting we went out to eat, I can't remember what we ate, so you can rest assured it was NOT Mexican Food, I would have remembered that. After lunch we went exploring the North side of the Island (the part I hadn't been to yet) and had a great time exploring out there. On one of the straighter roads I decided to see what the little wimpy Prius could do, and I hate to admit it but that thing moved! Its no race car but when I punch it, the car responds.
That night we went to the meetings. They were incredible. It is very rare that I am that captivated by something someone on a stage is saying but it was really a powerful message. Anyone interested in hearing Taj Pacleb's Hope of Revelation Series should head over to his site Here. I really enjoyed his talk. Another thing I really liked was, the people at the meeting were so friendly, so welcoming, so genuine. Something I haven't seen or experienced in a very long time. Everyone was so nice and friendly, it felt like a real community. I could see myself living in Guam someday, You know if they ever add a Chipotle.
The next day we went to the Church that is associated with the SDA Dental Clinic. It was a great experience Taj spoke, the sermon was great and once again the kindness and friendliness of the people blew me away. I met the pastor of the church and he was taking us around introducing us to all sorts of people who were just as friendly as he was. Truly a great experience. After church those of us who came from Saipan went exploring around the southern part of the island. Here are some pictures,
[gallery ids="1363,1361,1356,1359,1354,1353,1349,1350,1346,1341,1337,1334,1352,1355,1351,1347,1343,1338,1335,1330,1326,1327" type="slideshow" orderby="rand"]
That night we had some Mexican food, so good! And after that headed to the mall to do some shopping and walk around the town just to see what they had. Below is a picture of a restaurant sign (Below) . I thought i was funny so i snapped a photo of it.
Sunday morning we went to a food fair put on by Guam Adventist Academy. I didn't realize what it was until we got there, but when I did realize it, I discovered how much I miss that type of thing, all the classes selling different types of food to try and raise money. It was a real blessing to be able to be there and enjoy that. That evening we went to the meetings again and really enjoyed them. We talked with Pastor Taj after and since it was our last night, he took a photo with us. Really disappointed we missed the rest of the meetings.
The next morning we took a tour of AWR (Adventist World Radio) I enjoyed that so much, but it deserves its own post which I will put out later this week. So stay alert for that, you won't want to miss it. After that we had a quick lunch and then two of our group headed back to Saipan, I bought the later flight for myself and Alan (Saipan SM), because we wanted one last meal. And of course I had to stop at The Home Depot before I left. It's the little things that make life great.
[gallery ids="1317,1321,1293" type="rectangular"]
Shortly after we were getting ready to head to the airport i got a text from one of the ladies that had left a few hours before saying they were back in Guam, that the plane had turned around. Turns out, a small touring plane had crashed on the Saipan and no one could land. Thankfully both the pilot and passenger were fine. I figured at worst our flight would be delayed a few hours but it would still take off. Well it didn't, we get to the airport and are told that our flight was canceled and they can't put us on another until Thursday, and since it "was not our fault" United would not be paying for anything. not rental car, no hotel, no food. We were able to find a car, and the Mission House was still available. We got one more night of sleeping in and relaxing but thanks to the help of a friend on island, we got a special contact number, and they had us on a flight that night (Tuesday) at 7:30. After one last Mexican meal we started preparing to pack up and fly back. They flew us out on a 737 which is much larger than what they normally fly, Apparently according to some people on the plane they made that flight special, just for the people whose flights were canceled, apparently ours wasn't the only one. I feel they should have done that sooner, and you know maybe contact the people who were displaced but if they did that then they wouldn't be able to keep the reputation of most hated airline that the apparently so desperately want to hold on to.
So we lost a day of relaxing but as they say its always good to be home. Did I just refer to Saipan as "home"? Someone get me out of here! All things considered it was a great trip and mark my words United WILL be hearing from me, in a nice Christian way of course.
PS even in Guam you got to look out for the brightly colored cars, I guess you cant escape "tourist" driving anywhere.
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