What a day today was in paradise. I was up and about at 6:45 AM to drive Audra to school, stopped at Winchells for a blueberry muffin, stopped at the local gas station near the apartment to pick up the paper.............I absolutely LOVE reading the daily paper. I never read it at home but his one is so homey it makes you feel like you're part of the action. The island suffers all the economic woes we do on the mainland but it it a lot worse here. The government is threatening to do away with the education credit so teachers had their 6th grade students a the school Audra teaches at write letters to the governor. The letters were heart wrenching. One kid said his family often times go without dinner so they can afford to buy school supplies and another kid said they go without new clothes so they can afford to buy school supplies. It went on and on like that. Audra said a lot of the kids come from families who just don't earn very much and don't get a lot to eat.
So after I read the paper and got caught up on all the happenings here I went for a swim in the apartment pool which is just down the street from the apartment. Felt good to be in water again. I still haven't hit the beach......maybe tomorrow:) High tide is real early in the morning now and late at night so hasn't been deep enough for me to snorkel in.
Then I headed out for shopping! I stopped at Payless Shoe Store and bought some flip flops and sandals, went to Dolphin Store (Saipan's version of WalMart) and then over to the Joeten Super Center which used to be Costco to get some more guava juice (the last case I bought was stolen out of the car along with our purses). I was leaving the check-out counter when the clerk came running over to me and informed me I had toilet tissue on the back of my pants (they call toilet paper toilet tissue here). I said "on my butt" and she shook her head yes. I reached back and there was a big long piece of it stuck on my pants! How it got there is beyond me but it was there. How embarrassing! I wonder where I picked it up at and how long it had been on my butt. It's not like I blend in here either being white and 5'8" tall! I told Audra when I picked her up from school that I was sure to be the talk of the island after that! Geez!!!! Too bad I didn't get a picture of it for all of you to see.................sorry:(
We then came back to the apartment and couldn't get the key to open up the door. They put a new lock on it (since I had a key to her place in my stolen purse I thought it was best to replace the lock) and the keys worked fine when I left but wouldn't unlock the darn door for anything. It was hotter than heck out too. Lucky for us the workers were still around so they got us into the apartment. Audra's babies were meowing their heads off wondering why we weren't coming inside.
After we cooled off we went to Coffee Care for dinner which is right by her apartment. I made friends with two of the waiters there last time and they were excited to see me again, Lanie and Ann. They are my Saipan buddies!We met two of Audra's friends there for dinner too. Very nice girls. We all had a very nice chat and a great dinner (chicken enchiladas with tons of sour cream.......yum)!
Every Saturday night this month is "The Taste of The Marianas" where a bunch of restaurants around the island gather at Memorial Park near Audra's school and you go booth to booth and buy the food. Can hardly wait!
Sunday night is a free concert put on by the island choral groups that I want to go to.
On May 22nd 60 Buddist monks are coming to the island for a peace event that will be held at the Japanese Memorial Park and Banzai Memorial Park which commemorate the fighting that took place here during WWII. I will for sure go to that.
Every Thursday night they have a huge downtown food fest too and also performers from all the islands around here doing native dances. That's really fun to go to!
There is always something going on here.
Now we're just chillin'. Audra definitely has a cold so she's pretty tired. I just too an Aleve for my knees from my swim today. The cats are up to no good so all is good in paradise!
I'll just have to make sure I have left all the toilet tissue behind when I set out on my adventures tomorrow!
Remember to check out what is behind you before moving forward!
It's always been toilet "tissue" in pubic places... Toilet "paper" at home. We must be politically correct about that too! :-) Not much new here except the weather for May is weird. In the 70's with puffy clouds. Are we still in Phoenix? They are waning of larger and more powerful than normal "dust devils" this year. It sounds like you don't lack for something to do when you want to get out, and it can't be very far away... How much is gas on the island (I'm almost afraid to ask)? Well keep blogging and I'll keep reading. Be sure to tuck the white tail in before leaving the apartment.. LMAO - Jim
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