A new chapter...

Mid-Winter

2012-02-26T05:15:00.000+10:00

We've been excited these past couple of days because I felt the first kicks of the baby on February 22! Noé keeps asking me if I've felt any more kicks - every time he walks into the room. He'll be more excited, I think, once he can feel them from the outside. So what's it feel like? Like holding a wiggly gold-fish in your cupped hands, or an extra heart pounding a couple times in my lower belly. He's been reading up on pregnancy in his Spanish version of the book, so he seems to be somewhat of an expert these days. I've been wearing maternity pants for the past month and a half now, and they are a lot more comfortable than buying just a size bigger, and today I've organized the closet based on what fits and doesn't fit (unfortunately the doesn't fit category is growing every day). We've been working on getting gift registries in place, so click on the Baby page to the right for those links. Next Thursday we'll go to our 20 wk ultrasound where we'll find out the sex of the baby and get some more good picts and movie clips, so we'll keep you all updated.

I was inspired to go ahead and make a quilt already, crib size.

It's getting harder and harder to pretend I'm not pregnant!

Orion, mid-winter vacationing

The Holidays

2012-01-08T10:48:00.000+10:00

Tara snowshoeing at Stevens Pass

Well, now that the holidays are over I feel I can write about them in entirety. For Thanksgiving, Evita (our friend from the Peace Corps) and her classmate came up from Oregon to spend the week with us. We had lots of fun taking them around to sites such as the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, and Snoqualmie Falls. Right after they left, I had a doctor appointment that confirmed my pregnancy! We are due around July 18, 2012. Early in December we drove down to Union, WA to visit our friend Camas (who we met in Rota), who was DJing an ugly sweater contest party at a local bar. Her dad won!

Camas and Randy Baugh. Who's uglier?

For Christmas Eve, since most of my family left for CA, we drove down to Auntie Mo's house and had dinner at the Crab Shop with her and later ate cookies at her house. On Christmas day, Noé and I volunteered as Santa's helpers and delivered gifts to families with the Forgotten Children's Fund! It was a very fun and rewarding experience.

Our team of Santa's elves

Just after Christmas, our friends Yuka and Alex (who I met studying abroad in Ecuador) came up from CA to stay with us for a week. We rented a cabin out near Gold Bar called the Blue River Cabin and our friend Chris came as well. Since I couldn't snowboard (due to being preggos), Noé and I went snowshoeing and Chris took Yuka and Alex to snowboard for their first time. Despite the rain (!) and a tiring first run, they loved the experience. Noé took them snowboarding again the following Saturday at Snoqualmie Pass and then we celebrate New Year's Eve at home watching TV.

This week I had my second OB-GYN visit and we got some sonogram pictures to share (12 weeks):

Baby, 6.1 cm head to toosh - everything looked perfect so far!

Wish us luck with the pregnancy and a great rest-of-the-school-year!

Winter??

2011-11-19T13:38:00.000+10:00

Squak Mountain gets some snow - view from our apartment parking lot

I'm so excited because we have some friends visiting us this holiday season! Evita will come up from Portland for Thanksgiving (she was my maid of honor in El Salvador when we were in the Peace Corps, and although she a Texan, she's studying in OR now), and Yuka will come up for the Xmas holiday with her husband Alex from California (I studied abroad and traveled with Yuka in Ecuador). I often think I have few friends, but the truth is they're all spread out over many states and countries - from the USA to El Salvador, to Ecuador, to Rota. It's rare they get to meet up with me in another environment and get to see my family and friends from home.

Fall

2011-10-30T07:13:00.001+10:00

It's been a very, very busy October. I've been volunteering with AMIGOS which entails interviewing prospective volunteers, creating handbooks and web pages, attending a 4-day training in Houston, and next weekend we have our first training of the year. I also attended the Washington Association for Foreign Language Teachers conference in Pasco for 2 days and presented AMIGOS as one of the break-out sessions.

I had the opportunity to go to see Saving Aimee with Ruth, Amanda, Tracy and Daniel this week - I had no idea before the show who "Aimee" was. The actress had a great voice!

Noé and I went to Beaver Lake haunted forest this week to see some of my students scaring people. The event really wasn't scary except for the black horses that followed us and cut us off in the dark woods. Tonight we'll go to Maris Farms's haunted corn maze with some friends, which will be a good scare.

At school the kids really dressed up, and we had them make sugar skulls and other Mexican altar and skeleton projects. Then we combined all the arts from the Spanish classes and made altars for November 1-2, including pictures that families submitted of deceased people. It really looked cool!

Me and María with our Halloween costumes

Mini-altars art project for 7th graders (a project I thought up)

School year starts

2011-09-10T15:59:00.005+10:00

Poo Poo Point on Tiger Mtn, Issaquah - Launching site for paragliders. Lake Sammamish in distance, with Squak Mountain on left and Cougar Mtn. behind that (shorter). Looking west.

Paragliders taking off

It's been crazy these past couple of weeks getting back in the flow of teaching! Actually, it's not the teaching that's stressful, rather the planning using a new book and materials, the numerous emails, and getting used to all the new things required of me at this school: advising students, updating grades, posting online, contacting parents, back to school nights, meetings, using 3 classrooms, attending mass, praying at the start of class, etc. I have no complaints about the work environment - the people all seem competent and nice, the building is well equipped, the students are darling, the parents are nice, and everyone is very welcoming. It's really not what I expected from a private Catholic school - none of the preconceived notions that I heard about, except maybe the level of involvement by the parents (much higher!). It still strikes me odd to hear our students and parents sometimes referred to as "clients", but essentially they are paying upwards of $17,500 for a year's education, so standards are high!

Eastside Catholic Middle and High School

As for teaching middle school students, again they've beaten down any preconceived notions I had. Many people swear they could never teach middle school, and pick either high school or elementary. It had really never crossed my mind to apply for middle school, but I'm so happy I did because I love it! The kids are still so innocent - they do all their homework (mostly) and aren't so defiant towards teachers or the concept of schooling. The highschoolers I've taught in the past and currently (I do have a 9th grade class) seem to allow chips on their shoulders to remain there forever, let their personal life get in the way of their education, and begin to make bad decisions. For example, my middle schoolers are eager to please and complete everything asked of them, even going above and beyond. High schoolers, I often find, when posed with a difficult assignment, opt to consciously not do it or group together with other slackers and silently protest by not doing any work. The middle schoolers so far seem so energetic towards education - although they, too, have many side stories and conversations. All in all, I am enjoying my 7th and 8th grade classes more than my 9th grade class!

Our apartment complex ammenities

Here in Issaquah Orion has become more of an indoor cat - he seems afraid to go outside most of the time, perhaps due to construction noise across the green belt, the noises of neighbors upstairs and next door, or possibly he's seen animals outside (although the dogs are probably most what scares him). The drive to work is about 8 miles, about 20 minutes with school bus traffic, and all on 40 mph country roads. Noe has a longer haul to work sometimes in Renton, Lynnwood, Seattle, Shoreline, or Woodinville, depending on the house they're currently working on. Last weekend we enjoyed the last days the apartment pool was open, hiked up to Poo Poo Point via the Chirico Trail starting at the landing site for paragliders and reaching the launching site with great views. This weekend we hope to visit the rodeo at the Puyallup fair and continue to try new hiking trails right here in Issaquah.

We're also hoping to rent a cabin in the mountains for a part of Xmas break - to enjoy the cold and snowy holidays for once! (It's been a while)

Hannah and Sam camping

During August - I took Hannah and Sam camping and we also visited the Cougar Mtn zoo and saw the Planet of the Apes movie. I spent most of my weekends and weekdays working (school started the 24th, but I had to start on the 10th with orientations and meetings). The summer seemed so short! Even after traveling to Thailand for 10 days, moving to Issaquah, visiting Butte, MT and Chelan, WA, I really had just about 6 weeks from when I stopped teaching on Rota until I started work at Eastside Catholic. Now this may seem like a lot of time, but once you factor in 17 days of traveling, finding the apartment, buying a car, moving and unpacking, shopping for new clothes, it really hasn't been so much "downtime" vacation. Still, it was a good enough transition time between moving across the world and getting started with a new job. Noe, luckily, started working once he and Chris were back from Thailand and ready to see each other 24/7 again.

Bengal Tigers at the Cougar Mountain Zoo

July

2011-07-28T01:48:00.005+10:00

USA 2011 Photo Album, click to view

Noe got to go backpacking with some friends out on the peninsula, and I've been sick since Chelan with sinus infection and coughing :( We're all settled in to our apartment, and Orion is loving it. I went to Montana for a weekend with mom to meet some other relatives in Butte, MT so click on Noé above to see all those photos.

It's been really nice to be home in WA; the weather hasn't gotten to us yet. Noe's been working with Chris already and I've started up volunteering with Amigos de las Americas, too (as a board member, trainer, and fundraiser). I hope to be able to go camping/hiking, as soon as my cough is gone. There are plenty of trails near our house on Cougar and Squak Mountain, including a state park with camping. We even saw some black bear scat in the neighborhood.

Take care,

TJ

Back in the groove

2011-07-11T09:02:00.000+10:00

So we're back in WA and got an apartment in Issaquah, but going to Chelan this week with the Holzknechts and then moving in next weekend (15-17th), then we'll finally be settled in! Noé started at Bellevue College already and looks forward to working with our friend Chris on some houses. I think I start up in mid-August and need to figure out what classes I'm teaching and what the curriculum is. I've very excited because the first half of the school year is the most exciting! And I'm even more excited to get my cat Orion back with us :) Oh yeah - and the Eddie Vedder concert next Friday!

In the meantime we're at mom and dad's playing with the cats and entertaining friends.

--Tara

Thailand 2011

2011-06-21T18:17:00.009+10:00

We are currently in Bangkok, Thailand after being in Chaing Mai last week. I've started a photo album, below, that will update with new photos probably every day. Note - mahout = person who rides an elephant.

Thailand is absolutely amazing! The food is good, the people are so nice, the activities are endless, and it doesn't feel scary.

We'll be in Seattle on July 2nd around noon and look forward to the 4th of July festivities.

Take care,

Tara and Noé

Goodbye Rota High

2011-06-16T20:51:00.002+10:00

Here are some pictures of the 3 classes I had this semester (minus the seniors).

New design for a new time

2011-06-06T17:40:00.000+10:00

We have exactly 2 weeks before lift-off and things are hectic. 3....2......1.....1.....1....feels like we're stuck...1....1....?? Can we lift off yet?

First, our friend Chris is visiting starting tomorrow and we thought he was lost in Japan but it turned out he had told us the wrong day he'd be travelling, and everybody we contacted either knew not his flight info, hadn't heard of him, couldn't give out his information, or couldn't speak English. Go figure. Moral: give your itinerary to all your family and friends when you travel!!!

Second, I've been interviewing left and right...and...well...in my PJs. I'm hoping to hear some good news soon...all of the jobs I'm applying for are in WA and mostly Western WA in the Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia-Everett areas.

Third, my computer freaked out and I had to pay somebody to reformat it and then I spent hours on end reloading everything and getting it back up to speed. And now apparently my DVD drive and I are playing a game of "tag, you're it".

Fourth, we are trying to sell our stuff (http://sites.google.com/site/rotagaragesale) and then holding a live garage sale this next weekend. I just sold my guitar, but will play it until the day we leave (thank Buddha!).

Fifth, the school year is winding down and everything is either seeming to get hectic or moving slow-mo, actually it's both those all at the same time. My seniors are gone and my other students are just practicing for their speaking test and presenting their PowerPoints and I'm ad libbing during the unexpected free time when someone "forgets" their presentation and can't go.

Sixth, we're going to be in Thailand in two weeks and still need to figure some stuff out and EMAIL OUR TRAVEL INFO TO OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY so they don't get worried LOL.

Quick Trip Home

2011-05-21T11:19:00.000+10:00

Sam, Tracy, Jill and Tara

Jill and Tara

These past 2 weeks have been crazy! Last weekend I flew to Seattle for about 3 1/2 days to attend my grandfather's funeral on Whidbey Island. Despite the basis for the trip, I did enjoy seeing my family from various states. I also got to see my cat, Orion, as well as hang out with Becky and Michelle at the mall and playing guitar. Upon my return I had one day of teaching, one day of Chamorrita Day with students, and I woke up this Saturday morning to interview on Skype at 6:00am (Bishop Blanchet High). Then I went online for my weekly job-hunt and found 5 positions to apply for in the Seattle area! My seniors will only be in class for about 5 more days (ah!) and then school will slow down for the last two weeks of school, during which our friend will visit, we'll garage sale everything, and plan for Thailand. We're looking forward to moving in with Amanda and Daniel this summer and seeing everybody at Lake Chelan, Montana girls weekend, and of course camping!

See you all soon,

Tara

May is sluggish

2011-05-07T19:35:00.000+10:00

Noé and Mack with some of their elementary soccer stars.

Noé has been volunteering at the elementary doing soccer and they took some cool photos today. Last weekend we went sailing with our friends, Kurt and Christine, on their 30' sailboat just along the coast of Rota. There were some 10' waves and almost made us seasick! But then as we rounded Wedding Cake it calmed down and we could enjoy the view of the backside of the grotto.

We've begun selling our stuff in preparation for our move back to Seattle by creating a website: Rota Garage Sale. We've sold a couple hundred worth of stuff so far, but the bikes are still available!

This video might make you seasick!

Sailing photos

Noé even taught a spider how to play soccer!

Anniversary

2011-04-17T08:21:00.002+10:00

We celebrated our 5th anniversary this April by eating dinner at the Pacifica Restaurant at the Rota Resort. I created a t-shirt for Noé that has a list of places we've been together, using Wordle.net (see image below). I also bought Noé a 2-person tent for backpacking, and it came so fast from REI that we had it for our anniversary rather than his birthday in May! So we went camping out at Poña Point last weekend, although we had to sleep closer to the road due to lots of wind down on the actual point.

These past two weeks have been busy at school as we finished up the 3rd quarter and prepared grades. This coming week teachers have vacation on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday (something like Spring Break, but with Professional Developments in the middle).

We managed to get our taxes done after many calculations on where it would be best for us to file (CNMI vs mainland). We've also bought our tickets to Thailand and are trying to get Noé the appropriate visa from the LA Thai consulate, however I just realized we sent our money order for $5 short of the actual fee, so I'll have to do some calls this week in hopes that they hold his application until they get the other $5 rather than sending it back. Our friend, Chris Stevens, has purchased his tickets to come to Rota and also to Thailand with us, so he'll be here on June 7th or so.

Noé wants to mention that he slipped riding his bike down our driveway and has a skinned knee. He was carrying three loads of laundry in a backpack-thing when he slipped into some green mossy stuff that looks more like seaweed on the cement.

Michelle and Becky finally have microphones and cameras, so we were able to Skype last weekend. It was nice and I hope we can do that more often.

Mark and Tara at Open Mic

2011-03-26T09:42:00.000+10:00

Here Mark Guiawan (a student) and I are playing the song "Lay me down" by the Dirty Heads. This was performed at the Youth Center in Sinapalo, Rota on March 11, 2011 as part of our Rhythm and Sound Club's activities.

Spelunking on Luta

2011-03-21T18:34:00.001+10:00

This weekend we had fun, not only at the Fiesta in Sinapalo (Patron Saint Festival) both Friday and Saturday, on Sunday we went exploring with our friends Julia, Kaity, Kurt, Christine, and Camas through the jungle. Our goal was to see the old cave bunkers that the Japanese had carved out and used during WWII. We found some new ones but weren't able to find the one Julia had previously visited. It was pretty creepy being down under the ground like that thinking was it was like during a war.

After the spelunking we headed to Val's baby shower (Chamorro style) at Teteto beach where we ate good food and painted ceramics - Diana style.

March Madness

2011-03-13T15:33:00.002+10:00

Two types of Rota lobster we ate with our friend Kaity.

First off, we were not affected by the tsunami or earthquake. The island of Rota received a tsunami warning and began evacuating people to higher ground around 5:30 on Friday afternoon. We received 3 calls initially - one from our neighbor to ask if we could take his dog to Sinapalo with us (this was our first notice of a tsunami). Immediately afterwards, my mother called (literally a couple minutes later). That was quickly followed by a call from Sabrina, another teacher at the high school, checking to see if I'd heard the news. We were already on our way out the door to go to Sinapalo (which is about 400-600 ft above sea level) to lead an Open Mic event sponsored by the high school and Youth Center. So we picked up Camas on our way, taking with us items like our passports, medicine and changes of clothing. After Open Mic, we heard that police had blocked the one road back to Songsong Village and so we asked our friends Kurt and Christine if we could hang at their house until the warning was cleared. We went over there and enjoyed their company and homemade calamansi juice and calamansi wine while snacking on Girl Scout cookies, peanuts, green olives, and Tostitos. At about 11:30 the "all-clear" was given and we drove back down to our house. No damage from any wave was recorded here. We routinely see waves of 10-12 ft height when winds get going fast, and the reef just off the shore protects our beaches from hard-pounding waves. Scientists say that the depth of the ocean here (the Marianas Trench, which happens to be the deepest part of any sea on Earth) keeps tsunamis from affecting the island, although they still sound the tsunami warnings and get people out. Correction - the Tsunami warnings don't sound because the batteries aren't working (go fig), so people just call each other to warn about the tsunamis and the police roam around with a bullhorn.

Secondly, Noe has started his online ESL American History class through Rio Salado Community College (AZ). He's taking this class to learn the history for his upcoming citizenship test and to practice reading and writing more in English. I looked today online for more ESL classes and I actually found some "continuing education" courses through Cascadia Community College (WA) that are only $109 for each 6-week class. The two he'll be starting next week are: Grammar for ESL and Writing for ESL. Although they are not college CREDIT classes, they are good preparation for him so that he's ready to take regular college level classes when we return to Washington this July. Both of those classes are aimed at intermediate/advanced ESL students who are preparing for college level reading/writing.

Thirdly, only one of the kittens out front has survived - the momma cat had taken him into one of the restaurant speakers and hid him there from us for about 2 weeks. He's now living in a box under the restaurant and is running, jumping, playing, and attacking bugs. Pretty soon he'll be given away - there's a lady who has already said she wants the kitten. Right now he's only 5-6 weeks old. We like to check on him everyday, even though he's not ours, he's living outside and his mom cat gets food from the restaurant clients and also rats. We don't feed them, they seem to get just enough food. They are not feral - they both enjoy human company and the mom cat regularly jumps up onto my lap, purring and asking for pets.

Finally, we are on our last stretch of school. I have more students this semester, but still within easy classroom management's reach. I was out sick a few days these past couple weeks due to the cough/sore throat/sinus infection thing that is going around, but my students kept up with the work given by the subs. At school we've been using our prep time to supervise in-school-suspension students and also subbing for other teachers, so I haven't actually had a prep period to plan/grade for at least 2 weeks now. I also supervise the cafeteria during our hour lunch for a week, every other week. So most of my days are non-stop, no breaks. But hopefully people will be getting over their colds and students will begin to be deterred from chewing betel nut and getting put in ISS so we won't have to supervise them there. In terms of jobs, I'm looking for Spanish teaching jobs in the state of Washington for next year. We'll be heading home as soon as school ends, stopping over in Thailand for about 10 days on our way back.

Day old kittens

2011-02-05T12:19:00.000+10:00

The small black cat at the Barefoot Tavern out in front of our apartment had kittens a couple days ago. Noe was working and had to go check on the outhouses, only to find the cat with three little kittens curled up on a toilet seat on the floor! The mom took one of the kittens under the restaurant and hasn't gone back to get it, so we think she hid it because she knew she couldn't feed it. I fixed her up a box with a towel and so now she stays with her two kittens under the floor of the restaurant. There is about a foot clearance because the restaurant is open air and the floor is really like a deck. A couple of us are trying to give her food scraps or milk when possible, but really she is a cat that adopted the restaurant and so the family doesn't really consider her a pet, rather a nuisance, even though she is as friendly as a house cat (not skittish like booney cats). Either way, these kittens are very cute! I don't think I've seen any kittens this young before.

End of 1st semester

2011-01-29T17:16:00.000+10:00

Another semester passed me by - time is flying by as we begin our last semester here on Rota. This week I managed to finish up the classes with my students, proctor state testing during planning period, and move my entire classroom across campus to a bigger room. Next week I start with new (to me) students, but more of them (still only 15-21 per class, but compared to 12, 13, and 15 this quarter...). We've been doing Zumba a lot here at home and exercising almost daily. Also, last week we held an Open Mic at the Jr. High cafeteria, which went really well - we got over 60 students to come watch and many new people played songs. It was really fun! I did videotape it on my new Flip cam, but it's a HUGE file since it's like an hour long. On the weekends I've been spending massive time looking for jobs and getting my teacher portfolio (an online website) completed. Hopefully I'll land a handful of interviews like last time I applied :)

Our neighbors have a cute, young crow that is recovering from toe surgery. His name is Sonny:

Happy New Year! 2011

2011-01-01T14:12:00.001+10:00

Here we are waiting for a cock fight that never was. We were waiting and waiting so we went to a friend's house and then we were still waiting for the cock fight so we decided to go to Rota Resort. They were having a countdown but we didn't know that the party was mostly Japanese tourists. We played Bingo at the party and they had fireworks and a live chacha band and Noe danced. At midnight we toasted with champagne and noodle soup (both for free!). Many people jumped in the pool, even after they had been told not to "jump on the pool" (Japanese translator).

-Noé

Xmas cookies!

2010-12-04T12:53:00.001+10:00

Today I made gingerbread cookies and fudge! We don't have molasses or marshmallow cream, so mom sent me some molasses and I used mini-marshmallows instead. Noe helped to decorate the stars and trees. The fudge doesn't do well outside the fridge, but is good when chilled. Otherwise it gets really gooey!

Last night we had an Open Mic with the RHS Rhythm and Sound Club and had about 50 youth come to see. They made me play a couple songs, so I got up and played "The middle" by Jimmy Eat World and "With or without you" by U2. We put up Christmas lights to set the mood. Next week they are planning on playing "My Xmas List" by Simple Plan at the Christmas tree lighting and I am organizing the teachers to do a square dance to Crosby's "Christmas Dinner Country Style". I'll be sure to post pictures next weekend.

Happy Turkey Day and Education Day!

2010-11-23T17:24:00.000+10:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Today we celebrated Education Day with all the public schools on island. This entailed us taking the students up to a baseball field in Sinapalu and being under tarps all day to avoid the hot sun and rain (HA HA to all of those with SNOW!). The teachers and staff of the year were awarded, all staff enjoyed wonderful potluck food (Gotta love the lumpia, latiya desert, titiyas, sweet potatoes, red rice, lemonade, BBQ chicken, pink pickled papaya, and the pancit bihon!), and were made to participate in games in front of all the students. I ended up winning the "pop the balloons tied around the other teachers legs while keeping yours unpopped" game, and I actually didn't POP anybody's balloon! I just hopped around on one leg while the rest eliminated themselves. Then, Camas and I dueled it out - but hers popped on the spiky grass and I won! I took home a portable cooking stove (gas).

'Tis the season...

2010-11-14T09:27:00.000+10:00

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and it's already time to purchase gifts online to be sent. I've been looking for rock guitar songs for my Rhythm and Sound club to perform at the village Christmas Tree Lighting event in the park - I found a version of "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch" on the ukelele! YouTube it and you'll see. We haven't picked any one yet for sure, though. We'll be staying home for the holidays (last year we went to Guam) so we can save up for a trip to Thailand on our way home to Seattle in June. For Thanksgiving we'll be going to Lynn's house - she's already flown in 3 turkeys!

Noé is excited to be back on Rota. He even worked some hours at the restaurant outside, which is owned by our landlord, and may work lunch shifts 3 or 4 times each week. At least it's something! We are planning on riding around the island today to work off some of those cookies we ate at Camas's house last night :)

El día de los muertos en Luta

2010-11-01T17:30:00.001+10:00

Today we decorated sugar skulls, calaveras de azúcar, just like last year. The students love this activity. All of the skulls are shown in the picture here.

Last night I had a Halloween party at the apartment - 8 of us hung out, ate candy, and laughed at Phil's "Miss New Zealand" red dress outfit! The house was fully decorated with tissue paper and spider webs, even a toilet paper roll bar that screams when you pull on TP. Not to mention the bloody shower curtain!

Noé will be arriving on Rota in 5 days, and these are the weirdest five days. We have school only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (due to two holidays), and since he flies in on Friday, I have that day off, too. Not sure what to do with all this extra time...I guess I could take down all those Halloween decorations...

Lindsay, Camas, Sinead, Eric, Phil, Tara, Sam, and Diana

10/31/10

Día de los Muertos

2010-10-29T16:53:00.000+10:00

This week in class we've been doing Day of the Dead projects and learning about culture in Mexico. Today I dressed up with my Salvadoran dress (that I got this summer) and braided my hair, since everyone was dressing up for Halloween. I will post some pictures of the sugar skulls we're going to make on Monday. Happy Halloween everyone!

Fiesta aftermath

2010-10-16T12:06:00.000+10:00

Last weekend was our Fiesta! The San Francisco de Borja 2010 Fiesta, on Rota. Check out the video above to see the main night's activities. The other videos are on our youtube page.

Chillin'

2010-09-18T20:31:00.000+10:00

'Been spending the last two weeks teaching Spanish 1 and 2 - the start is always exciting and the students are very engaged in class. During my off-time, I have been riding my bike with Camas to Poña Point, walking to the Cross, watching That 70s Show, and -believe it or not- making y'all's Christmas cards - not to mention finishing up the last Xmas gift (for Dana!). I've also been (finally) trying to finish reading Don Quijote de la Mancha, I'm within 100 pages of finishing!! It's one of the funniest books on the planet.

Stats on my classes this year: I have 3 classes of Spanish - 12, 13, and 15 students (10th, 11th, and 12th grades). In homeroom I have 9 (10th graders). Teachers work 7:30-3:30, unless there's a meeting and we stay until 4:30. We rotate weeks of supervising during lunch. This week I supervised the cafeteria, and therefore managed to salvage about 8 apples from students who were going to just throw them in the pig-food bin - they are $1 each here on Rota! So I saved some moo-lah :)

For el 15 de septiembre (independence day for El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Nicaragua), I wore a traditional dress all day, however I didn't get a picture - I'll have to put it back on so I can post one.

There was an awesome sunset today that Camas and I saw from the cross, which is the picture above.

I'm patiently waiting for Noé to get here (Nov 5th). I ride my bike everywhere, now using my rack with saddle bags. I bought a cool "backpack laundry bag" this summer, that fits 2 loads, and I ride to the laundromat in the village. Today I was shopping at Anne's Convenient and it started pouring, so I hung out until it stopped. Life is so casual here - you go the pace of what the weather allows. Oh yeah - there's a new restaurant outside on the beach in front of my apartment named "Barefoot Tavern", which is open-air and they have a great $3.95 burger with fries, and lots of other local Chamorro and Filipino food. They also have some "Mexican" food...believe it or not.

Here's what our apartment looks like ($300/month!). The picts were taken at night, so excuse the quality. There are also 2 more bedrooms not pictured here.

Main bedroom

Main bedroom's closet space

Living room

Dining / computer table room

kitchen and arches

Bathroom

Commentaries on island life

2010-09-05T08:59:00.000+10:00

I've been home sick with the flu (probably caught it on my long flight) for the past 4 days.

So I called the consulting nurse yesterday (who is on the mainland) and some of the things she said - I kind of found them funny, because they didn't make sense here on Rota. For example, when she's asking me questions about my fever:

-she says, "are you sweating profusely?", to which I said, "when am I ever NOT sweating profusely here?"

-she says, "do you have any rash, you know the kind that looks maybe like a sunburn?", to which I said, "fortunately not at the moment, it's been kind of overcast lately"

-and then she's telling me what to do for the fever and she says, "You should take a warm shower to help cool you down", to which I was initially confused, but then realized that mainlanders usually take HOT showers and that a WARM shower would be colder, whereas here we take COLD showers and a WARM shower would warm you up.

Just goes to show...

The Pacific Northwest

2010-08-22T11:01:00.001+10:00

Tara and Noé hiking at Lost Lake

Pako and Noé in the Hoh Rainforest

Noé and I just spent the past week camping in two gorgeous areas of Washington State. First we spent 3 days in the Hoh Rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula with Amanda, Daniel, Matt, Pako, Chris, and 2 of Matt's friends. Then Noé and I hiked to Lost Lake in the Cascade Mountains, over highway 2 just past Steven's Pass, for 3 days. I used to do this hike with Becky and Michelle's family, but I think the last time I went was 9 years ago!

Phone outside of the Hoh Rainforest Visitor's Center.

To get to the Hoh Rainforest, we took the Kingston-Edmonds ferry and then drove through Sequim, Port Angeles, around Lake Crescent, and then through Forks and into the park. It took around 6 hours to get there! After being hassled by the rangers repeatedly for holding spots for people who hadn't arrived yet (why don't they do online reservations, then?!), the rest of our group finally arrived. The second day we went hiking near the river and just relaxed, listening to Amanda and Matt's stories of Twilight Lodge in Forks.

In Seattle, they say it rains about 36 inches a year. In the Hoh Rainforest, it rains about 140 inches a year! We identified many trees there - mostly Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Maple, Vine Maple, and Douglas Fir. Of course there was lots of MOSS and ferns.

View of Lost Lake and Nason Ridge

After we got back from the peninsula, Noé and I decided we wanted to squeeze in one more camping trip before I head back to Rota. So, thinking back upon my teenage years, I thought of Lost Lake. Somehow I don't remember the trail being so hard! But I was younger then...The first part (switchbacks) is a killer, as is the descent down into Lost Lake after going over the ridge. Our legs were ready to give out! It took us about 4 hours to get to our camping site, all alone on the lake.

Noé and Tara with all their hiking gear, at the campsite at Lost Lake

The next day we saw a few people, but they didn't stay at the sites near us, rather they headed around the lake to a distant site. We stayed 2 nights and then hiked out, back up the ridge, down and over to Merritt Lake, then back down to the car, a total of two and a half hours. To see all of our Pacific Northwest photos, click here.

View from Nason Ridge, looking down on Merritt Lake

Noé climbing up the rocks, leaving Lost Lake

Tara at Lost Lake

Noé posing for a nice shot of the view from the trail, Lost Lake

Central America

2010-07-30T03:30:00.003+10:00

Noé and I just got back from three weeks of visiting family and friends in El Salvador and Guatemala. We stayed with his parents in San Diego and my friends Reyna and Luis in San Miguel Ingenio, and got to stay with our friend Amelia in Guatemala City. Click here to see all the photos.

Tara and Noé at Arely's quinceañera party

We spent most of the time just visiting with friends and helping Noe's family (for example, we made a cement walkway between the gate and the house and latrine). Arely (our niece) had her quinceañera party a couple days after we arrived and we also got to eat tamales on Josué's birthday (our nephew). For Jimmy's birthday (Noe's brother), Aunt Carmen prepared a chumpe (turkey), so we got to eat lots of birthday foods. Unfortunately at Arely's party, everybody got food poisoning (!) which caused the San Diego soccer team to lose 0-9 the following morning in the tournament...

Streets of Antigua, Guatemala

El Gnomo visiting El Lago Atitlán in Guatemala

In Guatemala we visited Antigua for the first time, which was great! It's such a beautiful colonial town with great restaurants. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the surrounding volcanoes due to the low clouds / fog. Then we bussed to Panajachel on the shores of Lago Atitlán, where we zip toured through the jungle and relaxed at the side of the lake. This is where we met up with some friends who gave us a ride back to Guatemala City, where we stayed with Amelia, a friend of Noé who studies at a college in Washington.

Our godson Melvin taking the chicken to grandma

In El Salvador it's currently the rainy season, meaning daily downpours in the afternoon and night. One night, at Reyna's house, the lightning was so close it electrified the house, sparking on the lines and shocking Reyna with a buzz that she felt from her toes to her knees, twice! It also buzzed her son's feet. The rest of us had shoes on, thank god! She was making tortillas barefooted in the kitchen, which has a dirt floor. After we got to El Sal the canícula began, which is a week or so of dry days in the middle of the rainy season, so we enjoyed some days of drying our laundry out on the lines. Then it rained again, and we were able to see how the new cemented walkway at Noe's house really benefits the family.

We almost made it for elote, or corn-on-the-cob, season but that comes later on in August. There were a few families who had elotes already and we were able to try some.

Noé enjoying an elote

Seattle, WA

2010-07-02T07:00:00.000+10:00

I'm back on the mainland and have just completed my first week here. Noé is working hard and I'm, well, doing arts and crafts! I rode my bike out to Redmond yesterday and have been sewing, too. The whole weekend and days leading up to it was spent with family and extended family in wedding activities. Tracy's wedding was beautiful - they lucked out and got a sunny day, which made the Tazer Valley Farm a perfect setting.

Next week Noé and I will be heading to El Salvador (July 7) and still have to find some way to celebrate the 4th of July. Which reminds me, Noé has now been stateside 3 years!

I've visited my cat, Orion, at Becky's house a couple times. He seems to remember me - he purrs when I hold him, something he doesn't do too often, according to Becky. Although he looks agitated in this photo (he doesn't like to be photographed), he seems to be the same happy and stubborn cat as always. He now shares Becky and Nick's apartment with two other cats, Lexicon (kitten) and Mr. Chaos.

Flame Tree

2010-06-20T20:10:00.003+10:00

Our last week of school ran smoothly and I finished up my grades and cleaning by the time the students were all gone, leaving my last day at work a movie-watching-and-swapping frenzy and potluck. That's right - we sat around and watched movies on our laptops in the library. Now that I'm officially on summer vacation, I haven't done much but keep working on some Christmas presents (yikes!) while watching all 10 seasons of Friends (hey! I have to be watching something while I make these presents). Today I finally did my last load of laundry and moved my plants downstairs. My suitcase is starting to fill up, but I haven't put much thought into it yet. I will be flying out Tuesday night to Guam and Wednesday morning to Seattle via Japan.

(Faculty and staff potluck lunch on our last day before vacation, Rota High School)

On another note, it's definitely turned into the rainy season - it's been raining on and off now for the past few days and nights. It almost always rains at 6:50am, for some reason. Also the flame trees are still in bloom (pictured above) and the red petals are just gorgeous.

5 days to go...

2010-06-11T15:55:00.000+10:00

Today our seniors are graduating. It seems like the last weeks of school slow down so much you can't fathom even picking your feet up to walk another step. It's been so hot lately that I just come home and try to cool down with fans, ice water and just end up watching friends or something because I just feel lazy. I've got no more planning to do for any classes, and I really only have 14 students now since my seniors are gone. My day at work is just sitting around until lunch, eat, then actually teach. This is the part of teaching that is not challenging and feels just like babysitting and postponing just taking the finals already!!

Soon enough I'll be in Seattle then El Salvador and say goodbye to my sauna for two months. Right now it "feels like" 93F according to the heat index, although on other days it feels up to 100F or so, with the humidity.

Last weekend Bridget and I attended a birthday party for Jared, who has the same birthday as me. He was turning 4. It was a fun party to watch the Filipino games and eat lots of potluck food.

Also a week ago we held Water Festival at the beach with about half of the students. You can check out the video I made:

We spent literally the entire day on the beach under tent canopies. Students played capture the flag, volleyball, football, "balate" fights (throwing sea cucumbers), and relay races including team work walking thing, kayaking, passing fruits, and burying people in the sand. It was pretty funny, especially when the teachers competed. Also here's a neat sand "car" that a student made:

A couple weekends ago Bridget and I biked to Swimming Hole and found someone had put up a mini-latte stone on a table:

To learn about real Latte stones, click here.

Sunsets

2010-05-27T16:13:00.000+10:00

This is a picture taken by me, on our rooftop. The bird is a "king fisher".

The cross

2010-05-12T21:20:00.002+10:00

This morning Nelia and Bridget and I hiked up to the cross. Here's a nice photo of Songsong Village, looking opposite the Wedding Cake photo above.

Click on the picture to make it full size.

Alone

2010-05-07T16:45:00.003+10:00

It's been barely 3 days since Noe left for the states, and I've finally gotten used to the empty house. Houses always have their noises, which somehow I can't hear when there's someone else there with me. I also get very aware of the windows after dark, mostly thinking that someone could see me from out there. If you know where I live, then you know you'd actually have to be on the second floor to look into my windows, but still, I kept thinking I was seeing things out there. It doesn't help to be watching scary Netflix movies on your first days alone again.

Tara at East Harbor Dock, Rota, CNMI 2 May 2010

Noe was the one doing most (OK, all) of the cleaning at our house since he was home all the time. I've again found that pleasure in cleaning and organizing, which calms me down. It's something I missed without knowing it. Without Noe, however, the house heats up during the day because I'm too chicken to leave the sliding door open all day (for fear of someone climbing up the balcony) to keep it cool. Once I get home and get everything open and the fans running, it's OK.

Tara with her Spanish 2 students Fashion Show, CNMI 5 May 2010

Today at school we had a long and arduous Shakespeare festival, which was sitting through about six hours of plays that you couldn't hear because the mics weren't working. Other than that, it was fun to see the student's hard work paying off, even if I couldn't hear it. They looked like they were having fun. This week, too, I had my students do a fashion show (and announce the clothing in Spanish). They absolutely loved it, I can show you the video sometime. They made me promise I wouldn't put it on YouTube...

Noe's 25th Birthday

2010-05-04T21:07:00.002+10:00

We threw a party for Noe on Sunday - many of his soccer players came (who are also my students). They are a fun group. We barbecued chicken, played some games, played guitar, and went to the dock for a couple hours to swim and jump in the water. Later on, Noe and I went back to the house where we ate dinner with some other friends and Billy brought over some coconut crab for Noe.

Camas and students at the East Harbor dock, CNMI May 2010

Billy, crabs, and Noé

Ice and Noé at the BBQ

Wedding Cake

2010-05-02T12:06:00.003+10:00

Yesterday a group of us, lead by Noe, hiked up Wedding Cake mountain and also to the Grotto, a lovely swimming hole. We tromped through the jungle on the barely visible trail, but were able to take some great pictures and videos. To see Noé jumping into the Grotto, click here.

Ice, Bridget, Nelia, Dali, Eric, and Tara hiking down from Wedding Cake, May 2010

Noé and Tara on top of Wedding Cake Mtn. Rota, CNMI May 2010

Noé at the Grotto, Rota, CNMI May 2010

Post #101

2010-04-13T21:21:00.000+10:00

Since we moved, we've been living it up in our spacious apartment across from the ocean. Albeit hot, our fans cool the place down just enough to relax carelessly. Today we finally got the internet and phone hooked up (532-TARA). I think this is one of the few places you can get the exact phone number you want, as many people have their names in their digits.

On another note, Noe will be heading to Seattle, having had no luck finding a job here on Rota. he will spend May, June, August, September and October working with our friend Chris (in July, Noe, myself, Chris, and even Evita will be going to El Salvador and Guatemala).

This week we've been getting to know the two biologist working on a bird project across the Mariana Islands. We played softball on Saturday, went out to eat, then on Sunday snorkeled at the beach. It's nice to meet up with people working in the environment, as I wish I could still be doing, even though I really enjoy teaching.

At work, we are starting the last quarter of my first year of teaching. Students are getting lazy, seniors are getting senior-itis, but Spanish is getting fun with each day teaching new skills to practice. Students will be trying to fill out a Census form in Spanish (Puerto Rico version) this week.

Noe will be in Seattle May 5th, just enough time for him to spend his birthday here on Rota. He really likes the binoculars (Tracy!).

And at the moment, Noe is romping around the jungle with a friend, Billy, looking for coconut crabs (9pm at night...).

Fish

2010-03-24T20:32:00.001+10:00

These are some fish we saw at Teteto Beach today and Tara at Swimming Hole on Sunday.

Camas's Birthday

2010-03-13T14:13:00.001+10:00

Camas had the best birthday yet since she was 12 (so she claims). We rode bikes out to Poña Point and walked down to the cliffs. First thing, right off the bat, Noé spots a sea turtle - the same one he saw the day before at the exact same time! He was just sticking up his head and floating in the rough waves.

Next, I look out and see a brownish figure amongst the waves - turns out to be a huge shark! We tried to get photos, but the waves were too rough to show his shape for too long. We kept our eye on him for quite a while as he made his way up the coastline, then came back.

This week has been really hot, barely sprinkling any water on us. My students in Spanish love the days when Noé comes in to speak Spanish with them, also to play games. He'll be coming in on Monday to chat about his life and also with each student individually, about the timelines they made for their own lives.

We have a softball game tomorrow at 2:30 (Sunday), and today we might ride out to swimming hole. Currently, we are listening to our friend, Raul, via internet radio. He's set up a "station" at his house, and broadcasts via internet from 6-9pm every night. You can listen in at: http://98.247.69.25:8000/listen.m3u

We are missing Seattle and the beginnings of spring, especially SPRING BREAK! (which doesn't exist here). We have to wait until Easter for 2 days off.

Softball

2010-03-07T14:56:00.001+10:00

Today Noé and I played our first game in the Rota community co-ed softball tournament. Rota High has organized an adult team, including teachers, spouses, and a couple other players.

Most teams just have 2 females on their team, which is the minimum. Our team is mostly women! There is a rule that if you have 2 outs, and the next batter is a woman, she can choose to either walk or go ahead and bat. Our team had a batting lineup with about 4 woman in a row, so whenever we were 2 outs, we would start walking our female players, which ended up filling up all the bases, and in one case got us a run! The other team just stood sheepishly and watched as we walked from base to base until a male batter got up to bat.

Anyway, we ended up loosing, since we never practice and some have never played before, but it was really fun. It was Noé's first time ever playing softball/baseball, but he did good anyway.

Here is a picture of Noé up to bat:

Islander English

2010-02-25T18:06:00.001+10:00

NOTHING + NOUN

Example, "nothing money"> "Want to go to the movies?", "Nothing money.", "OK, maybe some other time."
Used with any noun and mostly not used in a complete sentence, usually a short reply.
I caught a student translating "nothing money" to "nada dinero" in my Spanish class. LOL

EVER SINCE

Example, "That notice was written on the board ever since."
This one leaves you hanging...ever since...when???

FASTBREAK

Example, "Do you homework." "I"m going to fastbreak, Miss."
To do something quickly or in a hurry.

TO TRY

Example, "Have you tried going to Guam yet?" "Have you tried listening to this song?"
To have the experience of doing something, not actually trying to do it

ALREADY

Example, "Have you done your homework?" "Already, Miss."
A short reply to mean "I already did that" or "I'm done".

TO OFF

Example, "Off the lights, please."
To turn off.

PLENTY (adj)

Example, "There are plenty of people in Saipan", "I have plenty money"
A lot, over used and does not mean "more than sufficient" as on the mainland.

MY OWN

Example, (talking about cars) "Did you see my own?", "Yes, I saw your car."
Mine, without saying the noun. Leaves you hanging -- my own...what??

360 Panoramas of Rota and Guam

2010-02-20T19:07:00.007+10:00

I've been taking panoramic photos, but just found out how to upload the 360 ones so you can rotate them around.

Please visit my photos at: http://www.panoye.com/user/1070

It's kind of slow to show my recent photos, so if it doesn't display them all, here they are:

west-dock-rota (shown below)
Chamorro Village, Rota
Street view, Songsong Village, Rota
East Dock, Rota
Hagatna, Guam
small island causeway
Tweeksberry

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T19:35:00.003+10:00

We are just sitting down to drink hot chocolate (brought back from Saipan) after riding all the way around the island! It took us 2.5 hours, and I can't say I didn't get off and walk up the big hills. The back side of the island is dirt/rock road and very steep. Luckily what goes up must come down, and the ride from Sinapalu back to Songsong is a breeze. (The picture to the right shows the path we took, following the red dots, counter clockwise around the island, starting on the peninsula at Songsong Village.)

My trip to Saipan was a doozy - had to be at the airport at 1am. We got to Saipan at 3:30, and PSS wasn't paying for a hotel for us that night. So, we went straight to the supermarket, where the other Rota teachers stocked up with boxes of food and snacks. Then we headed to breakfast, and by 6:30 were able to go to the hotel just to change our clothes, but not check in. We got to the high school by 7:30 and had trainings from 8:30-4:00. After that, just sleep and eat pizza. Early the next morning, we flew back home. It's funny to see all the locals with boxes of food, beer, bags of rice, etc. checking into the flights. And you wouldn't believe the carry-on items they get onto the plane! Luckily there is only a security check from Rota to Saipan and not the other way around. All in all, it was a pretty tiresome trip. At least the trainings were done by professionals hired from Minnesota, so that was nice. Like being back at Seattle U teaching program.

School's going well - we made Spanish valentines on Thursday. I also have organized a Guitar Club, which sang to 20 different students on Thursday throughout the day (serenading). They did a great job and it was fun to see who they were singing to and handing out valentines. This was the first time they've done that at Rota High.

Up and coming - just teaching until school gets out. We've decided to both go to El Salvador this summer after the wedding, as we've calculated the cost to just $330 while using our mileage (and purchasing the miles we're missing) for the both of us. We'll be solidifying those plans this week, hopefully.

I've been chatting with the Amigos de las Americas volunteers, sounds like they're holding their annual comedy club event on February 23rd for $12. Check out their website for more info: Seattle Amigos
I'm still helping out to plan Spanish language activities, and hopefully can see the board members this summer. I've also been using my Amigos calendar, which I designed back in November. My students love it.

Well, have a happy Valentine's Day and a happy anniversary, mom and dad!

See you all in June,

Tara

el 6 de febrero del 2010

2010-02-06T09:53:00.000+10:00

Our entertainment here at home has turned into downloading Friends episodes and movies from YouTube.com, although last week we biked from the house to Swimming Hole on the other side of the island. Noe has fallen in love with treasure hunting. And by treasure hunting, I mean finding shells :)

Second semester has started up at school and I have new students, although only 27 total across the three classes. All the teachers will be going to Saipan next week, to make up for a training we missed in November due to a typhoon, so that will be fun.

Noe has been rubbing elbows with the mayor, council members, principals, and local senators and turning in proposals to create a job for himself, so hopefully something will come of that. He continues to volunteer at all the schools on the island.

Apart from teaching and soccer, we're trying to bike and snorkel more. We're trying to plan out our summer - I bought my ticket to go to Seattle, but we haven't purchased Noe's yet, in case he gets a job and needs to plan for a shorter vacation. And I have to start paying my student loans back, a whopping $400/month!

Have you ever seen the rain...coming down on a sunny day?

2010-01-18T08:58:00.000+10:00

Well, that's what January could be defined as - a John Fogerty song.

It's been one sprinkle after the next, with occasional harder rain pounding the windows. It's starting to feel like Washington - always staying inside the house.

At school, the semester is almost over, so my students are working hard on their final projects and studying for their final oral exam. Noé continues to work hard at teaching the elementary school soccer skills on Saturday mornings, and junior and senior highs during the week.

We haven't been able to snorkel or bike much, with all the rain. But we did get a griddle and so can make tortillas, pupusas, and pancakes with ease now!

I've been stuck home this weekend, too, with strep throat and have just been planning out my second semester, especially for the new Spanish 2 class.

Sea life

2009-12-31T18:38:00.002+10:00

Guahan (Guam), USA

2009-12-28T19:43:00.002+10:00

We've been on Guam now for a few days and have managed to buy new shoes, string cheese, cream cheese, Mexican food, Denny's breakfast, and parts for our bikes. Tomorrow we plan to try to fix our mini-tv, if possible.

Today we went out to Two Lover's Point (Dos Amantes), which is a really tall cliff over the ocean that drops straight down. They build a tower you can climb up and stand out over the ledge, which has a good view of Tumon Bay, where all the tall hotels are.

On a positive note, I'm starting to think coming here just to shop is not really worth it. Do we really need that stuff? We can just order it online if necessary. It is nice to see movies in the theater, though. We already say New Moon and Avatar...

(Latte Stones)

Mariana Quarter 2009

2009-12-16T17:01:00.003+10:00

I bribed a student to let me keep this quarter for a day just so I could photograph it (he wouldn't give it up for good):

I'm trying to get my hands on the Guam one, for Jill :) Here's a link for what it looks like: http://www.statequarterguide.com/2009-guam-quarter/

For more information about the Mariana Islands quarter go to: http://www.statequarterguide.com/2009-northern-mariana-islands-quarter/

For the other territories: http://www.statequarterguide.com/2009-dc-us-territories-quarter-program/

Reflections

2009-12-14T17:35:00.001+10:00

Sometimes I pause to wonder how we got here in the first place. Everyone thought we were crazy packing up so quickly and hauling it out over the Pacific to an island nobody has ever heard of, in a commonwealth that nobody knew existed, near Guam, a place nobody knows where it really is. Way to make it complicated, Tara.

To tell the absolute truth, I wasn't sure if I should accept the contract to work here or not. But I knew that I was getting closer and closer to September and still jobless in Seattle. I ultimately gave the choice to Noé (so you can blame him!) and he said yes. I do feel guilty for moving us to a place where he can't study or hardly find a job, although he's trying. He now agrees that he prefers Rota to Shoreline, although we have many friends back home.

Now the real truth: we are really, truly happy here. Our life is very laid back, I have a job to support us, the community has pulled us in and treated us like family. There are few problems here on Rota, if you can accept the oddities of a "developing country" feel but with the blessings of healthcare, clean water, internet, air conditioning, U.S. soil, and a job that pays like in the USA. We don't need a car, and recently we've even sworn off the AC and bought two fans, opened up the doors and windows to let the breeze in. This is truly island life.

A colleague talked about being on Guam for the weekend and still getting looks from the airport personnel when he said he "lived on Rota". "Why?" is always the response, apparently. I guess it's not for everyone, but if you want to live where you know everybody, where people waive at you when they pass, where you can hitchhike without even sticking your thumb out, where you can see a rainbow practically every day, where it's the place on earth with the most equitable climate, and where coconut palms waive in the wind serenading your cool evenings, then Rota is a perfect place to live. Sure, there are only a couple types of toothpaste to choose from, tuna in oil instead of water, spam galore, a variety of only about as many different fruits and vegetables as I can count on both hands, and a couple typhoons tempting us each year. You also have to give up the consumerism that is taking over the mainland - but then again, you can always order it online and be surprised when it shows up a month later after you've forgotten having ordered it! Or you can fly to Saipan or Guam, just a half hour away.

Needless to say, we open our home to all that would like to come visit our remote, Micronesian island. We offer our spare bedroom, coral reef and snorkel, beautiful sunsets, birds chirping, and Rota hot peppers to anyone who dares to come visit. Please consider it.

Diciembre

2009-12-13T08:45:00.000+10:00

Well, Christmas is creeping up on us and Songsong village is more and more decorated by the day. The Christmas lighting was last Monday night, and the whole island attended to watch the different departments and schools perform 17 songs and dances! We've also strung up lights on our deck and put up our small plastic tree with lights inside (thanks mom!). A visit to the local hospital will fill you with Christmas music non-stop, or just walk by and you can hear it. My students are preparing to go caroling in Spanish to the different classrooms on the 23rd, the last day before vacation.

We'd like to say a special hello to Jill Goodsell, who follows our blog in remembrance of her years on Guam. We wish her well through her chemo-treatments and better health in the new year.

Here are pictures of: an eel off the stairs from the hotel; Christmas lighting; and Noé snorkeling. See more by clicking on the link to our photos, to the right.

Happy Holidays!

2009-11-21T10:44:00.008+10:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

First quarter is over!

2009-11-17T18:10:00.001+10:00

I've made it this far without giving up :) Even though students don't always perform as well as we'd like by the time grades are due, it's comforting to know that they all can't be A students! Even if we'd like them to be.

November has been a tough month - we only have one FULL week of school. From Constitution day to Veteran's day to Thanksgiving, to Voting day in the CNMI, students are only actually attending 16 days of school this month. Things are starting to get back to normal, during this normal week of school.

Noe and I have solidified our plans for Christmas holiday - we will be in Guam from the 26th to the 30th for some shopping and sightseeing. We were looking for hotels online and were comparing the prices - does it have a pool, a view, internet, etcetera? Then we realized - what does it matter? We live on beach front property with a view all around, why pay more for it 40 miles away looking at the same water?! Duh! We think it'll be nice to still be on Rota for Christmas and New Years, even though on Guam there's a large firework display ... hey maybe we can see it from here... (we can see the military airstrip lights at night). We will be going to the movie theater, the mall, and who knows what else?

Noe has been keeping himself very busy with soccer -- the teachers are now 2-0 against the students!

2009-10-28T20:49:00.000+10:00

Día de los muertos in the Marianas. In class today we decorated sugar skulls, like the Mexican tradition for November 1st and 2nd. Students will be working on cultural projects, such as handicrafts, dances, or poetry, all focusing on the celebration of life and death. We almost had to use chocolate frosting in all 3 classes, but at the last minute another teacher ran home to get a mixer so I could make the white frosting and color it. The colors turned out great!
Soon I will post pictures of their other projects, most with skeletons.

Things I do and don't miss on the mainland

2009-10-23T19:03:00.001+10:00

Things we do miss:

family, friends, Orion, of course
holidays with decorations
being closer to Latin America...and people who speak Spanish
Amigos de las Americas
sewing
Joann Fabrics
soccer teams
the YMCA!
mountains, and the occasional snow (yes the snow!)
and snowboarding
the restaurant formerly known as Mi Chalateca

Things we don't miss...

Traffic

and by traffic I mean more than one car in front of you

Freeways
Big huge stores with endless options of junk
Garbage trucks outside in the early morning
Sirens
Smog
COLD rain
never seeing the sky
or the stars
fearing getting out of bed in the morning because it's cold
news programs
news in general...
driving everywhere
people who don't really care "how are you"
not knowing my neighbors
warming up my car in the morning
listening to people complain about the bus system
listening to people complain about politics
listening to people who watch reality tv shows
or just anything not really worth my time
can you believe the average American watches 3 hours of TV a day?
That's 3x365 hours or 45.6 DAYS EACH YEAR!!
Suddenly I'm happy to not have a tv
Even if I did the channels aren't worth watching 3 hours here anyway...
just CNN and Discovery plus the filipino channel and the local tourist channel...
instant gratification
cell phone

10 things about Rota...

2009-10-23T18:50:00.000+10:00

1. white out
2. sideways rain
3. sunsets
4. cars running
5. hands waving
6. accents
7. google calendar
8. graffiti
9. youtube
10. serenity now

Why don't these kids
know how to use erasers?
How come the rain can't fall straight here?
Somehow
the extraordinary sunsets compensate.

Funny how you can leave your car running with AC
while you go into the store and nobody will even think of taking it...
My arm gets tired of waving after
my 3 minute walk to school with cars passing -
a great feeling.

I can't seem to make out what students are saying sometimes.
Miss! - How do you say asdlfkjslf in Spanish, Miss!?
What?

One of the best things since we've been here / I've been able to completely disregard my google calendar.

Things just have a flow to them here.
But I can't figure out
why everybody has to write their name all over everything...
check out the Pizzaria
or the gym to see what I mean.

No TV? Youtube channel
100%
since CBS thinks
we're outside the U.S.
One piece pirate gets interesting...

Ah. How relaxing.

Lunchtime on Rota

2009-10-16T17:09:00.001+10:00

This really happened at lunchtime today...You see - things take a long time to get here, and there's really no point in throwing away food that's just past it's expiration date, so the little stores sell it at half off the normal price. Mr. Jesse, a teacher here, was more bummed out about not getting his discount than the fact that his food was expired...typical! It made for a good lunch laugh, so I made a comic about it. Hope you enjoy!

Fiesta time!

2009-10-11T08:59:00.003+10:00

It's been an exciting week here on Rota. On Wednesday the community held a singing and dancing talent show with cash prizes, so lots of the high school kids enrolled. Here's the video I made, mostly focusing on the high schools students' acts (starting with the Marianas anthem):

Thursday they did the coronation of a Queen, and a tilapia cook off with home grown tilapia! On Friday we hung out at the Chamorro village, where all the stuff is going on, and watched the carnival games, like students paying to throw syrup sponges at teachers and face painting. There was a reggae band from Guam that was good, and also Filipino food for sale. Although there wasn't really much going on, the whole town was out, especially my students. So it was nice to just be around all the people that we already know at least a little bit.

Last night there was a huge potluck for everyone for free!

Newsflash

2009-10-03T14:06:00.000+10:00

You can see in this video that the winds are not very strong here, we are just getting the tail of the typhoon, which is then classified as Tropical Storm because it's not up to 74 mph, not even close. No damage here! We lucked out :)

Typhoon/Tropical Storm...Melor

2009-10-03T13:53:00.000+10:00

Image from Google Earth satellite cloud images. We are right under the big white swirl...

Waiting out the typhoons...

2009-10-01T16:22:00.000+10:00

School's been in effect now for three weeks, although this week has been hit or miss with school days. Classes were cancelled on Wednesday due to a tropical storm and its winds going through, and today we were supposed to only have 7 teachers because some were to have left to go to Saipan already for a training, but that got cancelled. So, we still ran our "fun and games" schedule with battles between the classes. We've all bagged up the electronics and books in our classrooms and the storm shutters are on and locked, just waiting to see if the 19W hits us. 20W is heading for the Philippines and is Typhoon Parma. 19W is just now a typhoon Melor. It was supposed to be right on, but now it looks like it'll hit Saipan to the North, and the tail will hit us. You can check out the following websites for updates on our tropical depressions, storms, and typhoons.

http://www.cnmi-guide.com/latestsi.html

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/pr/guam/

Our island of Rota has the small village Sinapalo on it. Saipan's city if Garapan, and Guam's is Hagatna. Rota is between Saipan and Guam.

" SATURDAY

 SOUTHWEST TROPICAL STORM FORCE WIND TO 55 KT WITH  GUSTS TO 95 KT. COMBINED SEAS 14 TO 16 FT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND  ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS."

Hopefully it'll veer more to the North still and miss us completely.  We are well prepared with emergency bags, storm windows, and we're on the third floor.  We can also evacuate quickly to Sinapalo which is higher ground.

The good thing about living here is everybody knows you - so they'll know if you're missing.  Also they'll come knock on your door to warn you about a typhoon or tsunami or anything going to happen.  And they'll give you a ride if you need it.

First day of school! Officially a teacher...

2009-09-08T16:32:00.001+10:00

Hafa adai!

Just finished my first day of "real" teaching :)

I have three classes of Spanish-1 students. Today we went over the syllabus and class rules, I had them take a survey, and we learned about the teacher, classroom objects, how to say "what's your name? My name is..." and "What language do you speak? I speak...".

I was happy to hear students in the halls after class sharing what they learned to their friends! I even went into the bathroom and heard through the window to the parking lot that students were saying "Como te llamas" and "que idioma hablas?". That was exciting -- usually students don't go tell their friends about what they learned unless they really liked it. A good sign...

Today we started school by going up to the baseball field and Miss Sharlene (principal) introduced all the teachers, class reps, etc. The seniors all showed up (as tradition) in their cars honking and playing loud music, driving onto the field to arrive for the school year. It was fun to see how excited they were to become seniors. I'm also a 9th grade advisor (homeroom), so I met them and they seemed shy, for their first day of high school.

On the survey I gave the 27 students today (not all were there, I should have about 40 total but many were getting their schedules fixed), about 24 speak some level of Chamorro, the local language. Most have an advanced or fluent level. About 9 speak Tagalog and other languages of the Philippines, while there are a couple who speak Bangladesh, Palau, and others who know a little Japanese. About 1/3 have internet access at home, and most replied that after high school they would joined the armed forces. There is a strong junior ROTC leadership program at the school. Others said the wanted to get PHDs or Masters degrees, or just go to university to become nurses, teachers, mechanics, police enforcement officers, and one said landscaping.

After school, many said they worked either a real job or just at home. There is a group of boys who skateboard, about 6 in my classes play guitar (reggae or rock), and many said they play sports or exercise in their free time (lift weights, run, swim, baseball).

Last year of the 36 seniors, they had 6 teen pregnancies. We have 2 students coming in this year pregnant. On the island there are high levels of diabetes and gout, and other nutritional illnesses as people eat canned food and junk food, although there are vegetables on the island.

School is from 8-3. I arrive 7:30, planning period 8-9:20, 9:30-10 is homeroom exercise ("health and wellness"), 10:05-11:25 is 2nd period Spanish, lunch is 11:30-12:15, 3rd is 12:15-1:35, 4th is 1:40-3.

It was a good day, and I'm excited to go back tomorrow.

Back to school

2009-09-05T12:48:00.000+10:00

I have spent the last week getting to know the school staff, decorating my room, and planning my classes. I have 3 classes: 8, 9, and 19 students (Spanish 1, mostly 11-12 graders). I also have a homeroom class of nine 9th graders. In homeroom we take them outside to do 30 minutes of exercise every morning at 9:30am, part of the health and wellness program. Our school is trying to lower the levels of obesity of youth on the island, and so is doing this mandatory exercising and also restricts the students to drinking just water while on campus. School starts on Tuesday, September 8th. I've set up my class website: http://sites.google.com/site/profesoramartin

Other than that, Noe and I got bikes last Sunday and have been riding around. We took a long ride counter-clockwise around the island, only making it to the point and back before it got dark. It was pretty - passed by beautiful cliff views of the beach and bay, by the Japanese cannon and caves from WWII, and through a green corridor of tropical plants, all the way to a beautiful fruit farm where supposedly there's a waterfall if you hike farther (which we didn't).

Noe is trying to start a soccer group - most likely start the second week of school. He's found a couple friends and is going to go fishing today with them. When I'm at school, he mostly sleeps in, does sudoku puzzles, rides his bike, and calls his friends on Skype. He is looking for a job, but like other things on Rota, it's going slow.

I went to Saipan last week, but didn't take pictures becuase I forgot my camera. I went for a new-hire training and met other new teahers from Saipan and the USA. In Saipan, there are many Japanese and Asian tourists, and most of the store names are in Japanese or Korean, and also with a little English.

Sunset on our little island...

2009-08-24T19:26:00.001+10:00

Settling in

2009-08-21T17:24:00.001+10:00

We've found an apartment, it's actually at the hotel (they have both hotel rooms and two bedroom apartments). See picture - taller building.

I went to the high school and got a tour. It mostly looks like regular US classrooms on the inside, however the building is made of concrete. See picture - white building.

We made it!

2009-08-20T08:31:00.001+10:00

We made it! It is very humid here and hot, about 86F. The town is small and we can walk everywhere we need to go. Our hotel is just down the street from the school, and it is here that they have $500 apartments for rent, which we are going to check out today. Outside the hotel window is the beach. We met up with other teachers in Saipan yesterday before we flew with one other teacher from Washington to Rota. There are a couple more teachers from the mainland that will be coming back soon (they taught here last year). This morning we got up really early to go walking before it got hot - and found a breakfast place called As Paris to eat around 7am. There is internet WiFi at the hotel lobby so we will be able to use it every day.

Make sure to download Skype and let us know what your screen name is! We are "taraandnoe" and can do video/voice calls. Remember we are one full day minus 7 hours ahead of you, or you can add 17 hours if that's easier (during day light savings. Without daylight savings we are 16 hours ahead of you).

Going Away Party

2009-08-15T15:24:00.000+10:00

We had a lovely dinner tonight with a lot of our friends: Haunnah and Kris; Bernadette, Chris, Jessica and James; Becky and Nick; Chelsea; Tracy; Michelle; and Nataly. Turns out Chris and Kris have the same middle name: Wayne...

Of course we ate at Noe's favorite restaurant.

Catch me if you can!

2009-08-13T02:38:00.000+10:00

Went to the show with Amanda, Ruth, Matt, and Tracy. Was a fun night - went to Boom noodle before hand and also got icecream! I will miss going to these "girls' night out" shows, but hopefully can join again when I return from Rota.

From Back in the USA

2 weeks left before the big move

2009-08-01T10:51:00.000+10:00

Well, Noe is still on his vacation to el Salvador while I finish up my last days at work. Becky has been very generous and offered to take care of Orion while we're away. That means he'll just stay at the same house, since Becky will be moving into our apartment.

I'm playing around with my new laptop -- pretty slick -- has a plastic pen you can write on the screen with and do cool stuff.

I've also been reading the Twilight series -- on the last book now. They keep getting longer and longer...I'm reading them now in Spanish so I won't go through them so quick, but it doesn't seem to be working.

Can anybody believe this hot weather? It feels like we're in El Salvador, except for the daily downpours...

When Noe gets back we'll be planning the going away party. Looks like Jill is having a birthday thing that last weekend, so we'll have to plan around that.

Sincerely,

Tara

Yuka and Alex come to visit Seattle!

2009-07-19T10:40:00.000+10:00

We spent the lovely weekend with Yuka and Alex, who were visiting from California. Yuka and I studied abroad in Ecuador together, where she met Alex. This weekend we met up with many of her friends, went cosmic bowling, took everyone out to Noe's favorite restaurant, went to Greenlake, played frisbee golf, and also went salsa dancing! It was nice to finally get out and do something other than studying and working.

Most of you already know that Noe and I are going to be moving to the Northern Mariana Islands in mid-August because I got a teaching job (Spanish). Noe will be travelling to El Salvador this week and I will be working on getting everything in order before we move. We have finally decided to take Orion, our cat, to the islands with us, after confirming with the airlines that he can go in the cabin with us, all the way there (poor thing!).

We are very excited! We will be posting lost of stuff on this blog as we move there and begin to take lovely pictures of the white sandy beaches...

Tara

Seattle U on a sunny day

2009-06-27T07:57:00.001+10:00

Graduation

2009-06-22T23:59:00.000+10:00

I am starting up my last quarter of college, just 4 weeks to finish up the Master in Teaching program. Last Sunday I "graduated" at the Seattle U ceremony in Key Arena and on Friday, June 12th I finished student teaching. I have had about 4 interviews already, although hiring is really slow this year, so we'll see where I end up. Noé is starting ESL level 5 this quarter, after taking last quarter off to work.

From Back in the USA

Veggies from Full Circle Farm

2009-06-18T14:33:00.001+10:00

Jumping hippos

2009-06-03T14:24:00.000+10:00

One morning my African hippo was swimming in the cat's water dish. He had jumped off the microwave...

Spanish Teacher Barbie!

2009-01-28T06:11:00.000+10:00

Cloth Pads

2009-01-19T12:24:00.000+10:00

I just got my online store setup to sell cloth menstrual pads that I've been sewing.

If you know anybody who might be interested, please pass the word along!

Go to: http://pads.sprucebudworm.com/

Orion has finally adapted to the snow!

2008-12-22T02:59:00.001+10:00

This is officially his third Christmas and winter in Washington, and it seems he is no longer stressed by the snow. He actually brought us a big white-brown rat after hunting all night in the snow!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-20T06:37:00.000+10:00

¡Feliz Navidad y prospero año!

We took this picture at the YMCA during their holiday party. We love getting out picture with Santa, especially when it's free!

We will be spending Christmas Eve at Mo's house and Xmas morn at mom and dad's, if snow allows. I have been getting the traditional xmas movies on Netflix so Noe can experience the joy -- Christmas Story, Charlie Brown's Christmas I and II, National Lampoon's, etc. Now when we go to stores and see things like a little boy licking an icy pole or a small withering xmas tree, he knows where they came from!

2008-11-23T14:15:00.001+10:00

Noé makes dinner!

Isn't he cute?

2008-11-02T09:38:00.001+10:00

Orion has been starting to hybernate for the winter, and he's getting in a nice BROWN winter coat!

Halloween

2008-10-27T12:00:00.000+10:00

We went to Mo's for Harvest Party (early Thanksgiving) and carved pumpkins with Jill and Benny and Richard. This one is a monster trick-or-treating. Richard made an Obama emblem one. Tara will be (I love) Lucy and Noe will be Elvis for Halloween, we plan to go to a party of one of my classmates and then hit up Noe's friends' party. Happy haunting to y'all!

New YMCA

2008-10-05T07:33:00.001+10:00

This is the climbing wall at the new Dale Turner YMCA in our area! Noe got a chance to climb for the first time.

Haunted Corn Maze! Aren't they scary?

2008-10-04T14:39:00.001+10:00

This was like a Northlake reunion haunting, I guess. Jared, Chelsea, Becky and I, plus a couple others, met up down near Sumner to to to the haunted corn maze. Chelsea's dad came and attempted to scare us the whole time by jumping out of corn and "getting lost" and then scaring us when he came back to the group. It was the first night it was open, so there was no line at all. (This was at Maris Farms.)

Noe's first slumber party...

2008-09-16T14:38:00.001+10:00

I'm ready to go!

Noe headed to spend the night watching movies with his friends...and the sock monkey...

Betelgeuse

2008-09-07T12:08:00.001+10:00

This is a hot air baloon we caught going over mom and dad's house. I went over to see our kitten, Betelgeuse, who will stay with Mom, his original house. Orion is quite happy that the kitten won't be living with us...

Crabby?

2008-08-10T07:28:00.001+10:00

We went crabbing in Mukilteo with Hannah and Sam while they were here. All we caught were some small crabs, but we had fun!

Hanging Out in Panamá

2008-08-03T13:20:00.000+10:00

I was in Panamá this July for a week on AMIGOS Trainer Trip. I'm still peeling!

2008-06-29T15:08:00.001+10:00

We just made spaghetti!

Fwd:

2008-06-29T14:25:00.001+10:00

Lost...and found

2008-06-26T04:11:00.000+10:00

It's been since Sunday afternoon since we last saw Orion. We have put up lost cat signs all over the neighborhood and called all the local vets. Then I searched online for any found cat databases, and randomly I went to craig's list. There was a posting from Monday morning for a dead black cat about a mile from our house (hit by a car). I drove over there and sure enough, there he was. I took him to a vet hospital and they checked his weight and sex, and that he had no microchip. I had Orion cremated. He was to turn 4 in October. We are very sad, as we had brought Orion from El Salvador from during my Peace Corps service. On the bright side, mom says she'll let me have her new kitten, who doesn't seem to be getting along with Nora (nor Dale).

On the down side, neighbors have been calling me about one of the other neighbor kitties (who matches Orion's description) and who has been roaming a couple streets down for a few days, and I have gone over to see this other cat, but it's not Orion. However, we still get curious when they call, just in case it is him and I found someone else's dead cat.

-tara

2008-06-15T12:59:00.001+10:00

Happy Birthday Tara!

2008-06-03T13:39:00.000+10:00

Dinner at the Space Needle...

2008-06-03T13:38:00.000+10:00

2008-05-11T05:44:00.001+10:00

Noé con los niños

¡Feliz cumpleaños Noé!

2008-05-04T06:08:00.001+10:00

Guanaco o guanaco?

2008-05-01T06:22:00.001+10:00

So this photo is from the Guanaco's Tacos restaurant, and it says something like "Guanacos: 1. a large South American mammal of the Andean dry plains decended from llamas. 2. an inhabitant of El Salvador (Salvadoran)."

80 degrees one week, snow the next...

2008-04-20T11:38:00.000+10:00

I think something's up...this can't be normal?!?

Record breaking highs for April, coupled with record snow levels.

Orion was very happy with the sun, but is now furious with the snow. I don't know what to tell him.

Noé hanging out at school...

2008-04-17T04:54:00.001+10:00

Cherry tree blossoms at the UW

2008-04-04T11:24:00.001+10:00

Victoria, BC

2008-03-30T03:02:00.001+10:00

We just spent a couple nights in Victoria, BC Canada to celebrate our second anniversary!

What we visited: the Royal BC Museum/Imax, Craigderoch Castle, the Old Spaghetti Factory, YMCA Victoria, China Town, etc.

It was mostly nice weather, sunny, but cold, but in the evenings it sprinkled or hailed and even snowed! We took the Clipper over, and that was nice. We stayed at the James Bay Inn, which has a cute cafe under it. And we had no problems getting Noe out of or into the USA!

These pictures were taken in a photo booth at the shopping mall...