Our Super Fantastic Weekend!

Every weekend starts with Friday, so that is where we will begin. For the island, July 4th is celebrated as Liberation Day. This marks the anniversary that the Chamarros and Carolinians were released from the refugee camps following WWII. There was a parade and a carnival. We were lazy in our Liberation day attendance and did not make it to the parade. Instead we celebrated by going to Lau Lau Beach and did some snorkeling. This adventure was somewhat different than the last because we got to snorkel some deeper waters. As a reward for our bravery we saw several of the same fish that we had seen before only bigger: a blue starfish, a very large sea urchin, and one of the few poisonous creatures around here, a stone fish. Both mothers should be very proud because we resisted the urge to poke the stone fish. After dragging ourselves reluctantly from the ocean we nourished ourselves with indigenous island food, Taco Bell. With our belly's full and satisfied we made our way to the carnival. It was small but reminiscent of our home festivities at Eldon Lyon Park. We listened as the Liberation Day Queen thanked every conceivable family member and told them they were "The BEST". Thus concluded our Friday.

Saturday was spent preparing our lessons and videos for Sunday services. With our lessons firmly in hand, I(Randy) took my wife for a belated anniversary surprise. Our time in Hawaii was too short to attend a luau. One of the island resorts does a similar "cultural dinner and show". We ate some excellent food including a unfortunate member of the pork family. Kim found him to be a little creepy, but forced herself to partake; if only to make her brother the hunter, proud. Warning: the picture that follows may not be suitable those involved in the PETA organization.

before. . .


after. . .




After we stuffed ourselves, we were entertained by singers and dancers from this island as well as other exotic islands, such as Hawaii, Tahiti, and other islands in the Northern Marianas. There were songs and dances from several different exotic cultures including 2 dances involving fire. We watched in amazement as the men repeatedly slapped their chests and thighs, and laughed as one of the male dancers had trouble keeping his skirt on.

Sunday morning began with a wonderfully refreshing downpour of rain. Which has become almost a daily part of our island life. I guess that's why they call it the rainy season. Much to our surprise and delight we had several visitors for Sunday School and Sunday morning service. Randy talked about our effort as Christians to separate our "light" from the darkness of the world. Once again he did a fantastic job, so watch out Dr. Samples. After Sunday service and a quick phone call home, we set off to the Martinsen home. We had a wonderfully prepared lunch by those skilled chefs at a little place this island likes to call Subway. Sam and Georgie and their two little girls are fortunate to live on a cliff overlooking a quaint little cove. It was quite a site. After topping off our sandwiches with some delicious homemade cookies, we set out for Lobster Cove. Guided by our fearless leader Sam, we made our way through some tanga-tanga (brush) using a samurai-like sword. When we made it to our destination we discovered that Lobster Cove is where Mother Nature decided to deposit all trash thrown into the Pacific Ocean. It sounds strange but we were told that this is where you might stumble upon some war treasures. We did our best to search through the mess, then made our way back to the house. We refreshed ourselves and learned a new game called monkey balls. It is similar to horseshoes and we have a suspicion that it may be enjoyed by Jerry Brown, Bill Snelson, and the horseshoe enthusiasts of our church. After having my(Randy) butt kicked thoroughly by the little missus, we went home just in time to take a shower before our power went off.

Some people have asked why we lose power on the island, so I want to shed some light on our "load shedding" issue. Every week we receive a schedule via the newspaper that tells us how the power load will be shed for the island during that week. For instance this week in the Kagman area of the island we are scheduled to lose power from 8pm-10pm. This schedule is more of a suggestion than a schedule as we may lose power at any time. For example, Saturday night we lost power from 8pm-11pm and again Sunday morning from 7am-11am and then according to our regularly "scheduled" time Sunday evening 8pm-10pm. Monday afternoon we lost power from 11am-? (we don't know because we were disappointed by our lack of ability to make pizza for lunch, so we went out to eat). As we are typing this, we are trying to hurry because our time is limited. . .only 20 minutes of power left. . .maybe?

Power continues to be an growing issue on the island due to outdated equipment, poor management, and from what we can tell, a general misunderstanding of how to properly care for the equipment. Just one example: They are using sea water to cool the engines. If you know about engines, you know that this is a very bad idea. If you are like me (Kim) and don't even know how to check the oil in your car engine, let me explain. Sea water releases vapors containing such high concentrations of salt into the air that cars and buildings are corroding faster than they can be maintained. Because of all of this, the power plant cannot make enough energy for the entire island without burning up several of the engines and the load must be "shed". We were visiting with one of the ladies in the church and she shared that her electricity bill for one month was $250! Keep in mind, that is for power that isn't even on 24 hours a day!

Gas update: We are up to $5.05. Can anyone beat that?