Still adjusting

Our extened family now has a saying for us: "There's no Thursday on Tinian". This comes from the fact that when we traveled here, we left on a Weds. and arrived on a Friday--Thursday was lost forever. The saying captures some of the adjustment we are going through as we learn to live on Tinian.

Today I must be living in the twilight zone, as it is thursday in Tinian! As fate would have it, things got all mixed up for Terri and I. Terri started work, then had to stop because her paperwork still wasn't done. They said it was done, or would be done, or could be done, but it wasn't, so we are back on vacation for another week.

We feel like we are in limbo, as Terri is on hold, our internet access is on hold, it has rained constantly for two days, so we are kind of stuck in our apartment watching cats and dogs...no that's not right! Its geckos that rain down on us here!

We have a constant battle with the local wildlife for access to our apartment. We have screens on the windows, but almost everything seems to be able to find a way around them (the 1/2" space around the door and air conditioner could be one reason). So I got a can of bug spray to lay out a line of defence. We seem to be winning the battle slowly, at least the dead bodies of our victims that we find on the floor each morning tell us we are doing something. We have two sizes of ants. Large red ants that have quite a bite, and small (almost too small to see) ants that just search for food. As long as we keep the apartment spotless of food remnants, we seem to be able to manage the ants. We have had a few cockroaches (very large!) that hide from us, but the bug spray seems to have worked with them, as we almost never see them, or at least haven't seen them since our last 'war'. Which leaves the geckos.

We have a small family of geckos living in our home. Now, geckos are supposed to bring good luck, and on the islands we are told that they are considered somewhat sacred. The bug spray doesn't bother them, and they do eat insects, and even cockroaches, so we tend to leave them alone. They can actually talk to one another, kind of a screech/hiss sound, but fortunately don't talk much, usually just at dusk as dad calls to the family to come out to eat. Then, one by one they appear on the walls of our home, always up near the ceiling and in corners. They stake out
their possition, and usually stay there for the duration. For some reason they stay in the living room, never in our bedroom. Perhaps it is the light that comes from the living room window (we have a light outside our door for the apartments). They don't bother us, so we don't bother them. We have gradually accepted them as pets, although we haven't named them yet.

Because of the light outside our apartment, getting in the apartment at night can be risky. All the bugs and wildlife in the area are attracted to the light, so they seem to congregate outside our door, en masse. You have to shoo them off the handle of the door to get the key in, then time your entrance just right so that they all don't follow you in when the door is open! During the day they all hide, and there is no problem. But come home after dark, and you have to
run the gauntlet!

We hope to finally get to our church this weekend. We are Mormons, and there is no branch of our church on Tinian, but there is on Saipan. So, if the weather clears up, we will fly to Saipan on Saturday, do some shopping (we need to get snorkle gear), go to church sunday, and fly back sunday afternoon. That is, if the weather is good. The small puddle-jumper airplanes that fly from Tinian to Saipan and back don't fly if the weather isn't clear. So we could get stuck here, or there, if the weather moves back in on us. It becomes a sort of chess game with the weather man.

Terri and I have been walking 3-5 miles a day, and swimming almost every day. The day we got sunburned, we had gone swimming in the middle of the day (we usually go near sunset), and found ourselves surrounded by tropical fish! The water is so clear, you can see 10'-15' to the bottom with ease, and as we were standing in about chest-high water, a school of fish swam around us. There were tropical fish of almost every color, shape and size! Beautiful yellow fin,bright green and black, white/silver, blues, pinks, etc. They swam around us for quite some time (we were later told that the japanese tourists feed the fish, so they often come in to shore seeking food). It was wonderful experience. At first it was a little unnerving, as the fish swam around you and in-between your legs, but you soon got used to it, and realized that they were not there to eat you... Needless to say, we were entranced and found ourselves out in the sun too long. It hasn't been too bad though, just mild sunburns, not serious.

We did get to Saipan, and to church. And were able to buy our snorkle stuff, with the help of Harry Blalock. He talked me through finding the right place to purchase good equipment, and suggested what to buy. We can't wait to try them out! We also bought some paint for Terri's office. That way she will have a new fresh place to work...if she ever gets to work, that is! Oh well, I guess we'll just go to the beach and snorkle while we wait!