I ha
ve a news bulletin for you! It was not raining when I woke up on Friday! As a matter of fact, it didn't rain from 6:00 AM on that day and we actually saw the sun! After a morning bike ride down to the lighthouse, around the park area there, and up to the castle grounds before returning home, we had a pretty quiet morning. Janice and I bid farewell to some of our missionary friends here as they caught flights back to the USA - Lisa Sorley, her brother and his wife, and Gail and Joel Anderson - whose apartment we are now staying in. After their leaving, we cleaned up the guest room and carried our belongings up to our new home in the "sky" - apt 304. How nice it is to be able to spread out and have some more space to settle into - not to mention the great kitchen area. It was very generous of the Andersons to let us stay here, but we sure are appreciating it!
Once settled in, we were blessed by Estuko Oeschle, Katsum and Lisa Metz as they took us out for lunch at a traditional Okinawan restaurant. Lisa was one of my 3rd graders back when I taught in 1998-1999. I then tormented the poor girl by teaching her middle school and some high school classes as well. She said she remembers the musicals best, but it was fun to remember the good times we shared. Lisa has now graduated from college and is settling back into life here on Okinawa. I hope to hear more about her plans and future later this summer. Her mom, Katsumi, teaches Japanese here at the school and Estuko - San is one of the foundational secretaries in the office. Both ladies are friends and coworkers from the school. It was a blessing to get to hear about their lives and learn what is going on for them.
After lunch, we opted to not waste a beautifully sunny day! While we knew it was VERY windy and the waters were very stirred up, we wanted to see the beach and Janice wanted to try her hand at snorkeling again. We got all ready and headed out. Janice wanted to go to Toguchi Beach which is a relatively close to the school. Once we got there, I was a bit of a party pooper. It was cool enough that I didn't have a huge desire to get into the water, and the water was murky. I'm spoiled here; I an choose to swim in the crystal clear waters later this summer. I promised to be her life guard and take care of her if she needed it. I felt badly for not joining her, but not enough to jump in. She then proceeded to give me the best laugh I have had in a long time. I share this because - A I think she will let me. B. Her family is reading and they will understand this. C. Some of our former coworkers may be reading this and also get a kick out of it. Well, Janice had only brought flip - flops along to snorkel in. I didn't know this when we set out. She, however, was "prepared". HA! She had brought along 4 flimsy little red rubber bands. The managed to connect them to each other and then secure her flip flops to her feet/legs. This alone I found entertaining, but the show got better. Once in the water, she floated just feet from shore. I'm not sure what all she saw, but I could easily have grabbed her by the hand with only getting my lower legs wet. Then, the show improved. After some work reattaching her shoes and fixing the shoes, she had decided it was time to get out. By this time, she had beached herself - for lack of a better word. She was laying belly down on a ridge of sand. Her flip flops were floating on the surface of the water - but still secured to her legs by those red rubber bands. Her arms and legs were just floating up on the surface and the waves were crashing over her so that her hair had all managed to stick over the front of her mask. I"m not sure I am painting the picture well enough for you, but we were both laughing. I helped her to get her footing and come out of the water, but I confess to giggling a bit in the process. This was so Janice. 8 ) She keeps life interesting. I only wish I had a camera there to share the image for real with you.
After our snorkeling party, we went over to Max and Aidy Cruzado's for dinner. Aidy prrepared chicken adobo for us and Max made some plantain fritters for dessert. Hazel - another of my former students and Max and Aidy's daughter - was able to join us for dinner too. It was a night of memories, catching up, fun and fellowship. We returned home full, tired, happy, and blessed beyond words!
ve a news bulletin for you! It was not raining when I woke up on Friday! As a matter of fact, it didn't rain from 6:00 AM on that day and we actually saw the sun! After a morning bike ride down to the lighthouse, around the park area there, and up to the castle grounds before returning home, we had a pretty quiet morning. Janice and I bid farewell to some of our missionary friends here as they caught flights back to the USA - Lisa Sorley, her brother and his wife, and Gail and Joel Anderson - whose apartment we are now staying in. After their leaving, we cleaned up the guest room and carried our belongings up to our new home in the "sky" - apt 304. How nice it is to be able to spread out and have some more space to settle into - not to mention the great kitchen area. It was very generous of the Andersons to let us stay here, but we sure are appreciating it!
Once settled in, we were blessed by Estuko Oeschle, Katsum and Lisa Metz as they took us out for lunch at a traditional Okinawan restaurant. Lisa was one of my 3rd graders back when I taught in 1998-1999. I then tormented the poor girl by teaching her middle school and some high school classes as well. She said she remembers the musicals best, but it was fun to remember the good times we shared. Lisa has now graduated from college and is settling back into life here on Okinawa. I hope to hear more about her plans and future later this summer. Her mom, Katsumi, teaches Japanese here at the school and Estuko - San is one of the foundational secretaries in the office. Both ladies are friends and coworkers from the school. It was a blessing to get to hear about their lives and learn what is going on for them.
After lunch, we opted to not waste a beautifully sunny day! While we knew it was VERY windy and the waters were very stirred up, we wanted to see the beach and Janice wanted to try her hand at snorkeling again. We got all ready and headed out. Janice wanted to go to Toguchi Beach which is a relatively close to the school. Once we got there, I was a bit of a party pooper. It was cool enough that I didn't have a huge desire to get into the water, and the water was murky. I'm spoiled here; I an choose to swim in the crystal clear waters later this summer. I promised to be her life guard and take care of her if she needed it. I felt badly for not joining her, but not enough to jump in. She then proceeded to give me the best laugh I have had in a long time. I share this because - A I think she will let me. B. Her family is reading and they will understand this. C. Some of our former coworkers may be reading this and also get a kick out of it. Well, Janice had only brought flip - flops along to snorkel in. I didn't know this when we set out. She, however, was "prepared". HA! She had brought along 4 flimsy little red rubber bands. The managed to connect them to each other and then secure her flip flops to her feet/legs. This alone I found entertaining, but the show got better. Once in the water, she floated just feet from shore. I'm not sure what all she saw, but I could easily have grabbed her by the hand with only getting my lower legs wet. Then, the show improved. After some work reattaching her shoes and fixing the shoes, she had decided it was time to get out. By this time, she had beached herself - for lack of a better word. She was laying belly down on a ridge of sand. Her flip flops were floating on the surface of the water - but still secured to her legs by those red rubber bands. Her arms and legs were just floating up on the surface and the waves were crashing over her so that her hair had all managed to stick over the front of her mask. I"m not sure I am painting the picture well enough for you, but we were both laughing. I helped her to get her footing and come out of the water, but I confess to giggling a bit in the process. This was so Janice. 8 ) She keeps life interesting. I only wish I had a camera there to share the image for real with you.
After our snorkeling party, we went over to Max and Aidy Cruzado's for dinner. Aidy prrepared chicken adobo for us and Max made some plantain fritters for dessert. Hazel - another of my former students and Max and Aidy's daughter - was able to join us for dinner too. It was a night of memories, catching up, fun and fellowship. We returned home full, tired, happy, and blessed beyond words!
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