tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10822616486965385402023-11-16T16:40:43.780+10:00The Sheppards in Micronesia<b>Micronesia Guam Mission, PO BOX 21749 GMF, Barrigada Guam 96921</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-29243730143708116692011-08-18T17:34:00.000+10:002011-08-18T17:37:15.001+10:00Coming Home!<TABLE id=INCREDIMAINTABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="POSITION: relative; DIRECTION: ltr; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" id=INCREDITEXTREGION width="100%"> <DIV style="PADDING-LEFT: 2px" id=INCREDI_TEXT_AREA> <DIV>To all our good friends and family,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We have just received official notification that our work here is almost done. We will be leaving the Islands of Yap at 2:30 in the morning on September 7th *(yes.. only 3 weeks from now!). We will be flying Yap > Guam > Osaka > Seattle > Vancouver > Nanaimo. I have to say, that I am terribly disappointed that Paris isn't included in our itinerary. <IMG id=INCREDIINSERTIMAGE border=0 align=absMiddle src="cid:7FFC1873-24AB-4788-9EA6-173FA2CB0A18" INCREDIIMAGEATTRIBS INCREDIIMAGEEXTENSIONS IMCONTENTTYPE="Emoticon" IMCONTENTGUID="6F58AD7E-477E-40a3-924A-1592495CFDBC" INCREDIEMOTICONSHORTCUT=":)"></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If all the flights connect properly and are on time, we "should" be home at 5:50PM on September 7th. It will be a full 40 hours after our initial departure, yet because of the International dateline thing, we will arrive only 16 hours after we leave. Needless to say, I doubt we will be ready for a big party on the night we arrive.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>These final weeks will be an emotional time for us. As much as we are anxious to be home, we will be leaving behind huge pieces of our hearts and souls. Because the only two flights to and from Yap each week are in the middle of the night, we never get to see our little island from the air during daylight hours. So we will be saying goodbye to a few tiny lights in the darkness as we leave them behind, probably forever.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We've felt the entire spectrum of emotion at various times here. Though we've felt unappreciated, rejected, untalented, ignored, underutilized, fearful, depressed, anxious, frustrated, confused, uncharitable, and angry at times, our assignment has been an experience we will treasure forever. Though it has been a constant battle to feel like we might have made a difference here, we, ourselves, have grown a lot! We have helped here and there. We have done what we do best, and that is to find success in seeing minor changes in the lives of individuals. We hope and pray that we will have helped a few come closer to their potential. Our weaknesses have become evident, but at the same time the experience has allowed us to discover our strengths and to put life in proper perspective.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I am certain that we will experience some culture shock as we try to integrate back into the speed, noise, lights, and pace of western civilization. I know we will have a new appreciation for so many of the things we used to take for granted.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Our best to you all. We look forward to seeing you soon. Get ready for a zillion slideshows of life in Yap!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Love,</DIV> <DIV>Leigh & Winona.</DIV></DIV></TD></TR> <TR> <TD id=INCREDIFOOTER width="100%"> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width="100%"></TD> <TD id=INCREDISOUND vAlign=bottom align=middle></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-73712958008061277742011-05-31T19:01:00.000+10:002011-05-31T19:01:43.129+10:00Time FliesI am amazed... two months have gone by since my last series of posts... and even harder to believe is that we have less than 4 months left before we are sent home! It seems incredible that our time here is running out so quickly. Seminary and Institute are over, and so we will be spending the next few months updating membership records, visiting people, documenting what we have been doing... and preparing things for our replacement.<br />
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We will soon be making note of our "last this" and "last that". We've just had our last District Conference, our last Mother's Day, about to have our last Father's Day, Winona's last birthday, our last Couple's Conference. We've said goodbye to our Mission President and his wife, who are heading home at the end of June.<br />
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Our connection to the Internet has actually gotten slower over the months. As the Telecom keeps adding new subscribers, it simply increases the bottleneck, and we get slower and slower. As a result, posting pictures on the blog has become increasingly difficult. It takes forever to do anything. Compounding the problem, it now thinks I am attaching to the internet through Thailand, and lots of things, including the login screen are in Thai characters.<br />
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So.. .I have about reached the limits of my patience for today, so I will post one picture and call it quits for now, but I will try to post a bit every day or two for the next few days, and catch up on things. They will be in no particular order... as that would just make the chaos look like it had some order to it.. but I promise that the context of the posting will at least explain what you are seeing.<br />
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So... today's photo... almost randomly chosen because I'm impatient and crabby...<br />
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Not satisfied with destroying buildings and furniture, this is what termites in this area do to scriptures, and hymnbooks. Something tells me termites won't be going to heaven!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2mSHUyTbttUmcpVwH3lji2_raNF-_qNavtVu9ir9Y7HqyLOd28ZUUHxDC5i1Fw0Oc4mhBjDP4dOrxEfDLTacYMqgceT_5Re9sLhtNnvMwu_oE6wAIBMamjc7UwOpcOg1SJItjDWed91Y/s1600/P1060167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2mSHUyTbttUmcpVwH3lji2_raNF-_qNavtVu9ir9Y7HqyLOd28ZUUHxDC5i1Fw0Oc4mhBjDP4dOrxEfDLTacYMqgceT_5Re9sLhtNnvMwu_oE6wAIBMamjc7UwOpcOg1SJItjDWed91Y/s640/P1060167.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-42728738759501712722011-03-19T23:59:00.000+10:002011-03-19T23:59:28.309+10:00To our followers on Facebook!I have discovered that most of our visitors are actually reading our blog entries on Winona's Facebook site, because we have linked the blog to her site... as a result, your comments are not actually showing up on the blog... only on HER facebook!! Also, your visits are not being counted as visits to the blog, and I REALLY want to see your dot on my Map. We'd like to invite you all, to actually visit the blog at:<br />
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http://thesheppardsinmicronesia.blogspot.com<br />
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and please, leave a comment there.Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-66065985589323508642011-03-19T18:11:00.003+10:002011-03-20T22:25:08.329+10:00Bugs in the Flour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Winona took this picture while I was baking cinnamon buns. She thinks I am a little eccentric when it comes to cooking... so she took this picture as proof for our posterity. Hey, when a recipe calls for me to divide a 12" inch roll of dough into 2" pieces, I take it very literally!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8O2X2zGTcXi1ADO6lmQ4xQ36BrG3oGY2LCyRGlMaCfO1zojklO60956tKN7hJDEe0jAFPjxRRKfZfObrqjbdlIEj2iy8rbuCLZ32pKkVhccDfbrBsADfvK9CpYewdUUZYnq9JsI8czA/s1600/P1050215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8O2X2zGTcXi1ADO6lmQ4xQ36BrG3oGY2LCyRGlMaCfO1zojklO60956tKN7hJDEe0jAFPjxRRKfZfObrqjbdlIEj2iy8rbuCLZ32pKkVhccDfbrBsADfvK9CpYewdUUZYnq9JsI8czA/s400/P1050215.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
She also thought it was rather ironic that I would use a measuring tape to get things "just right", when I often make fun of how my dad used to measure wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, door frame to window, to make sure that when he hung a picture it was exactly the right height, perfectly centered with the objects in the room and placed in the exact spot so as to not throw the earth off its axis. Well, she was sure that he would be proud of me... his legacy lives on... it's hereditary! <br />
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I use the cinnamon buns as bribes to get students to class on time. Those who arrive early, get warm cinnamon buns before class.<br />
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Students who arrive late eat at the end of the class if there happens to be any left over. It worked very well... except that when I stopped making cinnamon buns, students stopped coming on time...<br />
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I also use the cinnamon buns as an object lesson to explain the creation. I show them the bag of flour, the cinnamon, the sugar, eggs, butter, salt and yeast. The finished product looks nothing like the material it is made of. The students all agree that I am indeed the "creator" of the buns even though I didn't create them from nothing. I "created" the buns with the raw ingredients and formed them into a magnificent finished product. The parallels with the Creation of heaven and earth become very self-evident for them... God is indeed our Creator but he did not create the heavens and the earth from nothing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My creation - with a small 'c'</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Someone tries to throw me off by asking about the dinosaurs! Inspiration hits me -- not doctrinally verifiable, but a plausible explanation. I mention the bugs I found in the flour as I was preparing the dough...(not really, but it had the desired effect!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Everyone stops eating and looks suspiciously at the bun they were enjoying.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"Has anyone ever seen a live dinosaur?" </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"Nope, all we have is bones, and fossils."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"So all we have is the skeletal remains of what used to be dinosaurs..."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> "Right"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"Are you going to see any live bugs in your buns?"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"I hope not" is the general response as the chewing stops.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"So all we have is the skeletal remains of what used to be bugs in the flour..." ???</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />
</div>The lights begin to go on... (but they're still looking suspiciously at the bun in their hand)<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Is it possible that dinosaurs were just "bugs in the flour" that was used to form the earth?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I can't teach that, but I DO like baking cinnamon buns! </div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-54960278423580755402011-03-19T11:56:00.000+10:002011-03-19T11:56:12.291+10:00Tropical Skies<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yap Canoe Festival</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canoe Festival</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gagil</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hollywood?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gagil</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mangroves cover the shore</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manhouse</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guam - Sheraton Laguna Resort - view from our room</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaVQ-yMFmuJAYwNT9BNsNM-K9ju9hnRg4m3IwXCpjtjsMGIk5bOzksec9B-3iD4G16HIqw7gtA8EEq6ao4riImy5dIaocy4MOGPIUQyXRkA0DYuFi98ZplUXDGvtaINSzO5kNVZpTDbjs/s1600/P1050584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaVQ-yMFmuJAYwNT9BNsNM-K9ju9hnRg4m3IwXCpjtjsMGIk5bOzksec9B-3iD4G16HIqw7gtA8EEq6ao4riImy5dIaocy4MOGPIUQyXRkA0DYuFi98ZplUXDGvtaINSzO5kNVZpTDbjs/s400/P1050584.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guam</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZtelwSZQek7a6SkNN3zZhIFTx6JexJgFON1WgGzqPWYdCTMTi_Yaor6VFyz0_TZcLON8XtB0z1TGaFQtdYMEYyelM-dEO0NPB4dN3FBxkaihGuDKgrFcBIpOo_q356OMsTrEDZogmU0/s1600/P1050589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZtelwSZQek7a6SkNN3zZhIFTx6JexJgFON1WgGzqPWYdCTMTi_Yaor6VFyz0_TZcLON8XtB0z1TGaFQtdYMEYyelM-dEO0NPB4dN3FBxkaihGuDKgrFcBIpOo_q356OMsTrEDZogmU0/s400/P1050589.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mandatory Sunset Photo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-16207840720898272702011-03-18T05:03:00.000+10:002011-03-18T05:03:21.029+10:00Boathouse ConstructionThese two boathouses are being built between the main road and the lagoon. It is fascinating to watch the progress. This represents pretty typical Yapese architecture. Most homes, have a resting place that is constructed in a pretty similar fashion. They are built completely from local materials, tied or woven together to form a solid shelter from the sun and the rain.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Click for full-size image</div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-53420920222214100782011-03-18T04:29:00.001+10:002011-03-21T05:42:26.464+10:00Peanut Butter SandwichesWe are so grateful to have been able to stay in touch with our kids via the internet. We really enjoy "chatting" and find we have much more in depth conversations with our kids via chat than we do during the occasional opportunity we get to "phone home".<br />
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Don't get me wrong, we love the opportunity to talk, and have even been able to use Skype on occasion to view each other.. We really look forward to those opportunities... but, my favorite is still chatting. We get the chance to talk for hours sometimes, making jokes, updating each other on news and happenings in our lives, and just enjoying the opportunity to visit. Plus, we talk about things we would never talk about otherwise. We solve world problems, exchange recipes, send links to cool websites, and fill our chats with lots of emoticons. <br />
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Even this blog gives me in particular, the chance to keep a personal journal in a very public way... more public than I had anticipated actually. We are getting visitors and readers and comments from all over the world. I am amazed actually, and want to welcome you all. I am excited to see new dots show up on the Maploco app at the bottom of the blog and even recognize who some of the dots represent. I have a pretty good idea who it is that is checking us out from Africa, and from Pakistan, and from the Marshall Islands, and from Victoria BC, and Calgary, and from our hometown, and Montreal and Iceland. I recognize the visits from our daughter in Virginia, and our son in Washington State. I see hits from many of our fellow senior missionaries serving in other parts of the world, some of our former students from Taiwan, Beijing, Korea, and Japan. I know who you are and want to thank all of you for your visits. <br />
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There are hundreds of visitors from other areas of the world that I am fascinated by. From Moscow, and Germany, and Italy, and New Guinea. The South American visitors have me baffled, and France, and Saudi Arabia, and Burundi. Its all very exciting, and suddenly I realize that I have a responsibility to make your visits worthwhile. I guess this is what happens when your blog gets to the first page on Google. (if you happen to have searched for "Yap Days"). Please... leave a comment, introduce yourself, say hi!<br />
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Winona and I have now been here for 16 months. We have become accustomed to the ebb and flow of life on the Islands of Yap. The food items on our shelves come from two main sources. The first is from the local stores who are totally dependent upon deliveries from supply ships. Our shelves are generally well stocked with items so that we have eggs, and butter, and milk, and rice, and flour to make it through until the next supply ship comes in. We have learned actually, that when something runs out in one store, it runs out in ALL stores. If EMI is out of butter, generally so is YCA, and Pic 'n Save, and Ace's Mart... and we would simply have to adapt to not using butter for awhile.. except that we have learned what to stock up on.<br />
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In many ways, shopping here reminds us of shopping in Costco. If you see something you want, you buy it, because you may never see it again!<br />
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Our second source of items on our shelves is from "Care Packages" from our kids!! We LOVE our care packages... full of stuff we just can't get here. Nuts, and candies, and chocolate (although, it all melts by the time it gets to us!) and Adams Crunchy style Peanut Butter!! Oh, we can get peanut butter here... Skippy, and Best Yet, and Springfield, and Smuckers, and Goobers... but, I am sorry... nothing compares with Adam's Crunchy Style. (Even "Adams Smooth" isn't what it used to be since Smuckers bought them!)<br />
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We have survived without eggs for weeks, without milk, or butter, or flour... but now we have begun to suffer our worst drought... our peanut butter is gone... We got out the rubber spatula, used our fingers, whatever we could think of to get the last bits out of the jar, but alas.. the above is our last and final peanut butter sandwich.Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-76300218915487228062011-03-18T03:04:00.000+10:002011-03-18T03:04:23.256+10:00Tsunami -- Outer Islands and Atolls in MicronesiaI have had several requests for further updates on the outer islands of Yap, and the atolls in Micronesia that would easily have been completely swept away in the wake of the tsunami from the earthquake in Japan had they been in the direct path of the larger swells.<br />
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I have been in touch with several people from the outer islands of Yap, and have confirmed with them that the outer islands experienced what simply amounted to a "high tide". Same with Majuro and the hundreds of other islands in this area of the Pacific. I have had no reports of damage or injuries from any of the Micronesian Islands, including Guam.<br />
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I also received a report from associates in Japan, and have included excerpts here:<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Thank you very much for your encouragements.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">People in Tokyo area are fine. All the S&I employees and their family were not impacted by the earthquake and the tsunami. Trains system in Tokyo started to move today almost as usual but TV news keeps reporting about missing people in the stricken area and nuclear plant. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Talking about Tohoku area, which is almost identical to the area covered by Sendai Mission, I hope things won’t get worse any more. So many people were killed by Tsunami and many more are still missing. More than 10,000 people were killed or missing. Groups of people are still isolated from the other areas because road were destroyed by the disaster. People are suffering from the shortage of water, food, kerosene, electricity, gasoline, medicines, and even the way to communicate with other area under the snowy countryside environment. Cell phone doesn’t work at all since the facilities are also damaged. Addition to that the trouble at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima seems getting worse. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">However, the Church members are helping each other in such stricken areas. Some of them reported that they have been blessed by the benefit of the food storages. PBAO has sent out people to the stricken area to organize the volunteers.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">I think things are OK for now at least in other than Sendai Mission. We keep our eyes on the situation of the nuclear plant and praying for people in the stricken area.</span></div><br />
We too are praying for the people affected by this disaster. Our hearts go out to all of you. The bits of information we get have us greatly concerned as we see photographs, satellite images, and news clippings of the devastation, and begin to realize the impact this will have on the entire world. When I see photos of entire cities flattened and debris strewn for miles and miles, I am actually amazed that there weren't hundreds of thousands of people killed by this. We stand in awe at the resiliance of the Japanese people!Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-74365960847459631262011-03-12T20:20:00.002+10:002011-03-18T04:44:28.353+10:00March 11, 2011 - Tsunami Warning<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At about 6:15PM local time, I got an email from our mission office that a Tsunami warning had been issued for the entire Pacific Basin, due to a massive M8.9 earthquake in Japan. As you can see from some of the previous pictures I have posted, many of the buildings, and villages in Yap are near the water.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> We immediately called the younger Missionaries and learned that they were watching news of the earthquake and its resulting tsunami on TV at the Telecom office. We suggested they continue to do that for awhile, as it was not expected to hit the area for at least another hour, so they could keep us updated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I called the Branch Presidents, and anyone we knew who lived in low-lying areas, and then hopped into the truck to check on a few people we couldn't reach by phone. I stopped a few times to warn a few people who were walking or jogging around the lagoon and probably hadn't heard of the impending danger.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As I checked on local stores, most knew about the tsunami warning, but seemed unconcerned. Actually, as I approached some of the people that I had come to warn, I was given polite smiles, and heard a few chuckles as I departed. The locals obviously had a sixth sense about this, because sure enough, as has happened twice before since we've been here... nothing... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Not complaining... definitely the better outcome. It was a non-event for this little island. On the other hand, the outer islands of Yap which range as far as 800 miles away, are much smaller, much flatter, much more susceptible to being swept over by a large Tsunami. I haven't heard any news of them, but am sure I would have if they had been hit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So for my friends back home -- we are fine, unaffected actually. Life goes on as normal. As for the bits of news feeds we have seen of the destruction in Japan, our hearts go out to them, and to the families back home affected by the destruction. We know there is still danger with the nuclear reactors, and pray that they are able to be contained and a third disaster avoided.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-59529133608027825922010-12-26T16:57:00.001+10:002010-12-26T17:08:43.044+10:00Yapese Architecture<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi56jbiKte40FSp7gmi7VSsvhsea-SpVnmnxnHhGZ_wMfw31lJFbHMcF7hggv5mn11EIu_1gBayl0Dhj3jt1G91idgg7gXXuWkpcZHr5QgOJdVRBgJFK3F13ZTsVZ2J-kWLKMuvHB3IAwo/s1600/P1050146.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi56jbiKte40FSp7gmi7VSsvhsea-SpVnmnxnHhGZ_wMfw31lJFbHMcF7hggv5mn11EIu_1gBayl0Dhj3jt1G91idgg7gXXuWkpcZHr5QgOJdVRBgJFK3F13ZTsVZ2J-kWLKMuvHB3IAwo/s400/P1050146.JPG" /></a> <br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Women's House</span></div></div><br />
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<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHAtJKIzGtX-oy6V_O9IhRZIsMGxrPGrg_N0xphVAGxs6HYxsW0t8R5dHGxMZlKK6iJ6SQEVljZoeGu3GBf0U4Uv8YsFcY-rzHO6oXLTGyQ-PPEV15wpF3TamI3gVgtXM1gw_aRtzGdiM/s1600/P1050133.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHAtJKIzGtX-oy6V_O9IhRZIsMGxrPGrg_N0xphVAGxs6HYxsW0t8R5dHGxMZlKK6iJ6SQEVljZoeGu3GBf0U4Uv8YsFcY-rzHO6oXLTGyQ-PPEV15wpF3TamI3gVgtXM1gw_aRtzGdiM/s400/P1050133.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Men's House</span></div><br />
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<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyFROvvK-3YDEoWWbA-ZiNggioIeqvN4NeUhVL42vQEA4N5Fcr3JJtyQBrGP0eS__HfPzRb-WTRfQVLKXgJa5Zk4Wuv_Od44FbAN0Elr5pa2rk2STOZwph3j90Yi-xXsfQ2MXPT9-NBw/s1600/P1050111.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyFROvvK-3YDEoWWbA-ZiNggioIeqvN4NeUhVL42vQEA4N5Fcr3JJtyQBrGP0eS__HfPzRb-WTRfQVLKXgJa5Zk4Wuv_Od44FbAN0Elr5pa2rk2STOZwph3j90Yi-xXsfQ2MXPT9-NBw/s400/P1050111.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Men's and Women's House :-)</span></div><br />
<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-50823776869738025512010-09-14T05:11:00.002+10:002010-09-14T08:45:28.109+10:00Signs of the Times!<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;">Yap doesn't have a professional sign painter. I am still trying to figure out if stores don't have signs because there is no graphic artist in Yap... or if there is no graphic artist in Yap because there are no signs! If there is a sign advertising a store, it is hand painted, and often with nothing more elaborate than a felt pen.<br />
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The only neon sign on the Island is one hanging in the window of EMI (local grocery/wholesale outlet) that says "CLOSE" in brightly lit red neon. As we pass it each night after closing time, I amuse myself by considering the sign's true meaning... is it a command that tells the staff to close, and close fast.. because, after all, its the only lit sign in Yap, and it's red!<br />
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Or, it could mean that I am getting close to something special enough to warrant a lit sign...but as I drive on and look back across the lagoon, I can still see its eery red image and it still says CLOSE... even tho' I am clearly by now, FAR from whatever it was I was once close to.<br />
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Stores and offices are immensely difficult to recognize, as most do not have signs, and they look just like any other house. It is assumed that you know it's a store, or if you don't, you'll ask someone "is that a store?" ...simple! Who needs a sign?<br />
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Streets aren't named either, presumably for the same reason... although it puts us back into the same conundrum... are the streets not named because they don't have signs, or are there no signs for the streets because they are not named? Again, the thought is.. if you really want to find someone, you'll simply head in the general direction, and ask "Where does Gubung live?" Everyone knows, and they'll point you in the general direction, and then you ask again as you get closer... here is where that neon sign might come in handy! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQM49blT4RzbsKH4SZOLKiz7GMq_MatkZC1BUtuS5OzwjSlbnkOPNOdEM5FyGMGavqjuhezlm887IjLz6l2Whh1pHfUCvgrBZe9DnMR9X6aj5vXB7OveNC1EzdTXriL_UcxGtQ7VN8sT4/s1600/P1000248.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQM49blT4RzbsKH4SZOLKiz7GMq_MatkZC1BUtuS5OzwjSlbnkOPNOdEM5FyGMGavqjuhezlm887IjLz6l2Whh1pHfUCvgrBZe9DnMR9X6aj5vXB7OveNC1EzdTXriL_UcxGtQ7VN8sT4/s400/P1000248.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
Then I found this!!! It's a rare sign to advise people that they should slow down. It reads <b>"Please slow down your car cause our road is not real good"</b>. It was an understatement... and probably unnecessary since you couldn't possibly go fast on this road.<br />
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RATS!! I just noticed that this is going to publish under Winona's account! I have become totally technologically challenged since I quit the industry. I have no idea how to twitter... Facebook confuses me completely.. I don't twit, or tweet, or face, or wiki. I leave that to Winona entirely! Googling and blogging is about where I am at in the evolution of the personal computer. The blog is a nice way to share my journal, but the "editor" frustrates me no end. So, rather than try to fight it, I am just going to accept the fact that this post will say it is coming from Winona... I have the same dilemma with Google Talk (chat) ... my kids have gotten used to the fact that when it says "Winona says:" it is likely me... especially if it shows her as being online at 3am Yap time! Winona is NEVER on any time after 11pm or anytime prior to 7am. ... if it says she is.. its me! Same with this post... this post cannot be blamed on Winona.<br />
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Hmmm .. even more confusing.. the preview publishes as Winona... but the final copy came out as me! I am definitely showing signs of serious aging! (PS .. note the amount of grey showing up in my hair. Arrgh! Another sign of the times! ) </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-73963556081847653292010-08-24T06:26:00.002+10:002010-09-23T04:06:55.689+10:00Being Bogged-down by Blog BugsFirst I want to apologize for the month-and-a-half long gap since my last post! (can I blame writer's block?). I really wanted to rectify the situation today, but as I began working on the blog, I hit a few bugs in the process.. I won't bore you with the details except to say that as I tried to fix it, things went from bad to worse. I ended up getting a "bX-rg6px" error message, which is really helpful!!<br />
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I thought, "bummer!, I've lost my blog!!"<br />
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... you will notice that I ended up with a changed background. Its not really the background I wanted, but at least the blog works, even if somewhat more difficult to read. I figured I'd better leave well enough alone for now. But with all the techno-troubles today I have run out of time to add any new posts... except this one... :-)<br />
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I'll try again another day.<br />
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Addendum:<span style="color: #990000;"> it's now another day, and the background has been changed to something I actually like, (using a different background provider ... is that what they are called?) Unfortunately not all of the background picture actually shows up on the screen... the prettiest portion is somewhere down below my available screen real-estate. Those of you with higher resolution monitors than mine may get a better picture than I can on my laptop.</span><br style="color: #990000;" /><br style="color: #990000;" /><span style="color: #990000;">I have also added a slideshow gizmo (gadget actually!) which we can update very readily using Picasa. We will be adding photos to the slide show in random fashion from time to time, but will provide captions that will hopefully make up for some of the "randomness". It will provide us an opportunity to give you lots of pictures of our mission experience thus far, without filling the blog with hundreds of photos to sift through.</span><br />
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</span></div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-42252683680937239412010-07-06T07:03:00.001+10:002010-07-06T07:07:39.484+10:00How to husk a coconut with a screwdriver.These pictures were taken some time ago, but offer a glimpse into a talent I have yet to grasp. Getting to the coconut inside is a seemingly impossible task to us North Americans. Usually the islanders husk the coconuts on a sharp stick or pole firmly anchored into the ground. With those, I've seen them husk as many as five in 60 seconds but they have an inherent risk of being impaled through the chest with just one slip.<br />
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We often get the missionaries to husk one for us using a machete, which also works well but has the inherent risk of losing a hand or a foot... depending on which you use to hold the coconut in place while you chop it to pieces with the machete.<br />
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In this series of photographs, Alfred Nam demonstrates how to do it with a screwdriver... it takes longer, and more muscle power but it shows that it can be done. It has the inherent risk of breaking into buckets of sweat as you wrestle with these things.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii4_adNZ9rq1Wf9QeiVX00Ed6llnA3kuykULef4YDIh4pFCgQrEjNTS_izA9AjxDyGZq-As86hvcWxOpuAX0qJJ5yvWmFLzNUNDNSeMnPfk-r023WIuC0LVgUOx0ZbODCj9VUItR0piEY/s1600/100_0730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii4_adNZ9rq1Wf9QeiVX00Ed6llnA3kuykULef4YDIh4pFCgQrEjNTS_izA9AjxDyGZq-As86hvcWxOpuAX0qJJ5yvWmFLzNUNDNSeMnPfk-r023WIuC0LVgUOx0ZbODCj9VUItR0piEY/s400/100_0730.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpUZK_9qtny3quD5ZGl-2dQjs8CVnM-c34lhbSv5VFKpC9cYvTFMTGSsvZQgmaTIGRjTQHhyphenhyphenyZ9Dn4VnZunNzcm0qtrQEQ_8Jj724BtptlTNtYtaXZKiRdZytcmf_lhYg_SdVXzAUHcSc/s1600/100_0734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpUZK_9qtny3quD5ZGl-2dQjs8CVnM-c34lhbSv5VFKpC9cYvTFMTGSsvZQgmaTIGRjTQHhyphenhyphenyZ9Dn4VnZunNzcm0qtrQEQ_8Jj724BtptlTNtYtaXZKiRdZytcmf_lhYg_SdVXzAUHcSc/s400/100_0734.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beginning to see results</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOleDh5mK2_s7wY7Jhhj9C9rr8i6imaNCLA73bpQKfpXMs0aKNCdYEQCqjjW7FoKmQDljsSPf0_Py_XZbfANkJddTeJBI1UhLN9sNcOAbzRPyFEH_MuH2X4QKXTxaMCGE8saAXpVKng_E/s1600/100_0735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOleDh5mK2_s7wY7Jhhj9C9rr8i6imaNCLA73bpQKfpXMs0aKNCdYEQCqjjW7FoKmQDljsSPf0_Py_XZbfANkJddTeJBI1UhLN9sNcOAbzRPyFEH_MuH2X4QKXTxaMCGE8saAXpVKng_E/s400/100_0735.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is the part where I break into a sweat.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qRElRZHUMLrbMsKt-ynoS8JCZeaL_vafje_qQbBC92-lsVVZJKay0_FuurTJ6KVZCU2p5kGrJ7AFozfE4kY-f_A6WjodK3fROz_tT0Z4wEtdr8y5Cn13U75oF7sWVLC6BbNDp7mDiUM/s1600/100_0736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qRElRZHUMLrbMsKt-ynoS8JCZeaL_vafje_qQbBC92-lsVVZJKay0_FuurTJ6KVZCU2p5kGrJ7AFozfE4kY-f_A6WjodK3fROz_tT0Z4wEtdr8y5Cn13U75oF7sWVLC6BbNDp7mDiUM/s400/100_0736.JPG" width="400" /> </a>That's a lot of husk for a little nut (I think he did a second one while I wasn't looking!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_9H33jjao3G3tAPLfbMyLTYhs0MMFW9yYnHtCLPuXhirZ0h-tuZx0ZvWoIsgUWHn7MGpBnDl0DW9Kmmx1HksXSjuMTM6I_toxFJsEqb7J4CUqKVYMxQ2mf5kMwDn7_ziIDdF95rhDjY/s1600/100_0737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_9H33jjao3G3tAPLfbMyLTYhs0MMFW9yYnHtCLPuXhirZ0h-tuZx0ZvWoIsgUWHn7MGpBnDl0DW9Kmmx1HksXSjuMTM6I_toxFJsEqb7J4CUqKVYMxQ2mf5kMwDn7_ziIDdF95rhDjY/s400/100_0737.JPG" width="300" /> </a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ok..now we still need to get to the actual coconut</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIktv9BsmFY098yU-affJZKLRAZZMCCvg7yZ_ynEu_cVPucr1zA2nED-IKlkLcrLJiPprmfJcUKsTHO_WC1-BZ7iaB058zwPpxQ4DLulOo-Zzo06J5J5kS3-95JxU3_oPZHJSkGeqyRzY/s1600/100_0741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIktv9BsmFY098yU-affJZKLRAZZMCCvg7yZ_ynEu_cVPucr1zA2nED-IKlkLcrLJiPprmfJcUKsTHO_WC1-BZ7iaB058zwPpxQ4DLulOo-Zzo06J5J5kS3-95JxU3_oPZHJSkGeqyRzY/s400/100_0741.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">ah... the machete comes in here!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrbV2a5MGolXGGd7pHO__QfSGl-z9D0G0BMk08Dltk_m6Oh5EnbGaZI1tAJ-dF_Gy7ls_7orDp9_3fr1aG4CSywjz6YVX0AbmWw0_Ht6umh2beccug3tD987_dTV5xeE8d_97AuTvPFgo/s1600/100_0743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrbV2a5MGolXGGd7pHO__QfSGl-z9D0G0BMk08Dltk_m6Oh5EnbGaZI1tAJ-dF_Gy7ls_7orDp9_3fr1aG4CSywjz6YVX0AbmWw0_Ht6umh2beccug3tD987_dTV5xeE8d_97AuTvPFgo/s400/100_0743.JPG" width="400" /></a>Perfect!Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-22931420976115179422010-06-11T22:24:00.007+10:002010-06-11T23:24:05.116+10:00Scripture Chase II<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px" align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;">The Scripture Chase was divided into two parts. Part 1 was a written team test. A perfect score would have given them 25 points. They had exactly 10 minutes to complete the test.</span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px" align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;">So... rather than all of the students trying to remember all 25 scriptures, they decided that each one would concentrate on memorizing the references, clues, and content of only 5 scriptures, each one with a differenct set of 5. As the clues were given, they would recognize that the clue was for one of their 5, and they would lead the others to the correct scripture. The strategy worked well, but it had one flaw... because each one hadn't learned all 25 scriptures, there was some dispute about which scripture fit which clue, and so they ended up with the same scripture being used for two different clues</span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Seminary Class 24</span></strong></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Missionaries 25</span></strong></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><span style="font-family:arial;">Round 1 to the Missionaries</span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzbY0m6NwY_vaOSehntLTvUM9y_amGGqyl5pKfavWJ45bdLJe_eJBCEWvLPY4_Bji3fx7cuTwRWbCo5ZkDU6tqZosIolHZ6AfOVCST8VygxchyphenhyphenqZOebDYEIKKmSyYKQfCN9CmCowOGjE/s1600/IMG_1568.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzbY0m6NwY_vaOSehntLTvUM9y_amGGqyl5pKfavWJ45bdLJe_eJBCEWvLPY4_Bji3fx7cuTwRWbCo5ZkDU6tqZosIolHZ6AfOVCST8VygxchyphenhyphenqZOebDYEIKKmSyYKQfCN9CmCowOGjE/s400/IMG_1568.JPG" /></a> </div><p align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><strong>It was fun just to see the teamwork</strong></span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"><p align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">Round 2 was the 'basketball' round:</span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">While one team deciphered clues and hunted down the scripture, the other team shot baskets. We initially had the Missionaries shooting from the 3 point line, while the seminary students could shoot from anywhere... (hey, the missionaries are a lot taller!! and they are guys! It seemed only fair). The handicap was a little too much, ... I forgot, white men can't shoot... so we quickly let them shoot from the foul line.</span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">As soon as the team hunting down scriptures had all found their scriptures, the scoring of baskets stopped. Even a ball that was in the air when the bell sounded was out of play at that point. So, if you weren't so good at Scripture Chase, but could shoot baskets you still had a fighting chance to win.</span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">The Seminary Students were the clear winner of round 1 of the basketball portion... so we had them play round2 with the same rules as the missionaries... all shots from behind the foul line. The missionaries sqeaked by with a 1 point lead for round 2 of the basketball shootout.</span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">Overall, however, the students ended up with more overall points... giving the missionaries a good workout! (playing basketball in white shirt and tie in 90 degree weather in the hot afternoon sun is a clear disadvantage.) and leaving the Seminary Class delighted with a great comback! </span></p><p align="left"></p><p align="left"></p></span><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px" align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCGVWlcurSz28EmP8ObCz1D-Hhla97Al3GY1UJ-egVAd-TucHBwWIBIeIngB3GUxhbpSOFsrraYvqgN4QMMUeSKHFOSEb4inubB4i3uLqzDJsThlcHvPJnthbcbZmJg7x7RFUqCWxNbgY/s1600/IMG_1569.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCGVWlcurSz28EmP8ObCz1D-Hhla97Al3GY1UJ-egVAd-TucHBwWIBIeIngB3GUxhbpSOFsrraYvqgN4QMMUeSKHFOSEb4inubB4i3uLqzDJsThlcHvPJnthbcbZmJg7x7RFUqCWxNbgY/s400/IMG_1569.JPG" /></a> </div><p align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><strong>The ability to shoot pays off!</strong></span></p><p><br /></p><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw85_hBo7jXJpclwXBcWW3DjccaWRyrkx6Y8lV01mTKrNY71Vy8UvV_Y6TiTSDU3qVc8MFxC05hhJI_MJMQOEai3FLvSX_AJTnys1a875fU4_OsLeYt2xtGjxy_sw1m0Q1vqBPilAHlZU/s1600/IMG_1576.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw85_hBo7jXJpclwXBcWW3DjccaWRyrkx6Y8lV01mTKrNY71Vy8UvV_Y6TiTSDU3qVc8MFxC05hhJI_MJMQOEai3FLvSX_AJTnys1a875fU4_OsLeYt2xtGjxy_sw1m0Q1vqBPilAHlZU/s400/IMG_1576.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><span style="font-family:arial;">The Proud Graduates</span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"></a></div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-54333583549927528432010-06-11T07:14:00.002+10:002010-06-11T16:26:12.593+10:00Scripture Chase<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px" align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;">Every year, the Seminary students are taught 25 "Scripture Mastery" scriptures. By knowing and understanding these scriptures, and knowing where to find them, the students are then able to draw upon those scriptures as they prepare lessons, or talks later in life. Many of these scriptures have deep personal meaning to the students as the principles taught begin to shape their lives.</span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px" align="left"><span style="font-family:Arial;">At the end of the school year, we held a "Scripture Chase" with the full-time missionaries. In the demonstration match held with two of the missionaries vs. the seminary class, it became obvious that the missionaries were formidable opponents! The missionaries were given brand-new, unmarked scriptures... the students had marked their scriptures, crumpled their pages, color coded the edges of the pages, along with a few "cheat sheets", I'm sure... but were soundly defeated by the missionaries...</span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px" align="left"><span style="font-family:Arial;">The students worked hard over the next few weeks to be in better shape for the live competition... (the theme song from Rocky has suddenly entered my head...)</span><span style="font-family:Arial;">!</span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px" align="left"><span style="font-family:Arial;">They also got together to work on a few strategies... mostly legal.. to give them an edge in the competition....</span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px" align="left"><span style="font-family:Arial;">PLUS...</span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px" align="left"><span style="font-family:Arial;">For the live event, we threw in a few twists to make it a little more competitive</span></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7N6kVgIn_1D4Ch4r1kPwX3Dt-YdPYeMFQ6VQq1CegMloZDckqpfGQ2wO6MGUJ-KyVNcb14hTfkcmd0KlcO4xhtlI0nEba-2eaIj7dqf6H9kpBYS6UHlqgpSfaNpJWte78-EngPy0kp8/s1600/IMG_1561.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7N6kVgIn_1D4Ch4r1kPwX3Dt-YdPYeMFQ6VQq1CegMloZDckqpfGQ2wO6MGUJ-KyVNcb14hTfkcmd0KlcO4xhtlI0nEba-2eaIj7dqf6H9kpBYS6UHlqgpSfaNpJWte78-EngPy0kp8/s400/IMG_1561.JPG" /></a></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">Sister Sheppard explaining the rules...</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"></div></span><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPlgFLmcyqNxq-BFGxughVaHJBkPmsObuN8YM_lsxnMAxdBkpBX2K6jYZijOKI8VbQDM_ytg0I0xSJck2SQGu8DfhMV7TogtQzkRW2ubc47iXuUJPlbbZe-jYNMjLT3z5XqNrFS2MT8M/s1600/IMG_1565.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPlgFLmcyqNxq-BFGxughVaHJBkPmsObuN8YM_lsxnMAxdBkpBX2K6jYZijOKI8VbQDM_ytg0I0xSJck2SQGu8DfhMV7TogtQzkRW2ubc47iXuUJPlbbZe-jYNMjLT3z5XqNrFS2MT8M/s400/IMG_1565.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">Missionaries vs. Seminary Class</div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDC-MU8P2e-mBjBmvu3TtbM2TKnQWkIt2OO9V-DKcbarQSbzSvxgCDzsbrNftJRNfUuRW-BK4D5I-slDCNMKb5aQraX0kyFLNvHHsWXpI3HlmLz3eMHjkJap7UJxbv1uIPK_AEafxxiw/s1600/IMG_1566.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDC-MU8P2e-mBjBmvu3TtbM2TKnQWkIt2OO9V-DKcbarQSbzSvxgCDzsbrNftJRNfUuRW-BK4D5I-slDCNMKb5aQraX0kyFLNvHHsWXpI3HlmLz3eMHjkJap7UJxbv1uIPK_AEafxxiw/s400/IMG_1566.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">The most intense we'd seen them all year!</div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjux3_yQGmL0SZ0y-NwRE4d8YVFZ0ywLF8uPHt6_Y73ReuG32zGCd-wET94dkCkLJ_ShMwK9HYSe2q_KARPyXLnYEpy5WdPiaCyXmT95huZgEIOMPdOnI-hMhFQxBZ9f5jA0P3P7i9Su3o/s1600/IMG_1567.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjux3_yQGmL0SZ0y-NwRE4d8YVFZ0ywLF8uPHt6_Y73ReuG32zGCd-wET94dkCkLJ_ShMwK9HYSe2q_KARPyXLnYEpy5WdPiaCyXmT95huZgEIOMPdOnI-hMhFQxBZ9f5jA0P3P7i9Su3o/s400/IMG_1567.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">The missionaries seem more relaxed, don't you think?</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">....</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">Don't miss the exciting conclusion in my next post!!</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">....</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">Rocky II theme Music ...</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" border="0" alt="Posted by Picasa" align="middle" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" /></a></div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-11618578257276701392010-06-10T21:02:00.000+10:002010-06-10T21:03:52.930+10:00Tranquility<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpapeTwzP1R8sDYFZqGv6Chu-TOd_f_3cgtnaPUmDj6Ap8ptNB3eJrVFddOrBCqd-6IqFCoauF5GmlpgBqWPhAAizCDZqFkYmk-N4P1ClvWqE1rlE-H1Gu7TJ6TM9cZO6SvR4-5LDEFs/s1600/IMG_1609.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpapeTwzP1R8sDYFZqGv6Chu-TOd_f_3cgtnaPUmDj6Ap8ptNB3eJrVFddOrBCqd-6IqFCoauF5GmlpgBqWPhAAizCDZqFkYmk-N4P1ClvWqE1rlE-H1Gu7TJ6TM9cZO6SvR4-5LDEFs/s400/IMG_1609.JPG" /></a><br />Preparation for Canoe Races.... 156 days left!</div><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-90449050911266751842010-06-10T19:49:00.000+10:002010-06-10T20:00:20.688+10:00Grade 8 Graduation<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">At last we have DSL! We can upload pictures without worring about the cost or the amount of time it takes!</div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelT_l-xWrnNcvqea5bexJMlBbSeXOrajvsEW9OJTZUYOnZ6_OI55j9kXswT3mTyKLhTUplyX2WfEEnenP6Ygz20mSvyKotXpztIgoMADdjPqwk7_SaTsJSDwlPKJlv3aVMU3czZ9OEB0/s1600/IMG_1755.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelT_l-xWrnNcvqea5bexJMlBbSeXOrajvsEW9OJTZUYOnZ6_OI55j9kXswT3mTyKLhTUplyX2WfEEnenP6Ygz20mSvyKotXpztIgoMADdjPqwk7_SaTsJSDwlPKJlv3aVMU3czZ9OEB0/s400/IMG_1755.JPG" /></a><br />local warriors.</div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLeLhoYglJ-eDA17kOuM94G1OwePFdcL47gR5cKW9guSKVxRju6AYBFXwgqh7Pww5VALPAL8eT8BSL9m1NKOug561OKj9tnRwNEAV-PTPTl4p6upTAfl7j7LIN_BUUozc8NMRZU_VadU/s1600/IMG_1772.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLeLhoYglJ-eDA17kOuM94G1OwePFdcL47gR5cKW9guSKVxRju6AYBFXwgqh7Pww5VALPAL8eT8BSL9m1NKOug561OKj9tnRwNEAV-PTPTl4p6upTAfl7j7LIN_BUUozc8NMRZU_VadU/s400/IMG_1772.JPG" /></a><br />Bamboo Dance</div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbimLxtqZUmetRERU2lKX2xLi0h_0wIyCmb3xeexwmiW0QEZyXA8UIkw3OiAoLegVIJ-ek48GbTuqJV_uBYn-zthmDtQM0J7HREpV9m1KZooYxlma59nOrBbexU3FYi4BYly0OrkwslGE/s1600/IMG_1718.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbimLxtqZUmetRERU2lKX2xLi0h_0wIyCmb3xeexwmiW0QEZyXA8UIkw3OiAoLegVIJ-ek48GbTuqJV_uBYn-zthmDtQM0J7HREpV9m1KZooYxlma59nOrBbexU3FYi4BYly0OrkwslGE/s400/IMG_1718.JPG" /></a><br />hundreds of congratulatory leis<br /></div><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-15526822854928046462010-06-10T19:28:00.000+10:002010-06-10T19:30:04.035+10:00Our Little Island<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJoWYSnYvDQRsixTFU5fgkm7Xyw_40i6QhlPXWOkUN75joVF-HgHqBu4gozliwEA4QY-8g8ZOEgsocOruUiDP0p_EhZup4EtNwRu4eEj2kXU1slf-NE-w4Amx9VkUdxDG2BV6ysOqaSQ0/s1600/IMG_1604.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJoWYSnYvDQRsixTFU5fgkm7Xyw_40i6QhlPXWOkUN75joVF-HgHqBu4gozliwEA4QY-8g8ZOEgsocOruUiDP0p_EhZup4EtNwRu4eEj2kXU1slf-NE-w4Amx9VkUdxDG2BV6ysOqaSQ0/s400/IMG_1604.JPG" /></a><br />Sometimes, words are not enough!</div><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-17138790827057404742010-06-10T17:35:00.004+10:002010-06-10T18:10:14.945+10:00Mother Hen in the jungle<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg38fDVBuqXb2_OWkbJRddShvnA3t5HR9y7gr0N9OceQyx1-9BHw5cpKABSF4bv1jSX0aZB1TOtP4ENAd3KNi90-eEDGJZrlTjxNCCUMwSAllLrU-AQuvDYMZ4uorkjS1RdLJKunUgfBt8/s1600/100_0989.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg38fDVBuqXb2_OWkbJRddShvnA3t5HR9y7gr0N9OceQyx1-9BHw5cpKABSF4bv1jSX0aZB1TOtP4ENAd3KNi90-eEDGJZrlTjxNCCUMwSAllLrU-AQuvDYMZ4uorkjS1RdLJKunUgfBt8/s320/100_0989.JPG" /></a> </div></div>Anna Faltinag and I went to visit some of the branch members one Sunday and found ourselves adopted by four baby chickens. The place we stopped, unfortunately, had no one at home but the family's chickens greeted us as friends. We left a note to say we had been by and started to walk up the jungle path to the road where we had left the car. We had only made it a few yards before we realized that the baby chicks that had been running around our feet were now in hot pursuit! Anna realized they were expecting to be fed and from their vantage point we looked like the feeders! Anna made efforts to trick them into thinking the food was here or there by scratching the dirt and gathering them all into a circle, while she tried to step out and walk away. They would have none of that and quickly gathered at her feet again. We laughed and laughed as we made several more unsuccessful attempts to escape from the brood.<br />
<br />
Anna finally succeeded when she found a coconut husk that still had bits of coconut left inside, and put it on the ground. The chicks immediately began pecking at it so Anna quickly ran up the path and got far enough away, fast enough, that the chicks stayed pecking and didn't notice she'd gone. Just another day in Yap.<br />
<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-14288344348419659822010-05-28T00:42:00.000+10:002010-05-28T00:43:01.781+10:00Full Moon + Land Crabs = RoadKill<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Full Moon tonight, and things get weird in Yap... I wrote about crabbing during a full moon a few months ago, but this month was just down-right Outer Limits weird. Even though the moon was hidden behind clouds tonight, somehow all the land crabs on Yap know that tonight is the night to go night-crawling. As we drive with high beams lighting the roadway ahead we can see creatures from TRON scurrying in front of us. We are driving slowly, so we swerve to try and avoid them, but they obviously have no idea that cars have 4 wheels and so they end up scurrying right under my back tires, and the resulting crunch is quite disturbing. As the night gets darker, the throng gets thicker and in some areas of the road they are so thick that we have little choice but to drive right over them. Roadkill is everywhere, as we are obviously not the first ones to travel the road tonight. Local citizens are all over the sides of the road scooping crabs into plastic bags. Winona is wearing flip-flops, so she is too afraid to get out and try to catch a few of these things... (she forgets that most of the locals are barefoot!!) ... </FONT><FONT size=2 face=Arial>as for me?? ... well, these things are just plain creepy and don't really taste all that good, so we decide that we are quite happy with the imitation Crab that is in our freezer. I am still not sure what the attraction of a full moon is to the crabs, nor how they tell, but someone should get the word out to them that its not safe out there!</FONT></DIV>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-76148871679586981352010-05-20T07:02:00.012+10:002010-05-20T22:30:08.069+10:00Ramblings... (part deux)<span style="font-family:arial;">As you can tell from the last posting, we are settling in here. Winona is being extremely easy on me by loving what she is doing here. We are given lots of freedom to get involved in almost any sort of charitable work we want to and so we sort of stumbled into the ASL class at the high school one day. When we arrived in Yap, one of the first things we checked out was the local library. Yap actually had one, not all the smaller islands have libraries, so we were excited. However, we found the library to be poorly stocked and many of the books are old and musty smelling but we applied for a library card and Winona checked out a few books just so she could have an excuse to go back. The library consists of four or five shelves that are three levels high and some magazine racks...that's it. We also looked to find new books in the local stores but none of the stores carry books at all! We began to realize why even though most people speak pretty good English, few can read very well. Even sadder, they don't read Yapese either, because there are so few Yapese books in the world! Our church is one of the few organizations that is working hard to make all of its material available in all of the Micronesian languages.. Yapese, Pohnpeian, Chuukese, Palauan, and Kosraean. (there is little use for these languages elsewhere in the world, and so most people (including ourselves) are amazed at the amount of money the church spends in translation efforts.<br /><br />You'll appreciate the process they go through to make this happen. I am assisting with getting the Yapese translation team setup to work effectively in Yap. The translators consist of 5 high school and college aged kids who are good enough in English and Yapese written skills to be able to translate, plus one middle-aged lady who is a professional teacher, and approves and/or corrects the work of the young translators before it goes for final proofreading and publication. Telephone and Internet access are a problem here, so part of my job is trying to make the computer system work as efficiently as possible, and to make sure that other capable people are being trained in the procedures involved in translation so that we always have a supply of translators available. Remember, we are training locals to translate from English into Yapese... not the other way around! No one else is doing that! It feels good to be able to help even though I don't speak the language! We recently had General Conference (a series of about 6 hours of speeches) being broadcast from Salt Lake City that needed to be translated into Yapese live, during the broadcast! Speeches were prepared ahead of time in English by the presenters, and a transcript sent via Internet to the office in Guam and then to our team. They get the transcript in Microsoft Word and it has all kinds of special embedded codes in the documents that are used later in the process. The translators get to choose which job they want and get paid almost $10US per page .. the "page" is actually only about a half page because each page is split in two, half being the original English text. If the girls are good at their jobs, they can easily produce 2 pages per hour.. easily one of the best paying jobs in Yap! (College teachers with Masters degrees get paid $18,000 per year! .. that's another story!) If they could type like professional typists.. they'd be able to hit 4 pages per hour.<br /><br />This is a poster that I made of the translation team in Yap. The girl in the top right and the woman in the middle do the bulk of the translation. The girl in the bottom left is a return missionary, and does some work as well. The others are "in training".<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 310px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473093679337267714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNEB2E0V_vcYzR7CIgzVaN4TyWb8tgzW5RiPJ1bDp26xU7YVVJjAEbMri3WECjHA6adB4tcRud5rCiG2WP1UphFizQyKmBQCAe84bmPjMZeo5l5OhVGCum81Sl3GRNhzrrcWBLm3CYdI/s400/Starred+Photos.JPG" /><br /><br />Once they finish the translation, it gets sent back to the translation office in Guam and gets sent out for correction and initial approval by anyone of a dozen or so former missionaries or Yapese natives living elsewhere. (They have to switch back and forth between native Yapese who speak English as a second language, and native English speakers who speak Yapese as a second language to ensure that the nuances of each language have been accounted for). From there it goes to a proofreader and then finally back to Salt Lake City where they have a team of interpreters who will read the final text synchronized with the live English presenter. The embedded codes are used at this point so that during the live presentations the speakers see English on the teleprompter, and the interpreters will get a synchronized version in Yapese (or whatever other language may be being interpreted).. all at the same time. Written text is handled pretty much the same way, except audio interpreters are not needed...the material goes to a publisher instead. Finally, the broadcast is sent back to Yap via DVD.. the differences in Time Zone make Satellite live broadcasts rather useless. By the time it gets to this point, thousands of dollars have been spent just to get the Yapese translation completed accurately and on time... and then 15 or 20 of the locals get to view the "broadcast"! This is clearly an investment meant to preserve the language for the future generations. I am absolutely amazed at the translation efforts that go on when you consider that there are only about 6500 people <strong>IN THE WORLD</strong> who speak Yapese! The young missionaries that are sent here become totally comfortable with the language in less than 6 months and always impress the locals when they are able to converse with them so well. Us old missionaries??? .. not so much!<br /><br />Below are a few photos of a resident of the village of Gargey using her loom to weave a lava lava. (wrap-around) She is from the island of Woleai (one of the outer islands) and now living with her family in Yap. She is sitting on the concrete floor of her home. Note how she uses her toes to assist with getting the loom ready. They do the same thing when making flower laies and baskets. Using toes and feet is just as good as having 4 hands.<br /><br />The strap across her back is attached to the board on her lap so she can use her legs to provide tension on the loom as she weaves. When she gets tired of weaving, she rolls up the thread with the boards, sticks and tubes used for the separations onto the part of the frame near her feet. The pegs sticking up on the frame keep the boards and material in place while she rests.<br /><br />You can see part of the Lava Lava she is wearing (black with orange stripes) underneath the sheet she has put over her legs for modesty as she works. It is easy to recognize the outer islanders because they almost always wear these lava lavas and you will never see a Yapese person wearing them. They all learn to weave their own. They are all of a similar pattern, but vary in color and width of the stripes. They are all knee length and are really very attractive. You'll rarely see them in anything else, although a few have broken from tradition and will wear other styles of clothing. Most wear T-shirts of a matching or complementary color.. or are topless. Being bare-breasted is not considered immodest, but they are very careful to cover their thighs. You will never see any of the Outer Islanders, or the Yapese women, in shorts or mini-skirts.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><p></p><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473093659617507666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQOYxXcV4wZHnlsxeYyZ7TenCIbrFEFrRoIL9Eqhu07hfTYXK11GZ45chbW_upVtBulq5n3Pc7O-XVee1XrpcFf57MAF4Bj1wtRN5lKj4oByL48pBv4118YYMQmHoZgvPcxly7QXeEc0/s400/IMG_1038.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473093667545365410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzdLhfBUl9D-IjF3wT0cGljyuCAl7mhsDqQ55EOTEm-1Axr0Lrxzry_1IQrI0DiRmKaHAgkZEWuIpLfZoYihCmjO5jj2h5fRlmwhihAxkttG7IavUPis_2MI1GH1Y10COi3dl_kTL6DJk/s400/IMG_1049.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473093671923223858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZ0_wX-A-SjGEzEfxX36psY6LtVE488rZCxcjwymLPzxeZEBK-d5R0fECw5al0DruGMt3O-D5qA0u2Nb6LJqhdT8S4tySQVVgFNTTVjHXy4gFuR_eOPMuMM_XuP6ZEl4Vjy8v_PGj5m0/s400/IMG_1063.JPG" /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">Anyway, back to the library thing... Winona is having a wonderful time at the High School . She learned some ASL a few years ago from a deaf couple in Nanaimo. She never got good enough to be able to keep up with a normal conversation, but she could communicate well enough with a deaf person if they signed slowly for her. When the deaf couple moved back to Baltimore, a few years ago we thought we would never see them again and that the likelihood of her ever being able to use her ASL was pretty slim. Fortunately, we were able to find them while we travelled through Baltimore last summer and the spark was rekindled. She wants to add her own blog entry so she will tell you all about her ASL adventures in our next post.<br /><br />As for me, I'm becoming well known for my cooking! Can I now claim to be internationally renowned? Let's just put it this way... there is a reason that you'll never find Yapese cuisine in the US or Canada. Bland, bland, and more bland. The favorite succulent dish is Turkey Tail. (That's what my mom used to call "The Pope's Nose"... although that sounds like it is likely a totally non-politically correct name for it! I'm not sure which Pope it was that inspired the name, I am sure that he wouldn't be hard to recognize if a portrait was available...) Lets just say, that one of us had to learn to take the locally available materials and turn them into something that actually had some flavor to it...We have been to few of the local restaurants, (which are actually very reasonably priced!) but soon learned that every restaurant in town has exactly the same menu... stir fried fish, pork, or chicken; curried fish, pork or chicken; sizzling fish, pork or chicken, fish, pork or chicken in coconut sauce (which is pretty good actually) or Ramen noodles and egg, OR the worst hamburgers you've ever eaten!..Winona was busy with ASL, Yapese, and Woleaian, so I jumped into the kitchen for survival!<br /><br />I (along with Winona as sous-chef) have a continual supply of Sushi rice, sushi vinegar, wasabi and Nori, crab and tuna on hand for serving up Sushi in a flash. We make our own pickled ginger, and are two of the few on the Island that can use chopsticks. I've adapted a few recipes from a cooking class I took a couple of years ago, including Salad Wraps (which are tricky with the short supply of fresh veggies here!) with homemade Thai peanut sauce. I've made the usual Stir Fry but have learned to make Lemon Chicken and the best Coconut Shrimp I've ever eaten... (using my own fresh grated coconut). Oh, and coconuts are lying on the ground everywhere, so when you want one, you just pick one up, shake it to make sure it still has juice in it, and use a machete to remove the husk (or in our case we use a friend with a machete to remove the husk!).. Because coconut is free, I try to use it in a lot of recipes. I've tried coconut syrup on French Toast and coconut. I was using coconut milk smoothies, Virgin Chi-Chi's and coconut, banana and chocolate milkshakes on a regular basis (until the blender broke...) Out of desperation when we had nothing but onions in our house I made French Onion soup from scratch... it was phenomenal - as good as any we've had even at the Keg... so we have that every few days as well.<br /><br />We had the Mission President and his wife over for dinner on their last visit to the Island. They liked it! and have appointed me to be the head chef for the Couple Conference coming up in Guam in July. It means we'll have to go over a few days early in order to get everything properly "prep'd" for the event :-)<br /><br />In spite of the low wages here, groceries are ridiculously expensive, and expiry dates mean nothing. A quart of whipping cream is $8.50! So, I make my own French Dressing, Creamy Italian Dressing, Coleslaw dressing, and Thousand Island. I also make large batches of a stir-fry sauce that everyone raves about. I invented it on Christmas day when I did a stir fry and needed a sauce. I started with Soy Sauce, Sugar and Vinegar and then added anything else I could find that was either hot (Sambal Oelek, garlic, ginger), tangy (lime juice), or sweet (pineapple juice)... heated it up, added corn starch and suddenly everyone was wanting the recipe... It is great on Sushi as well.<br /><br />Lately I've gotten into baking bread, (imported bread is $4.50 a loaf and is frozen) local bread is the same price but is "fresh"... but the the bread is very dense, has no stretch to it, and tastes like no bread I've ever eaten before. We were lucky enough to have a great Bread Machine in the apartment, so I started by making loaves of regular white bread and whole wheat bread. The flour is suspiciously old by the time it gets here, and the yeast is also of questionable quality, the only milk we can buy is in tetra-paks with a one year shelf-life, so I was concerned about that too... but the bread turned out great, so I was encouraged. I now make about 4 loaves a week. I've made French Bread and baguettes, Italian Bread, the most awesome cinnamon buns (look up clone of a Cinnabon on Google), and then I had a dream one night about how to make hamburger and hot dog buns! (I can't believe I told you that!.. who dreams about things to bake?). Believe it or not, I do actually do some work too... but without TV, movie theatres, motorcycles, or many other distractions, I tend to be able to spend a few minutes in the kitchen (or dreaming about hamburger buns!) without interferring too much with other responsibilities.<br /><br />We do have one concern and that is that we don't have a bathroom scale...<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIV2Hid5hN-gby0mWnt5WpnqCbDOkovjZCgW6jhT_JwWnp6Vocf2DdIjH5AzruyaU4p3T2Is5SB-4ky31Qazb0eGu4EA8WQxllG1Fb_2GpfuHvf-lqg9DGvHC_mPCkee-efxq6JgQNtE/s1600/100_1283.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473093656009968290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIV2Hid5hN-gby0mWnt5WpnqCbDOkovjZCgW6jhT_JwWnp6Vocf2DdIjH5AzruyaU4p3T2Is5SB-4ky31Qazb0eGu4EA8WQxllG1Fb_2GpfuHvf-lqg9DGvHC_mPCkee-efxq6JgQNtE/s400/100_1283.JPG" /></a></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><strong>Coconut Shrimp -- made with fresh coconut! Hmmm!</strong></span></p>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-10400858229807216112010-05-20T06:41:00.004+10:002010-05-20T22:48:19.530+10:00Ramblings...<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZO4TjLGv8y9JlYi4B2JplLhCyuSqIcJusgDw5I819Bdyn5Pnn8Zj6WMRRea2Lm6BbI4yo0W4KiqH1lTG8g3dAzoaOBuJ2398-Kxre2m7HKbMPYqO6cQNN8bgRsiAnAa9w6abv-6bmBIE/s1600/100_1294.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473087444969305330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZO4TjLGv8y9JlYi4B2JplLhCyuSqIcJusgDw5I819Bdyn5Pnn8Zj6WMRRea2Lm6BbI4yo0W4KiqH1lTG8g3dAzoaOBuJ2398-Kxre2m7HKbMPYqO6cQNN8bgRsiAnAa9w6abv-6bmBIE/s400/100_1294.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Stone Money Bank... Still used as part of the "dowry" described below</span> </span></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Gosh, it is hard to believe that it was a year ago that we left our house behind and headed for the open road... and we have now been living on an Island in the middle of the South Pacific for six months of that! We can't believe how time has flown by, I apologize for not updating the blog for so long. I could blame it on being busy, having poor internet connections, etc.. but the reality is that time has just slipped away!<br /><br />We are truly loving it here! We have become very comfortable with the customs, and the lifestyle; Surprisingly, we don't really miss the motorcycle. There are lots of places on the Island where a motorcycle would be fun to have, but the heat, the humidity, the rain and the salty air turns anything made of metal.. especially chrome... into a pile of rust in a matter of months... and besides... the island is only 15 miles long... 27 by road .. and worse yet, the speed limit is 15mph in the villages, with a top speed of 25mph on the open road! What good would a motorcycle that can travel 120mph do? I can tell you, I miss 75mph much more than I miss my motorcycle. So, to get from one end of the island to the other is about an hour and a half trip because of the twists and turns in the road and the 25mph max speed!<br /><br />We've been here long enough now that we have become recognized in the community. Winona is helping with the ASL (American Sign Language) class at the High School three days a week and it constantly amazes me that she can communicate so well with these deaf kids. Education is not looked upon as being particularly important here, so there are many kids in their late teens and twenties who are still attending high school. People wave at us whereever we go, but that is so common, that we don't know if it is because we know them, or if they are just being friendly. We wave back enthusiastically, and then look at each other to ask,"do we know that person?"... and now we have the same problem as we walk around the High School and College campuses!<br /><br />Though there are some aspects of the lifestyle here that are attractive, there is a general complacency about life in general that can be frustrating. The general philosophy is that there is no sense in planning because something could come up that will interrupt the plan! So it is tough to get people to make appointments ... because they might not be able to keep the appointment! A refusal to commit because they might not be able to keep the commitment. No sense in planning, because they might not be here tomorrow! .<br /><br />Marriages are interesting... no dating. If a boy takes an interest in a girl, it is kept secret. Parents do not know about the 'relationships' that develop, nor do they want to. At some point the boy will approach the girls parents with a shell, and dowry of some nature and negotiate for the daughter. If the girls parents accept the shell, they are "married". If at any time the husband decides he doesn't want the responsibilities of his family any longer, he can take his wife back to her parents, get his shell back and the "marriage" is over. Women don't have that luxury, nor do they have much say in what transpires. (Not much need for divorce lawyers down here!) Kids are raised by cousins, uncles, grandparents, whoever is handy. The church rightfully insists on proof of a legally binding marriage before a couple, or either one of the couple, can join. The lack of contractual obligation to each other causes a lot of heartache in families. Legal marriages are available, but an expensive wedding is "expected" as part of the celebration, so many cannot afford that. The Church provides free weddings, which makes it a much more attractive and affordable option.<br /><br />Not surprisingly, everyone knows everyone. There are no street names or addresses. This truly is jungle living although in most cases, homes do have electricity and some have telephones. Suprisingly, cell phones are horrendously expensive, but are extremely popular. When you want to tell someone where you live you just give the name of the person next door, and there will be a nod of recognition. Taxis, Police, Ambulances, utility companies, repairmen, couriers, all find you by knowing who you live beside, or who your landlord is. It is truly amazing. We had to help the young missionaries get the utility bill for their water redirected to a new apartment the other day. After nearly two weeks of trying to get in touch with the Greater Tamil Water Commission to make arrangements, they told us that we had to come out to their office where they would talk to us about the switch. We drove to the North end of the Island (that 1 and 1/2 hour trip I mentioned earlier!) where after checking with a few locals for direction, (when we ask for directions, we get a familiar nod of the chin in the general direction of where we need to head) and we ended up next to a house at the end of a long and winding dirt road. There are no signs indicating that this is an office, but as we approached the house to knock, the door opened and the fellow confirmed that this was indeed the Greater Tamil Water Commission. We didn't have to tell him who we were or what we wanted.. he recognized us. It truly felt like we were the only people to ever arrange a switch.. He knew the house that was being vacated, and was familiar with the house they were moving into, so he just confirmed the name of the landlord at the new premises and said "OK, we'll look after that!"<br /><br />We had to ask ourselves.... "so we travelled all the way out there, because??...". There was no papers to fill out, no signatures... very strange. But, someone showed up the next day to read the meter and we assume that money will now come out of the correct account.<br /><br />Last night, the internet went down... and I was unable to check my stocks. It was 4am, but since I was up anyway, and the NYSE closes at 6am Yap time, I thought I should head down to the FSMTC (Telecommunications office) and see if I could get internet access there. (they are "open" 24 hours). The door was open and the lights were on, so I walked in the office but no one was around. I was about to sit down and start using one of the two computers they have there for public use, when a very sleepy lady in her late 50's rose from beneath one of the desks where she had been sleeping. I apologized for waking her up, and informed her that the internet wasn't working. She shrugged and said that the technical person would be in at 8am. I left and I am pretty certain that she curled up and went back to sleep. Sure enough however, at 8am, the internet came back, and I was back online!<br /><br />Food is another issue.. but I think I'll make that a future blog entry. We really are having a great time. This is a place where we truly feel we can do some good! We have met so many wonderful people. It is good to be here. Several topics I have brought up here will make good blog entries of their own.. I'll work on it!</span> </div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-31485830696023367202010-03-04T08:52:00.004+10:002010-03-04T09:42:30.384+10:00Yap Days<span style="font-family:arial;">Every year on the first Monday and Tuesday in March, Yap celebrates its culture with a colorful and very sensory display of BBQ, costume, dance, music, crafts, and culture. All the costumes, the ropes, the booths, even the restrooms are made or fashioned from local plants. Even the dyes used to color the costumes are produced from the flowers and plants.<br /></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinefKhFd5GWuq-bRoydMEHNIo3HfYUdDSbMFlCdCZC9dgVIOOihE93PUd5T93orzIajVvnY45TAXnUVWzMiErocUDqGRhEV4iL8uZVF-StQ4kT29YuUEYCrLT0mrVAe1H-y0z5ox94JEI/s1600-h/IMG_0817.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444555274994848498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinefKhFd5GWuq-bRoydMEHNIo3HfYUdDSbMFlCdCZC9dgVIOOihE93PUd5T93orzIajVvnY45TAXnUVWzMiErocUDqGRhEV4iL8uZVF-StQ4kT29YuUEYCrLT0mrVAe1H-y0z5ox94JEI/s400/IMG_0817.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLKieJu1rCaR0K3N3c_gjTgaDXfB64wKZN6V7WTv8r2i858w7YxCdSW8GqvTMSnOhWPmQrf7o6ZBPdB1cF05WXZjqDLXIC3Rp125ErHecOGt5_LEOtELFW8mY43oTHjrG7frhKIM7oyo/s1600-h/IMG_0876.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 343px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444555271769990626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLKieJu1rCaR0K3N3c_gjTgaDXfB64wKZN6V7WTv8r2i858w7YxCdSW8GqvTMSnOhWPmQrf7o6ZBPdB1cF05WXZjqDLXIC3Rp125ErHecOGt5_LEOtELFW8mY43oTHjrG7frhKIM7oyo/s400/IMG_0876.JPG" /></a><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWKllu2fRqCnYIqZKphsln-vujwsiMUDf6pGrHATfYg_cxW1vOc-s2bLmuaTIzCvmSiF_yLywuc3yhDZ3c6OiHpNA_bdA_a0R85Z_hWUQJStWnpZoSPMUbWd6JQeKXCNWCDt_WCgvOkLc/s1600-h/IMG_0900.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444555263228051074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWKllu2fRqCnYIqZKphsln-vujwsiMUDf6pGrHATfYg_cxW1vOc-s2bLmuaTIzCvmSiF_yLywuc3yhDZ3c6OiHpNA_bdA_a0R85Z_hWUQJStWnpZoSPMUbWd6JQeKXCNWCDt_WCgvOkLc/s400/IMG_0900.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Spear throwing -- perfect trajectory!</span></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /></span><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fO2wGluTAsDajfo6hXI6lQ1_wdZGlDnEVjFJeYO_7mZvWKvWBmQ4lm8vNRqeTAD2mmTQPxveHh94fC5PgW1-4eFT1jviHUgzMncD2xTD4GEx8VreXccmqUmwrRa5TcdQyoWQ33m1qPs/s1600-h/IMG_0848.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444548064993025506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fO2wGluTAsDajfo6hXI6lQ1_wdZGlDnEVjFJeYO_7mZvWKvWBmQ4lm8vNRqeTAD2mmTQPxveHh94fC5PgW1-4eFT1jviHUgzMncD2xTD4GEx8VreXccmqUmwrRa5TcdQyoWQ33m1qPs/s400/IMG_0848.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DemUrtrLhGJxK8qymKqqv09VmF42DF4bIBjLL9srZfW7RpJVnctwLwZO3SQkgItq6Pe9wr-gO5CkuYdLKfI4ryXA9O88i40b6TLf6Qc0FpUsEB0vKAhXvdX4EjBuQovEWHwp0yBDxxw/s1600-h/IMG_0843.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444548060825459730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DemUrtrLhGJxK8qymKqqv09VmF42DF4bIBjLL9srZfW7RpJVnctwLwZO3SQkgItq6Pe9wr-gO5CkuYdLKfI4ryXA9O88i40b6TLf6Qc0FpUsEB0vKAhXvdX4EjBuQovEWHwp0yBDxxw/s400/IMG_0843.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidB8oIaVZXW1l8Z2tAMJ1gpMPj2nHlXmHmKruMovV6owtkU9YvBRiqWhulTXNL4L_y9gofR54GW4YMiRY9B3DXe7Vc7zJ9fT1GKH2zSxADgEUEkTPOfEG5jEro2I1lL6KeuKi8HT_qB30/s1600-h/IMG_0823.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 263px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444548054548510354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidB8oIaVZXW1l8Z2tAMJ1gpMPj2nHlXmHmKruMovV6owtkU9YvBRiqWhulTXNL4L_y9gofR54GW4YMiRY9B3DXe7Vc7zJ9fT1GKH2zSxADgEUEkTPOfEG5jEro2I1lL6KeuKi8HT_qB30/s400/IMG_0823.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6J3uTflnxzump6srLiNw1LY2emtzlP8uct9n6ThYvIKfoee693JvnOoMQPAGeYPgCXKqdJkZnp_oS2Ch1ZRfES5GfodS1CZsB6mwGyZgKC1gpFyRFwibzp9bT4iyF6o6cIh3VPm33xJc/s1600-h/100_1154.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 230px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444548038239556178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6J3uTflnxzump6srLiNw1LY2emtzlP8uct9n6ThYvIKfoee693JvnOoMQPAGeYPgCXKqdJkZnp_oS2Ch1ZRfES5GfodS1CZsB6mwGyZgKC1gpFyRFwibzp9bT4iyF6o6cIh3VPm33xJc/s400/100_1154.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXGZliRi8gs3vK-QT9Kmxnk35uoYx0WziY_2o7tvGQ11r49s9MzqsADoEZjy12jMrEKnxLuf-mVexRm2dDTmdmSH0ZNRgwc0dkihkTpBOQFy51H_LVBO69tbuSyEC30LGr3rUpd3AHpX0/s1600-h/IMG_0936.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444548033690790866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXGZliRi8gs3vK-QT9Kmxnk35uoYx0WziY_2o7tvGQ11r49s9MzqsADoEZjy12jMrEKnxLuf-mVexRm2dDTmdmSH0ZNRgwc0dkihkTpBOQFy51H_LVBO69tbuSyEC30LGr3rUpd3AHpX0/s400/IMG_0936.JPG" /></a> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-88612400324120635162010-03-01T09:09:00.005+10:002010-03-01T09:40:05.970+10:00Olympics - Yap StyleWell, its Monday morning in Yap, (Sunday afternoon in Vancouver) and the excitement in Vancouver is being felt half way across the world to this little island in the Pacific... at least it has reached into our apartment. Outside, things are pretty normal... most Yapese haven't a clue what the Olympic games are, let alone <em>where</em> they are, or that the medal count is now ended. Life goes on as normal, oblivious to the tension I was feeling as I tried to follow the game on super slow speed internet... no video, no TV... just updates as the seconds ticked by! I have to admit, it was every bit as exciting to follow vicariously in my mind, as it would have been sitting in front of a high definition big screen TV.<br /><br /><br />I couldn't help but imagine my <em>now</em> American kids trying to keep their Canadian loyalties somewhat subdued as their fully American spouses and their families were screaming when the USA scored a tying goal in the last few seconds of the third period....<br /><br /><br />I imagined the excitement going on in the homes of my friends in Nanaimo, as they slouched, sat, stood and screamed as the tension grew to unbearable levels...<br /><br /><br />... then came the decisive goal in Overtime... I was there (in my mind) and very proud of what my home has accomplished in the last 17 days! Good job, Canada<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 198px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443439689518979586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp1PlE_GBhGD5DcNFWsBTG7B4BH2KT4W70xIYTEYyuv9fwmnXCL2PlZRLf6b6bbUCwaYrzuzfF03oRtauQyrzuG-UrxFcrNiGuPwJsjHI-XcwjYMtN4-0MDY2rDnTbk9QQeOCDflotgEs/s400/IMG_2348.JPG" /><br /><br />It's amazing how close we felt to these games being hosted so close to our former home, in spite of the fact that we were unable to watch a single event, nor find anyone in Yap who really cared what was happening! We cared, and we loved it! It was as good as being there in person!Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1082261648696538540.post-51255232274374283142010-02-16T12:52:00.005+10:002010-09-23T15:44:33.350+10:00on getting older ...<span style="font-family: Arial;">A few days ago, I left 60 behind forever! I have to say that 60 has been a good year... not as good as 26 but as far as years go, this has been a great one. May I take a few moments to highlight the highlights. :-)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It all began with a bunch of friends and family showing up for my 60th b'day party, with all the mandatory rude gifts to remind me that I was no longer in my 20's. Janaya had contacted a bunch of my friends and put together a book, with photos from my past, and memoirs and well wishes from many of them. A few days ago, I re-read that book from front to back and re-lived many cherished moments... including the overwhelming feelings I had when I first received the book itself almost a year ago. Thanks to everyone who took the time to say a few words and special thanks to Janaya for the huge amount of work it took to coordinate it all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">A year ago, our house had been up for sale for 4 months without a bite, but f</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">inally, in May, after 10 garage sales, countless trips to the recycle, restore, storage unit, and the dump, we completed the sale of our home and nearly everything we have ever owned. We handed our keys to the new owners and drove out of the driveway with barely a glance back. We loved our home, but it was now time for a new chapter in our life story. We were headed into unknown territory. The "adventure" potential invigorated me... Winona? Well not so much...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For the first time in our lives, we were "homeless". I'm sure Winona was worried about what life on the street living in a cardboard box would be like, but gratefully our friends and family pulled through. We had "booked" enough timeshare time with gaps being filled-in by friends who kindly opened their homes to us, that we were all set... at least for the next few weeks and at least as far east as Salt Lake City.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">(oh, yeah.. .this was supposed to be just the highlights... I'll try to keep this short...!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">OK. The highlights... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Since June 2nd, 2010:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Nanaimo, BC</b> - John & Susan Russell</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>West Vancouver BC</b> - Jon & Mary Elton</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Vancouver, WA</b> - Richard & Kathy Krikava (visited with David, Shamaine, & **Hayden**)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Orem, UT</b> - John & Linda Livingston</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Salt Lake City, UT</b> - Lived across the street from Temple Square and the Tabernacle Choir for a week! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Vail, Colorado.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Lunch in <b>Leadville CO</b>. Highest point ever in our car.. nearly 11,000 feet</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">drove across Kansas to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Branson, Missouri</b> - our first ever experience at 105 degree F temperatures and 87% humidity! (except in a Sauna!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">JUN 27 - arrived at Janaya's house in <b>Springfield Virginia</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Thank heaven for our GPS that navigated us across the USA and through Washington DC turnpikes and to our daughter's front door with our marriage intact!</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">JUL 4 - Independence Day celebrations in <b>Washington DC</b>... how cool is that!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Baltimore, MD</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>NEW YORK CITY - The Big Apple</b> - guided through New York's rail and subway system by an "angel" who carried a guitar and worked for Microsoft. World Trade Center/Ground Zero. Fell in love with Central Park, Supper on Times Square, Statton Island Ferry, Times Square again.. this time at night, Broadway, got back to Hotel at 2AM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Cape Cod</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Martha's Vineyard</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">JUL 17 - Winona's Birthday - Received our Mission Call to Micronesia, leaving in November</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Plymouth Plantation -</b> Lobster Dinner at Isaac's, Plymouth Rock, Mayflower</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Boston, MA</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Stowe, Vermont</b> - von Trapp family chateau (Yes, "the Sound of Music" von Trapps!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Montreal, QC</b> (Corinne & Kurt's Cottage, actually)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Montreal - renewed our Passports (picked them up two hours later!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Quebec City.</b> Loved Quebec City. No need to take Winona to France now! Suddenly like being "beamed" into Europe. (Discovered the value of Priceline - "Name Your Own Price!")</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">B&B in <b>Fredericton NB</b>... Winona's first area on her first mission. Ran out of gas across the street from a gas station that refused to help us. Bought a gas can and enough gas to get us to the next station! (oh yeah, "highlights!")</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Cardigan, Prince Edward Island</b> - Fred & Mary deVries... best Lobster dinner ever! Got to operate an excavator! Ripped a tree out by its roots! (I meant to do that!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Philip River, NS</b>. Near Amherst Nova Scotia - Janice and Dean Tolley.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Visited <b>Halifax, Tatamagooch, New Glasgow</b>, and <b>Stellarton</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">began our return west:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>St Johns, NB</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Freeport, Maine</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Back to <b>Boston, MA</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Hartford, Connecticut</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Baltimore,MD</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Washington, DC</b> - to the top of the Washington Monument.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Springfield, VA</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Williamsburg, VA</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Massanuttan Resort, <b>Harrisonburg, VA</b> (3 weeks -- longest time in one place since we became homeless :-)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Dayton, Ohio</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Nauvoo, Illinois</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>North Platte</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Snowbird, UT</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Benton City, WA</b> (David & Shamaine had moved here since we began this trek)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">OCT 8th... back in Nanaimo (<b>Parksville</b> actually) at Pacific Shores</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">OCT 31 ... Orem, Utah (John & Linda, Drew & Joanne Cahoon, Randy & Nancy Miller)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">NOV 2nd - Mission Training Center, <b>Provo, Utah</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Hawaii</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Guam</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Yap</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And I became truly "amazed" this year as we became intimately involved with the workings of our GPS. Not only did take us directly to our destinations, it told us where to find the nearest buffet restaurants (oooh ... bad idea on an extended car trip), the nearest gas stations, rest stops etc, as well as keeping us out of high traffic areas, toll roads, and toll bridges, it also told us where to find the nearest LDS Churches, gave us contact numbers and called them for us so we could get meeting times. As we travelled across the continent, we read (actually the GPS read to us)... the following audiobooks: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "Huckleberry Finn", "Amish Grace", "Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent", "Confessions of an Economic Hitman", "Catch Me if You Can". I have NEVER before read 6 books in one year in my life. This was a new record for me... 25,000 kilometers and 6 books in 5 months.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I kept saying to Winona how much my Dad would have LOVED a GPS! I loved it... and the technology never ceased to amaze me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So essentially, I've travelled more, and read more this year than ever before.</span><br />
<br />
<b>George Carlin's views on aging:</b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. "How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.<br />
You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. "How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!<br />
<br />
And then the greatest day of your life! You BECOME 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!! But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling.<br />
<br />
What's wrong? What's changed? You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40, Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50, and your dreams are gone... But! wait!! ! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50, and MAKE IT to 60... You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70!<br />
<br />
After that, it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80's, and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch, you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I was JUST 90".<br />
<br />
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"<br />
- courtesy of Jon' Gems (Jon Elton)<br />
</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Suddenly, I'm 61 and feeling young again!<br />
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: arial;"></span>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979026843008384104noreply@blogger.com5