An Exciting Week

Our exciting week started with last Sunday, June 13, and a trip to Taco Bell with several PIU students after church to celebrate Lynn's return to Guam from Taiwan. Left to right, Tracy, Lynn, Tim, Esme, and Doug. It was great to visit and catch up with everyone's plans for summer and fall.






Monday, the summer CBE (Certificate in Basic English) program started. This is a 12 unit, 8 week intensive in English, designed to provide learning English in as close to an "immersion" environment as possible. We have three students taking the course for credit (a heavier commitment) and two community students taking it as Adult ESL (English as a Second Language). There are four classes that meet daily for 80 minutes, Monday through Thursday: Writing (right),






Academic and Workplace Expectations (left),

Reading- (below right),


















and Basic Bible Knowledge & Western Culture.
(above left)





Two days a week we meet in the late afternoon to play games in the library - this week, it was Pictionary, using words from the students' class vocabulary for the week. Here I observe as Lynn tries to draw an illustration for "prayer."





At the end of the week on Fridays, we will have field trips. This past Friday we visited a War Memorial that is near our home in Yigo. The bamboo groves are so beautiful! Imagine standing amidst the swaying bamboo trees wider than the palm of a man's hand near the base, towering over fifty feet above you! They make a most unusual hollow, squeaking/thumping sound as they rub together in the wind.

After leaving Yigo, we drove south on Marine Corps Drive to Two Lovers Point. This point celebrates a local folk tale about a young Chamorro couple who were not allowed to marry - the girl's father had betrothed her to a Spanish Captain. As the story goes, they were not allowed to be together in life, so they tied their long hair together and leaped off of this high point above the ocean on the western side of the island. Very much a local version of "Romeo and Juliet!"

We wrapped up our afternoon with a one hour dip in the ocean about 1/4 mile south of this point at Gun Beach. There were war artifacts and a beach to explore for those who didn't want to swim, and some good snorkeling farther out for those who wanted to see the beauty under the surface. We returned to campus relaxed and happy! What fun! Next week, we have a "scavenger hunt" at the mall!!




Saturday morning we got up and Tim and I decided that we'd celebrate my birthday by taking a lazy day! Earlier in the week, I had gotten a package from my sister. Among the items in it was this cute apron - my sis knows how I love to cook but that I also like to use an apron! It even has my initial on the pocket!


Anyway, later in the morning, we went to Barrista Blends on the beach and had iced tea (well, I had iced tea - Tim, as you all might guess, had coffee!) Then we lazily ran our necessary errands. We journeyed home, thinking we'd drop off our groceries and other items and take off to celebrate my birthday at Jeff's Pirates Cove across the island - but as we pulled into the pathway that led to our house,
we had a bit of a surprise awaiting us: what we'd thought was smoke from a neighbor's brush pile turned out to be a jungle fire burning right up to the edge of our house!

It wasn't a roaring blaze like you'd see in the dry foothills of California. Thankfully, although it's been very dry here, the fire was moving slowly and seemed to smolder more than roar in the kind of foliage we have around our home - still, we called the fire department. Amazingly, they arrived at our house about 10 minutes after we placed the call. They worked quickly from our property line back into the jungle to extinguish all the hot spots. The captain of the crew said the fire was probably started by the intense sunlight shining through some broken glass in the jungle. They did a great job and we and our neighbors really appreciated their quick response and good work!

Needless to say, this took up quite a chunk of our time!!! Rather than drive across the island for 45 minutes, we opted for dinner a little closer at "Chile's Too" at the mall (only about 6 1/2 miles away). We then returned home to relax and watch a movie. We hope your week was at least as much fun as ours and that you are being blessed by God in your corner of the world! Have a Happy Summer! Check back in about a week or so for pictures and news on our summer work crew at PIU and what they have been doing!