Two weeks too fast

It’s already been two weeks here, and it has flown by! My first Saturday we hiked to Bird Island beach. It was a little off the beaten path, and the hike (and slipping down the muddy trail) added to the adventure! There was no one else at the beach except two pilots that live on Saipan and our small group which was really nice. The rest of the day consisted of us hanging out in the ocean with a cold beer and snacks back on the beach.

Sunday we went to brunch at PIC resort. The food which was themed for Korean Thanksgiving, was delicious. They had everything from fresh rolled sushi, banana crepes, Naan, and lentils, to ice cream cake, and some other Korean inspired deserts! Then of course there was the bottomless mimosa and relaxing in the lazy river all afternoon which was even better!

The second week was pretty similar to the first in terms of working and schedule, but we squeezed in a few fun things here and there. Tuesday night we went to Taco Tuesday at Godfathers ($1 tacos at a local bar, yum!). And then Thursday we headed over to Himawari (a great market full of fresh food and treats) for lunch. There was so much stuff in there that I, of course, could not decide what to get. I wanted to try everything at once (but there will be plenty of time to come back and try more). We settled on some fresh sushi and sweet & sour pork, we also picked up some freshly baked treats for later (like my new favorite item for breakfast, the blueberry bun!).

After a week of settling in, I figured I had to at least attempt to start working out again (since there is no bootcamp for me out here). I found this great site that has free yoga videos to follow. I’ve been doing these in the apartment (which can get pretty hot in the morning, so I think of it as hot yoga!).

This past Friday we had game night at our apartment where we got to break in my sweet Jenga game! It was so nice to read all the notes from friends and family on each piece. Then Saturday we went to a bar at one of the resorts in Garapan (the main tourist area) that sits on a beautiful beach. It was pretty interesting because we could see some of the naval ships that are stationed just off of the island. We stayed there from afternoon until dusk, swimming and hanging at the bar enjoying the sunset.

Sunday, John took me on a hike to one of their field sites. First we hiked up to a cliff (radar ridge) to get a birds-eye view of the east side of the island. There are no buildings or development here, so it was all forest followed by ocean. We then hiked a bit deeper into the forest where we hung out and read while enjoying the songs of the birds.

The rest of our Sunday was spent grocery shopping, cooking Sunday dinner (yes, I have actually been cooking some meals!), and getting ready for this week.