Saipan: Teaching, Living, & Recreation: Christmas in the Marianas!

Hi Readers,
Happy 2012! I hope all of you are doing well and are enjoying the new year! So much has happened since the end of the year and Grant and I have felt like we have been on a rollercoaster of adventure. Grant's parents visited from Dec. 13-20th (more pictures to come later) We had a week of break which was spent relaxing at the beach and hanging out. Then my friend Megan visited Saipan from Dec. 27- Jan 5th.(more pictures to come later) So we have been so blessed with visits from people that we love. It was a wonderful time of being able to be tour guides of the island! It was also the perfect time for them to come since we had a two week break!
My friends and I have the tradition that every year we have a Christmas party full of festive homemade food, a gift exchange, and games! Amy and Matt were the hosts this year. I made meatballs of course and we had ham, potatoes, and lots of fondue! We also played the infamous Game of Things which is always a hoot. It was a fun night of friends and talking about our own Christmas traditions!

All of the lovely ladies!

Grant and I.

Anna, Becky, and I under the mistletoe.

The guys.

Amy and Matt, the hosts.

When Grant's parents were here we were able to exchange presents together! With my family we skyped when they opened presents before Christmas Eve and then when our package came we skyped again! I was so thankful our package came because our maintenance man does not usually go on Saturdays but he went and our package was there! It was so nice to be able to exchange presents over the internet and to see their faces and reactions! We skype with our families every week but it was a very special skype time!
On Christmas Eve Night, Grant and I went to the movie theater. We went to see We Bought a Zoo. The movie was a feel-good movie that both of us enjoyed. The best part of being there was that we had the entire movie theater to ourselves so it was a wonderful date!
For Christmas Day Grant took me to a resort in Saipan. We stayed at Fiesta in Garapan. We had our Christmas lunch in the World Cafe which was a buffet of different kinds of food from all over the world. It was delicious! When we first arrived in the room they had a stocking full of food, a t-shirt, and a bear. For dinner we walked around Garapan and ate a Christmas meal at Cafe at the Park.We spent our time relaxing on the beach, swimming in the pool, and watching cable t.v. It was a wonderful way to spend Christmas and it felt like we were on vacation. I definitely appreciated Grant wanting to do something different for Christmas because I was getting pretty homesick at that time and I just needed to put my mind on other things:)
I am doing a ton better of not being homesick and am ready to enjoy my last 5 months in Saipan! Grant and I enjoyed sending and receiving Christmas cards. It was nice to put up new pictures on our fridge and to hear about how others are doing. Merry Christmas Everyone!