Teaching!

It was 5:30 am and all 5 of us girls were running around the house getting ready. We had been told over and over again that first impressions were huge, so we really wanted to look our best! We quickly got ready, ate our breakfast and out the door we went for our 7 o’clock morning meeting. During our meeting all of us were just in disbelief that today was truly the first day of school. It had gone by so fast. Just last Sunday our rooms were a mess from all the moving and now they were sparkling clean for the first day of school. After our meeting got out I walked into my classroom and just stood there for a second trying to take it all in. I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to be a teacher for a year. It was all finally hitting me.
As the clock hit 8 I opened the door and the children swarmed the classroom. They were so excited for the first day of school and so was I. All the kids were so cute. Whenever they have a question they always start it by saying miss, miss…. or miss Cynthia I have a question. They definitely are by far the sweetest kids. I was at recess and one of the shyest kids in the class comes up to me and says, “miss Cynthia you are the best teacher I have had at the SDA school.” It made me smile so big and warmed my heart to know that I wasn’t doing terrible as a first time teacher. I also found out today that gifts for the teacher in Saipan are different than the gifts you get in the states. For instance usually it is said that a student gives a teacher an apple. Well not in Saipan because today I got a bag of mangos!!! Can life get any better? I feel so loved and it’s only the second day of school.

Oh So Tired!

Since the second we got to Saipan we have not had a day of rest! Its been so crazy! We arrived in Saipan on Thursday night at 8:50pm. We eat some food and then fell right to sleep. The next morning we had to get up and get tons of things done. The things we had to do were: get a drivers license, medical clearance, see the school, get groceries. By the time the day had ended we could hardly stand up from being so tired. Im pretty sure all of us went to bed early that night. Then on Saturday we got up, went to Sabbath school and church, had song service, potluck and then went on a tour around the whole island which lasted the whole day! On Sunday we had a work bee that started at 7:45am! We had to take everything out of each classroom and put it into a different classroom! It took forever!!!! Then on Monday-Weds had and will be having meetings that go from 7:45 to 5:00. Were all trying to adjust to the time change which is 17 hours ahead of the US but its very hard when you don’t get one day to rest!!! The best way that we figure the time change is to count back 5 hrs and change the am to pm if we want to figure out what time it is in Washington. For example if its 5pm here we would count back 5 hrs making it 12, and then switching the pm to am.

Its been pretty crazy! We don’t have a principle and we don’t know what books were using for the school year, which means I still don’t have my lesson plans done and school starts this Thursday. A little stressful but I’m trying to keep a positive attitude.

There is an Asian lady that works at the school that has 2 sons. One is in 5th grade and the other has special needs so he attends a public school. Her family moved from Seattle to Saipan because her husband was starting a business. The business fell through and they lost everything! This year their son will not be able to attend the SDA School because they don’t have enough money. I really would like to try and get sponsors for their son so that he can come back to the SDA School again! If you would like to help you can email me at cyndi.rearrick@gmail.com. I would love it if you could help. The tuition is 220 a month, so even if I could get a few people to donate 25 dollars a month it would work!

Heres my address if you ever want to send anything....

P.O. Box 501063 Saipan, MP 96950

Food is so exensive here! But according to the sign its Joeten's everyday low prices.... imagine when there high!

Feel free to send me food!!! I will be more than happy to have it!!!!











Getting our new drivers licenses

Being welcomed into Saipan!

All of the people going to the different islands

5 am on the beach of Honolulu!!! Way to early!

Our Car ride home with Aaron and Colette

Left Behind!!!

It was Weds night in Honolulu and we had gone to the church because one of the girls that was going as a student missionary was going to be baptized! After the service people were standing around talking so Alex, Sharla and I all went outside to get some fresh air. While we were out there these two people came up to us named Aaron and Colette. They were very friendly and asked us what we were doing in Hawaii. We told them that we were student missionaries and all of us were going to different islands. Then they began to tell us that they were also student missionaries and they had just come from Jerusalem because they felt that God wanted them to come to the islands to preach and so they did. We were all so interested in what they were telling us that when we looked up for a brief second we saw the bus starting to drive away! Sharla took a few quick steps to try to catch it but she was to far away. I quickly pull out my phone and start calling our director Jennie but after several times of calling she would not pick up! Aaron and Colette were so nice and were more than happy to give us a ride. I don’t know what we would have done without them!

Off To A Great Start???

On Aug 2, I was supposed to leave the airport at 9:30 to fly to Hawaii. Well things didn't happen exactly like I had hoped for. As I was waiting for my flight they announced that our plane was going to be delayed because on the last flight the plane had lost power as it was flying into Seattle and so they were trying to find the problem and fix it for my flight. At around 10:00 they found the problem and the part that they needed was in LA so they were going to have to put the part on another plane and fly it over to us. The part was to get in at 12 and then it would take at least an hour to install, so they gave us all a 10 dollar lunch ticket to use in the airport while we waited. Finally it was 1 and they announced that the part didn’t make it on the plane and it would have to be put onto another plane, which would get in around 3 and hopefully be installed around 4!!!! For their inconvenience they gave us a 100 dollars to fly anytime within the next year! I couldn’t believe it, how could they forget to put the part on the plane! To make a long story short, the part did make it on the next plane and I was off to Honolulu FINALLY at 4:45!