Dear family and friends,
It's Saturday, August 8, and I've been here for a week now.  I'm over
the jet lag, and starting to get settled in.  My roomate and I along
with 4 other teachers have been looking for apartments to move into
until the new school building is finished.  We are also looking for a
vehichle we can all buy together.  we wouldn't need a vehicle, but the
aprtments are far from the school, and biking or walking are not
really options becaue rain can come at any moment, and the roads are
quite small, with no shoulders or sidewalks for walking or biking.
The new building which has teacher apartments on the 2nd floor will
hopefully be finished by Christmas.
Yesterday, I went snorkeling for the first time, wow!  what a great
experience.  We went into the water on the beach right by the school.
After wading out a short distance, we went in.  The West side of the
Island has a big reef.  This makes for a nice lagoon perfect for
snorkeling.  there are a few tanks out in the lagoon from the American
Invasion in WW II.  These have become homes for lots of tropical fish.
 There is also a small shipwreck in the lagoon.  I saw schools of
angelfish, black and white striped with orange fins, also a couple
varieties of sea cucumbers, starfish and a bunch of different kinds of
fish.  Some were as big as my hand, some as small as a finger.  It's
really fun to dive right into the middle of a school of angelfish and
have them swimming all around you.
Next week is when I'm actually going to have to get to work and get
into the school year.  Our first day is August 19.  I'm looking
forward to having the students, and getting into the rythym of work.
Thanks for the emails, I appreciate them greatly!

Hafa Adai   (Chamaro phrase, meaning hello, goodbye, so long, etc.)

-Andre'