You KnowYou've Started Adjusting to Saipan Life When...

--You no longer take a ice cold shower each and every day, just to cool off
--You can successfully plan the veggies for dinners based on what the Farmer's Market has to offer each week
--You only run ONE box fan until almost noon (down from 3...)
--You sweat less, or at least notice the sweat less
--You don't steal away into the bedroom while your daughter naps Every Day, just to soak up that 1.5 hours of Aircon
--You call A/C Aircon
--You prefer coconut tortilla bread with peanut butter to actual toast
--You start unplugging ALL appliances when they are not in use, to save on electricity
--You actually get somewhat dressed up for church and don't hate every minute of it
--You haven't cried in over two weeks
--Even your daughter has started asking for water instead of milk or juice (Praise Jesus!!)
--You finally start branching out in what you order when out to dinner
--You are actually getting things done around the house, despite the sweat
--You have more than 7 things to put on a list like this

Life on This Island :: Laundry

This is the first time in my life that I haven't had a washer and dryer in my home.

(Spoiled American, I know.)

Thankfully, our little apartment building has an itsy bitsy laundry facility, with 2 washers and 2 dryers at $0.50 a pop.  The washers are older than dirt and have only the most basic settings.  (I am already worried about how cloth diapering will work with this set up...)

We have decided to primarily hand dry our laundry here.  It helps save cost and, for the most part, does well.  Jason has two lines rigged in our spare bedroom (Remember, Emilia's bed is in our room to cut a/c costs.  So the extra bedroom is basically one huge closet!)

*I think I remembered the leave the undies out of this shot...* ;-)

We also have a small line outside:

*The tricky part about the clothes on this line is if/when it rains each day, they get damp again.  So they take much longer to dry out here.  It's nice to have for overflow though.

This is our neighbor's set up.  They are probably moving off campus into their own house fairly soon...at which time I sincerely hope to inherit their rain-free zone. ;-)

Why all this talk about laundry, you ask?  Two thoughts hit me as I was doing today's loads:

1.  What a blessing a small laundry facility and hang drying is.  This means I can only do two small loads every day or two, depending on drying time.  I will never be caught up on laundry and that is A-OK!

2.  It doesn't matter if I go to retrieve me freshly cleaned clothes while it is raining outside.  They are just going to hang dry upstairs anyway!

Now, how is THAT for optimism?! Maybe I am adopting more of the "island mentality" than I realized. ;-)