3 Friends in Thailand

3Friends
Originally uploaded by maranca.

Andrew, Nate and Dan in Thailand this past July at the King's Winter Home in Chiang Mai.

Visiting Thailand was great fun. We stayed in Bangkok for a few days and visited the Emerald Buddha and got lost. We even had bruch with the Prime Minister and his entourage at the Royal Princess Hotel. I think most people do manage to get lost in Bangkok; it's so large and full of people and cars going every which way. It's quite easy to get turned around and suddenly find yourself (and the others with you) miles out of the direction you were heading.
Now I loved Chiang Mai- I could live there! But I would never take the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai again. Its like in French Kiss, "Stop the Rocking"- its too many hours, rocking back and forth...in this case a 16 hour train ride (they say 12) versus and 1 hour flight? Well, we did it twice and next time I'll opt for the quick flight!

The rest of the pictures are on Flickr for everyone to enjoy.

The people of Thailand are very friendly and have great smiles, they make you want to return. I will and next time I will go south too.

Saipan Friends

My Special Korean Friends

This photo was taken a few months ago when I had dinner at Sallie and Sam's- not their real Korean names, but the only ones I can pronounce. We had a special dinner of hand-made fresh Spring Rolls in their small apartment at The Stanford with Sonia and Shin Young. It was quite an evening Sallie played her flute for us- we had to ask repeatedly, but she did and we sang along as she played of my favorite songs, "Amazing Grace." Sallie, Sam, Shin Young and her 2 daughters moved back to Korea last week and will pick up their lives where they left off before they moved to Saipan. I know they will really appreciate the markets now with fresh produce in Korea after living in Saipan.

One thing all of us will miss is the Saipan friendships we have made here...Much Happiness, Sallie, Sam, Shing Young, Julee, and Junyoung

Farewell Laura & Neil

Farewell Laura & Neil
Originally uploaded by maranca.

So long, Farewell, Auf wiedersehn, Adieu.

Andrew and I wish you both the best of everything to come as you enbark on our next adventure!

Regretfully they tell us,
But firmly they compel us
To say goodby to you.

Yes, sadly we will miss you, but we are very excited to hear about your next assignment.

Laura and Neil left Saipan this morning for 6 months in DC; then off to a new assignment..they left with 5 animals, Little Bit & Tess, along with 3 cats they adopted while living here. I'd say those are very lucky animals.

We will meet again!

keep us posted ;)

Rota Hallway

rota hallway
Originally uploaded by maranca.

At the end of the Rota Campus Hallway you see a beautiful landscape, you think it's a picture hanging on the wall? No, it's the real scenery of the Pacific Ocean, complete with palm trees.

Bali Textiles

This is a picture of a young Balinese woman weaving. I just loved her smile.
She was working on a weabing by weaving in skeins of a single cotton thread that had been dyed with certain colors in a certain order on each single thread to complete a beautiful turqouise patterned fabric. Its very amazing to see the finished product.

Below is a picture of the finished textiles they sell in their store. I could have spent the full day in there and touched every fabric. All the fabric is a different and unique pattern that is all hand made by their weavers.

Windsurfing at Micro Beach

Andrew Windsurfing - the wind was blowing quite hard last Sunday and it was a beautiful sunny day....

Last weekend we headed to Micro Beach to watch the windsurfers. After a bit we decided it looked like a lot of fun, so we rented a board to give it a try. Well for the next hour we spent a lot of time standing up, balancing, then falling off the board. But it was fun. So on Sunday we went back for a second try, this time we took Andrew and Dan. In a matter of minutes these 2 guys were up and going. Though they did fall off and get back on the board many times, they did a whole lot better than us. I think they said they had fun, too. I did manage to stand up and "windsurf" for about 30 seconds, so I wonder if that classifies me as a windsurfer?


Andrew and Dan soaking up the sunshine at Micro Beach

Managaha Saipan

Monagaha Saipan
Originally uploaded by maranca.

Andrew snapped this aerial view of Managaha Island and it also shows the beautiful turquoise waters in the Northern Marianas and the stark contrast where the reef meets the ocean. The snorkeling is very good at Managaha.

Up & Away over Saipan

Up & Away
Originally uploaded by maranca.

Thought you might like to see Andrew flying! This was taken yesterday while they flew over Saipan.
Can you tell how much he likes flying?

The Flight Plane

Flight Plane
Originally uploaded by maranca.

This is a photo of the plane Andrew goes flying in...he gets to see Saipan from a 'birds-eye' view!

Saipan Aerial View

Saipan Aerial View
Originally uploaded by maranca.

This is Saipan from Andrew's view.
Andrew has found that he can go flying with Tom & Dan. Tom is teaching his son Daniel to fly and Andrew gets to "bum-a-ride". Everyone knows Andrew he has always wanted to Fly!

Forbidden Island

Far Beneath is Forbidden Island
Originally uploaded by maranca.

This is Forbidden Island from where the trail head begins. You can see how beautiful it is set against the bright blue Pacific Sky.

The Hidden Forbidden Pool

The Hidden Forbidden Pool
Originally uploaded by maranca.

Recently I hiked the trail down
to "Forbidden Island" with a few friends. To accomplish this great feat you hike down the side of a steep hill about 1 1/2 miles to the beach and find this beautiful pool filled with crystal clear water.
The magnificent part of the hike is the swimming once you get down to the beach to refresh you, but this hike is pretty strenuous and not be be taken in the heat of the day! The downside of this hike is that you have to hike or should I say climb, using your hands and feet, back up the side of the hill!
Locals named it 'Forbidden Island' because of the dangerous swimming conditions, but I think it is 'forbidden' due to the heat!

Summer in the City

mississippi-bridge
Originally uploaded by maranca.

This summer we left the Pacific and returned to New Orleans to revisit our birthplace, to reconnect with our friends and relatives and to bring Nana to her final resting place in St. Joseph Cemetery in Thibobaux, Louisiana.
Especially now we are so glad we saw many sights that we hadn't seen in 13 years, ate the great food that we love and miss so much and got to hug family and friends in New Orleans we hadn't seen since we moved away.

This was a summer we will always remember and a summer we all want to forget.

Le Chef Jacques

le chef jacques
Originally uploaded by maranca.

Farewell Jacques! Jacques was one of the very first persons we met when we arrived in Saipan last August. As the pastry chef at the Hyatt, Jacques presented quite a display of pastries every week for the delectable Hyatt Sunday Brunch.
Now Jacques has moved to the luxurious Hotel Mulia in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Hotel Mulia looks like a hotel for the "rich and famous." I can only imagine what it would be like to stay in such an exquisite place.

We will miss Jacques and his wonderful desserts!

Tinian Beach

Tinian Beach
Originally uploaded by maranca.

This idyllic beach is on Tinian. It played an important part during WWII and the War in the Pacific. It is used now for wonderful BBQ's on weekends, but lots of the time you can find it desolate like this photo that was taken on a Sunday afternoon.

ESL Students

ESL Students
Originally uploaded by maranca.

Meet Huang Ping and Qu cai Hong from China. They were attending the Technology Show & Tell today in the Student Center. We shared our tech toys with the students. I showed them how easy it is to use Flickr and Blogger to make a Photoblog. Huang and Qu cai are in the ESL class I have been working with each week. All the students in that class now have blogs. They enjoy working in the computer lab each week writing and correcting their English Blog posts and they have fun helping each other.

Anatahan: Ominous Clouds over Saipan

Anatahan: Ominous Clouds over Saipan
Originally uploaded by maranca.

As the clouds swirled over the peninsula just a few mintues later Andrew was able to capture this picture from our apartment. It was such as eerie feel all over the island, even the green hedges took on a neon glow as the sun was totally hidden behind the ash cloud and by 10:30am it was dusk all over the island. Add another adventure to our journey!

Anatahan: View from Saipan

Anatahan: view from Saipan
Originally uploaded by maranca.

When Anatahan spewed last week Andrew ran home and took this picture from our apartment. You can see the dark line in the sky over the peninsula as the ash cloud began to approach Saipan.

Tinian Latte Stones

Tinian Latte Stones
Originally uploaded by maranca.

Fallon took this picture of the Latte Stones on Tinian while she was here visiting. Latte Stones are a symbol of Chamorrow culture. If you look really hard you will see a person (me) and see how small I am next to the huge Latte Stones. We also saw Latte Stones when we went to Rota. In Rota the Latte Stones are still in the ground, they were left in the 'rock quarry' all these years. It is amazing to imagine how they would have carved these stones and moved them back then.

Tinian Sunset

Tinian Sunset
Originally uploaded by maranca.

Fallon took this photo when we went to Tinian to see the whale. She took this shot just before we got on the ferry to return to Saipan. She's on her way back home today, but I have lots of her photos to share with you!