Angelo tagged me to write about 20 things I remember about Saipan, either from recently or from long ago. Here's my list.
1. I remember when calling the states cost $1.70 per minute. Mara was living in Hawaii, and I was in love, so I paid more for my phone bill than rent. (Just so as I don't get into trouble, let me clarify that I am still in love with her.)
2. I remember when La Fiesta mall was a happening place.
3. I remember getting married at the beach at the Hyatt.
4. I remember when Beach Road continued straight through American Memorial Park.
5. I remember getting one of the first email accounts on the island. I would have to call the CDC in Atlanta to download my email through my account with them.
6. I remember when prostitution had the semblance of being illegal in the CNMI... oh wait, no I don't.
7. I remember when DFS was about a quarter its current size and sat next to a dusty parking lot.
8. I remember being a government employee.
9. I remember the first time I saw footage of Saipan... a fishing show that I watched when I was living in Samoa.
10. I remember three of my children being born at CHC. (One was born in China.)
11. I remember when all the bloggers were nice.
12. I remember when soccer was small.
13. I remember thinking about leaving Saipan every year for my first few years here.
14. I remember my Dad visiting for the first time, and saying, "Okay, now I get why you won't come back to the mainland."
15. I remember five governors ago.
16. I remember when Marianas Eye Institute had one employee, and I used to answer the phones while she went to lunch.
17. I remember moving five times during my first year here.
18. I remember going back to the mainland for the first time in seven years, and realizing, "I don't know this place any more, it's no longer my home."
19. I remember a time when the government and the medical referral system were so flush with money, you could get a bone marrow transplant, just because you wanted one. Hot dog!
20. I remember a time when I didn't have to think so hard just to remember twenty things.
I tag Bev, Sean, Ken and Crystal, and anyone else who hasn't been tagged yet.
5 comments:
Beach Road going all the way throught the park..I had totally forgotten about that one!
I learned so much from your post, David. And I did respond to your "tag."
I remember when Beach Road continued through the park & I remember the first few days when it suddenly didn't... I had opened a lingerie boutique (Samantha's Passion) on what was a side-road that few ventured on- while playing in the front yard with my daughter I noticed an increase in the number of cars passing by. Then I noticed an increase in traffic- actually, it was instant "traffic jam" from corner to corner because we didn't have traffic lights/signals on the island.
My quiet side street became the main road...& the traffic jams continued until the light was installed. Though I no longer had the privacy to frolic freely in the front yard, customers were able to find my store more easily...
And I remember your store, with the mannequin out front!
I actually had 2 mannequins (Isabel & Simona-the community named them during a Power 99 mannequin naming contest), but one (Isabel) was kidnapped.
Travis filed a “Kidnapping in Garapan” story on the local news the following evening hoping for her safe return. Sadly, she’s never been seen again...
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