Saipan: What I like about you

Fairly often someone contacts me about the possibility of moving to Saipan, and wants to know about the good and bad of living here. Here’s my list of the good things.

1. It’s a tropical island. The weather is beautiful. The lows in the dead of winter are in the 80’s and maybe the upper 70’s. The water has incredible colors, and the island is small enough that you’re almost always within sight of the ocean. The vegetation is lush. Life is simple. It’s the sort of place people dream of retiring to. And we get to live here. Sometimes I’ll become acutely aware of the incredible beauty around me, and just laugh with glee.
2. The sense of community. More than anything else, relationships matter here. There is a strong sense of family and of community. Everyone knows everyone, and I think that results in an element of safety that doesn’t exist in many parts of the world. Sure, there is still crime, but my kids can be out playing in the neighborhood without me thinking about it. They can wander off in the grocery store, and I don’t panic. People look out for each other. There is no anonymity, so people tend to behave better and are accountable to a larger degree than in a large impersonal community. It’s not quite Mayberry, but it’s a rare day that I walk into a store and don’t stop to talk to a few people I know.
3. Diversity. Saipan is a mish-mash of people, cultures, languages, foods, and foibles. Because of the influx of contract workers over the years, there is such a broad mix of people, that almost everyone is a minority. Besides the indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian ethnicities, there are sizable populations of Filipino’s, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Thais, and Bangladeshis. There is a smattering of Indian and Nepalese, a few displaced Europeans, some white people, and a few African-Americans. On most days, there are two Jamaicans on the island. If you don’t like ethnic diversity, if you think you’re right and everyone else has something to learn from you, this isn’t the place for you. If you’re from America, you’ll experience what it’s like to be a minority, and it’ll make you a better person.
4. A Great Place for Kids. All that toxic stuff that influences the minds of children and youth is a far away. It’s still accessible, but it doesn’t infuse the society and the culture. TV is not ubiquitous. Most people have no idea what last week’s episode of America’s favorite sitcom was all about (or even what the favorite one is). The cultural icons don’t permeate our lives here. Kid’s grow up without many of the mental and emotional toxins of Western society.
5. Friends. If I lived in America, my friends would be limited to people in my professional or in my social class. Here, those boundaries don’t really exist. My friends are from all walks of life, ages, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. Over the years, they’ve included park rangers, coast guard officers, teachers, lawyers, business people, government officials and cabinet members, houseworkers, gardeners, and people flipping switches at the utility.
6. You can do anything. For some reason, Saipan is a place of self-discovery. If you have an idea, all you have to do is pursue it. If you’ve ever dreamt of being something, in Saipan it’s likely possible. I arrived as an eye surgeon and Mara as a health information specialist. I don’t think I ever thought of doing much else besides that. But, in the fifteen years that we’ve been here, we have done all of the following just by virtue of will, effort, necessity or just simple desire. We opened an eye clinic and became business owners. We founded a non-profit school to educate our children. We have served as substitute teachers, school administrators, principals and PE coaches. I’ve become a newspaper columnist and published a book. I’m becoming a stand-up comic. I’ve acted in a community play and sang in a chorus. I’ve played co-ed soccer, and I’ve tried out for the CNMI Men’s National Team. Mara opened a lei business, imported flowers from Asia and became a part of the tourism industry. And this sort of pursuit of the diverse facets of the soul is fairly typical in Saipan. If you’ve ever had an interest in something, Saipan is the place to explore it. You’ll discover interest here you never knew you had.
7. Travel. Most people live and die without a passport. My kids have a gazillion entry stamps in theirs. In our years here, we’ve traveled to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, Singapore, Bali, Papua New Guinea, and the islands of Micronesia.
8. Casual Atmosphere. You’ll never see a suit on the island. Sometimes you’ll see a tie. You’ll find people in t-shirts and shorts at all occasions – weddings, funerals, at work, in meetings of any kind, in fancy restaurants. A corollary to the casual nature of the island is that there is very little emphasis on material possessions. There is no such thing as keeping up with the Jones’. It doesn’t much matter what you drive, where you live, or what the tags on your clothes say. The symbols of materialism take a back seat here.
9. Family first. This is a double-edged sword, but it has changed me for the better. Family is more important than work. It’s not a struggle to live your life under that premise here on Saipan. In America, you may want to, but the minute you try to take off work because your kids are sick, or because your sister needs help moving, or because you want to go fishing with your brother, you’ll not be taken seriously as a member of the workforce. Your career will head into a skid. Here, it’s the norm for people to miss work for any of these reasons, and it’s actually encouraged. Why not? We say that work is not the most important thing in the world, but why not live in a way that shows we mean it? That’s the way things are here, and I think it’s a more sane way of living. Of course, things do suffer in the workplace, which can be frustrating as an employer or a co-worker, but you just try to plan for it.

All of these combine to make Saipan home.

Best of This Blog

If you're a regular reader of this blog, I need your help. I'm putting together a "Best of This Blog" list and I want your input on what posts to include. Take a minute to just think of your favorite ones, just off the top of your head. If you want to tell me what you liked about the post, all the better.

I want to hear from everyone. That means you, in Lynchburg, and in Tempe, and in Eau Claire, and Sacramento, and Durango, and Guam, and Saipan, and New York, and Manila and everywhere else.

You get to read this blog for free. Now help me out. Leave your suggestions by clicking on "comments"

Play Buffet

I saw the production last year, and it was quite entertaining. Here is Jeff Turbitt's article, taken from his blog, as usual, without permission.

By Jeffrey C. Turbitt

Last year the public jammed the American Memorial Park for the original theater production "In Transit," which united the disparate stories of several individuals "stuck in an airport" into a common theme. The public reaction was so positive that the company responsible for that production, the Voices of the Marianas, put together another incarnation of original theater on a similar theme. The new production is called The Play Buffet: A Little Something for Everyone's Taste, and it debuts Friday, March 7 at 7 p.m. in the American Memorial Park with followup performances March 8, 13 and 14.

The cast includes a list of veteran actors, including two drama educators in Harold Easton and Nahal Navidar, as well as high school students and general island gadflies such as Donald Cohen, Brad Ruszala, Elizabeth Henke, Susan Fishman, Richard Hamilton and others.

Like its precursor, the new play is a variety of original stories. “Some are taken from people's real lives, some from their imagination,” said producer and director Barbara Sher. "The idea is to have original theater in which people from different cultures, walks of life and ages can have an opportunity to tell their stories. In the show we have ten pieces that run the gamut from a Hollywood 40's type piece to very personal epiphanies. As I said, a little something for everyone. It's about life. That's why we called it the Play Buffet because life is a buffet, the good, the funny and the yucky. We hope to entertain, enlighten and delight our audience and perhaps inspire them to want to express their voice for the next show."

For Navidar, an accomplished actress with a degree in theater and English who has a piece about discovery of self and God in this play, theater is a means of expression. "Theater satisfies my soul. For the community and the world at large, theater is one of the most effective ways to make people question, and perhaps recognize, a piece of themselves in the characters and situations presented. Barbara Sher's passion for this project is contagious and I love working with her."

PTI Marketing Associate Brad Ruszala isn't a theater veteran exactly, but his interest in the craft became reignited when he played Patrick in "110 Flights" opposite Navidar last year. "I became interested in live theater as a senior in high school when I was cast in a musical. I've always wanted to participate in on-stage productions ever since. This play is special because it will give the audience an intimate view into the real lives of some of the performers. I was moved watching my friends and neighbors display their creativity in rehearsal. It'll definitely be a treat for everyone who comes to watch the show. It gives me the opportunity to get on stage and have a little fun acting out a part. It's a wonderful opportunity to enjoy another aspect of our culturally diverse community and the play offers another avenue to making new friends on Saipan."

Tickets are available for $5 from cast members, at the door or inquire via email at barbara.sher@gmail.com.

Kite Festival Tomorrow

Here comes our much awaited event!!!........

3^rd ANNUAL MARIANAS WIND KITE FESTIVAL
and CULTURAL FOOD FAIR
Tomorrow, Saturday, March 1, 2008
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
@ The American Memorial Park
Central Ball Field

Witness the thrilling kite-flying demonstration
by the Korean Kite Fliers,
colorful kite parade,
and
exciting kite-flying contest.
And there’s more……
Savor the delectable taste of our cultural food
We don’t want you to miss this fun-filled event,
so come and fly your kite with us!

Kite and Food Festival on Saturday, March 1

The Kite Festival and Cultural Food Festival will be on Saturday at American Memorial Park from 10 AM to 3 PM. It's free. If you want to enter the contests, there is a $5 fee. Kites will be for sale at the Festival if you don't have one. There are a couple of champion kite flyers from Korea who will be there and in fact, in preparation they are putting on a kite making workshop.

The workshop is free and will be on Thursday, Feb 28 and Friday, Feb 29 at Brilliant Star School form 4 - 5:30 PM on each day. Everyone is welcome.

Northern Nausea

I've spent the last hour doing research on anti-nausea medications, more specifically those related to motion sickness.

I got an invitation from a boat captain to take a trip up to the Northern Islands. I'm dying to go again, but I get horribly seasick. I went up about 13 years ago. We went to Anatahan, Alamagan, Pagan and Agrigan -- all the inhabited islands. Most of them had about 5-10 people living on them. They are beautiful islands -- absolutely spectacular, mythical. They must be some of the most remote and untouched parts of the world. I bet most of them have had less than 100 humans visit them over the past 100 years. This trip includes Maug, which is the summit of a volcanic crater. This is what it looks like from the air.


My last trip was a five day trip, and I spent those five days hanging over the side of the boat "feeding the fish." I took all the anti seasickness drugs, but I managed to break through them, while still suffering from all their side effects -- my mouth was dry, I couldn't see, I couldn't pee, and I was puking my guts out. I was a sight to behold, drapped over two bags of rice with my head in a bucket. When I returned, and people asked me about the trip, I would say, "It was a once in a lifetime trip." But I so want to go again.

Apparently there is some drug out of Europe that sailors use a few days prior to their trip and about three days into the trip that kills the nausea and seasickness. It's not approved in the US. I'm trying to find out more about it, but no luck yet. I don't even know its name. If I can figure out this seasickness thing, I'm going back to the Northern Islands.

How did you end up in Saipan?

We all have it: the story we tell when someone asks, “How did you end up in Saipan?” I have a short version that goes something like this. “I always wanted to work internationally. I sent letters all over the world, ended up in Samoa, then a year later moved to Saipan.” It’s the version I tell when I meet someone. But I thought there would be some value in writing down the long version. The Saipan story is part of everyone’s Saipan experience, and it’s also part of my kids story of how they ended up in Saipan (actually, ended up being born and growing up in Saipan.)

I’m fascinated to hear the other stories out there, short, long or medium versions. So, I’m turning this into a game of tag. I’m tagging Angelo, Jeff, Boni, Bev, Brad and Bree to write about their Saipan stories. If you grew up here, what took you away, and why did you come back? If you just left, or are leaving, add that to the story too. Tag three more people to write their story of “How did you end up in Saipan?”

***

I’ve always wanted to work internationally. I grew up in a Bahá’í family, and there were two messages positive that infused my childhood. One was that the highest station for a human being was a life of service to others. The second was that it was a praiseworthy act to leave one’s homeland to serve in a place where one is really needed. The possibility of living internationally was something I grew up with. It was actually something I aspired to.

In the winter of 1992, as I was finishing my ophthalmology training, I was also in the midst of a huge personal crisis, wondering what would be the next step in my life. I prayed and meditated a lot, but I didn’t get very far. At the time, my sister, who is an attorney, was working at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, in the Holy Land. So, I went there to pray and meditate some more, and also to have a chance to consult with some people who might have some insight to share with me.

My sister set up appointments for me to spend time with various individuals with experience all over the world. Many told me, “Oh, you must go to this place. The need is very great!” and depending on to whom I was talking, the place may have been Eastern Europe, Russia, anywhere in Africa, India, or South America. Finally, I landed at the desk of Don Rogers, a Canadian Artist who had been in Haifa for many years. He shared with me his own experience of being a struggling artists, and being told by his peers to stay in Canada and focus on his art, but he decided to let go of that paradigm, and managed to become an internationally acclaimed artist while still living where he wanted to live, and serving in the way he wanted to serve. When I asked him, “Where should I go then?” He said, “Send enquiries all over the planet. Give the Force some options to work with. (He actually said “Holy Spirit.”) You will be guided.” That gentle conversation in Don Rogers office at 4 Haparsim Street in Haifa turned my life.

I returned to Chicago, and began to send letters to NGO’s and Government Health Departments around the world – Africa, Asia, the Pacific, South America. But even though I was sending these letters, I was still hesitant. I wasn’t yet sure that leaving America would be my path, and so at the same time I continued to interview for the Retina Fellowships I had applied for earlier. My own residency program at Northwestern was holding a fellowship position for me, and needed me to let them know so they could pursue another candidate for the position if I didn’t want to take the spot. Time was running out.

I was starting to hear back from the hospitals around the world. Everywhere wrote back saying, “We’d love to have you. We cannot pay you a penny.” Thanks to my parents, I was lucky enough to get out of medical school without any debt, so I didn’t need a high paying job, but I did need to make some money. There were two places that could pay “subsistence” wages – a hospital in the Caribbean, and the LBJ Tropical Medical Center in Pago Pago, American Samoa. I found an ophthalmologist who had been visiting the hospital in the Caribbean every year for 20 years, and he didn’t recommend working there full-time. So, I was left with the job in Pago Pago. It was a bit familiar to me because seven years earlier, after my first year of medical school, I had spent a summer working in a dispensary on the outer island of Tau, and had spent a morning at LBJ.

But I still wasn’t sure if I should get further education or go to Samoa. It was winter, and I stood in a little bookstore under the El station in Chicago, opened a book, and on one page were the words, “Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life you will regret the things you did not do more than the things you did.” That was it for me. I thought about those words and knew that I had to go overseas. I also realized that if I did a Retina Fellowship, I could get too specialized for the jobs available in developing countries, and I could also get stuck in America – stuck with a high-paying ego stroking job, a nice house, the white picket fence – the golden handcuffs. That night, I booked my ticket for Samoa. The next day, I let the fellowship programs know that I was withdrawing my applications.

I finished my training on June 30, and three weeks later I boarded a plane for Pago Pago. Tears welled up in my eyes as the plane left the ground. I knew it was big move. I was scared of the unknown. I didn’t known if I’d be coming back. “What am I doing?” I thought to myself.

The year in Samoa was phenomenal. There hadn’t been an ophthalmologist there in ten years, so I was incredibly busy, doing all kind of complex cases, and getting the kind of experience that people only dream about in their first jobs. It was also a year of discovery – I made some of the closest friends of my life there; I found my wife, Mara, there; and I found parts of myself and a new way of life there.

By the end of my year in Pago Pago my friends were leaving, some of the equipment was breaking down and there wasn’t a prospect of getting it fixed quickly. In the meantime, I had fallen in love with the Pacific and started to explore other possibilities – teaching at the medical school in Fiji, working in various health departments, etc.

Straub Hospital in Honolulu has a Pacific Island liaison office, and the liaison officer, Dr. Henry Preston, would travel throughout the Pacific touching base with various health departments. So he knew a thing or two about healthcare in the Pacific. When he stopped in Samoa, I asked him for advice on which countries or jurisdictions might be ready for an ophthalmologist. Many of the islands were, and are still, dealing with basic health care issues like immunization, and the resources are not available for more specialized areas like ophthalmology. Henry recommended I check out Saipan.

I had sent Saipan a letter in the initial round of inquiries a year earlier, but Saipan wasn’t ready at the time. This time, they were eager. So, in August of 1993, I took a month to travel to Saipan from Samoa, visiting hospitals and Bahá’í communities along the way in Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Kosrae, and Pohnpei. It was a trip out of National Geographic.

I was initially hired by the CNMI government on a one month contract as a consultant – to treat patients, but to also look at ophthalmology needs in the CNMI. At that time, the place was flush with money, and the hospital had been bringing a couple of ophthalmologists here from San Diego, and paying them insane amounts ($500,000 for five weeks work – I saw the check with my own eyes). I offered to work full-time for half that amount, but of course, there were ceilings on government employees so that wasn’t a possibility, even though it made complete sense.

Anyway, my consulting contract was renewed a couple of times while the government worked to create a full-time position for an ophthalmologist, and within a few months I was hired as an employee of the Commonwealth Health Center with a usual salary.

I enjoyed my work there, and during those five years I built The Center for Eye Disease at CHC. It was fun. I published a couple of scientific papers, attended conferences at the CDC, and worked on public health issues. But, there was a limit in terms of how much I could improve things. The hospital couldn’t budget for the more advanced technologies I needed to raise the level of care, and each year there were worries as to whether or not funding would be available for my position.

By this time, Mara and I had decided to make Saipan home. (We had both left Samoa at the same time in August 1993, she heading off to Honolulu to start her Masters of Public Health, and me to Saipan. She moved to Saipan a few months later, in December and completed her MPH by traveling back and forth to UH. We got married here about a year after she arrived. That’s another very complicated, but happy story.) In making Saipan home, we realized that because of the funding issues it would be difficult to have a sense of security while working for the government. So we both quit our jobs (she was working as the epidemiologist for the Division of Mental Health at the time), and opened Marianas Eye Institute. That was ten years ago. And that’s the story of how we ended up where we are in Saipan.

I have a couple of other “Saipan stories” that I am asked about every month or so – “How did you come to open a school?” and “Four kids?!” Those stories are for another time.

Days Like This

The kids are off for two days this week because of parent-teacher conferences. Here is what my day looked like yesterday.

• 3 AM: Child 4 awakens. I can't get back to sleep. Welcome to the day.
• 5:45 AM: Drive to Garapan for 6 AM run. Running buddy sleeps in. I'm too tired to run alone. Drive back home.
• 7 AM: Drive to San Jose for radio interview with Harry Blalock on KZMI for Kite Festival March 1
• 8:30 AM: Parent-Teacher Conference for Child 1
• 9:15 AM: Go to the office to examine patients I operated on yesterday
• 10 AM: Take Child 3 to dental appointment
• 11 AM: Take Child 2 and 3 to ENT appointment, get X-rays, schedule hearing test.
• 12 PM: Drive Child 2 to San Vicente to play with a friend.
• 1 PM: Arrive back in Garapan for 1 PM meeting
• 2:30 PM: Take Child 1 to jewelry making workshop
• 3:30 PM: Parent-Teacher Conference for Child 3
• 4:30 PM: Prepare to take Child 1 to dance class. Child 1 decides not to go, no arguments from me. I lie down to take a nap.
• 6 PM: Wake up, eat, drive to Garapan for 6:30 meeting.
• 8:30 PM: Meeting over, Mara and I drive to Hyatt to walk in the gardens and chill. Get tour of new spa. Very nice.
• 9:15 PM: Get home, end of day, good night.

Fast Approaching Fast

It's a little over a week away from the beginning of the Baha'i Fast. It's a period of 19 days, from March 2-20. Unlike Lent and Ramadan, it is fixed to the solar calendar, and falls on these same days every year, ending on March 21 with the Baha'i New Year -- the vernal equinox.

The Baha'i Fast is a period of abstaining from food and drink (yes, drink too) from sunrise to sunset on each of these 19 days. You get up before sunrise, eat and drink, and then don't eat or drink again until the sun sets. I've been observing the Fast since I was 15 years old. It's not meant to kill you. You're exempt if you're younger than 15, older than 70, pregnant, nursing, menstruating, traveling or engaged in heavy labor. It's meant to be a period of turning inward, of spiritual recuperation, self-reflection. It's also meant to be a time of heightened awareness of the suffering of the poor.

It's an important part of the year for me. It's not easy to be sure. In fact, even Baha'u'llah, the prophet-founder of the Baha'i Faith, described it as being "outwardly toilsome". The hardest part for me isn't so much the NOT eating, but the eating. I often don't feel like eating much in the mornings, and by the evening, I'm pretty tired and don't want to eat. But I do allow myself to eat things during this time of year, that I wouldn't otherwise eat. Like chocolate. And ice cream.

I think one of the greatest lessons of the Fast for me over the years has been practicing self-restraint. It seems like an impossibility to not eat when you're so hungry, or drink when you're so thirsty, but you learn to practice self-restraint for a higher good. The absence of that single virtue -- self-restraint -- seems to be at the root of so much of the corruption in today's world. Self-discipline. It's a way of exercising mastery over that most unwieldy of creatures, the self.

Anyway, I'm starting to get ready for the Fast, mostly just by thinking about it, and thinking of the areas of my spiritual life that I'd like to pay focused attention to during this time of the year. Many years, a friend will fast with me for a day. I invite you to join me.

Middlesex

It's not often that I get a chance to read a novel, but as I boarded the plane in Hawaii, I ran to the bookshop and picked up the first book that looked decent. Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides. It is one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. It's also a winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

Here is a passage that picks up with a child answering the door during the burning and pillaging of Smyrna by Turkish soldiers in the early 1900's. The family is hiding in their apartment, while the father, a physician, has been out to tend to a neighbor.

***

When they hear knocking, they jump. Stepan goes to the window and looks down. "It must be Father."
"Go. Let him in! Quick!" Toukhie says.
Karekin vaults down the stairs two at a time. At the door he stops, collects himself, and quietly unbolts the door. At first, when he pulls it open, he sees nothing. Then there's a soft hiss, followed by a ripping noise. The noise sounds as though it has nothing to do with him until suddenly a shirt button pops off and clatters against the door. Karekin looks down as all at once his mouth fills with a warm fluid. He feels himself being lifted off his feet, the sensation bringing back to him childhood memories of being whisked into the air by his father, and he says, "Dad, my button," before he is lifted high enough to make out the steel bayonet puncturing his sternum. The fire's reflection leads along the gun barrel, over the sight and hammer, to the soldier's ecstatic face.

***

Here's the beginning of the Amazon review:

"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974." And so begins Middlesex, the mesmerizing saga of a near-mythic Greek American family and the "roller-coaster ride of a single gene through time."

Two Polls

There are two polls on Congressman Joe Camacho's website.

1. Land Ownership in the CNMI
2. Federalization of Immigration

Head over to his site and make your opinion known. Click here.

My Alma Mater

I just received the alumni magazine from Northwestern University, where I did my undergraduate degree, as well as my ophthalmology training. I miss it. I miss the vibrant nature of a center of higher learning. I miss the opportunity to hear people that are on the cutting edge of their fields. I miss learning about new ideas. Well, maybe. I just remembered that a few months ago I went to a presentation by the Humanities Council by an academic archaeologist about the clay pots of the Mariana Islands. After about five minutes, I realized I had learned all I really needed to know about clay pots. The rest of the lecture was painful. The speaker was great, mind you. But the topic wasn't, shall we say, "captivating" to me. I suppose if I were at the University setting, I'd choose my lectures more carefully, (just as I now do with the Humanities Council lectures).

When I started my undergraduate career, I had visions of becoming a biomedical engineer, and I started out in the college of engineering. After the first year, I decided there was more to life than circuits and molecules, so I took a hard swing, transfered to the College of Arts and Sciences, and double majored in comparative religion and biology. The current issue of Northwestern magazine has a fascinating article about one of the folks who didn't transfer out of biomedical engineering, but who has gone on to develop what is now, the world's first artificial limb that is controlled by the brain. Nerves from the brain send signals to electrodes in the artificial arm, so when you think, "I'm going to bend my arm", the artificial arm bends. How cool is that! The full article is here. Check it out. It's a fascinating read.

Fantastic Fantasticks

We went and saw this production of the local theater group last night. It was excellent. The story was entertaining, and the acting and singing were quite good. Apparently, the Fantasticks is the longest running musical in history. And I had never heard of it.

Anyway, if you have a chance, catch the last show -- Sunday, February 17 at PIC. Dinner is at 6:30 PM, with the show starting at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $30 per person

Getting My Bearings

Over the last six weeks or so, I've spent two weeks in Bali, a week in Guam, a week in Hawaii and a weekend in Australia. My head's been spinning a bit. I've sorted of felt like I've been floating, out of touch with my home and what is going on with my friends. I have one more short trip to take this month, and then I'll be staying put for a while. But I've been so disoriented that at times I haven't been aware of what month it is.

Home from Australia

Mara and I spent the weekend in Cairns. It was the first time we've taken a trip without the kids. It was beautiful. We did a lot of that thing that parents with four young children rarely get a chance to do. Yep, that's right. We talked. We talked in complete sentences. We talked without interruptions, carefree, like when we were young and had the house to ourselves. We talked everywhere. We talked lying on the bed. We talked on the couch. We even talked on the balcony. It was hot.

Cairns is a great city, and having been there a couple of times before, we felt no pressure to see anything. We just spent our time walking around and eating lots of great food. But ouch, the declining dollar was painful. In the past you could buy an Australian dollar for sixty cents. Now, it costs pretty much a whole US dollar.

We spent one evening with old friends from Saipan, Jane and Glenn Bolton-Bound. Glenn is still making a living jumping out of airplanes with a tourist strapped to him. The next time we go down there, I think I'll jump with him. I trust him to get me down alive.

I'd post some pictures, but I can't find the cable to download them from the camera.

The Critics Have Spoken

Angelo has started this blog tag where you're supposed to review five blogs, and then those five blogs review your blog, and tag five others, and on and on. He reviewed my blog with this single sentence:

Marianas Eye: If reading the Saipan blogs makes you want to scratch your eyes out, this is the guy who can put them back in for you.

He's been publicly bugging me to review his blog. I generally consider a "review" as something more substantial than a sentence, so I'm not up to review five blogs. I was tempted to review Angelo's blog as such:

The Saipan Blog: A blog about Saipan, that is occasionally worth reading.

But, despite Angelo's lame-ass review of my blog, I'm going to do a decent review of his.

The Saipan Blog is one of the two blogs that I read every day. You can generally count on new content on a daily basis. The posts are diverse, interesting, and have excellent subject-verb agreement. He covers topics that reflect the eclectic nature of the man -- topics such as the environment, local controversies, and scantily clad chicks. More than anything else, you get a sense of how much one person, possessing dedication and drive, can do to change his hair ... I mean the world... to change the world. A dedicated blogger, community member, and a role-model for aspiring environmentalists, Angelo's blog is informative, entertaining and inspiring. (There, happy now?)

I now tag Angelo to write a real review.

Vrrrrooooom!

Free Comedy Workshop Begins

I've put together this press release that will go out next week. Help me spread the word.

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Have you thought about becoming a stand-up comedian? Do people tell you you’re funny? Do people tell you you’re not funny, but you want to be? Are you interested in writing comedy, or making a living through comedy? Then the Comedy Workshop is for you. This free course will start on Wednesday, February 6 and will meet weekly for four weeks.

The course will feature instruction based on Judy Carter’s famous LA Comedy Workshop. “A few weeks ago, a few friends gathered to explore the idea of putting together a stand-up comedy night,” explained David Khorram, the course organizer. “We realized that we needed some structure to help us move through the process of developing our acts, so we ordered Judy Carter’s instructional DVD series, called ‘Comedy Career in a Box.’ It’s a way to attend her Comedy Workshop, here on a remote island.” Judy Carter is the author of The Comedy Bible and Standup Comedy. She is a renowned comic, speaker and teacher. This unique DVD series takes you step-by-step through the creative process of joke writing and basic and advanced performance techniques.

The goal of the workshop is for each individual to ultimately develop thirty minutes of original comedy material. “Even if you don’t want to perform comedy, but just want to add more humor to your life, to your writing, or to your talks, this is a good way of doing it,” said Khorram. “Understanding comedy also helps you see more humor every day, and helps you appreciate the natural comedy around you. So, this comedy workshop isn’t just for people that want to perform comedy. It’s for anyone who wants to gain an appreciation for how comedy works.” For those interested in performing, the group has planned an evening of stand-up comedy towards the end of February.

Part 1 of the workshop is “Creating Killer Comedy Material.” According to the course materials, you’ll learn to use the same tools your favorite comedians use to write material from your own point of view. It covers how to jumpstart your creativity, fighting stage fright and other worries, joke writing made easy, finding your authentic material, and getting big laughs.

Part 2 focuses on “How Not to Bomb.” In this section you develop your material further and concentrate on performance. You’ll learn secrets to dealing with hecklers, avoiding hack material, the top five mistakes comics make, insider secrets of successful rewrites, how to make the audience love you in five seconds, and building a set that kills.

For those interested in making money, Part 3 is on “Making Money from Being Funny.” It shares secrets from managers, agents, executive producers, casting directors and club bookers on how to get noticed. It features interviews with 18 Hollywood heavy hitters.

The Comedy Workshop will begin on Wednesday, February 6 at 6:45 PM at Marianas Eye Institute on Beach Road Garapan. If you’re interested, contact David Khorram at 235-9090, or by email. There is no charge for the Comedy Workshop. Space is limited.

CNMI Investor Visa

I've gotten a few requests in the past few months from non-US citizens on whether or not it is possible to live in the CNMI. It is. Here is the response I sent to the last enquirer.

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For “non-US” types, you can enter in one of three ways: as a contract worker, on an investor visa, or on a retirement visa. The first requires an employer, the latter two require money. Actually, there is a fourth option-- marry a US citizen.

I think the retirement visa is available if you are over 55 years old. I’m not sure of the financial requirements.

The investor visa requires an investment of $150K, but the investment can include the purchase/lease of property, i.e. a home. I have good friend who is Canadian, and living here by virtue of an investor visa. Here is his input:

The investor visa is obtained through the Dept of Commerce. Any questions you have should be directed to Lillian, she is very helpful and easy to work with. You can also download the application and its requirements, I believe it’s on the cnmi.gov website.

There is a long list of requirements and its a lengthy process, but its easy to follow and goes smoothly. Briefly, the investor must set up an "investment" in the CNMI, which is usually a corporation to do business, and a minimum of $150,000 in assets (real estate is acceptable). The assets must be in the CNMI, and they must all owned by the corporation.

My application has been almost an inch thick both times, but most of the info is the business plan, tax statements, etc. The application costs $1000 and the permit is good for two years.

Infomercials

These things are the greatest. Every time I watch an infomercial, I'm ready to buy whatever they're selling. I actually only bought an infomercial product once, but it lived up to its promises. I consider it one of the best purchases of my life. It was the Tony Robbins "Personal Power" program. Now I'm sitting here watching the P90X infomercial, and once again, I'm thinking, "this looks great." I think the things most infomercials sell really do work, with the caveat, if you use them, or follow the program, or whatever. I think most of us just fail when it comes to using the product as designed.

And so, I sit here wondering, "am I really going to take the time to do this?" That's the only real question.

The conference continues to have a lot of very valuable information, but we're all getting tired.

MarianasEye.com in Lava

Here's what we did for 45 minutes today after the conference.

Intraocular Telescope

It was a full day at the conference. One of the really nice things about the conference this year is that the organizers have set up wireless access in the main lecture hall. So, as new information is being given that I want to incorporate into Marianas Eye Institute, I just end off email to various people in my office to get things started -- check about pricing on this drug, send me a copy of that form to review, check the model number of this piece of equipment in the office. It's really nice to get things started while we're fresh.

The conference is being held at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, which is a huge property, with its own tram, and it's own boat taxi, and its own dolphins, and insanely, its own oversize air-conditioners that require you to wear a winter coat in the conference rooms.

Cool new technology currently under FDA trials: an intraocular telescope. This is a tiny telescope that is implanted into the eye for astronomy buffs. No, silly. Many people very poor vision due to macular degeneration and require lots of magnification to see anything. They often carry around a little telescope with them. This implants the telescope into the eye. Very few people will need them, but it can change their lives. About 20 have been implanted so far in the FDA trial.

Snow in Hawaii

I went running this evening. I looked up, and the clouds moved apart unveiling the summit of Mt. Manakea, dusted in snow. How cool is that! If you click on the picture and enlarge it, you can see the astronomical observatories, which are just to the left of the big fluffy cloud.

Chris Gardner Meets People from Saipan

Today's keynote speaker was Chris Gardner, whose life story was made famous by Will Smith in the movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness." He was a dynamic speaker and entertained the crowed with lots of humor and inspiration. I recorded his talk, and if anyone wants a copy, I can get it to you (or if someone can tell me how to post it here for downloading, I'll do that.)

The highlight of Chris' day was posing with us for this photo. He knew where Saipan is, so we said, "Okay, you can take a picture with us."

If you haven't seen the movie, it's a great one.

Floating Hotel

A couple of weeks ago, Arman asked me if a hotel could float. We talked about cruise ships, but he couldn't really picture it. This was anchored off the Kona coast. This is a cruise ship, Arman.

Subspecialty Day at Hawaiian Eye

Today was the first day of the conference -- sort of. It officially starts tomorrow, but they've started having a one day specialty conference, so we all went to that today. Mel and Emilly did remarkably well following the talks. Russ, not so well. I'm kidding. Actually, Russ was thinking and making some good connections.

The first section was on Oculoplasitic and Aesthetic Surgery. It focused on Botox and Dermal Fillers. I've enjoyed this part of my practice since we started doing Botox two years ago. I'd like to be doing more, but we just don't have the demographics on Saipan -- people who are concerned about their appearance and who have disposable income. They included a live demonstration. Here, a patient is going to get injected with Botox and Juviderm filler. It was interesting to see Dr. Steve Yoelin's technique. Steve is the country's leading Botox injector and the person who taught me to inject Botox. He lives in Beverly Hills. Now that's the kind of demographic where you can thrive doing this.


The second section of the day was on Controversies on Perioperative Pharmacological Therapy. Sounds fascinating, doesn't it. Actually, the information in this section resulted in me making a few changes to the regimen of drugs I use around the time of surgery (that's what the word "perioperative" means). I'm switching from Ocuflox to Zymar, using the Zymar for two weeks post-op instead of one week. I'm not patching the eye after surgery, but instead using Zymar every 15 minutes for the first hour, and every two hours thereafter for the first day. And I'll be checking the wound with fluorescein at the time of surgery. Finally, I'm going to develop a good method to automate the extended use of NSAID's in our diabetic cataract patients.

Anytime I end up doing something differently as a result of a conference, I consider it a good conference. Knowledge is useful, but clinical practicality is the key.


The final section was on the use of implanted intraocular lenses to correct presbyopia -- the loss of near vision that occurs in the early 40's. This is the new trend in ophthalmology, because unlike LASIK, it can correct both the near and distance vision simultaneously. I've tried introducing this to Saipan, but there seems to be very little interest, again due to demographics. The lenses and the extra work cost a lot more than regular lenticular surgery. (Note to self: this year, the best IOL combination is Crystalens in the dominant eye, and Restor in the non-dominant eye. Micro RK/ARK and CK can be useful for over/under corrections.)

Tomorrow is the start of the conference. It's the lifestyle day, and the keynote speaker is the guy upon which the movie "Pursuit of Happyness" is based.

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

And we're certainly not in Saipan. My apologies to all my friends in Saipan, who are sure to weep at this sight. If you listen carefully, you can hear angels singing. Aaaaaaaah!

Waikiki to the Big Island

Yesterday we headed from Waikiki to the Big Island where the Hawaiian Eye Conference is being held. We called up Benny, our friendly limo driver from the previous night, to pick us up and get us back to the airport. If you ever need a taxi in Oahu, give Benny a call. His rates are the same as a taxi, and you ride in style. His number is 808-721-5579. He requires 2 hours notice. It costs about $38 from the airport to Waikiki.

Waikiki is the group of buildings just to the right of the wing. The Diamond Head crater is on the peninsula in the center of the photo.

We flew into the Kona side of the Big Island. This side of the island is a wasteland. It's all black lava fields, and looks like the surface of the moon. In places, grass has sprouted among the lava rocks, but even then, it has the feel of a desert, and not a tropical island. The Hilo side of the island has rainforest. And of course, Mount Manakea has snow this time of year, and the northern part of the island has real desert with cacti. Mara and I came here in 1995 when we were living in Oahu. We went up to the active volcano at that time. This is an amazing island with its diversity.

When we lived in Waikiki

During the first year or our marriage, Mara had to return to Hawaii to finish her Masters in Public Health. She was here for 13 weeks, and I spent 8 of them with her, in a tiny studio apartment we had right on Kalakaua Avenue on the Waikiki strip. Our apartment building is the five-story one just behind the bus. Were were in the one on the top floor, left corner.

I loved it and every time I come here, I like to walk by that building. We celebrated our first wedding anniversary living there. The apartment was tiny with no kitchen. We bought a mini-fridge and a hotplate. While Mara was in classes, I'd watch TV. I'd work out at the gym in Waikiki. We'd go for walks. We'd eat at the little noodle shop across the street. We'd take the bus together to the grocery store or to Queen's Medical Library. We'd lay in the park. In the evening's we'd stroll amongst the tourists on the Kalakaua strip, basking in the vibrancy.

Living here is one of the fondest memories of our early years of marriage, and it's one of the reasons I love coming back to Waikiki.

Arrival in Waikiki

We made it to Hawaii, on the way to the Hawaiian Eye Conference on the Big Island. I love this place. We got in last night and walked out of the airport to catcha taxi to our Waikiki hotel, and were greeted by a limo. Did you know the meter is the same rate as a regular taxi? Nice.

Melonie and Emilly, with driver behind Mel.

Paparazzi shots

We got to our Waikiki hotel. Russ took off to meet up with an old friend for dinner. Mel and Emilly and I went down to Wolfgang Puck's and had pizza. One of Mel's cousins who works for medical referral came by and surprised her and the three of them headed out to see Honolulu, getting in after midnight.

I walked down the Waikiki strip, which I love. It's a place of everything. Every few feet there is some street "performer" (and I use the word loosely) trying to make some money. Here is a guy dressed in a monkey suit, standing on a crate, with his buddy playing the ukulele. Hey, you know this is America.

In the morning we walked around Waikiki in the daylight, picking up some souvenirs. Waikiki has to be the most famous beach in the world and one of the greatest tourist strips on the planet.

View from my hotel room

Statue of Duke

Saipanese Tourists in Waikiki

At the International Marketplace in Waikiki

Born-Again Blogger Recants Faith

This title just came to me. It sounds intriguing and I bet there's an interesting story behind it. So, let's write the story together... right here on this blog, right here in the comments section. Just write a couple of sentences, and the next person will pick up where you leave off. Anonymous sentences are welcome. I'll start.

Devout blogger, Jeremy Finklemeister, recently shocked his friends and family by renouncing blogging while attending the Fundamentalist Blogger Revival in Maynard, Tennessee. When interviewed, he gazed skyward and said, "I just...

Okay, click on comments and run with it. Yes, I'm talking to YOU.

Watch Your Mouth!

Now I know many of you visit this blog just for the gory eye pictures, and that I've been remiss in posting them lately, so here is one. This is a picture of a young woman who visited our office last week with severe diabetic eye disease. This is the retina. The white round thing in the middle is the optic nerve head (or "disc"). The 1.2 milliion nerve fibers of the retina leave the eye through the optic nerve and go to the brain (the eye is technically part of the brain -- an extension -- so yes, I'm a brain surgeon). The arteries and veins also enter and leave the retina through the center of the optic nerve. The darker spot is called the macula (which means "spot" in Greek or Latin or something). It's the specialized part of the retina that's involved with the sharpest clearest vision.

Diabetes affects blood vessels, and you can see all the massive intra-retinal hemorrhages from the diabetic damage. The retina is the one place in the body we can look directly at the blood vessels, but this same damage is taking place all over the body -- brain, heart, kidneys, feet, everywhere. Bummer.

Diabetes is a bad disease, and if I've said it once, I've said it a million times, it's a lifestyle disease. You get it by eating too much, eating fat, eating simple carbs, eating animal prodcuts, eating, eating, eating. It's prevented by keeping less than one inch of fat around your middle. It can be cured by losing the extra weight and exercising. The stage is set when you're young. So pay attention. You're not invincible. This is the reason the life expecancy for the indigenous population is 54 years. That makes 28 "middle age."

Hawaiian Eye

Now if I were as savvy as Angelo, I would change the name of my blog to "Hawaiian Eye" for the next week. I leave for Hawaii early Friday morning to attend a conference, aptly named, "The Hawaiian Eye." It's the one professional conference I attend every year, and it rotates among Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. It's a great conference, bringing together about a thousand participants from around the world for a week of updates in all areas of ophthalmology. There is a concurrent Retina conference, which I attend, and an administrator's conference, which Russ, our CEO attends, and also a Nursing/Tech conference, which this year for the first time, two of our ophthalmic technicians are attending. They're scared to death -- island girls in the big city (actually, island girls on a bigger island. Mel and Emilly, you guys will be fine. If you get lost, just follow the setting sun back to Saipan.)

I like this conference for a few reasons. First, it's only four time zones away. I'm useless at the conferences in the mainland because of the jet-lag. I just don't bother going any more. Second, it's a relatively small conference. Some of the eye conferences have 15,000 participants and are just unwieldy. Third, it's laid back and relaxed. No one wears a suit. It's shorts, flip-flops, casual fare. You gotta love that, coming from Saipan. And finally, the folks from the Mainland are like so happy to just be out of the snow for a week, there is a jubilant air to the conference. Everyone is smiling. You don't see that much at medical conferences.

I'm always a fascinoma at these conferences. "You live WHERE?!" "Wow, I always dreamed of working internationally, but never did." "How did you do it?" "Can I touch the hem of your garment?" Those of us that are here, all know, that you just gotta let go of the rocks on the bottom of the river (vide infra... and if you don't know what that means, look it up. I've been wanting to use some Latin in my blog for a while and here's my chance.)

So, for the next week, I'll be reporting live from the Big Island.