Saipan & its Japanese food

"Fast Food" at Himowari in Saipan. Chamorros sure know their Japanese food. 

My godsister Maria & mother love this place.

Sirena - a Chamorro song

My cousin Mike Salas & my dad jamming to Sirena, a Chamorro song.

Vocals: Mike Salas

Guitar: Mike Salas & Carlos Salas

Saipan - The Purple Room & Hello Kitty parties

Can you tell I've been spending a lot of time with family lately?

Marg's Kitchen, Chalan Kanoa, Saipan

[Photo credit: Ash Sivils]

It's funny...
how one visit to a bakery could evoke a flashback
of that one humid, dusty school day - humdrum freshman year mid-semester
still getting used to our new MCS highsku uniforms
we wear those thick gray jackets 
just so it weighs down our skirts and the boys don't see our panties
well, because we're supposed to wear shorts underneath but that's too 
uncomfortable. So we wear those thick jackets in 98 degree weather instead.


We walk in a pack - on our way to the local library, class trip,
an important resource for our small island - our haole teacher leads the way
behind the buildings on the main road, back alleys of Chalan Kanoa


My friends and I, we take a detour, to Marg's Kitchen
who love us because we clean them out every morning before school starts
and we order tuna sandwiches, papaya koko and Hi-C. 


Some of us fight over the last empanada of the day.
We pay, run out to catch up to the others.
Fingers bright neon yellow from the papaya koko,
I shield my tea box straw when the cars go by,
dust flies. 

Growing up with the primas.

This wasn't just my usual ho-hum drum trip back to Saipan. It has been FOUR years since I visited the island - this was big. Over the course of my four-year absence, a lot has changed, the economy is in a slump, residents have relocated to promising mainland opportunities and the atmosphere transitioned into what Saipan was like 15 years ago: quiet, friendly and laid back.

The main focus of my trip this time was on la familia. Growing up in Saipan didn't really thrill me as a kid:

• the boonies
• having to use buckets to shower because of low water pressure
• the heat
• the mosquitos
• having to attend Sunday mass

...these all turned me off the "Chamorro lifestyle." So the one thing that made my ten year experience memorable was my family. They're loud and obnoxious but they really make you laugh. My cousins and I bonded over the teasing aunts, weight issues, mango & salt addictions and dealing with third-generation frustrations (conforming to the American lifestyle while still keeping some traditional family values).

My cousins and I were not exactly forced to hang out with each other, but we were encouraged to stay together during the weekends. In order to keep from getting on each other's nerves, we studied choreography in MTV music videos and formed a little dance group. The amount of thought we put into these proud performances was tremendous - we did costumes, make-up and curtain calls. We pretty much tried to re-create whatever we saw on television. 

All these memories came back as we spent the day shopping at a "three-dollar" store, eating at an italian restaurant and browsing Indonesian trinkets near our grandmother's house. I didn't realize how grown up these girls are.

Belle Palacios - The Most Beautiful Smile from Brandi Nohealani Salas on Vimeo.

They're into fashion, photography and music - they're so talented! Christina sings, Belle plays the piano, Maria is a fashionista/potential fashion designer and Patty is a whiz at photoshop.

I also had the chance to visit my cousins Brianna (and her fatty baby Blake), Brian, Zerlyn (and her toddler Aryana). This was unforgettable. There's really nothing like family and the feeling of security. Thanks primas, you all were the highlight of my trip! I love you!

Embarking on a journey back to 'the nitty gritty'

Just when I thought I was immersed in my own culture...I decided to go even further and take a trip to that one place that had embedded vivid, bittersweet memories in my mind. Nostalgia of conservative Catholicism, salivating, kidney-demolishing food products and "aircon" brews slowly in my head then rushes and pulls me back, making me face the logic behind the saying, "Distance makes the heart grow fonder."

Saipan. What a name - for the place I've resented for falling behind modern technology, über-traditional Catholic & indigenous supersticious values, lack of 'American' influence and holding me back from whatever dreams I had at the time:

• Becoming the first Chamorro superstar (What was I thinking...)
  
• A journalist (Check)
• Have a pet peacock (Okay, this was at age 5)
  
• The wife of an N'Sync member (My teenybopper stage)
• Meet Christian Dior (In another life I guess...)
• Produce MY OWN travel show (Hopefully in a few years)
• Paint some murals of mermaids (My fascination with mermaids)
  
• Live in a neon yellow tree house (Still possible!)
  

Don't get me wrong, a week in Guam was a satisfying morsel of Chamorro culture. But the truth is, even though I was born there, I spent ten years of my childhood in Saipan. It's been FOUR years since I've been to Saipan. Going back to my so-called 'home-land' is a big step. My next few entries will show you a piece of my other home in Micronesia.