Flowers in the Marianas (by BR)

this is hibiscus.

we find a lot of these in parks.

bougainvillea are very common here.

I found this at a park. I wish I knew what it was called.

we have some of these in our yard: "awapuhi" is the local name.

(Acalypha hispida) I think is the scientific name for  this.

Plumeria Flowers are very common here.

Flame tree Flowers bloom in the summer.



These flowers only grow on specific rocks.

this might be a yellow hibiscus in our yard?

Flowers of the Rubiaceae family grow in our yard. 

I found this in my drive way.

 this is hibiscus.

/

 this is another type of hibiscus

We noticed these when we were at CONCRETE Jesus.  

We noticed these when we were at CONCRETE Jesus.

these also grow in our yard (Rubiaceae--star of Bethlehem)

Latte stones (by AM)

When the Chamorros first came to Saipan, they made houses that had something called a Latte Stone("lah-TEE"--not like the coffee) as the foundation.  In modern day Saipan, people use Latte stones mainly as decoration and to celebrate their Chamorro culture.

A school bus stop.

There are a lot of school bus stops that are around here. Most of them have the Latte Stone in their structure.



A village signpost.

This is one of many village signposts: Saipan is made up of 31 villages.

A market sign with Latte Stones.

A lot of stores here on Saipan use the Latte Stone as something creative to hold up their market signs. The Joeten markets are usually seen with a Latte Stone in the "J" letter above the entrance to the store as well as on the shopping bags.

San Vincente church uses the Latte Stones to hold up the roof.

Most churches here use Latte Stones somewhere around the building for decoration and other uses. San Vincente church uses Latte Stones inside and outside of the church as pillars.

Joeten Superstore.

Like Joeten Dandan Market, Joeten Superstore uses Latte Stones to hold up their store sign.

Another Joeten Dandan representation of Latte Stones.

The Latte Stones on the far left and the far right have little lamps on top of them.

Sometimes Latte Stones are not always 3 dimensional, but 2 dimensional (maybe to make carving the stone easier?).

Latte Stones are used for many things here on Saipan. There are many more than I have photos of here.  But the ones you have already seen are a start!

Information about Latte Stones:

• When the Spaniards first came to Saipan in the early 1500's, they had no idea what the Latte Stones were used for.  They thought that there were only for special kinds of religious buildings and special people.
• There were different sizes of the original version of the Latte Stones; there were some that towered over the people at a height of 17 feet! There was a smaller version that was only 3 feet high. Nowadays, people believe that the 17 feet high Latte Stones were supposed to be the foundation of  2 or 3 story buildings, and the 3 feet high ones foundations for only 1 story high buildings.
• The Flag of the Northern Mariana Islands has a Latte Stone in the middle of the lei and behind the star. Since a Latte Stone is in the flag of the Northern Mariana Islands, without knowing anything about Saipan's history, you can tell that the Latte Stone has a role to play in the history.
• Not only Saipan has the Latte Stones around the island; Guam also has them! Guam has a whole park based on Latte Stones, called Latte Stone Park. Rota also has a site, called Latte Quarry.
• Latte Stones have been made of limestone, basalt, or sandstone.

World War II on Saipan (by L.)

Shrine containing the "Bell of Peace and Harmony": just one of many memorials
of the war on Saipan that are dedicated to prayers for world peace

There are many ways to learn about World War II on Saipan, due to the infamous Battle of Saipan. There are monuments and sites that are popular tourist attractions (see above).  The two photos below, however, were not taken at such sites; my dad and I stumbled upon them while hiking in the jungle, where there is not even a path!

Sometimes people even come to the jungle to clear out the UXO's and bring them to a dump.

Cannon shell  (step lightly!)

     

Undetonated grenade (yikes!)

On another day, we got lost looking for a particular beach and accidentally discovered Saipan's Hidden Grotto.  Apparently, the man who made that video had been looking for this cave for ten years!  Lucky us, we landed on it even without trying.  That brave explorer from the video also found some UXO's (Unexploded Ordnance) and believes that the Japanese had a cannon there during the war.  Too bad we do not have any of our own photos to include here; we did not have the camera along with us.

Finally, the photos below are of many such bunker remains that can be found right near the waterfront. There is even one at a resort where they store their rental paddle boards, life vests, kayaks, etc.! 

Just one of many, many bunkers at the beach

There are also tanks at some beaches that broke down while driving to the shore. They are still there and are home to many tropical fish. 

here you go, Aunt J

 I went away for the weekend and came home to this gallery of Halloween art (their paper-based costumes were made, too--photos to follow):

some favorite recent images

Beach Colors (by L.)

  We went to Kagman beach for a field trip to learn about adaption.
It is a drive-up beach so we didn't have to do a long, sweaty hike. In the parking lot we noticed a guy selling coconuts to drink.

  As soon as we got to the beach it started pouring on us. We thought we would be miserable the whole time. We were wrong.

As the rain ebbed, we started to scavenge the beach, and discovered some nice colors:

                              
                                  As well as some hermit crabs (as known to us as 'hermies').

(Note the brilliant red color)

 

                               
                      And a shell that looks weirdly like...

Hey! It's a pointing finger!

Wildlife Guide (post by L.)

For the past few days, I have been working on an illustrated wildlife guide to Saipan. So far I have completed several birds and two lizards; I plan to work on fish next.
Each animal has a detailed illustration and an interesting fact.

Here is what I have so far:

Marianas Fruit Dove;
This bird is an endangered species.  Its greatest threat is the brown snake.
Luckily, zoos are helping to keep the species alive.

Micronesian Honeyeater

Rufous Fantail:
You may observe this bird performing "acrobatics" in the air but this is
only its hunting technique (for bugs).

Golden White-eye:
Only found in the Marianas Islands.

Collared Kingfisher

White Tern

Common House Gecko:
House geckos can cling to walls due to their suction-like feet and jagged
tail.

Green Anole (or as we call it, 'Bunny)
This lizard can change its skin from green to brown, for camouflage.

Aok

The storm is over.  The worst that happened to our property is a big mess of fallen branches and leaves, some minor damage to the fence, and an uprooted tree.  We lost power for several hours but it came back on before the food in the fridge had time to spoil.

oops--be careful on the slippery edge of the pool or you might lose your
balance and fall in while trying to clear out the leaves!

All in all, it was not nearly as bad as we had feared.  The kids and I haven't left home today so I don't know what the rest of the island looks like.  I only hope that the rest of Saipan, and folks on Rota, where the main force of the storm hit, fared as well.

Vongfong

We are headed to bed soon, and ready for Typhoon Vongfong which is due to hit Saipan around 4am our time.  We've got our water and food supply ready, a portable stove and flashlights and candles and all that good stuff.  And then some bags of ice around for when we lose electricity.  All power will probably be shut off island-wide as a precautionary measure and so we will be offline until after the storm (hopefully not too long afterwards).

We live up high on a hill and we don't expect any problems with flooding whatsoever.  Overall, we are ready!  We'll check back in when we can.