Visiting the Saipan Vet

Hafa Adai!

 

My good friend Barb pointed out to me I forgot to start out my blog with my Hafa Adai greeting (pronounced haw-fa-day).....an obvious oversight on my part.  She even took it upon herself to find the meaning of Hafa Adai.  It's from the Chamarro culture here on the island and means "Good Day".  It's  kind of like Aloha is in Hawaii.  It's plastered everywhere here and there is even a Hafa Adai plaza!  There are two native groups on Saipan, the Chamarros and the Carolinians and each have their own language.  Ok, that's your Saipan culture lesson for the day.  Raise your hand if you have any questions............ok, no questions????? then we'll continue on.....

My day started out with taking Rufus the baby kitty to the island's veterinarian, Dr. Tudor.  He is a Howlie (what the whites are called by the people here) and a really cool guy.  He brings his personal dogs to work with him and they run all over the place.  He had a puppy in there today that was running in and out of the examination room.  I loved it but Rufus didn't.  It turns out Rufus has colitis so was given a shot of antibiotics and might also have a parasite.  He spent the day and night at the vets and we'll see what's going on tomorrow.  I was happy to have him stay there because he was such a mess with his potty problem.  Hope they get him "stopped up".   He didn't look too happy sitting in the carrier waiting for his turn:(  The vet didn't even ask for payment.  He said we could deal with that later...........go figure!  I never make it out of my vets office without making an office visit payment.  Pretty laid back here!

The vet had this funky clock attached to his wall that a patient's dad had made for him.  Loved it!  I love where the hands to the clock are placed!   

I came back home and read the paper while Audra's housekeeper cleaned the apartment......

how bad is that?  I kind of felt guilty but after about three seconds I stopped.  She was asking me how much my peddlepushers (capri pants) cost and I told her not very much.  I bought them at a store on the island last time I was here.  She wanted to know where so I let her know and she was floored she had never been in the store.  

This is the view from Audra's balcony I get to look at every day.  The water is always this color and crystal clear.  The island, Managaha Island is a very popular tourist spot and great for 

snorkeling.  You pay $20 for a speed boat to take you over there and bring you back when you're ready.  They have concessions stands, lockers, shops and tons of beautiful beach area there.  It isn't very big so you can go from one end to the other in about 5 minutes. We went over there last time I was here and I'm thinking about going back over next week for the day.

This is why I keep calling it paradise.  Between that and the beautiful jungle that is everywhere it's easy to get lost in it all visually.

Today when I picked Audra up from school I found a surprise waiting for me.  It is "Honor the Troops" week at her school and the second grade teachers hung banners outside their classroom celebrating family members that had served in the military.  Audra put my dad's name up, Steve's father's name up and MY name up for my 3 years of Army Reserve service.  Pretty cool!  She wanted to put her grandma Sein and Aunt Toni up too but ran out room for her part of the ribbons.

We found this cute little guy eating the leaves at her school today.  She has three of them in her classroom in a jar so the kids can see them turn into giant moths.  We left this one outside.  He reminds us of the caterpillar in Alice In Wonderland.....all he needs is his hooka pipe!  The burrow under the ground when they form their cocoons.

 This tree is right outside of Audra's classroom.  It looks like it's ready to attack anyone who passes by with it's roots! 

When it rains there are toads everywhere on the school grounds.  Audra and I love to chase them down and catch them.  My mom used to call me "Toadie" when I was little because I was always after toads, frogs and snakes.  

So that was my day in paradise today.  New faces and new places to see.  There is always something to find wonder in....you just have to stop and take a good look to see it sometimes:)