Typhoon Mawar recently pasted over the CNMI, days before I was supposed to leave for my internship. Because of this natural disaster, four of my flights were canceled, one after another. The typhoon hit Guam the the worst, even though Guam technically got lucky with the placement of the storm. My flights kept getting canceled because many of them were going to be passing through Guam or near that area, making it unsafe.
As we were looking for other flight options after the fourth canceled flight, we found a flight for the morning of may 30th, which was the next day. I made sure all of my bags were properly packed and put air tags in all of my luggage to make sure I can track them if they go missing. Me and my dad also went to REI to get a SOS Radio, which can call emergency services and text loved ones in the event of an emergency. The next morning we woke up at 5am and got me to the airport for my 8am flight from Newark to Honolulu, then Guam and finally Saipan.
After a long, 35 hours of travel I finally made it to Saipan and was greeted by my new roommate Sydney. She greeted me with open arms and started showing me around the island, showing me where the beaches are, which roads to take, and good places to eat. Then we made it to our apartment. I walked into my room, initially completely missing the fact that she wrote me a nice note and left two flowers next to it. She is so sweet.
The next couple of days was a whirlwind of picking up my car, unpacking and meeting people. Historically I have a really hard time connecting with people, and for the longest time I didn't know why. After coming to Saipan and only being here for about 4 days I have already made so many friends and me and Sydney have connected in a way that I just know she will be in my life forever. I'm finally learning how to open up to people and let them in.
Karie, Lao Lao Beach 2023
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