Biba Guam!

66 years ago today, Guam was liberated from the Japanese by the US Marines.  Each year, on July 21, Guam celebrates its liberation.  Pretty much all of Guam shuts down and lines up for the parade down Marine Corps Drive.  In Guam, Liberation Day is a bigger deal than the 4th of July   Price and I went so we could see this,

Which was being led by this,

One of the things I enjoy most about Guam are the signs.  People here really express themselves through posters and placards.  Today was no exception.

A walking billboard.

I'm not sure if the sign above is referring to the anticipated military build up on Guam (you  know, the one that may cause the island to capsize) or what, but political signs addressed to senators are a common occurrence.

And then there was this one, with a very informative PSA.

Which obviously wasn't being observed by several parade participants.

Car seat in the back of a pick up.  Luckily, no kid is in it.

But wait, maybe the baby in the BUMBO ON TOP OF THE TRUCK would be better off in the back of the pick up?

In addition to the signage, we saw lots of palm frond hats, ancient Chamorro in loin cloths and one biker dude who was wearing spurs.

One of the best parts about Liberation Day is the food.  The parade route is a non-stop party, families begin camping out a few nights before the parade to get a spot.  They start cooking before the sun comes up.  And many of the families invite non-locals to share in their feasts.

We were lucky enough to be invited by these nice people,

There were two roasted pigs, bar-b-q chicken, ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, red rice, and too many desserts to count.  Plus, the best finadene sauce (it's a Guam specialty) I've ever had.  They welcomed us like family, handed us plates and wouldn't let us leave until our plates were loaded up and we had drinks in each hand.  It's the kindness of so many of the people here that makes it easier to be here, away from home.

But in case we needed a reminder that we aren't at home and are here, there were no horses in this parade (I cannot remember ever watching a parade with no horses), but there was this lizard.

I don't know, maybe there were some horses in the parade, we only stayed for the first 3 and a half hours of it.  It went on for two more hours after we left- hot, tired, stinky, sweaty, slightly sunburned, super thirsty.  But really happy that we got to experience another aspect of Guam's culture.  Thankful for the kind people who fed us.  Reflective of the Guamanians who lived under the rule of the Japanese for 3 years during WWII and the Marines who came and liberated them.

Happy Liberation Day!

Oh and he had fun too, watching his first parade... 

In Darkness, There is Light!

Today we had the fortune to experience the first (of what we have heard will be many) power outages. Apparently, there is also a tropical depression churning our way. So, we thought it might be a good idea to buy a generator. We looked at the B/X and then decided we should go to Home Depot to see what they had to offer.

Somehow, it made sense to us to leave our relatively safe (albeit hot and dark) bubble of a house and head into town. I don't know why it didn't occur to us that if power was off here, it would probably be off elsewhere on the island... but it didn't so off we went.

Driving in/on Guam is always an adventure. People pass on the right (that's the law, not just my hubby's driving strategy), the stop lights don't hang over the actual lane they are controlling (for instance, the turn arrows hang over the middle lane), the roads are usually wet- it rains A LOT. When the power is out it's even more of an adventure than usual because the stop lights don't work, so it's just kind of a free for all. I think we almost died about 5 times on our way to Home Depot. Again, I'm not sure why we continued to think it was a good idea to keep going into town...

We finally make it- in one piece- to Home Depot. People are walking out with their purchases, so we think, "OK, maybe everything is fine." Boy, were we wrong! In one of the biggest ironies I have experienced in the past 2 weeks of being here- Home Depot was just as affected by the power outage as the rest of the island- it was completely dark. Yet, they were still allowing people in to shop. Have you ever been in a huge warehouse in the dark? Surrounded by who knows how many people wandering around in the dark? Potentially carrying sharp, pointy things? I HAVE!!!

It was crazy- Don and I had Price in a buggy and we were walking through the store, trying to light our way with our iPhones. I was holding on to Don's belt loop for dear life. I had visions of Katrinaesque looting outbreaks and stampedes... but nothing like that happened. In fact, some nice person gave us a flashlight they had been using to shop with and we proceeded to "shop" for a generator and some other items we needed for the house. After stumbling strolling around for a few more minutes, word went out via the associates' walkie-talkies that maybe allowing customers to remain in the store wasn't safe and that we should be escorted out of the building. Of course, we had already decided this for ourselves and were heading out. Right when we got to the car, the lights came back on.

This is why I am falling in love with Guam, and yet another reason why it feels like I am living in some kind of alternate universe. It was hysterical to be walking around Home Depot, with a flashlight during a blackout, Don and I kept cracking up over it- and how no one really seemed to care- they were just going about business as usual- just in the dark. It was great, but it NEVER would have happened at home.

I can't wait to see what other adventures we have over the next few years....

Catching Up

It's been a week since my last post, and what a week it has been!

Lots has happened over the past week, so I'll try to highlight the good things and get us all caught up with what's been happening to us in Guam.

The biggest news, and the reason why it has taken so long for me to blog is because we have moved into our house! The hotel was lovely, but we are so happy to be in our house (even if we are living on borrowed furniture- more on that later) and getting back into a routine and on a schedule!

I guess the last time I posted anything, we were heading into the long, Labor Day Weekend. Honestly, it being a weekend didn't mean much to us because Don wasn't working and well, living in a hotel kind of makes every day feel like a long weekend day. All of our days were kind of blending into one another at that point.

Don knew I was going stir crazy (even with frequent trips to base and down to the pool for fresh air, I needed a change of scenery and pace). He could tell, and he was right, that I felt like my world had shrunk and consisted of car walls driving back and forth to the base and hotel walls. So Friday, after taking a load of stuff to the house, we went to the base's Labor Day Festival. It was HOT!! It was the first day that it was uncomfortable to be outside, but I think that was because there was no shade and there weren't a lot of clouds to give us any relief from the sun. We saw some folks from his flight and chatted with them for a few minutes, but decided to head down to the "Strip" and have a nice dinner. We went to a local Italian restaurant, Vitales. It was really good. It was so nice to be eating at a non-chain, non-hotel restaurant. After dinner we walked around a bit....

Guam is a crazy juxtaposition of things. On The Strip you will find Chanel, Ferragamo, Cartier, Tiffany, etc. It's like Micronesia's version of Rodeo Drive. But then, on Marine Corps Dr. (the main drag that gets you from one end of the island to the other) people sell their wares under tarps along the road. You can buy fish, fruit, brooms and get your tires fixed. You will also see chickens roaming freely (everywhere) and Boonie dogs (feral dogs that roam the island in packs), you might even see the occasional Carabao (water buffalo). These two streets are just one example of two worlds colliding. I think that's one of the things I like about living here and yet prevents me from feeling truly comfortable here. Things that I think would feel comfortable because I am used to them from home are not really what I am used to, so I feel unsettled. Don't get me wrong, this place is truly growing on me and I really know that I am falling in love with it- it's just like a flower blossoming and revealing itself to me little by little.

Anyway... back to our weekend. Saturday we decided to walk over to the beach next to the hotel. I wanted to finally dip my toes in the ocean that I had been looking at for a week. It was nice, I can't wait until we go swimming/snorkeling. We also decided to drive to southern part of the island to check out the Navy base. (Andersen, where we are, and Naval Base Guam are at opposite ends of the island, about 20 miles apart- about a 45 minute drive from point to point). The drive to the base was gorgeous, we could see the Philippine Sea out my window pretty much the entire time. We saw lots of places that we want to go back and explore. The Navy Exchange is way better than our Exchange (which isn't bad),but I think we'll probably head to Big Navy once a month or so to do shopping.

Sunday, we had a nice relaxing day. We hung out at the pool and watched the surf. It seemed like a storm was coming in,but no rain ever materialized- just clouds and huge waves. Sunday evening we went to dinner at one of Don's NCO's homes. It was so great to eat a home cooked meal. We also had great wine and it was good company. I love Don and Price, but it was nice to talk to someone else for a change. We learned more about the base, the flight, the island. It was just a good night.

Monday, we decided to head to the house and clean it up before we received our unaccompanied baggage and temp furniture. It was a good thing that we did because we found many dead critters- a frog, several lizards/salamanders, gnatty ants, a roach. We also discovered that our a/c wasn't working, but the maintenance department was quick to respond, especially since it was a holiday.

On Tuesday we said goodbye to the Hilton and headed to our new house. The movers arrived shortly after we did and delivered our unaccompanied baggage. Price's crib had some damage to the paint and we didn't receive one box (of toys), but other than that everything is in good shape. Our temp furniture is pretty dingy! But I am thankful to have couches to sit on, a table to eat at and a bed to sleep in. The bed is REALLY uncomfortable and we are sleeping on it funny. Our heads are in the middle of the room, at the end where our feet should be. This is all due to a crazy animal chirping noise we heard as we were falling asleep- I was so fearful that this critter was going to crawl up the wall from under the bed or come in through the window, I refused to sleep with my head under the window. Don thinks I am nuts, but very sweetly agreed to sleep with his head at the foot of the bed. I also forgot to send pillows ahead, so we filled pillow cases with beach towels and random articles of clothing to serve as makeshift pillows until we get some real ones.

We also were blessed with a cable installer in the neighborhood who finished his scheduled jobs for the day earlier than expected so he squeezed ours in and we got phone, Internet and TV a day sooner than we thought we would.

All in all it's been a good week. Don is back at work and I am just trying to get Price back into a routine and on a schedule. I think Don is feeling better about the decision to live on base and things are going well.

Home Sweet Home

We have a house!

After much searching (both of the soul and of the local neighborhoods) we decided on the 2 bedroom house on base.

Call us crazy, but yes we picked this....

Over this....

This view....

Over this one...

As much as we liked the condo in the tower, we decided being on the 14th floor with a dog and a baby probably didn't make a ton of sense. I was also concerned about meeting people here since we couldn't tell which units were occupied or vacant and we didn't see any postings in the lobby about building get togethers or anything. However, we are going to keep it on our list of possibilities if we decide to move off base next year.

We also have cell phones again!! I'll send out an email with our contact info- if you want the info don't get the email, just leave a comment and I'll send it to you.

We get to move in Tuesday and our first shipment of unaccompanied baggage (Price's crib and high chair, my cast iron skillet and wooden spoon, the good computer) will be delivered some time that day, as will our temporary furniture to hold us over until our household goods arrive in October.

In Priceless news... he definitely takes after his mother in the favorite food department. He is officially a starchaholic just like me. Being in the land of rice for breakfast, we have started giving him steamed rice whenever it is available (which is pretty much all of the time), he especially likes sticky rice. I also made the mistake of giving him a piece of croissant at breakfast one day and now he throws a fit if he sees one and doesn't get to eat it. Finally, we gave him some french fries yesterday- and of course he loves those too. In fact, I got him to sign "more" for the first time today because he wanted another fry. As soon as we get into the house on Tuesday and I am heading to the grocery store to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies so I can get all of us back on track to eating well!! Oh, he has also learned how to unfasten part of his diaper (he gets this from his dad and his uncle Trey), we discovered that he learned to do this when I noticed a pile of poop on the floor and half of his diaper hanging down. He now has to have clothes on over the diaper at all times- fun, fun, fun!!!

This picture was not from the poop incident, this was taken after he took another diaper off later in the evening- hence the always in pants rule

I Know I Probably Shouldn't...

I'm supposed to be packing. The movers come tomorrow to box up and crate away all of our things. i have a about a million and one things to do before they get here, so it makes a lot of sense to be blogging. I can't help it. I am always surprised how quickly time flies. It seems like we just found out we were moving and had plenty of time to plan, prepare and pack. Now the time is here and I don't feel prepared at all- on any level!!

Don has been crazy busy at work this week and even in the evenings we are showing the car and other things we are trying to sell before we move, so when he gets home he doesn't want to do anything. That helps me to be less than motivated. I also know that once the movers are here and things are being boxed up and we move to our temporary housing, it will make all of this real. And as appealing as the prospect of moving half way around the world to a tropical island paradise with an awesome opportunity to travel around parts of the world I never dreamt that I would see is, the reality is I am really comfortable where I am now. Once those movers show up, I have to acknowledge how far away we are going and how different life will be and how it is going to be a while before we see our family and friends again.

I've known since June that we were moving to Guam. It's been a main talking point of just about every conversation I've had with friends and family members for the past 2 months. I've actually felt relatively calm about the whole thing. A calm I can't seem to embrace because I keep thinking it's going to leave and be replace with some kind of frenetic freak out. I hope the calm stays and I hope I can embrace it!

Currently I just feel overwhelmed with seemingly minor decisions about what to do with out grown baby clothes and items. Should we take them with us to a land of limited storage in hopes that we will have a baby while we are there? Should we get rid of them before we leave and then if we do have a baby buy stuff all over again? (We actually feel blessed because we have very dear friends who are pregnant and we are going to help each other out with some of the big baby items and I think I'm going to send the clothes home with my mom). And where do all of these boxes from under the beds keep coming from?? I don't remember putting them in there. So, as I unearth new boxes of stuff, I have to decide what to do with the contents. Keep or toss. If kept, kept in long term storage or sent to Guam. And the dust, I feel like I need to continuously dust so the movers don't bring the Dayton Dust Bowl with them, and I MUST get all of the trash out of the trashcans or we will have 3 months old stinky stuff when our household goods arrive, and take down pictures and curtain rods and, and, and the list just gets longer...

And then, when I allow myself to think about things I get a little misty as each day brings a new last- tonight is our last night in this house, today is the last day I will see my stuff until it arrives in Guam. Soon, we will have our last meal with our Dayton friends. I am ready for the firsts!!

Time Flies

It's been a little more than 2 weeks since we found out we are going to Guam. It still feels unreal, although it seems like everyday we do at least one thing related to our move. We've taken passport photos, submitted passport applications, today Price and I each had dental visits. We all have to be cleared medically to go. Unfortunately, eventhough the move will be here before we know it, we aren't able to do the BIG things that are essential- like actually arranging for our move. We know when Don needs to be in Guam, we know when we'd like to leave for Guam, we don't know how we'll get there or when our stuff will we packed and shipped to us.

It's all a little overwhelming, especially when I think of how fast the summer is going to go by- when Don and I were talking the other day, we realized we have about 2 free weekends between now and when we expect to leave. Everytime I am sitting in a room, I am taking inventory and thinking which dot each item in the room will get. That's my plan- I am going to put color coded dots on everything- one for items to store for 3 years, one color for our household goods shipment, another color for items to sell/giveaway, and one more for our unaccompanied baggage shipment. I also keep making a mental list of what we need to pack in our typhoon kit- yes, a typhoon kit- several people have advised up to have one on hand for our arrival.

So, to escape all the planning, I keep visiting Guam websites and looking at the amazing pictures of the tropical island we'll be living on soon. It really is gorgeous and everyone we've spoken with who has lived there loved it and only has good things to say about it. If only it weren't so far away!

Seriously?

When Don returned to work on Tuesday, he had an email soliciting a volunteer in his career field to move to Guam for a 3 year assignment. He sent the email to me and my response was,
"Seriously?"

He knew I had no desire to uproot our lives and move to Guam (can you tell where this is going?). We didn't even discuss it on Tuesday when he came home, but as if I had a feeling, we talked about it briefly before falling asleep last night. I asked him if it was something he would really want to do and he said if he knew I was on board, yes. But knowing how I had no desire to move halfway across the world he said it wasn't something he was interested in. I then said, "Well, the deadline to volunteer has already passed so it doesn't matter anyway," and rolled over and went to sleep.

So, imagine my suprise when Don called as I was feeding Price lunch and asked, " Remember our talk about Guam?" And I knew without him saying anything, we would be heading to Guam. My instinct was correct! So, now our world is upside down with plans to make, parents/friends to alert. It's all soooo crazy- it doesn't even feel real! And it is apparently all going to happen very quickly!

This has taught me several things (or at least reminded me of them):

1. When you make plans, God and the USAF laugh!

2. My prayers need to be more specific- I have always wanted to live on a beach and I want Price to be a beach baby, but I always thought it would be Florida or the Carolinas, never did I imagine GUAM (even as I type it continuouosly, it still hasn't completely sunk in).

3. I am no longer going to say where I don't want to go next. I didn't want to come Ohio- here we are, I have told Don numerous times that Asia, and other places in that region of the world helpd no interest for me and they were too far and I didn't want to go- and guess where we are headed (however, I have loved our time in Ohio, so if Guam is even half as good we will be very blessed and enjoy our time there).