This Week on Guam

This week on Guam got out to a rocky start. Rainy season was on in full force during the middle of last week, as it has been for some time now. Not seeing the sun for three weeks plus deciding our beloved boat, Propeller, is not fixable, I was about to go crazy. But things turned around as things usually do, and this week on Guam has gotten progressively better. Here's how it went...

The week on Guam started off with a going away party for my friend Ashley, the only person in this picture I knew prior to July 2010. I have to say it was a fantastic evening where I came to realize how many awesome friends we have here. Saying goodbye to Ashley was hard, but I'm still just so grateful to have overlapped here with a friend who knows me from back home. Few people out here have that luxury.

This week on Guam, Nick's friend Sumner was out from San Diego. Saturday morning we picked him up and took him to North Tipilao, one of our favorite snorkeling spots on base. The sun was out for the first time in weeks, the tide was at its low point, and the water was amazingly clear. In other words, it was perfect conditions for exploring underwater caves and looking at sea life. We spent two hours swimming in the glorious sunshine, and I remembered why I love it here so much. It is so beautiful!

 

 

This week on Guam, Nick got some awesome underwater shots! Our underwater flash had been out of commission (thanks to Broken Guam), but now it's back in action and so are we. Check this out...

We also took Sumner to see a plane crash wreck site on base. But first we had to walk through this beautiful arch in the jungle, which is extra green because of all the rain.

The wreck - a Marine fighter aircraft that crashed 320 ft. from the runway. So close...

 Of course, Nick sees the wreck and has an impulsive urge 

to check out the view from the cockpit.

Nice plane you got there

This week on Guam, Nick pressure washed the mildew and mold off our deck and driveway. I came outside Saturday afternoon once all the noise stopped to see this beautiful piece of artwork displayed for all the neighborhood to see. To give you a little perspective, that arrow is about 15 ft. long. I think someone loves me :)

This week on Guam, we finally got to go boonie stomping! After three days of not as torrential downpours (and only just a few downpours), we figured the ground might have dried up enough to attempt Mt. LamLam, Guam's tallest peak and a hike I have done twice but Nick has not done since he was here in 2007. It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon for it! It was fairly muddy, but well worth some dirty shoes for the view at the top.

 

This is a view i will never get tired of

After our hike, we climbed a tower on base so we could be above the treetops for the magical sunset. The perfect end to a fabulous weekend.

This week on Guam, I did my fourth sprint triathalon, this time shaving 1:30 off my time from last month's. More of my friends were able to join this one, a couple of them bringing the bike seats and strollers so they could take their little ones. Those are some super moms.

This week on Guam, we really got back in the swing of things. The glorious sun accompanied our journey into the ocean's depths and the mountain's heights. We were surrounded by friends from near and far, some coming, some going, some making an appearance through wonderful letters and thank you notes that surprised me at the mailbox.

This week on Guam may be the last of its kind for a little while. Nick goes on a trip next week, then my parents come(!), then it's finishing up business here before heading home for the holidays. But this week on Guam has been a refreshing one. So grateful for moments like these...

Halloweeeeeeen!

Halloween is one thing that Guam really gets right. In fact, it is the only holiday that I'd argue is better on Guam than back in the States. A few reasons for that. First, Halloween is typically a holiday spent with friends, so there's no inherent reminder of how far away you are and no immediate need to miss your family. Second, the temperature is guaranteed to be above 78 here, so no need to throw on sweatshirts at the last minute. You can pretty much wear whatever you want. And since most people "just moved here" you can easily wear something from a previous year that no one has ever seen before. 

And lastly, as much as we complain about how terrible the shopping is out here, I was shocked at how much Halloween costume inventory abounded around town. I was even more impressed at people's creativity to use what we have to make some awesome costumes.

Nick and I had two weekends worth of parties to go to. Last weekend's party was actually a going away party for our friends Pat and Ashley, who move off island tomorrow (sad!!). They are good friends of ours that go way back... Ashley to Coronado and Pat all the way back to Annapolis. They made our move out to Guam so easy both in getting the info we needed, setting up logistics for us ahead of time, and introducing us to new friends. It will definitely be a different Guam without them here, but I know I will see them and their kiddos again (as soon as January actually!). Knowing that definitely makes the goodbye a little less sad.

So, what are we, you ask? Nick is a geisha... and sticking to the Japanese woman theme, I am a Japanese tourist. Pat and Ashley went as Adam and Eve.

World's first man and world's most offensive looking geisha

 Okay, so my costume turned out pretty boring compared to everyone else's, 

but Ashley looks great in her homemade costume as the "other" first lady

The party was pretty boring... we all had a terrible time...

The ever amazing Lockhood band reunites

The following week Nick's command had a children's Halloween party. Nick wanted to go so he'd have a proper forum to act like a child. The kids were pretty cute in their costumes. Nick resumed his favorite costume party antics, as developed from the Pirate Party, and started stealing the best parts of other people's costumes to add to his own. Enter gorilla geisha. He then proceeded to terrorize all the adorable children, even going so far as to run in with an operating chainsaw and surprise everyone at the pinata. Lots of running and screaming after that... and crying. My apologies to any command parents whose sleep has been ruined by toddler nightmares that Nick is single-handedly responsible for.

Buzz Lightyear is not so sure what to think... 

while dad is telling him it's okay to throw a few punches

Best game of the party... chase the gorilla geisha around the room and beat him

then try to jump on him... everyone loves Uncle Nick :)

 In this case, I'd say imitation is a form of flattery. 

Stylish and creative, the Japanese are pretty fantastic at being tourists.

For our final Halloween party appearance, we switched up our costumes. Our friends Jen and Tony threw what can only be called an epic Halloween party. I'm not sure how else to describe it. They decorated their house for a solid month leading up to it, even changing out the photos in their picture frames around the house. There were walking hands, creepy two-headed babies, impressively carved pumpkins, full-sized scary clowns lurking in every room. I'm kind of mad at myself for not taking more pictures of the decor. Anyhoo, for this party, I pulled out my mom's old bell bottoms and awesome leather vest and went as an angry hippi. I would probably fit right in at Zucotti Park. Nick switched it up completely and went as a guy from his command... a red-headed team guy who had been in a parachute accident recently. The grand entrance...

The costume idea had come the week before when he and another guy decided to go as the two guys from the command who had been in parachuting accidents. Sorry Matt and Danny! Too bad for you we won't be around next year for Halloween costume payback!

 

 Rockin the bell bottoms... 

and I can't believe how many people asked where I got the vest!

Thanks Mom for keeping some of your clothes from the 70s!

The crazies were definitely out that night... 

and "scary" was defined in numerous ways.

Travis from youth group holding up his instant brown rice

All this and we still had Halloween night to go! In Paleo mode now, we decided not to hand out traditional candy (yeah, we were one of those houses). Instead we passed out packs of sugarfree gum, which most kids were actually pretty excited about. We started running out in the first hour, though. Luckily we had cleaned out the pantry the day before of all our non-Paleo food items. So we started surprising the teenagers with something "special." Nick passed out our entire stash of rice, pancake mix, mashed potatoes, banana nut bread mix, macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, and tuna helper. I'm kind of surprised we didn't get egged later that night!

Pretty awesome Halloween this year... just realizing it was the first time since 2006 that Nick was around for us to fully enjoy it. Nice to have my favorite clown back for the holiday that he seems best suited for... yes... the most ridiculous holiday of the year!

Ugly Guam

The few times we have picked up visitors from the airport, I have felt the need to add a disclaimer as we headed out onto the main road back toward base. Basically, don't judge this place until we get to where you can see the water. The general rule of thumb here is that nature on Guam is gorgeous, even breathtaking in places. But the manmade stuff is what our Thai cooking instructor would outspokenly label "not beautiful." The same elements of moisture, rain, humidity, sun, and heat that make things tend to break also tend to make their beauty deteriorate at an alarmingly fast rate. In fact, destruction may be the only thing around here that happens quickly.

  This is Guam's central library (there may be more, but this is the only one I know of). As you can see, it is broad daylight, a time when perhaps someone may want to go check out a book to, say, learn something. Too bad it is closed. And even if it were open, it sure doesn't look very inviting. Power washer, anyone??

Last Sunday I woke up and specifically remembered to grab my camera before leaving for church so I could hopefully get some around town shots for the Broken, Slow, Ugly Guam series. Ironically, our brand new church sign was vandalized the night before, so it added one more shot for the series. Not great for our church (although it is cleaned up now), but it sure does highlight how frustrating it is to try to keep things here looking nice.

A pretty typical look down Marine Corps Dr., the main drag. "Not beautiful."

Some apartment buildings. And no, this isn't a "bad" part of town, per se. This picture was taken from the parking lot of the fairly nice resort hotel where our youth group spent the day at the water park yesterday. The ocean is directly behind the white apartment building. Not exactly swanky waterfront real estate.

Parking lot... and a great example of why I haven't bought any nice shoes in the last 15 months. (And also why there will be a major shoe shopping spree in September 2012... just warning you now Nick).

 

So many businesses close and are never repurposed. They sit at main intersections and rot.

 There is a sad display of graffiti on the island. Unlike some urban centers, it's not artsy graffiti, just bored teenage punk spray paint use. Although I have to ponder if the colorfulness of the spray paint in this case doesn't at least slightly detract from the giant moldy dirt drippings down the side of the wall?

PS - Nick just alerted me that in the above picture, there is a TOILET ON THE ROOF! How did I miss that???

This is the building (or what's left of it) on the other side of the vandalized wall. I can't even tell from this what it was once supposed to be.

This is the old marquee in front of the police department, home of "Tha Non*Sense Kings."

Finally, I don't know about you, but this is EXACTLY where I want to go for home improvement advice and materials. Look out Home Depot!