Military retirement

In February I attended the retirement ceremony Wes Willand who was one of the members of my church.  It was a very impressive, formal, ceremony.

Guam Bugs

It is a fact of life that anyone on Guam WILL encounter the friendly cochroach.  This is how I like to find them -- lying on their back with feet in air.  My finger gives you an idea of the size of a Guam cockroach.

Catching Up

I haven't written anything since January. It seemed like all semester I was writing, writing, and writing. That's because I was in the second half of a college essay writing class. It is finally done and I think I have learned how to write better papers for college classes.

Although I came to Guam to work at Pacific Islands University as the computer person. I have now, also, become an official student. At the rate I have been taking courses it will probably take about 10 years to get a BA. It's a good thing I'm not in a rush. This summer I am taking "Spiritual Formation" online which means lots of writing. I have a feeling that is true of every college class at PIU.

I can't remember everything that went on since January, so I am going to look through my pictures and post the best of them and any stories they remind me of.

At the beginning of January I went with a group on a Boonie Stomp to Shark's Hol (a beach) and Lost Pond (a fresh water pond a few hundred feet from Sharks Hole beach).  Boonie stomps are always done in groups.  I was told the minimum is 3.  One gets hurt, one goes for help, and one stays with the hurt one.  Makes sense to me.

It was a great walk doing a lot of beachcombing looking for what we could find:

We went a low tide which make the hike easy (around rocks instead of over them) because we could wade around piles of rocks between a couple of beaches. We ran into hundreds of butterflies:

We also encountered a centipede with stingers like a scorpion but I did not get a picture.

I did get a picture of this crab looking me right in the eye:

This tree is growing right out of rock.  I am much safer around water wearing a life preserver:

Shark's Hole is an actual deep hole in the middle of the beach inside the reef.  It shows in this picture as a brighter blue area in front of the white waves.  I have not been brave enough to swim out there but I understand the fish are wonderful:

We also visited "Lost Pond".  I don't know where to go into the jungle so Anne had to lead us or it would have been truly lost.  The water is fresh and a bit green from algie.

The stompers at the overlook called "Two Lovers Point" which is the top of the cliff where one leaves for Shark's Hole.

A wonderful day enjoying God's great creation with friends.

Thoughts on Tropical Realities

Something that Rob said on a boonie stomp this past weekend brings to mind some of the realities of living in the tropics on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean.

Rob said there are 3 stages to acclimating to the tropics:

Stage One: You find a bug in your food. You throw the food away.
Stage Two: You find a bug in your food. You pick it out an toss it away and continue with your dinner.
Stage Three: You find a bug in your food. Unless it is a cockroach, you eat it along with your dinner.

I think I am in stage 2.

When I first came to Guam I kept uncooked rice in a sealed container. Soon the boll weavels hatched and started eating my rice. I picked bugs prior to cooking rice each time. I certainly didn't throw it out. Then Melody told me I should keep it in the Fridge. No more bugs.

Supposedly margerine/butter does not need to be refrigerated. However, here, if I left it out, all I would have is a puddle.

Most things that are not frozen in the grocery store (like bread and meat) was frozen when shipped. Bread has to be frozen to keep it from molding, so, it is refrozen (ohh yeah ... that's a rule violation). The same with all of that non-frozen meat in the store. It will be re-frozen when it gets home.

I read somewhere that bad things leech into bottled water in plastic at 60 F degree. Guess what, I don't think Guam has EVER gotten that cold. The only places that cold are refrigerators and freezers. That means every plastic bottle on the island is supposedly leaching chemicals in the water. One is also not supposed to re-use plastic bottles but in the tropics it is a good idea to have a bottle of water with you. We reuse. I can buy 3 gallons of filtered water for 1.80 and I carry it around with me in used plastic bottles (I would make a dangerous mess with glass .... drop / smash / splash -- plastic bounces).

The eggs in my refrigerator were packaged in Nov. 2009 and it is now the middle of January. Those eggs traveled a very long way. I was taught to break the egg into a bowl in case it's bad. Could save my whole dinner by doing that. I have not got any bad eggs but one of these days.......

Most things are a lot closer to their expiration date in the stores -- after all, it came a pretty long way. If it has expired, you can buy it for less. Milk comes in boxes and doesn't have to be refrigerated until opened and has an incredibly long shelf life. I don't notice a taste difference, but then, I don't drink milk all by itself.

If you see something you want or will need (food or anything else), buy it because it probably will be out of stock when you need it. If a product is too popular, stores will stop stocking it because it is too much trouble to keep it in stock.

It's a good thing the Lord has granted me the gift of being fairly laid back for an American.

Doing Homework On Her BIRTHDAY!!

This picture taken about 15 minutes ago is proof that Joyce Owen was doing homework on her birthday!!!

Christmas Greetings and Blessings

Greetings on this Christmas day on Guam. I thought this morning would be a good time to catch up on this blog. I will be going to fellow missionaries and friends' (Ned and Marisol & children) home at 1:00 pm or thereabouts (in Micronesian time).

The Pacific Islands University Fall Semester is done and staff and faculty are on vacation until after new years. The students were really happy after that last class. It is really great to have a break from classes.

Last week, Lisa, our librarian asked if I could download some videos and burn them to DVD so that the library could have them available in the library. There really are not a lot of books and materials that I see available and these videos are specifically directed toward the Micronesian people. 4 of the videos are a 5 part series on the history of Micronesia. There is also an extensive list of articles you can read online. If you are interested, here is the link to the website: http://www.micsem.org/video/online.htm There are 64 separate videos to download. Number 30 is being downloaded now.

During this past semester I have hopefully been some help to the 4 students who were in an online introduction to computers course. One of their assignments was for all the students to work together to create a presentation in Open Office to demonstrate what they have learned. They misplaced a group picture, so I took one for them standing in front of the PIBC sign at the entrance to the campus.
On December 12th, the staff and faculty gathered for dinner and fun at the Guam Reef hotel in the top floor. The sunset was spectacular (they all are).

Everyone had a great time:





One Sunday, I attended the children's Christmas program. In this first picture, you can see that the Lutheran Church on Guam is located right on the beach. You can see the ocean through the windows behind the alter.

Here is the entire group that put on a wonderful program. They did such as good job of making Jesus the important emphasis of Christmas.

A couple of days ago I was bicycle riding and the sunset was spectacular. Now that the rain has slowed down, I can pull my camera out more often.



Last night, Christmas Eve, my church had a living creche scene with a carrabao (water buffalo) and some chickens captured from the jungle. Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus were represented by a couple who have a brand new baby (Hope) who is less than a month old.

I arrived early. The carrabao was taking advantage of the wait by grazing through the lush weeds getting a snack.

The re-enactment of Jesus' birth took place in local caves carved our during WW II by the Japanese using local forced laborers using primitive tools. Those are philodendron vines hanging down the cliff. The whole cliff is draped lavishly with plants and different kinds of philodendron. I heard the caves are privately owned and in very good condition.

Here is Joseph outside the cave.

Jesus was probably born in a cave -- not a wood stable. At the time of His birth, animal were kept in caves around Bethlehem.

It was a bit rainy and actually quite cool but the service was really great after we viewed the living manger.

Later in the evening there was a Christmas Eve service at the church. Pastor Jeff reminded us that Christmas is not just lights, glitter, and presents. When Jesus was born, the country was occupied by the Romans and the whole reason for going to Bethlehem was because of a census ordered by the current Caesar for the purposes of taking. Also King Herod had very ill will toward Jesus and wanted him dead. Also, today, not everything is wonderful. There is much darkness in this world and the Christmas glitter and lights do remind us that Jesus is the Light come to the world. Therefore, it is right to celebrate His coming to earth as a tiny baby just like tiny Hope who represented Jesus in the living nativity.

These days, because only my brother remains as my immediate family and I am thousands of miles away from any relatives, Christmas is very simple. I received a box from Roy and another from a friend in California. There was also a small gift from friends at the college. The molasses cookies from Roy didn't make it to this morning. I have been munching on the cookies from my California friend. This morning I opened presents. My brother is very talented. He made the tiny engine in his workshop. I also receive a shell captured by friends while "reef walking".

Now I must start getting ready to go for lunch. It is already 11:30 am !!!!

Getting close to the end of the semester

Thanksgiving has come and gone. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, thanksgiving, and food between staff and students and their families at the PIU campus. The staff provided the food and the students were invited to join in. I have lots of pictures.

Before dinner:
Rob Watt gave a short devotion and we sang a song before dinner.

The food was plentiful and the line long.

This is what a Guam style Thanksgiving dinner plate looks like. It is mostly the turkey dinner but there is always the addition of rice to any meal. Jen sure looks like she is going to enjoy it!
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I really like taking pictures of our students and they like to get their pictures taken!


I just got back home from the last scheduled PIU staff prayer meeting. It was a potluck. On Tuesday I go to the doctor for my regular check up and I would imagine I have at least gained back the 3 lbs. I lost over the summer! I don't have a scale so I am guessing. I have not been bike riding as much because the sun goes down earlier and earlier every day. By 6:30 PM it's dark.

I know, I remember back in the states, that 6:30 PM sounds like it's late getting dark. I remember those days I went to work in the dark and came home in the dark. Because of the close proximity of the equator (only 13 degrees south of here) the sunrise and sunset does not change dramatically.

I have been on 2 boonie stomps since my last post. The first was to "Sharks Hole" and even though I had my camera with me, all I returned with were some shells. Below is a collage of shells and sea glass. A group of about 40 set out from campus but not all went to Sharks Hole. Some chose to hang around the beach near where we parked.


The surf was high and the rocks were sharp. Most of the trek is a walk on the beach but in one spot there is a lot of very sharp lava rock. On the way out, I bumped into some rocks and got black and blue. On the way back one stomper (who shall remain nameless unless she decides to tell the story) was thrown onto the rocks by a 7 foot rogue wave and required 10 stitches. At the time I was climbing over the rocks assisted by a Department of Agriculture worker. (The people are so friendly and helpful here.)

The DOA workers were starting to look for rhino beetles which are not native and doing damage to palm trees, in the North island and they found some. There has been an erradication program going on for a while in the south part of the island but now they will need to start the same program in the north.

The second was a boonie stop down the "Spanish Steps" which is on the Navy Base. One of the men at the Lutheran Church of Guam stationed at the Navy base arranged and led the stomp. It was an opportunity not to be missed because access to the military bases is very restricted.

At the bottom of the cliff (requiring handy ropes strung for stommpers) is "Spanish Well" which is dry and then a flat hike to the water. Not a sandy beach and the currents were still strong from Typhoon Nino that passed near Guam at least a week ago. That was the reason the waves were so strong on the Shark's Hole stomp.


You may notice that I almost never have any pictures of the stomp itself. Most of the time I am thinking about hiking and not falling -- not taking pretty pictures. So, the pictures are all of the destination. I have no pictures of Shark's Hole because my camera was in a bag I can use underwater or to keep it dry if I happen to get wet. In the trek to Shark's Hole, everything I had with me got sopping wet. It was a bit cool and rainy so I had a sweatshirt on. It got totally wet and weighed about 10 lbs. when I got home and took over a week to dry.

The Spanish Steps were just steep with no place to take pictures safely without holding up the whole group. That's one fun thing about boonie stomps. They are group affairs because it is not something I would do by myself.

Soon it will be the end of 2009. I hope that you enjoy the Christmas season for what it is supposed to be -- not presents and candy canes but to celebrate the birth of Jesus as he came to earth as a man. The purpose of his coming was not for us to have all the trappings of Christmas but to die on the cross so that we might live.