Displaced Beachbums

I attended my first meeting of the Andersen Spouses’ Community Club this past Tuesday and was asked to fill out a form for my introduction.  They welcome all new members by calling them up and saying a little something about them.  I got introduced as the “Army” spouse ~ so far, I think I’m the only one. 

While I was filling out the form, which asked about where we were last stationed, about my husband and children and what my interests are, I was reminded of the first Hail and Farewell I ever attended which was back in 1994 in Kansas.  FM and I were engaged and his Commander at Ft. Riley wanted us to be Hailed together even though we weren’t married yet.  FM was asked to fill out the form telling about himself and a little about me.  Now most people make up a little here and there on the form but I didn’t find out until after we were hailed that he had put down that I didn’t speak English very well so it would be best if they spoke SLOWLY to me! 

Good thing I have a good sense of humor!

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On Saturday, we took a mini-vacation here on Guam. Since FM was running in the 20K KoKo Race on Sunday and had a show time of 4 am, we decided to cut out the 30-45 minute drive to the start so we stayed at the Outrigger on Tumon Bay. This allowed FG and I to sleep in an extra 1.5 hours 🙂

When we checked in and the Front Desk agent said “you’re on the 19th Floor”, my heart skipped a beat. For some reason, being that high up sounded a little scary for me. As we were riding the elevator I mentioned to FM that it made me nervous in case there was an earthquake. I got the rolled eyes from both FG and FM who LOVED being so high up. I have to admit the view was great but I kept thinking about what would happen if there was an earthquake ~ which Guam is prone to and actually had a 7.2 magnitude quake as recently as April 2002.  There have been many more little earthquakes since then but usually are too small to be felt. As I was looking up the information on the most recent large earthquake, I saw there was a small earthquake of 4.0 located 50 miles south of Guam that hit this past Friday, October 13.  Didn’t feel it at all.

Anyway, I was so convinced that “something” was going to happen that I was fully dressed (shorts and a t-shirt) when I went to bed and had my shoes at the ready. All the while knowing that it didn’t really matter if I were dressed or not because in the time it takes for the earthquake to take place (a long one is about 25-30 seconds), I would still be trying to get FG ready and out the door.

I got my share of teasing from FG and FM about my reluctance to enjoy the 19th floor but I heard less from them the next day when we heard the news about the 6.6 earthquake that hit my old stomping grounds in Hawaii. My Mom’s family all live on the Big Island of Hawaii and thankfully, they are all OK. Shook-up, but OK.

Even though I was a little off on the location of the earthquake, I’m sure I will continue to listen to the warning whispers in my head and will have more nights going to bed fully dressed.  Or maybe I should keep a closer eye on Sport, lots of research supports the theory that animals can predict an earthquake.

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FG spotted Elvis in Guam last night ~

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I love going to fun events that are also for a good cause ~ it’s so win/win.  Last night, we enjoyed a great night at the 9th Annual Guam Women’s Club Wine Tasting and Silent Auction. I was expecting the usual drop of wine to taste and a cheese & cracker spread.  Silly me, I should have known that here on Guam, like in Hawaii, lots of food is the norm. And the wine tasting was really an open wine bar 🙂  The food was catered by the Outrigger Resort and I can’t get over how much food was served the entire time we were there. There was shrimp, oysters, eggrolls, cheeses, tempura, assorted desserts and even a carving station.  Delicious! I was really wishing I hadn’t had pizza with FG and her sitter before going out.  

The event was a benefit for the Sugar Plum Tree Charity which provides Christmas gifts for the less fortunate. There was a Christmas Tree set-up with paper ornaments with gift requests.  I picked one ornament for each of us including an 8 year old girl for FG. FG loves buying gifts for others even though she still thinks she should get a duplicate of whatever she picks out.

Silent auctions are always fun.  I bid on a couple items but didn’t want to outbid friends. I prefer when they give you a number so no one knows who’s bidding.  On one item, I got outbid by the governor’s wife and didn’t want to get into a bidding war with her.  I did “win” a bid on an original pencil drawing of a Hibiscus done by a local artist named Hank Rice. We collect local artwork from where ever we visit so this will go nicely in the house.  

We did win a door prize (a bottle of wine) but I was disappointed at not winning the fabulous raffle prizes: a Louis Vuitton bag and Northwest Airline tickets (business class to the States and economy class to Hawaii).  They had the representatives from the respective companies read off the winning numbers and the guy from Louis Vuitton was so authentic ~ very French and very classy.

Some say this event is the kick-off for the holiday season. If all events turn out to be this fun, I say bring on the holidays 🙂 

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The Betel Nut is split open, sprinkled with dry coral lime, wrapped in a pepper leaf and then inserted into the mouth for about 20 minutes. It’s addictive and it turns your teeth and saliva bright red. Lovely, eh?

Chewing Betel Nut is very popular in Asian countries and equally as popular, with both men and women, here in Guam. It’s illegal to import it to some states and western countries.

Problem is I always want to call it “Beetlejuice.”

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I’ve been blessed, once again, with a great group of kids in my Religious Education class.  They’re so good that I’ve decided we need to do some interesting, fun projects. Our first project is writing letters to Marines in Iraq who haven’t received any letters or packages since they got there. 😦  It melts my heart to read what the kids write. Their letters are so sweet and funny. Some of the children have dads who are there right now so their letters are especially long and full of questions. 

We’re going to pull one name from a hat and send that person a care package. Some ideas for a package includes: warm socks, snack foods, sugarless gum, disposable cameras, batteries, razor blades, foot care products, sanitizing hand wipes, warm knit hats, DVDs, music CDs, etc. If anyone is so inclined to send a letter or care package, here’s a list of names and the address:

• Cpl. Nathan Kuschel  (letter  and box sent)
• Cpl. Harold Spencer
• Cpl. Hector Soto
• Cpl. Gerardo Avalos
• Cpl. Victor Emelife
• Cpl. Jason Riley  (letter sent)
• Cpl. Eugene Swaine
• Cpl. Gerald Mcdoom
• Cpl. Michael Haufe   (letter sent)
• Lance Cpl. Lorenzo Toney
• Lance Cpl. Samuel Pacheco
• Lance Cpl. Coleman Lanki
• Sgt. Reginald Gibbons   (letter sent)
• Capt Christopher Westerheide (letter sent)

The U.S. Post Office has flat-rate boxes which cost $8.10 to mail and can be filled to capacity. Packages and letters can be sent to:

9th Comm BN HQCO Supply

Unit 42570

FPO, AP 96426 2570

Most people reading this post know all to well about care packages and how much they mean to the soldiers. If you have any other ideas for what we might put in the package, let me know. 

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My morning adventure was getting a Guam Driver’s License. It took all of 10 minutes! I think it was the most hassle free license I’ve ever gotten. My Georgia license, which I got when I lived in Atlanta, was the worse since the lines, no matter what time you went, were at least a couple hours long. Here, as long as you arrive at The Department of Revenue and Tax as close to 8 am as possible you shouldn’t have a long wait. 

If you’re moving to Guam, here’s what you’ll need to get a Driver’s license:

• current license from another state
• social security card
• another form of ID with a photo
• be able to pass the vision test
• $5.00

One thing for sure, they have a miracle camera to take license photos. It’s the best photo ever that I’ve had on a license. FG remarked when she saw the photo: “This isn’t you, mommy ~ this looks like a really young person.”  Now I know how Katie Couric feels 🙂

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On Saturday, sleeping-in, rather than participating in the International Coastal clean-up won out by a 2-1 vote. It was another gorgeous day in paradise so we decided to do a boonie stomp to Haputo Beach:

The trail to Haputo Beach includes 212 narrow, steep steps each way and I felt every one of those 424 steps in my calves when I woke up on Sunday morning. The hike takes you down 300 feet to the beach so you can imagine how slow going it was on the way back up. For me, it was a great workout and so much more fun than a trip to the gym.

Haputo Beach has made it to the top of my favorite beaches in Guam. It’s protected by the U.S. Navy in the Haputo Ecological Reserve Area. The beach itself is secluded and very private: it takes some effort to hike there so not many people are willing to make the effort and it requires a military ID or special authorization.  It was Saturday and only a half dozen people were on the beach. I can only imagine during the week there’s probably no one there.

Not only is Haputo wonderfully private but the small cove has soft, white sand, crystal clear water and lots of fish.  At the southern tip of the beach, there is a mushroom shaped rock formation that makes the beach even more special.  I did find a little bit of trash ~ someone left their plate lunch and soda can. Litter is a major problem here in Guam which is very unfortunate since the island is so beautiful. I picked up the trash and felt a little less quilty about not participating in the Coastal Cleanup.

After the hike, I read there’s the site of an ancient Chamorro village near Haputo and next time I’ll try to find it.  For anyone planning a visit here, I recommend a couple of turns on the stairmaster so you’ll be in shape for the trek to Haputo.

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Who knew Wile E. got his anvils here in Guam:

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