Project Pacific Islander

  Posted Retroactively - 3/3/2022  2/28/2022 - The main item on the day was to get out of the tiny house and do some chores. Its been a weird time of wait and see with all that is happening with the fam. Hard questions too with do we travel back to the states in this time, or send myself. Anyways, Monday started with going to the grocery store and getting things to make dinner, I must have spent a good hour at the Payless still getting my feet wet with all there is to offer. Joan and I love good Mexican food, this comes from many nights at the Campau's having tostadas, Joans family being from Mexico, and I still think my native Texas birth place has an effect too. So tostadas it was for dinner. For our readers that don't know what a tostada is, think of a flat hardshell taco with all standard taco ingredients. (Mexican rice, Black Beans, cheese, salsa, etc)  I was most excited about buying cheese and salsa, as these things can be a bit harder to find. For the meat, we subbed in

  Retroactively Published on 3/2/2022 2/27/2022 - Joan and I went to mass this morning at Santa Barbara Catholic Church in Dededo. Its been a tougher morning, I got a call from home saying my Grandma wasn't doing well again. Spending the day celebrating her and thinking about the family back in the states. We had been attending mass virtually up until this point, this was a good push to getting back to in person. As I travel places I am always amazed at  how the mass stays the same but the architecture of the churches is so vastly different. Santa Barbara is shaped in circle with the alter in the middle, and pews all the way around. Covid restrictions are still in place so about half capacity. The music was good, and more than anything I was just happy that I had Joan there by my side.  The afternoon was spent out in Tumon once again. We tried snorkeling from the paddle board which was so fun. There is coral and fish galore under the water, a whole new world! (sing the tune in your

           Retroactively Posted on 3/2/2022 2/26/2022 - I think the big news today is Joan got me to try Spam. This ham block stored in a can, now shipped 7500 miles, has been  something that I have avoided for some time. (The 7500 milles really doesn't change my avoidance, Joan just said in my ear that's a poor argument. haha) Joan on the other hand loves the stuff and had tried all 10 flavors. (Im not sure that's how many they have, we see 6 - 7 in the stores) So if you fry the Spam thinly in a pan, it is edible and not too bad in taste. Still not convinced that this will be a staple for me on Guam, as it is for some people, but if I was stranded on a dessert island and had to survive on the stuff.... you get the idea.  These blogs are slowly becoming food and supping, I mean that is what we do here: eat, sup, run, eat good food, and sleep. What more to life do you need the readers might ask? Well I am so glad you asked, one of my favorite driving activities on the island

  Retroactively Posted on 2/28/2022 2/25/2022: We should start off by talking about the Cake! Joan's work had a special invite for us to both come and celebrate the department heads birthday, wink wink, the birthday was on 2/5/2022 our wedding day. We are so gullible and understood this invite as an opportunity for myself to be introduced, but truly a  birthday celebration.  Joan and I have only one car, and the morning began with a need to get training completed online, a quick switch of some in person meetings came up, so I was driving her into the office. We talked about the party, but due to the schedule of the day that meant 3 trips for Adam up and down the island, drop-off, party, and pickup. So we said that Joan would attend and I would do the errands I needed to. I get a text from Joan's friend saying, will you be into the office today?, this was about 45 mins prior, I explained our predicament and said I would have to pass. Sitting here in the tiny house I get a call a

  Retroactively uploaded on 2/28/2022: 2/24/2022: I had set an an initial target of running a 5k in under 30 mins, it has been a while since I have run and the push was needed to get back into it. Not a flattering image of either of us, we are happy as we rain a 5k in 28:54. The sunset was really nice to watch from the Dededo sports park.  We celebrated by going to Cost you less, the Guam equivalent of Costco or Sams club. Joan loves going to the grocery store, and calls our evening out Dates! I never thought of going to the grocery store as a date, but am loving the experience. On the way out we saw these fun Korean style Onion ring chips, and as we were starving from just running a 5k we splurged for the dollar cost. These Onion Rings were interesting to say the least, not very salty, more foam than a Funyun, and a tangy like flavor that I am not able to compare to anything I have had before.  Next Goal: 5k in 27 mins (9 min mile ave). Arseno, our host family dad, talked about runnin

  2/23/2022 - It was great to get out to Carabao brewing with Joan and friends. Carabao brewing is 2 blocks from where Joan works, perfect for an afternoon happy hour. This visit I got a flight of beer, one a sour IPA which was wonderful, a porter, a kolsch, and a non sour IPA. The sky this evening was brilliant shades of pink and purple as the sun set.

 2/22/2022 - What a fun date to write out, six 2s! One of the perks of this hybrid work life is Joan gets to work from the tiny house, while I have to be careful to not distract her too much, I do enjoy the company. Most of the day once again was adulting and working on taxes. This has to be done early as it may take 3 - 4 weeks for the envelops to arrive in Michigan at the Treasury (Im cheap and don't want to pay to e file). On to fun things.  Today was a great food day, I think I had 2 smoothies, one a fresh Mango and juice, and the second a vanilla protein shake after todays work out. Joan and I took a lunch break and headed to the gym, Im working on breaking that 10 min mile pace for a 5k, work to be done. When we got back we heated up leftovers which included rice and an Indian Dahl, curry like spices with lentils. We are cooking less meat in the tiny house as getting hot water comes way of heating it up in a pan or waiting for our water dispenser to heat up. So cleanup from m

  2/21/2022 - Monday was a more ordinary day, I felt like I was starting to get into the rhythm of life on the island. I drove Joan into the office, got a run in at Asan beach and stopped to fill up for some gas before heading back up north to knock out my taxes. Believe it or not, adult life continues here on the island, taxes come due, bills have to be paid, you get the idea.  Before I go further, I should say the highlight of the day was being able to call home to my dad for his Birthday. So 2/21 at 10am on Guam is 2/20 at 6pm in Iowa. He is 63 today, so blessed that we live in a time of technology to be able to call, high point for sure.  Many of you are probably wondering what prices are like on the island for standard goods, so my images today are to reflect that. Gas on the island on 2/21 is $5.39 a gallon, in comparison the price for that same unleaded regular fuel in Jackson, Mi is $3.35. My math says that's a 61% price gain for fuel. I know, the view at the gas station is

  2/20/2022 - Closing down the week with a nice relaxing day. The day started with Joan heading to the market for some fresh produce (a favorite pastime for her), watching mass online, and heading to the gym for a workout. One of my goals is to focus on fitness while I am here on Guam, maybe even be in better shape than my high school days, we will see.  The excitement for the day was in the afternoon, we went Stand Up Paddle-boarding (SUPing for short) in Tumon Bay. Joan was lucky enough to get a deal on a paddle board from one of her fellow clerks that moved back stateside, I see lots of good use to come! Tumon is a city on the west coast, roughly half way down the island. This is the tourist area that during non covid times would be filled with people. Guam is the equivalent of Hawaii in terms of travel for many of the Asia Pacific countries; Japan, Korea, Philippines bring a large number of visitors. A gorgeous sunset to watch as Joan and I paddled around the bay. The water is no m

  2/19/2021 - Its been a week since we arrived on this tiny island in the Pacific, I am amazed at how fast one week can go. So to celebrate, Joan said she wanted to take me to one of the most beautiful places on the island, Ritidian point/beach. Ritidian is on the northern most point of the island, a single road between Anderson Air force Base and additional Air Force owned land takes you down to the national wildlife refuge. Approaching the entrance you go down a hill to lose about 500ft in altitude and at the top is the most luscious, scenic, beachfront view that I have ever seen.  Once we arrived at the entrance there was a secondary road that took us down to the beach. About every 1/4 mile was a set of entrances through the tropical forest to the beachfront, these were really neat as it almost created your own little beach campsite. The drive through this tropical forrest is like something you would see out of a movie, a green canopy of trees, coconuts abound, with the sunlight pea

2/18/2022 - Another warm and beautiful day on Guam, Friday started out as any other in the week with 85 degree temps, full sun and the smell of salty seashore in the air. I had enough things to accomplish back at the tiny house so I let Joan take the car in to work, this meant I could sleep in, so I thought. 5 mins after I said have a good day at work, my phone rings with a panicked Joan on the other side saying she has had a flat tire. My response was no biggie, drive it back since you are close and we will put the spare on. Joan reminded me that this why she married me, for my mechanical skills in times of dire need. I was happy to finally get to use my wrench turning knowledge on an automotive product. It is great thanks to Joan that she said no to a wrench kit last week at the market, otherwise the Mazda would have been a part days back getting "upgrades". Joan got back and straight away I headed to the trunk to pull out the spare, the lug wrench and the screw jack. This

  2/17/2022 - Joan and I have been driving into her work together about half the days this week. As my previous post had the map, I will refer you back to that image. She works in  Hagåtña,  right in the center of the island. We live on the north side, so about 30 mins in each day. I have found the time to be really fun together as we talk about the scenery that goes by and about the NPR news articles that come up on the radio. Yes, we do get NPR and many local radio stations, usually the shows are run from the previous day, we still get a good understanding of the worlds news.  Ok, image two has some good commentary to add. The picture was taken just outside of the judiciary in the parking lot. Now that I have seen wild chickens roaming the streets of Guam, and kaka-ing at 4 am in the morning, I am a strong believer that the chicken came before the egg! These birds are prolific here, and it must have all started with a few that escaped a coop from our neighbors yard. Yes, the kaka-ing

Credit - Google Maps View from the Asan Overlook Calamansi Juice  2/16/2021 - Day 4 on Guam was spent continuing to get my bearings on the island. First stop of the day was dropping Joan off in Hagatna, the capital city of Guam. This is about a 30mins by car, our tiny house is just north of Dededo, North and a bit east of the marker shown. Post drop-off I headed to Asan beach for morning exercise, Asan is north of Piti along highway one, so super close to where Joan is. Post run and a little hungry I decided to go south to try and find a smoothie. To no avail, I decided to stop at a gas station in Agat for a local drink instead. I settled on Calamansi juice, its a native orange / lemon like fruit, very small in nature. Pretty good except for the sugar added, this was more like a lemonade than a exercise supplement.  From Agat I turned around and went over the hump of the island on highway 5, this was gorgeous and lush as I got into the highlands. Image mountains covered in jungle and g

 2/15/2022 - Very simple day on the island. Joan worked from home and I caught up on some rest as well as continued my internet discovery of what's next to see. We did chicken stir fry for dinner. Cooking in this tiny house brings some new opportunities to live simple; one stove top burner, a rice cooker, warm water only by boiling, and two cooks in the kitchen. Note my previous statement is suppose to say "too many cooks in the kitchen", I should just stay out of the way as Joan does a wonderful job!

I am a day behind on this post, between jet lag and just getting used to things I am finding I hit the hay early ~8pm. This post is retroactive and posted on 2/15.  2/14/2022 - Happy Valentines day to each of you. I am finding V-day on Guam is similar to the mainland: flowers, v-day candy, and lots of men running to the grocery store last min for cards. This was evident as Joan and I went to the grocery store and saw swath of islanders carrying around red, white, and pink, V-day paraphernalia. Love is in the Air, at least until tomorrow when those flowers are half priced. ;) I started my first official work day on Guam, and when I say work, what I really mean is exploring and figuring out what it means to be an islander not on a 9 - 5 position. My first stop was to find some sunglasses at a place Joan recommended, Southern Mountain Gear. The store is really neat, they import high quality running, climbing and hiking gear from the mainland, with the intention of getting more islanders o

1/13/2022 - Guam Day 1 has been a treat. We are quite jet lagged from the time zone differences and the 24+ hours of travel time it took us to get here. Joan and I started the day at 6am Chamorro time, 14 hours ahead of EST. We headed straight away to get some breakfast at the local farmers market, lots of new fruits and vegetables that I had never seen before, future blog posts to come on that specific topic. Joan showed me around the island, and we did a tour of the outer most loop, around 30 miles, and saw north to south what adventures we have to come, also future posts to come.  Once back at our residence we took a nap and did quite a bit of unpacking which ate up the hottest part of the day. After catching some zzz and getting rehydrated we decided to finish the day out on the beach eating something called poke (its like an reverse sushi roll, rice bed with fish and goodies on the top). I must say I was leery to eat the raw tuna, but once we dug in, I couldn't believe how fre

  February 11th and 12th were spent traveling to Guam, it takes two days in travel and time zones added together to cover the 7500 miles. Joan, Anne, and myself left Jackson, Mi at 3am to be at DTW by 4:15am. We said goodbye to Anne, and off we went to start this adventure. 6:30am we took off to Houston. A short delay in Houston meant we could grab a bite to eat, I had Chinese food for breakfast as it was the only thing that didn't have a line more than 15 people long. If we would have only known that the delay would be close to 90 mins I would have grabbed Starbuck and an egg sandwich. Oh well, already getting used to the asian cuisine. Houston to Honolulu was smooth, 8 hours in total with plenty of movies to watch. The layover in Honolulu was a mere 5 mins as we shifted from one Boeing 777 to another Boeing 777. The food on this flight was better than my Chinese I had in the morning, the best part where these Hawaiian cookies that were like a lemon bar. Time with Joan too of cour