Project Pacific Islander

6/1/2022 - Another fun evening out with the gang. This Japanese spot was quite a bit different from the first, more efficiency type of setup. Easily seating for 50, all these small little tables as you see in image 3. Once again we loved the characters that surrounded us, the Japanese ones, and our friends too. Joan looks great in her yellow Jacket, doesn't she? Great to be out, and maximizing our exposure to more uniqueness of Guam.   

5/31/2022 - Some days back a I talked about our Booney dogs that live at our host families place. At that point, Digo, the more light pup was still very skittish of me. Lets be real, its not me, he is skittish of everybody, with the exception of a need to protect the house from a loud car, or another dog, etc. Our host family is out of town for a trip back to the Philippines, and I think the lack of Arsenio being around has given Digo more interest in getting to know me. I was working outside, and the two pups came right up to me. Arthur or Otter as we have come to know is more correct, is always wanting his tummy rubbed. Today though, Digo came over and started to nuzzle my hand wanting affection. Pictures are the proof. He might be going through some attachment anxiety with Arsensio out of town, I am the calm male figure that is now around. Nice to have the company, and the protection.   

  5/30/2022 - As I have spoke about in the past, the weekends just go all too quick. I find that there is more focus on living out the time vs. documenting, a bit of a paradox with also keeping up a blog. Memorial Day weekend was like so many before, the time evaporated as we just enjoyed the life on Guam.  Saturday, Joan's work had their annual summer party at a place called Jeff's Pirates Cove. As this place sounds, it is a restaurant setup in a complete pirate theme overlooking the east side of the island, in a cove if you will. It was a great chance to meet some of Joan's co workers and families, the focus on the family piece really shown through. Lots of kids around, fun pirate costumes, and games that were just for the kids. There were games for the grownups too, Joan and I participated in the 3 legged race and came in a close 2nd for our age group. My learning here was tighter on the string around your feed is not better, lol. We were more reactive to the pain of the

  9/27/2022 - Have you ever tried dragonfruit? Joan and I tried a cheesecake slice in Palau with this very purple and tart fruit, but prior to that I can't say I have had very much of it. Arsenio weeks back talked about this fruit growing next to the gate of our place. The family has one plant as the topper to each column. My first thought was these were cactuses, the fast growing bulbs of the plant are the differentiator as you can see in image two. That bulb in a few weeks will turn bright purple, and is filled with fruit and lots of black seeds. Not sure what we will do with this newfound fruit, one more of those island must try things.  As an aside, the dragon fruit cheesecake was awesome, the two layer filling was bright purple and one layer included the seeds. hmmm, maybe this is what we will do with it in a no bake variety. 

  5/26/2022 - Poke from Unagiri tonight with a sunset showcase. Capturing these both in memory and virtually to continue to enjoy. Hope all of you do as well. 

  5/25/2022 - I have been quite excited to get back to the volunteer work, nothing like a vacation to get you back on your feet.  Im also just glad to be able to have a little structure and give back with the time I have on the island, and its fun, this opportunity has already taught me a lot.  Here is an example of something I have learned.... Ive found in my life that keeping track of peoples names is something that is hard for me. Forgetting someones name, or having to ask again what it is, is the worst feeling. And to add insult to injury, usually the other person is unhappy as you have not taken the time to remember who they are. With dogs, this isn't the case. No matter what, if you have been good to them, they don't give a darn if you remember their name. Just pet them and they are excited to play.  This has taught me two things: One volunteering is the perfect place to find new ways to remember names, each week there is a new dog filling the spot where one was adopted,

 5/24/2022 - Bus Stops here have become so common of what we see daily, I forget the way these are implemented is unique to Guam. Just like any other neighborhood in the USA, there are kids that ride the bus to get to school daily. Maybe less during covid, based on traffic is seems like kids are in about every other day, a 3 on 2 off kind of thing. Never the less with bus routes comes bus stops.  For the most part the physical design is the same for each of these shelters, likely built from a standard concrete pre fab. The half latte stone that you see acting as a pillar on either side is what makes these true to the heritage of Guam. I think some time back I talked about these stones, prior to colonization of Guam, the latte stone was a symbol of wealth. The larger the stone the more prevalence you had in society, and these stones were used to build the major pillars of your house. The stones would have been put on full display to your community and the social status would have been e

5/23/2022 - Back on Guam, Joan and I got into our usual routine, out for another great bike ride at Ritidian wildlife refuge. While on our trip to Palau, I spoke with Wilbur about other islands in the CNMI chain, what I didn't know, was on a clear day you can see the island of Rota from the north side of Guam. Image 2 is a zoom in of image 1, and sure enough you can see the dark outline of an island "floating" on the ocean horizon line. This is crazy to me, as Joan and I have biked this hill dozens of times and never noticed. I thought we were hundreds of miles away from the next island in the northern Mariana chain. Turns out we are just 35 to 50 miles away.  Im not sure there is much on Rota, as it looks to be populated with around 3,200 people. Maybe something to check out if we can find a way to get there. Further north there is the islands of Saipan and Tinian, more like 200 miles away, both have heavy WWII history which has been fun to read about. We will see about

5/22/2022 - We look especially tired in the first photo. Our plane was delayed, thankfully it was a 7am flight and not 2 am like originally planned. We so enjoyed our time in Palau, so as we look out the window we wave good bye. Also, a new view of Guam as we land. Hafa Adai from our home of Guam!

5/21/2022 - After so many eventful days, today was a rest day. We slept in, had our last breakfast at the hotel and then headed off to get our return covid test done. At breakfast I enjoyed reading the local newspaper, Ti Belau. Belau is the Palauan way of saying Palau.    I had fun talking the photos of this Ford Escape, sitting just outside the hospital where we got our covid test done. This must have been a Asia Pacific redesign, never seen an escape like that, and look at the Japanese style mirror. Right hand drive too.  A couple more photos of this cool place with that pristine water and the ind. islands.  Oh and our last meal before heading to the airport, we went back to the German restaurant. This appetizer was something we talked about in our previous visit, French Onion soup balls. They were amazing, cheesy, oniony, and a beef flavor that came through each bite. Yum.  Can't believe we are leaving so soon, its been one heck of an adventure. 

 Hello readers, I hope spring is treating you all well. As you can see its been over a week since the last post. Joan and I are safe and sound here in Palau, and vacation  is just flying by. Our internet here on the island is spotty at best, but don't worry, posts will return come Sunday with updates for each day of Palau. Can't wait to share, happy Friday to you all.  -Adam