1st week observations

1. Brown tree snakes-probably one of the things I heard the most about before getting here. It seems as if it's the first thing you find information about when doing a search about the island. Granted, I've only been here a week, but the only ones we've seen are in traps placed by the USDA. Talking to people who have been here a lot longer, I'm not really surprised as the population has come down considerably from its peak a few years back.

2. The heat-the 2nd most frequent thing I heard about before arriving. Thus far I have yet to find it any worse than Charleston. In fact, I find it nicer here than Charleston during the summer. Midday is really hot, but the breezes are wonderful and by 5 it's very comfortable outside.

To combat the sun base playgrounds have or are putting in shade covers over them. Brilliant! SC needs to get the memo on that one.

It also rains here daily, but it usually blows through and doesn't last long.

3. As much as I live in the US, I don't. I live in Asia. While Chamorro and English are spoken, about everything is printed in English and Japanese (and some Korean). The area really caters to Japanese tourists, which is understandable, because the tourists really bring money into the community.

Beyond that, the prevalence of Asian food items at local stores makes it quite clear how close to Asia we really are.

4. Eating local has it's advantages here as always, with a few surprises. I was expecting the mangoes and bananas, but not avocados and eggplants. (Avocados for $1 a pound? Yes please!)

5. This is a Catholic island. Very, very, very Catholic. It seems as if every village has its own thriving Catholic church, and the Catholic Saints are prevalent throughout the cemeteries. I can count on one hand the churches I've seen that aren't Catholic.

6. I'm blown away by the scenery. We picked up a Guam hiking guide yesterday, and I can't wait to put use to it!

I also can't wait to dive into the  history here. Magellan landed here, and shortly thereafter the Spanish colonized the island (explains the Catholic influence). It was then taken by the US during the Spanish American war. In Dec 1941 the Japanese invaded and took over the island, and then it was eventually retaken by a US Marine invasion in 1944 (they celebrate Liberation day here as a state holiday).

7. The locals I've gotten the chance to interact with are very sweet and helpful.

8. Google maps is worthless here, even the maps that come with rental cars are more useful (though half written in Japanese). We bought a real map yesterday, but most of what we've found we just found by driving around. I figure the worst that can happen is we get lost for a bit, it's not like this place is huge or anything.