Priest's Pools and Merizo Pier

These past few weeks have been packed with tons of fun in the sun.

For the middle child's birthday I and a few friends took the kids to Tarza Waterpark (same place we went for the oldest girls birthday).I'm beginning to think this will be a theme for all the birthdays here. That's fine though. Makes for a great day, and even the baby is a water slide junkie.

This past week was spring break, so it seemed as if all our friends wanted to go to the beaches. We didn't take the full week off from school, but we did manage to make it out to Gab Gab beach and Taga'achang beach during the week.

On Friday, we also managed to go on a short hike. This time we went to Priest's Pools, a series of cascading freshwater pools in a volcanic rock formation at the southern tip of the island. It acquired the name because priests used the pools to bathe in following their arrival with the Spaniards in the 1500s. I've wanted to do this hike for a while, and we managed to drag quite a few people along with us.

swimming in a pool

Following the hike and playing in the pools, we decided to head over to the Merizo Pier and jump off into the beautiful water overlooking Cocos Island. It was supposed to be a short stop, but we were having way too much fun and stayed for quite a while playing.

The oldest got this gem. I may have had some fun that day :)!

Such a great Guam day!

Holy week.

Before I start this post, I should probably clarify that while we are not Roman Catholic, but Lutheran, we have been attending Mass at the chapel pretty much since our arrival. We are not attending the only Lutheran church in Guam. Many things played into this decision (not really something I want to get into here) but this fact does play into my experiences over the last week.

Mass on Palm Sunday was wonderful, and served as my first glimpse into many traditions that while not key to salvation stand as beautiful symbols and reminders of our faith. The priest started the service walking around with baptismal water sprinkling the congregation as a reminder of our baptisms, a beautiful reminder that our baptism ties Christ to his death on the cross.

When we were at the service on Maunday Thursday, I was reminded about something our pastor said in Charleston. Maunday Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter vigil services traditionally were not three separate services, but one continuous service that carried over from one day to the next. This idea was made very clear that night, when the priest consecrated enough of the sacrament for both Maunday Thursday and Good Friday, and then at the end of the first night we took the sacraments back to another room to be held until the next evening. 

cars and people everywhere

Friday morning we took part in a local island custom. The tradition is that  early on Good Friday Catholics get up and hike to the top of MT Lamlam, the tallest peak on the island (which is not very far from the deepest point in the ocean, the Marianas trench). To be clear: EVERYONE does this, no matter what the age old or young. One of the churches (the Basilica I believe) starts the custom off by carrying a cross to the top just before sunrise that will remain up at the top. We went a bit later, starting at 9 with the chapel when most islanders were already done with the journey and heading out. Once I saw the line of cars parked in all directions really far away from the trail head, I was kind of grateful that we showed up later and I could slip into a closer spot as people left.

we're off!

I've never prayed the stations before, but I was highly impressed by the power fullness of the prayers and how they really forced me to focus on both the cross and the journey there. Of course, the views were amazing as well (unfortunately the overcast weather made it great for hiking, but not so great for picture taking. These in no way do the views justice).

Father Tom

Can't tell if he's having fun...

note the number of crosses
there are more behind me

baby with no shorts and no shoes
totally an island baby

we made it!

This tall one was put up in 1980. I can't figure out
how they got it up there

how he got up and back

kinda cool. They go up the day
before to clear the path. of the grasses
that are taller than I am

  That evening it was back to church for Good Friday and another dark and yet somehow beautiful service.

Unfortunately, between the 2 nights of late services, the hike Friday morning, and Adam being at work all night Saturday I had to miss the Vigil Service. It was just too much for the kids and they needed to go to bed early.

Thankfully, though, they let Adam out of work early and he was home before midnight and able to easily head with us to church the next morning (had he stayed the whole time he would have left work after mass started at 9am). As an added bonus: this year our anniversary fell on Easter Sunday and I got to spend it with him! We celebrated with a yummy rack of lamb dinner and quiet family time at home.

Happy Easter!

Love you all and hope you had a wonderful and blessed Easter. HE IS RISEN!

Has it really been that long.....

...since I last posted?  The record doesn't lie so I guess so.

Sorry. I know I keep saying it's busy here, but it really is. I recently took on the treasurer position for the Guam Naval Officers Spouse Connection (GNOSC). It's an amazing group that loves to have fun and also does a bunch of fundraising in support of both military and local non profits. Also, now that the boat is on its way here, the spouses are starting to move here and boat events and homecoming preps are underway.

I've been told a few times in the last few weeks "dust doesn't settle on you". I'll take it.

Of course, there's never too much going on to explore! Last Friday it FINALLY cleared up a bit and we started to get a break from the rain. We took the chance to head out to the Gef Pago, a cultural park in Inarajan that is run by the Historic Inalajan Foundation. In the park we learned how to clean coconuts,  make sea salt, weave baskets, cook rice in woven leaves, and artistic weaving (where we met the SWEETEST old lady!).

watching them clean coconuts
(and make candy-they gave the kids a shell full!)

local sea salt

the little packet she's holding is how they cook rice

master weaver, and a sweet lady :)!

After touring the village they took us across the street to see an old house that predates WWII (a rare event here between typhoons and the intense bombing that occurred prior to the US storming of the island). The house was a one bedroom with a large common area in which 16 children all slept on the floor under mosquito nets!

one room........16 kids

From there, we were invited to the soft opening of a new small museum down the street. In true Guam fashion, we were invited to not just tour the museum but eat lunch with the group as well (trust me, saying no was not an option). What an amazing experience!

love the pools

We took the time to go see some church ruins, drive down to the Inarajan pools and swim for a bit, and came home.

old Baptist church

Yesterday we went and explored the historic Sumay village location. The village at one point was called "the pearl of the island" as the most wealthy village on the island pre-WWII. The village hosted whaling ships, the transoceanic cable station, was a stopping point for the Pan Am China Clipper, and supported various US military activities. That all changed when the Japanese took the Island in WWII. The strategic position of the village made it a prime target for takeover and the villagers were moved out (the Japanese used the village parish as a horse stable). The village was destroyed by US bombing efforts, and the ruins now remain on the Naval base (which makes resettlement impossible). Through a working relationship with the villagers and descendants the Navy now maintains the old church grounds and the cemetery and allows for the people to come on base to pay their respects. The people can always arrange a visit, but the prime days are Sumay day in April, Liberation Day in July and All Souls Day in November.

Sumay Cemetary

Cross of the Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Church

Afterwards we drove another spouse over to get her car, and then drove up to the Air Force Base to spend a beautiful afternoon with friends at Tarague beach. This morning it was back to Gab Gab beach with a bunch of spouses from the boat. Hopefully tomorrow another south island tour with a friend (have I mentioned that I am ultra excited to get a break from rain?! :) ). Have fun everyone!

Tarague beach

Busy weekend

I meant to post this last night after the kids went to bed, but I fell asleep at 930 instead. I guess I was a bit tired.
In between running errands that had to get done Friday, we of course we went on a field trip. Unfortunately it was raining, so outside plans were cancelled and we made our way to the War in the Pacific National Park visitors center. It was an amazing little museum with a ton of information. I really loved how interactive it was, and how many details they were able to put in such a relatively small center. My favorite parts were reading through the books of personal accounts of events, and the display at the front that explained the different battles on the island and showed where they occurred on a map (it traced everything out and showed videos at the same time). After consulting the kids we skipped the video that they had available. There's a short clip in it covering decapitation (a Japanese punishment for locals when they controlled the island) and after reading through many of the stories the kids thought it would be too much emotionally for them to handle. Can't say I blame them, I was welling up quite a bit myself.
Interesting side note  this is the first national park visitors center I've been in where everything is written both in English and Japanese.
Friday was also the little girl's birthday. We had a cake and a movie night at home to celebrate. Oh, she also asked for McDonalds so despite my goal to not eat there at all while we are here I ended up going there for lunch.
Saturday afternoon we went to the 25th annual Guam Micronesia Island Fair. It was an amazing event, celebrating the similarities and differences between the islands. We loved going through the delegation and craft tents, talking to the people, and learning about the cultures. The kids even got a lesson in how to properly husk and shave a coconut!

learning to shave a coconut

husking coconut

making traditional boats-told the kids to take notes ;)!

The best part I think was watching the dancers from the different islands. It was so neat seeing how similar they were and yet how different they were. For example, the female dancers from Kosrae sat while they sang and danced. According to the announcer, this is because traditionally it was considered disrespectful for a woman to stand before the king even to perform.

Marshall Islands

Kosrae

Palau

The older 2 and I could have stayed there for many more hours, but after 4 hours of being at the festival the little kids were done.

Sunday morning we went to church, then to the commissary for a few things, home to bake a cake and get ready, and then back over to Gab Gab beach for a small gathering of friends for the kids birthday. It was the perfect excuse for a beach gathering and all the kids thoroughly enjoyed it (unfortunately I forgot my camera). After a good 3 hours at the beach we headed over to a friends house for dinner and more kids play time. By 7pm, the baby was more tired than I've ever seen him before and was very vocal in his desire to go home and get to bed....so I indulged him.
I hope you all had a great weekend as well, and to my friends in RI enjoy the Arts Festival!

Magellan's landing

And a bit more :)!

Yesterday I let the oldest pick where we went for our field trip because it was his birthday. He chose to try to find Ferdinand Magellan's landing site, so, after we were done with some things that had to be done, we headed out.

The location is on Umatac Bay, a bit south of the Navy base on the western side of the island. it's a beautiful, quiet, drive to get there.

I should clarify: the traditional landing site is at Umatac Bay, but of course historians dispute the actual landing site. What is not disputed is that the bay was used for the Spanish trade route from Mexico to the Philippines, and that there was a fort at both the north and south ends of the bay.

When we arrived in the bay area, we started at the north end of the bay to try to find the ruins of Fort San Jose. We found a pull off to park at with beautiful views, but failed to figure out where the ruins were. (Now looking back on it I think I know where they are, so we'll have to go back and try again).

Then we continued around the bay to stop and look at a cross situated on the bay and admire the small catholic church across the street.





Next we arrived at the beach park with the Magellan memorial marker. We read all the signs, explored the church ruins of an old catholic church across the street, and then went back to the beach side to explore the beach a bit. This beach was much different than many of the other's I've seen thus far on Guam. The rocks were different and the sand was black in color. It was still quite beautiful, just different.

historical marker

church ruins-and little ones distracted
by a coconut.

river flowing into the bay

 From there, we continued around the bay to our final destination: Fort Nuestra de la Soledad. There are no actual signs I saw to mark the site, but I can now say that if you're heading south it's the second right turn following this:

Pretty cool, huh? I could actually see the Fort from the marker for Magellan's landing, so I knew about where to go, and just guessed until I figured it out. :)! It was completely worth it. We got to explore, and the views from the top were breathtaking.

On our way home I pulled off at a random overlook area just south of one we stopped at the the last time we were in the area. The views were completely amazing, and I can't wait to explore some of the trails we saw the starts to there!