Blog Resurrection: Guam

When I started telling people Kerriann was planning to take a job in Guam, the most common response was something like, "I don't even know where that is." I was once one of those people too, and since you can take the teacher out of the school, but you can't take the schooling out of the teacher (or something...), here's some information about my current location.

Guam is about 1500 mi from Tokyo. It is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands, which are located next to the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean. If Mount Everest at 8,848 meters (29,029 ft) was set in the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, there would be 2,076 meters (6,811 ft) of water left above it. That's roughly the elevation of Lake Tahoe. Technically, if you measure Mt. Lamlam on Guam from the bottom of the ocean floor, I'm living in the shadow of one of the tallest mountains on the planet. Technically Mauna Kea in Hawaii is a bit taller, but I didn't quite get all the geological reasons why. (I never took geology in school.)

I found out today that to the east of the island is the Pacific Ocean but to the west is the Philippine Sea. Who knew? The north end of the island is mostly naval bases, and Kerriann hasn't taken me that direction yet. The southern part of the island is very rural and mostly jungle. I got the southern loop tour today and saw a bajillion palm trees, coconuts fallen on the side of the road, wild (boonie) chickens and dogs (though not as many as K has led me to believe are here), and not a lot else. I haven't seen a single brown tree snake yet, though I hear they are nocturnal. We drove past Magellan's landing site, though I was too put off by the heat to get out of the air conditioned car to read the plaque. It amazes me that in the 1500s Magellan et. al. sailed around the Pacific Ocean in their little ships. Lunch was at Jeff's Pirates Cove, where I ate Greek food and drank a mai tai.

The midsection of the island, zoomed in here, seems to be the most populated. Tamuning is our very touristy town (the nearby area is known as Little Waikiki), located around the two bays. This is what I'd call "civilization," where you can expect to see business establishments on the side of the road instead of just trees.

And when I say business, I mean business. The largest K-Mart in the world means business. I hope to avoid this store as long as possible, though I've been in some very cool furniture stores, several surf shops looking for a bathing suit that fits (who goes to an island on vacation without a bathing suit, and what island doesn't sell them?), and several grocery stores. Eggs in Guam - not fresh. Cartons had June 1 dates on them. Not sure if the boonie chickens are to blame or not. Also, in three months Kerriann was unable to find any Diet Dr. Pepper. In three days I found two stores that carry it.

Finally, we've zoomed in enough to see my 'hood. Click the map to see a larger image. (I think it's cool that Google maps has places labeled in what I assume is Japanese.) The bottom right corner of the map is our bank of 17 townhouses - Tasi 17. We will be getting our gym membership from one of the myriad of local hotels at some point, as I've been tasked with checking them out and comparing where we'll get the best deal for the most stuff. (I hope you can feel my excitement through the computer.) The most important perk will be easy beach access. In addition to the Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood not far from here, there's an area called "Guamdeo Drive." It's a block or two of high-end shopping that caters to the Japanese tourists, and Tiffani's sucked Kerriann in a day or two ago. That store is her kryptonite, though her new scuba diving hobby promises to bankrupt her first. I think tomorrow we'll be going out to try all her new gear. I tried mine out today. Stay tuned for the diving update.

Now to try for the fourth night in a row to sleep through the night. I do not understand jetlag at all, and it's been frustrating me to no end, but it makes for early swimming adventures before the heat of the day sets in. If only I could wake up that early when I have a job to go to.