July 27, 2013 - the weekly recap

Time is going so fast. I can't believe that I've been here for a month.

I got my Guam driver's license. I hate having to do anything at any DMV in any state or territory. Guam's DMV is in a huge warehouse with a bunch of cubicles. When you first walk in, there is a wall with many pieces of paper tacked to it that contain just random instructions. I walked around for a bit but ended up just standing in the longest line. Luckily the guy in line behind me was from the States and he helped me. I went in fully expecting that I wasn't going to have all of the documents that I needed (as that usually happens with me and the DMV) but, surprisingly, two hours later, I ended up walking out with my Guam license.

I downloaded the MLB app on my phone and I'm able to listen to Reds games which I'm so happy about. Since the Reds are playing on the West Coast right now, the games usually start here at 12:10 p.m. I don't think I'll be listening to any business day specials at GABP, though. Those games would start here at 2:35 a.m.

J & I went to dinner at one of the restaurants in one of the hotels on the strip. I had mushroom risotto which I didn't finish so I asked our server to box it up. Our server came back with the food boxed up along with a waiver form to fill out and sign. What? Yes, I had to fill out a waiver saying that I understood the "dangers" of taking food to go. When I got the food out of the bag the next day, there was a note on the box saying the food that I was about to consume could be dangerous and that the hotel was not responsible. Jeez louise. Everybody calm down.

J & I went to see Pacific Rim and Red 2. Both movies were pretty good.

I told J last night that someone vandalized the Lincoln Memorial with green paint. (So ridiculous) J said, "Well what color green? Like neon green or like forest green? I need to know!" He's so silly and he cracks me up.

doomsday preppers and come on a walk with me

Due to the island wide power outage last week, our doomsday prep was kicked into high gear. We are also just starting typhoon season in Guam which I think lasts for 6 months. Umm.. what? J said that the last typhoon that hit the island knocked out the power for 2 months. Yeaaaaa, I barely survived 6 hours. Anywho, so this is why we're prepping. J bought 2 generators and a gas grill. I now know how to work a generator. Never thought I would say that in my life. We also now have a plethora of working flashlights strategically located throughout the house. I have my very own headlamp too. Jealous? You should be. We will have to start stocking a water supply as well as canned goods (and wine. definitely wine.)

So, I just got back from a walk around our neighborhood and I just want to give everyone a little snapshot into the conversations I have with myself (not out loud but in my head) while I'm walking. You will notice a central theme:

"Dear God, what animal monstrosity is this?! Eww, eww, eww.... Oh, it's a half eaten porkchop. Who the hell throws a half eaten porkchop on the sidewalk?"

"Is that a dead frog? Augh. Don't look at it, don't look at it! Damn it, why did I look at it?"

"OH JEEZ THAT'S TOTALLY A TREE SNAKE! ... or a shoestring. Definitely a shoestring."

that's the night the lights went out on Guam

So the power went out yesterday. On the whole island. It went out around 3pm and then didn't come back on until 9pm. I had just gotten home from taking our dog to the park. Thank goodness I made it home, because since the whole island lost power, all of the traffic lights were out as well. People can't drive on this island even when the traffic lights are working. 

I decided to take the party outside hoping to get some kind of breeze. It really wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the annoying flies. J got home from work and pulled up a chair and we discussed our game plan for the evening. We couldn't cook anything because we don't have a grill yet and we have an electric stove. I was worried about the food in the fridge spoiling so I decided to drink two of my Guinness before they could go bad. :) 

After sitting in the heat for 2 hours, J & I decided to head to the beach.  We sat there until about dusk and started noticing some lights coming on around the hotels (apparently all from generators). We decided to go try to find something to eat and ended up at Ruby Tuesdays. As we walked in, the whole restaurant went black for about 5 seconds but then came back up. We ate, came home, and the power was back on! Yay!!!

we're not in Kansas anymore

Yesterday (Sunday) J & I set out to try a new brunch spot. The first place we went to was closed on Sundays. We went to try another spot on the strip. One sign on the restaurant said open, one sign said closed. We saw people eating pancakes in the windows. Jackpot! Walk in, sorry we're closed from noon to midnight. It was 12:30pm. Augh. We continued down the strip and ended up eating at a TGIFridays. Apparently there was a big UFC fight showing Saturday night in the States (Sunday afternoon here) so the place was packed.

After lunch we walked around some stores on the strip and then decided to go to Underwater World which is basically the Guam aquarium. They have one of the largest aquarium tunnels. It's 319 feet long through a 800,000 gallon tank. It was pretty cool. I also was finally able to see a brown tree snake in one of the exhibits. I still haven't seen any out on the island. Of course the only exhibit that was under renovation was the coconut crab exhibit. Although I think J & I saw one of those on our hike the other day. They just look like giant hermit crabs.

After an afternoon of cleaning and setting more things up in the house (mostly by J), we decided to go to a grocery by the house. I was totally disheartened. The store was dirty. We had to check all of our items, especially the produce, to make sure it wasn't bad or expired. Some of the customers in the store were rude. It was just an overall bad experience for me. I know I sound like a spoiled American but I just felt completely out of my element. Luckily, there was a wine aisle. J bought us 3 bottles because clearly I needed it.

a hike

J & I went on a hike today...

This is how it started. 

Yeaaa. Do.You.See.The.Spider?  Even the camera was too scared to focus. This spider asked us if he could bum a cigarette. Silly spider. We don't smoke. 

Pretty flower on the trail

 Dude, where's my car?

And then the trail got a little crazy. Yea, I descended that. 

So it was totally worth it because THIS was at the end of the trail. 

Amazing! 

Orchids, no hitters, and tv

Yesterday J and I were putting together a sofa table and a coffee table. Once we got the sofa table finished we put it in front of one of our blank walls. I said that we could put pictures of our family on the table.. even though I didn't pack any. (Sorry. We're only here for a couple years, I wanted to pack light) And then J said we could put some orchids on the table which was nice except I heard "our kids" so that made for some awkward conversation. We laughed about it though. Seems that we're always laughing at something... usually at each other. :)

We went to one of the malls yesterday at lunch. J heard that there was a really good sushi place in the mall. While we were eating, there was a tv on behind me and J said, "Hey, isn't that the Reds?" So, we got to watch Homer Bailey's no hitter which was pretty cool.

So a lot of people have asked me about what tv stations are shown on Guam. It's basically all of the channels that we have in the States. The only thing kind of weird is that the morning news shows like Today & Good Morning America are a day behind but they will still come on at 7am. I honestly haven't been watching a whole lot of tv to even see if the schedules are the same but I'm sure I will find out eventually. We also have an Australian news channel that we watched for a bit yesterday and it reminded me of my brother doing his Australian accent at Thanksgiving dinner. "I think I'll stick with this."