Hey Charlie, you remember shipping out another barrel of mail back on July 5? That package just arrived today.

Not much going on this week. It's been raining all week. I managed to get out on my bike this morning but by the time I was ready to go to work it was pouring rain. Actually it was quite strange. It was not a sun shower but a sun deluge. The sun shone brightly and the rain came down in sheets.

I have mentioned lunch time at the office. There is a conference table in the center of the office surrounded by cubicles and piles stuff. On one of the shelves next to the table is a paper shredder, a printer, and a microwave oven. At noon the Chamorros in the office gather for their lunch. And if I wander through there at any point they invite me to join them. It really is amazing. It's like a pot luck every day. They sit and talk and share dishes and laugh and tease and happily share their food with anyone who will sit with them. They have been very kind and accepting of my interest in their culture. We've agreed I will have a pot luck dinner as a house warming and they will all bring Chamorro foods and drink. I will finally get to drink tuba, and eat kelaguen made by Nando.

Today we had the great old fashioned dishes called leftovers. In this case there were chicken wings, a great spinach dish, bitter melon, bananas, some kind of soft sweet tortilla, and the ubiquitous rice. Then one of the women brought out a scissors like tool and began to cut up some betel nut. And so I had my first experience with betel nut. It was like carrying a pebble in my mouth and didn't do anything for me. They say I should get better betel nut. Time will tell.

And so my day comes to an end.