News From Guam

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 01:30 PM

Brett, that seems like such a neat place, so much to learn about and explore. I was just looking around on the website I linked to in my previous posting and found this wonderful and charming story about the last Chamorro who knew how to make and play an ancient instrument called the belembaotuyan. Be sure to read the last bit, esp. there are some recordings of him somewhere out there! Very kewl!

Can you tell I am turning slightly green with envy?**bg**

kat

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 07:02 PM

Those are couple of great sites, Kat. I never saw them when I was researching coming here.

Guest, the bay that has the reputation of being Magellan's landing place is Umatak. According to the local historian I talked to it is likely that is just myth. Magellan's crew was in sad shape when they rounded the north end of the island. Umatak is on the southern end. It is unlikely they traveled the whole length of the island before coming to anchor. Agana Bay was more likely their landing place.

The picture in Kat's first website above is Umatak. It is a lovely place but you have to frame your picture very carefully if you want to see something like that. The bay is surrounded by houses and a church.

I haven't mentioned it before but there are beaches here with black sand. The island is a combination of volcanic rock and coral. Where the coral has been reduced to sand the beaches are white. Where the volcanic rock has been reduced to sand the beaches are black. I wonder if there is a beach with both...

As for the Australian trip, my co-worker and fellow department head is also planning a vacation in that time frame so he and I need to coordinate our vacations. That means it may be a few days before I can definitely say I will be going at the break between October/November or the break between November/December. However, I am definitely planning on going. I am figuring on 2 weeks for my trip. As we get closer I'll start a Here-I-Come-Who-Can-I-Visit thread.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 07:03 PM

Hey! That's it! The beach where Magellan landed.

Inarajan

The rock structure I was talking about is at the end of that spit of land in the upper right of the photo. You can walk up there and look down on the whole little bay. As I remember, that was a silt, black sand bay. The gleaming line at the right is from a small stream feeding into the bay, and where the rivers and streams feed the ocean the silt often washes back in and darkens the beaches. But then some of the beaches are so white they hurt the eyes. An old couple used to waylay people walking up to the overlook there at Inarajan. Had a carabao with flowers woven in its horns and sold fruit. Star fruit? Yeah...the cross section looked like a star. Nice folks.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 07:05 PM

Same-time post. Check out Star Fruit if you get the chance.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: curmudgeon
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 08:37 PM

I assume, based on your most recent post, that the abdominal affliction is gone or under control. If not, do correct this situation immediately; no good in being afflicted in paradise.

Your posts are magical. You have a way with the language that brings us there with you. I look forward to reading the book.

In an earlier post you expressed delight in recieving mail. Put your snail mail address up and you might get some more; like session tapes.

Be well and keep up the thread -- Tom

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 09:05 PM

Brett-

Well, here's your challenge. Judy and I are checking out flights to Sydney so we can be there in reasonable shape by the 4th Saturday of Novbember for whatever takes place at The Loaded Dog. We'll certainly do the full version of "Dead Dog Cider."

Alert, Sandra N., Bob B. and Margaret W. and The Roarin' Forties, this is a serious proposal.

We'll probably be staying with our old friends the Horvaths, assuming they're resident in Sydney at the time. Otherwise we'll just pitch a tent at Circular Quey.

Must go to that incredible Sicilian restaurant in Bob's neighborhood again, if I could only recall its name...

So get your schedule together and we'll have some great fun!

Cheerily,
Charles Noble

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 19 Jul 03 - 09:06 AM

But Charley, what are you going to do if my co-worker and his family need to take their vacation late in November instead of early. I left it up to him because he has to plan for family travel. He and his wife are a little distracted right now because she is about to give birth to their third child. It may be a week or two before they are able to plan for their vacation. And we both cannot be out of the office at the same time.

What a day I have had. My family have always complained that I have the weirdest friends. But then they've said that since the year I brought home the prison inmate who was out for the holiday. In the years since I have been perfectly at home with people in the SCA, muzzleloading buckskinners, and even, God forbid, folk musicians. Today I went forth into the coutryside to extend my record and I came up with aces.

Last Tuesday I had been invited to visit the deep sea canoe that group is repairing. I found it in the front yard of a house in a little neighborhood high up on the side of the hills overlooking Agana Bay. It was under a canopy and covered with a tan tarp. Dr. Cunningham greeted me and introduced me to the sweetest looking 22 foot red and black outrigger canoe. She is gorgeous. While we were looking her over Manny showed up. He was wearing a Budweiser T-shirt and blue Hawaiian print shorts. I could see a ritual tatoo on his leg, three parallel symbols on his calf. These tatoos were no casual decoration. There was meaning there, written in their simplicity and position. Here was The Navigator. This man learned to navigate by the stars from his grandfather, one of the last of the old time navigators. He had been through the rituals and ceremonies and carried within himself the magic passed down through the generations.

The canoe was beautiful. She is 22 feet long and very narrow. Her hull is asymetrical, mor curved on the outrigger side than on the other. Dr. Cunningham explained to me that the hull acts in the water like an aerofoil. The shape of the hull offsets the pressure of the wind on the sails. In other words the Micronesians figured out how to counteract leeway using fluid dynamics instead of a keel. These canoes are sailed with the wind always on the outrigger side of the boat. To tack the merely shft the mast, swing the sail end for end and the bow becomes the stern and off they go in the other direction. The outrigger is not intended to be used as a float. It is intended to the a counter weight for the wind pressure on the sail.

The canoe is built of seeded breadfruit tree. The seeded breadfruit is called dokdok while the seedless is called lemmai. The lemmai is worthless for building canoes, and from what I gathered, pretty much anything else. The bottow of the canoe is carved from the trunk of the dokdok and then the bow and stern are lashed on afterwards as well as the planks that make up the rest of the hull. The boat is calked with coconut fiber and hot breadfruit sap. With the hull and outrigger in place a little house of cocnit frond and sticks is built on top.

While we talked Manny worked on the canoe. He was carving a new thwart piece for the end. When he is done the piece will carry the weight of the rudder and will act as chainplate for the stays. He worked with adze and chisel.

The canoe was used cruelly by the typhoon. Ponsongwa was supposed to miss the island but instead it nailed them hard. The canoe still needs a lot of work but they hope to get it into the water soon, Their big handicap is getting the wood they need to make certain parts. Much of the trees they need to harvest were destroyed by Pongsonwa and Chata'an, the last two typhoons.

There is more about this day but I am very tired. I will add more in the morning.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Brían
Date: 19 Jul 03 - 11:15 AM

This is great stuff, Naemanson. Keep it coming.
Brían

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 19 Jul 03 - 06:31 PM

Calling Brett-

A careful review of what we posted above about flying to Sydney specifies that the Loaded Dog takes place on the 4th Saturday of the month. Therefore we are planning to fly out "late in November," not early. Now if your buddies need to go out early we do have a conflict. However, at this point we could go a week early from the 4th Saturday or stay a week later, or maybe do both if folks are as hospitable as they were last time around. We do want to visit with our nephew's new family, and we might want to dash off somewhere else as well.

Off to San Francisco for the next week or so, but I'll check in and see what you're been up to.

Roll & Go had a blast today at the WoodenBoat Show in Rockland.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 19 Jul 03 - 08:43 PM

After I left the canoe and her menders I headed out to find a used bookstore I'd heard about. I dreove around looking for it for a while and then gave up. It was well past lunch time so I decided on the Outback Steakhouse. It had been a while since I'd had a real steak dinner and I was hankering for slab o' meat. I got there to find it was closed and is only open at 5:00 every day. No lunches here.

This might be a good time to talk about the scarcity of restaurants. To start with there is no place within easy reach where I can find breakfast except the (shudder) McDonalds on the base. Outside the gate is a Taco Bell and a Pizza Hut. As you drive north along Marine Drive there is nothing that stands out as a restaurant until you get to Agana. Then you have to look hard for them because they are little dives tucked into groups of half demolished buildings. Farther up, in Tamuning, you can find places like the Lone Star Steak House and Marty's Mexican Food. Plus there is the food court at the GPO where I ate my supper last night. Also available are places like Shirley's Coffee Shop, a diner type franchis found around the islands, and Kings, some kind of burger joint. There are also places like Winchell's which is a doughnut shop and lots of Burger Kings, McDonalds, Pizza Huts, Taco Bells, and the like. What I'm trying to say is that this is no mecca for the gourmand. Even the Chamorro Village, for all that the name suggests, has three places that serve Chamorro food and the rest serve Italian, Indian, and Ice Cream.

So I had a sandwich at Blimpie's and a frappelatte from the Coffee Beanery. 'Nuff said.

I headed down to Ypao Beach Park. It was about 3:00 in the afternoon by then and I had seen something in the paper the day before that I had to check out. I settled myself in a chair and tried to read some of the research Dr. Larry had given me but I was distracted by the life being lived all around me. The park has covered pavilions for people to picnic and a few large trees. Down by the beach is a line of palms.

It wasn't full of people but there were plenty of people around. I am used to seeing people go to the beach to lie in the sun. In my experience a few hardy souls, the young and the foolish, go into the water. Here on Guam people go to the beach but they mostly stay out of the sun. There were a few people in the water but most were in under cover. There was some kind of party going on at the largest pavilion for it was full of people and had a DJ spinning tunes on a sound system that filled the park with reggae, rap, rock, and soft romantic tunes. It was quite an eclectic mix. There were parties and gatherings at other pavilions too but there were a few that were empty. There are two sand volleyball courts and they were busy as well. Down the beach I spied a white arch garlanded with flowers and realized a wedding was happening. It obviously wasn't connected with the party in the big pavilion and I wondered how the overflow of music might be impacting that happy event. Everywhere I looked children in swimsuits ran and splashed and screamed. Over the food tables people waved fans of paper plates to keep the flies at bay. The smell of barbeque fires mingled with the smell of cooking fish and meat.

It was very hard to concentrate on the article on canoes.

After a while I headed for one of the empty pavilions to wait for the 4:00 hour. I didn't know what to expect or what I'd do about it. It has been nearly 20 years since I associated with that group. I don't know what to do about it even now. But then I spotted them and wandered over to talk. The SCA had arrived with all the splash and color that they bring with them wherever they go.

Twenty years ago in Georgia I had been part of the Shire Of The Crystal Keep. Now I was looking at re-entering that world. I'm not sure I want to. But I gave it my best scrutiny. They are nice people but they are all military so that leaves us unable to talk politics. Plus they are young and boisterous and swagger a lot. Were we ever like that, I wonder? If we were it sure is annoying to those of us who are older and supposedly more mature. Be that as it may be they are nice kids and welcoming. I may visit now and again and try to learn some period stuff to bring to their gatherings. I think Fred and Julia do it right. They aren't members but they do like those people and help out when they can. I could do a lot worse than to emulate them.

So I guess I need to find some period music pieces to learn. I am looking for anything that comes from or sounds like it came from the period between 600 BC and 1600 AD. Any suggestions? I'm not sure what search criteria to use in the database.

After the park I went to supper, Chinese again, and a movie. Then it was home to write up my adventure and collapse into bed.

Thus ended another day in Paradise.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Jul 03 - 04:34 AM

Naes, this is so wonderful to read. You really have a way of bringing it all so to life; it really does feel as though we are there with you!

Glad you liked the sites. I loved the one about the grandfather and the instrument.

Re' songs and search criteria for SCA, is you put "medieval" in the box, there are quite a few threads which come up which look useful. Sounds like fun, whether you join up or not.

Thanks so much for sharing with us, please continue. I really look forward to reading of your next explorations!

kat

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Lana
Date: 20 Jul 03 - 08:20 AM

There's always The Witch of the Westmorland. I'm planning to sing that at the Gathering this fall. It's more modern, but sounds older. :-) Thomas the Rhymer would probably work too.
I hope you have fun with the SCA. :-) I went to an Irish festival yesterday and picked up a penny whistle.

love
lana

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 20 Jul 03 - 09:03 AM

Charley - Circular Quay might be pronouncd KEY but it is not spelt Quey (tut tut tut) If your relos can't cope with you for the entire trip Dog supporters might be able to offer you a bed (or room for you tent, or even a loan of a tent!!)

November would be great - so too would be October.

sandra

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: JennyO
Date: 20 Jul 03 - 09:50 AM

Just for your information, Charlie and Brett, The Loaded Dog in October is on Saturday the 25th, and North By Northwest in November is on Thursday the 6th, so 12 days between them.

Or, The Dog in November is on Saturday the 22nd, and North By Northwest in December is on Thursday the 4th, so again 12 days between them.

Hope that helps with your planning - I realize there are other factors here though that will help determine what you do.

Jenny

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Jul 03 - 10:35 AM

The Sakura in Agana, if it's still there. Best tempura I ever had. Couple of REAL sushi bars on the island too, as I recall. The kind where you point at what critter you want and the obsessively-compulsively clean chef wipes the whole kitchen spotless before he cleavers the hell out of your selection and then serves it to you with a smile. There were a couple of Japanese restaurants, too, with the little stoves in the center of the table...where you cook your own foods. Look for the places were you have to sit on the floor. Warm sake is a treat too, if you drink. It sneaks up on you though. We watched a group of reserved Japanese businessmen in the Sakura once enter and take their places on their cushions around their long table, and as they ate they started knocking back little cups of sake. An hour later they were falling off their cushions and laughing at each other. Try wasabi mustard and pickled ginger root...standard Japanese condiments. Wasabi is the hottest thing I've ever tasted, but it has no oil base like jalapenos and such, so it doesn't stick to your tongue. Just gives you a feeling like an ice cream headache squared, and just as the pain is about to make you scream...it's gone. Great for the sinuses. And pickled ginger root may be the best tasting stuff on earth. Oh, and pick up a bag of dried cuttlefish sometime. Like beef jerky. makes a great snack. Look for the markets, too, where you can buy whole dried cuttlefish, then look around that market for some of the strangest foods you'll ever come across in your life.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 20 Jul 03 - 11:57 PM

You know, I am very open and willing to try new things. I had real sushi back in Maine, hand made and well praised by all who were "in the know" about eating bait and seaweed. I tried it. I didn't care for it and probably won't try it again. But part of that problem is that I do not really care for eating fish. Something about the flavor does not appeal.

Many years ago, when I was in college we had a Japanese exchange student at the school. I took him home to Houlton, Maine, because there were Japanese exchange students at Ricker College and he wanted to touch base with his fellow countrymen. One night me made us a Japanese meal, though I cannot now tell you what it was. I've always wondered what happened to him.

As for visiting Australia, is there enough to do and see to fill up 2 weeks? This question is asked with tongue very much in cheek. I figure to start in Sydney at the Loaded Dog and finish at North By Northwest. All the time in between will be spent looking at a land that has always been too far away to even consider the possibility that I would ever see it. What's the weather like then? If my calculations are correct you would be heading into your summer?

You know, Kell, another song to sing for these SCA members is Eileen McGann's The Knight And The Rose. You might prepare that one for the gathering too.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Lana
Date: 21 Jul 03 - 06:58 AM

yeah, i've been working on it, for some reason i can't get it to sound quite right, must be the lack of instruments. *shrug*

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 21 Jul 03 - 07:41 AM

Today, Junly 21, is Liberation Day on the island. There has been a carnival down by the Chamorro Village all month. Families have been camped out along the parade route for the last week and a half at least. Driving home on Saturday I passed families gathered around TVs under canopies, the smoke and smell of barbequing meat, and kids sacked out on cots. Excitement grew to a fever pitch to culminate in the grand parade this morning.

At the base we were offered liberal leave to participate in the holiday. On the island it was very much a holiday atmosphere.

As you may recall I went to the hospital last week. The doctor set me up with a follow up visit to the Family Practice Clinic at the Naval Hospital. The appointment was for 9:20 AM and the parade started at 10:00 AM. I figured I would do the appointment and then skate on downtown to see the parade.

But I didn't figure on a few minor problems. I wasn't sure where I was going and had to ask for directions. Consequently I arrived five minutes late. And then I remembered what I had happily ignored for all those years in Maine. I encountered that special disdain and annoyance displayed so readily by those on the fringes of the medical profession. Being five minutes late I was too late to see the doctor. When I asked the receptionist to make sure of that she expressed her annoyance silently and stumped off down the hall.

She returned a few minutes later, confirmed that five minutes is indeed too late, and then she rescheduled my appointment, pecking at her keyboard for a long time. She announced that she could reschedule me for the same day. I figured that would be great. I could see the parade and then be back for the appointment. However, she rescheduled my appointment for 10:30 and then handed me a thick packet of forms to fill out, the same forms I had filled out in the emergency room, refused to believe I had already provided this information, and sent me back to the waiting room.

Eventually I was collected by a corpsman who took my vital signs and then escorted me to an examining room. There I met a doctor, a Lieutenant Commander, who confirmed that I was feeling better. Then he started to ask about my blood pressure and my medications. I mentioned that I was getting close to running out of my medication and would need to renew it soon. That stumped them. They couldn't figure out what it was and had to do extensive research through all their books and computer databases. Then they took my pill bottle and ran the name into the Google search engine and finally they had their answers. They set me up for my refills and for some other "normal" tests and sent me to the pharmacy.

The pharmacy was another experience in frustration and waiting. There were crowds surging back and forth, children clinging to their video games and cartoons on the TV. Old people coughed up phlegm and janitors rattled buckets. And I finally got my medication.

All that took a lot of time. In that time the weather broke and rained poured down in buckets. When I left the building I could hear, at the bottom of the hill, a band bravely playing along the parade route. I decided I wouldn't go stand in the rain to watch the end of the parade and I headed back to work.

As I made the turn at Marine Drive I looked north and saw the tail end of the parade, one float moving up the street with the rain dripping off it. I felt bad for all the people who had waited so long for the parade only to have the heavens open up on them.

So now I have my meds and I can get on with the positive side of the adventure. Today I got a long run of messages from Dr. Cunningham with pictures of his adventure on the canoe trip and scenes from the island of Pagan. I've asked him for more information. I also have several articles on building and navigating the outrigger canoe to read. I guess I'll stay busy for a while longer.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: M.Ted
Date: 21 Jul 03 - 02:07 PM

I tend to be either late or very late with things. In this case, Brett, here is a link that I meant to dig out and post when you were thinking about moving to Guam--What's it like to live on Guam? It is part of a site that has lots more info on Guam, much of which you have already relayed to us, as well as the lyrics to a whole lot of great blues and jazz tunes--They moved to Pennsylvania(God Help them!) or they would have been interesting folks to look up--

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 22 Jul 03 - 04:48 AM

Brenna Lorenz's article was one of those I found before coming here. She really tells it like it is. I love her comment on the cockroaches. When she killed a "bad" cockroach her son asked if there were any good cockroaches. She said yes and when he asked how you could tell the good ones from the bad ones she explained that the good ones were already dead.

Today I heard from the realtor. We have finished the negotiations. My rent will be $900 per month with the owner paying for the water and providing a new refrigerator. I take possession on the first of August. My household goods are supposed to arrive during the week of August 4. Soon I can give up the motel life. Hooray!

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 Jul 03 - 02:57 AM

Yikes, that seems pricey, but the place sounds nice and I am glad for you that you will be able to give up your room at the base. I'll bet it will feel great to unpack your own stuff and set up house. It certainly continues to sound extremely interesting there!:-)

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Jul 03 - 02:44 PM

Sounds like it's still interesting where you are, Brett. Judy and I are fairly flexible for either October or November, but we do have a priority for the 4th Saturday of either month.

"Quey," "Quay," "Pier," "Peer," "M'in chiger'in!" as we used to say in Ethiopia back when I was there in the 1960's.

Oh, there's an update on our adventures in San Francisco on the Press Room thread for those interested.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble in San Francisco

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Jul 03 - 04:13 PM

OK, here we go Charlie, we are in like Flynn. Your original intent was good. My partner in crime here and his wife are going to Nebraska in Early November so we can go to Australia for the break between November and December. Plan on the 4th Saturday of November and North By Northwest in December.

Stand by, Australia, here we come!

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: JennyO
Date: 23 Jul 03 - 10:52 PM

Yaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 24 Jul 03 - 07:24 AM

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.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 Jul 03 - 08:06 AM

see ya 24 November -

other stuff -
most Fridays we get together for a session so we will have to have one that weekend. I've got so much leave I'll try for some that week (I usually have some in Nov anyway!!) As I don't drive I can't offer to take you around, but I can guide you.

The Dog line up in Nov is the Shiny Bum Singers (co-founder Canberra Chris, author of the famous Toast Song) supported by Rhymin' Simon who met various English folkies when he & Jenny & the rest of the Solidarity Choir toured 2001. Floor spots will abound that night as the Bums are individually & in mass a talented lot. So too are Roll & Go members.

Hurry up November & Brett, keep writing amazing descriptions of life in Gaum.

sandra

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 24 Jul 03 - 08:24 AM

try The Selkie and the Fause Mermaid or DaniC's There I must Lie

or the Wolfhound

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 Jul 03 - 01:36 PM

Brett et al-

What joy! Judy and I will do our best to pull this trip together for the 4th Saturday of November, and maybe a week before and after. We'll probably have to fly round-trip to OZ and back without any stops in Guam. We can always agree to meet at a particular time at Circular Quay in front of one of the living statues. I particularly like the one that looks like a bronze wombat.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble, still in San Francisco

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 26 Jul 03 - 01:57 AM

No new adventures to speak of. I spent this afternoon with the Traditional Seafarers Society as they worked on their canoe. It is slow going for each piece has to be shaped and fitted individually. Then they mentioned today that once they finish all the repairs the whole canoe will have to be disassembled and relashed with new caulking and lashings.

Dr. Cunningham was kind enough to show me pictures of some of his adventures in the islands. He told me of his trip to Pagan which was depopulated to escape from a volcanic eruption. He had pictures of some of the buildings in the village with aa lava halfway up their walls. He had also sent me a story from a woman whose father had been murdered in the clinic on the island. The local belief is that the spirit stays where the violent act was commited. She says the clinic is now full of lava and ash except for the spot where her father was killed. That spot is clean and free of ash.

I guess I'll go snorkelling once the sun comes back out. There is a rain squall passing overhead now and while I don't mind getting wet before getting into the water the clouds obscure the sun and make it hard to see.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 27 Jul 03 - 05:32 PM

Isn't that odd. I wrote out a full entry last night but it isn't here this morning. I'll try to reconstruct it below but for now this is another straw on an overloaded camel.

I have maintained a positive attitude so far. What I have written accurately reflects how I feel about this adventure. There are plenty of difficulties and physically uncomfortable experiences but I believe attitude makes the difference. This really is an adventure.

But sometimes it catches up to you.

I have missed having music with me on my morning bike rides so this weekend I bought a belt to hold my portable CD player and some ear buds so I could get away from the bulky headphones that don't fit under or over the bike helmet. I wore the belt while shopping and exploring this weekend. Then, this morning I got ready to go out on the bike and found one of the buckles was missing.

This is a small thing, a minor inconvenience, but it hit me hard. Suddenly my attitude had slipped and I was on the verge of tears. Rage surged through me followed by a sense of devastation. It seemed there was a dam built of tolerance for the difficulties I have expereinced. That dam burst this morning.

But I feel better now. That emotion hasn't quite passed but I am facing it with more equanimity.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST,Julia
Date: 27 Jul 03 - 08:01 PM

Hey Brett- be easier on yourself, man! You are going through a transition on every level and can't realistically expect to glide effortlessly through. Lotsa great songs come from these kinds of times- how about writing some? Think about immigrants or lost sailors. Fred and I think you are doing "swimmingly" (pun intended)
BTW Joyce is coming next week- any messages for her?
Love & Hugs- Julia

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: curmudgeon
Date: 27 Jul 03 - 08:09 PM

Brett -- Why not share some of the "difficulties and physically uncomfortable experiences" with us. It will give you a chance to let off steam while reminding us that, in some ways, things are not that awful here. After all, we Mudcatters are a tough lot -- Tom

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 27 Jul 03 - 09:55 PM

Thanks. Tom, the reason I don't share these things is that they hit me and then they are gone. Or at least they seem to be gone. For example, without windshield wipers I have to stop whenever it rains, or stay in my room if it's raining and I want to go somewhere. This, at home would be a minor inconvenience and it is so here as well. But it rains a lot.

So, yesterday, while exploring the northeastern corner of the island, it started to rain. No big deal, I pulled over, turned on the wipers and waited for them to start working. The relay is bad and they do not start up right away. If I wait five minutes or so they start to work and then I can drive again. A minor irritation.

But, as shown by the events this morning, these minor irritations aren't leaking away but are building up. I can't have that. I need to do something about poking a hole in that dam and letting that poison out. Any clues?

Julia, thanks for the encouragement. I know you'll do lots of fun things with Joyce. I wish I could be there to join you but that is a long way from here. You know, she's very interested in the Pacific with her watchmacallit quasi religion thing. It would be great if we could get her out here so she could explore it on her own. I've met some great people, almost shamens in their own rights, that she might love to talk to.

As for messages, just tell her I'm thinking of her and give her a big hug from me. Neither of you have the necessary build to give her a patented Brett hug. Fred is tall enough but neither of you have the bulk to do it up right. But do your best. I happen to know you both give great hugs. I could use one myself right about now.

As for writing songs, I'm afraid my head just doesn't seem to work that way. I have tried over the years. I keep coming up with a good start and then the whole thing either slips out of my grip or is so lame I wouldn't want to air it anyway. And I certainly can't come up with enough words to make a song long enough to sing.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: JennyO
Date: 27 Jul 03 - 11:46 PM

I think it would help you to take the pressure off if you can share some of those little annoyances with us when you can - even if the moment has passed - I see it as a bit like the Arkansaw Traveller - sometimes you have to mend the roof when it isn't raining, so to speak. Feel free to PM me too if you want.

BTW, I only give little 5ft 1 hugs, Brett, but here is a virtual one - you can have a real one when you come to Sydney -

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Brett}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Jenny

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Lana
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 09:43 AM

Hi Dad! I'm sorry you've been feeling blue! I got the package you sent today, the necklace is very pretty and will work quite well with my bard/sailor live roleplay costume.

Things here contine to be boring, but Kathy, my supervisor is gone all week, so I've got access to her computer at work, muhahaha. ;-)
Hope you feel better, don't sweat the small stuff. *hug*

Love
Kelli

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Lana
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 04:53 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! :-D

i hope you have a great one! :-D

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST,HisOtherDaughter
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 06:24 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Tenjiro
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 06:29 PM

And lookie Dad...I joined the MudCat...can;t have my sis showing me up now can i? *winks at Lana*

~Amy~

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 01:42 AM

Oh Gawd! Both daughters have found my secret hideout! Now I really have to straighten out and fly right.

As "Lana" was so kind to point out and as seconded by her sister "Tenjiro", today is my birthday. I was a little depressed this morning but I went out on my bike and felt better. I rode out to the abandoned runway and made my way down to the firing range. I went down the length of the range marveling at the distance they shoot. I can hear them occasionally in the afternoon after work, their machine guns rattling and the pop of the M-16s. Down at the end I found a land hermit crab shuttling his green mossy shell across the tarmac. He must have been three inches long. On the way home I nearly wiped out on a pole sticking out into the trail.

At work the Chamorro women invited me to join them for lunch where they wished me a happy birthday. We ate too much and laughed and kidded each other. I had to make a run back to the room at that point but stopped at the office mailbox in the hopeless pursuit of mail, and there it was! Bundles of mail! I had three packages from home and three birthday cards! My windshield wiper relay is here as well as my father's jack knife and a map he drew of the area where he was stationed on Guam in 1947. There were a couple of books, and Charley Noble even sent me some more of the mail that has accumulated in my mailbox back in Maine. Mostly bills but welcome anyway.

Now the day is drawing to a close and I have to decide what else to do to round off my day. One of the women at lunch asked what I was going to do on my birthday. "Well," I said, "the list of things to do is endless." I could go back to my room to sit around or go back to my room to stand around." But I think I will go down to the marina and get the videotape to work on passing the test so I can rent one of the big Boston Whalers and go out on the water this weekend.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 07:02 AM

I recognize those bursts of anger and helplessness, Brett- I bet they're all a part of the huge adjustment you're making. New job, new surroundings, add to that all the little cultural differences- of course you'll have moments! They nay build up for awhile, but they should dissapate as well. Keep writing, keep spending time with friendly folks at work, keep doing what appeals to you- and keep in touch!

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: annamill
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 09:21 AM

Feel better Brett and thank you so much for this wonderful thread. I'm starting to look forward to it. I hope that isn't too much responsiblility. I just wanted to let you know how much I'm enjoying your writings.

Thanks again,
Annamill

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Jeri
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:41 PM

Fact: we often don't realize we're stressed out until it stops, even when it makes us sick. We always think it's something other than stress...well, I do.

You have "one damned thing after another" (ODTAA) syndrome. All the changes from moves don't usually get sorted out until about 3 months after you're there. Trust me - I've moved enough. You just get so you plan on a period of psycho time. As to the ODTAA, start with the easy stuff or the important stuff and fix something. It's amazing how happy getting just one of the pains-in-the-ass behind me (pun? what pun?) can make me feel.

Welcome Lana & Tenjiro!

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 07:37 PM

Wow! Got this big package today from Brett and YOU didn't! Inside, miraculously unbroken, was this neatly carved wooden mermaid, and a story of transformation and survival. Thanks, Brett, and happy birthday!

You know, it's really the little things that sneak up on you overseas, and nail you! The big things you're pretty well armored against. When the ants got into my stash of chocolate in rural Ethiopia, back in the 1960's, it was not a good day! But the loss of the Easter fruitcake from mother at the custom's house was expected, and actually hugely amusing, as we tried to explain exactly what it was; by the time it arrived it was rather green and hairy, and we decided that it was better to abandon it than attempt a ransom.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble, back in Maine

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Jeri
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 08:26 PM

...and I got a green, hairy chocolate chip bundt cake from my mom for Christmas when I was in England. I ate the part that WASN'T green and hairy.

Forgot to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (or day after, since it's Wed in Guam.)

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 10:51 PM

Thanks all. Charley, I'm glad Serena arrived safely. I was hoping she'd survive in that envelope. She is rather solid looking.

For those who don't know, Guam claims to be the birthplace of the first mermaid. Guam legend has it that Serena was a daughter who'd rather swim than do her chores. One day her mother, exasperated to find her in the water rather than working, proclaimed she wished her daughter were a fish instead of a person. The child's godmother was nearby and immediately realized that the mother had cursed her child. She interfered declaring herself as much a relative of the child as the mother and tried to revoke the curse. Unfortunately it only half worked and Serena's lower half was turned into a fish.

There are lots of stories here about the old days on Guam. One is the story of a jealous chief who declared himself the strongest man on the island. His son, though, was growing strong and fast. One day he saw the son doing things that he himself couldn't do. He was so enraged that he chased affter the boy intent to kill him. The boy ran and when he got to the northern end of the island leaped from the cliff top all the way to Rota, 40 miles away and thus escaped from his father. The father was content for he was once more the strongets man on the island. The boy never returned to Guam.

There are books that compile these stories. I need to get hold of them.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 11:21 PM

I'd hate to get my hopes up but I just learned something exciting. I have to take a class in order to qualify for a warrant that will let me do my job. The next instance of that class will coincide with the Getaway. And the class is held at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

So it looks like I MAY be able to go to the GETAWAY!!!!!!!!

Oh, I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope!

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Tenjiro
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 11:24 PM

Its ok dad...i'll just read this thread and stuff and be all good and ignore other threads so you don;t have to be all "good and nice" all the time! Hehehehe...Oh! I have given up on odering something for you and I'm just gonna get my lazy bum in the car and buy it and send it myself...much easier that way. Anything you NEED need or just want that I could send with it??


~Amy~

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 05:37 AM

Isn't that odd? I know I submitted a posting when I was at work today. However it isn't here.

Today at lunch we had pickled cuttlefish, salmon patties, and pickled papaya. They use a lot of vinegar and do a lot of pickling here. Plus the food is quite spicy, not as hellacious as, say, a Texican chili. The cuttlefish was made of a crosscut of the body of the animal instead of the tentacles. The result was a rubbery brown ring. Very tasty.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: JennyO
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 11:52 AM

Here's a little mermaid song. My friend Rhymin' Simon sings it. Enjoy:

MERMAID

(Shel Silverstein - Jim Friedman)

« © '65 Evil Eye Music »

When I was a lad in fishing town an old man said to me
You can spend your life your jolly life just sailing on the sea
You can search the world for pretty girls till your eyes're weak and dim
But don't go swimming with the mermaid son if you don't know how to
swim

Cause her hair is green as seaweed and her skin is blue and pale
And I tell you now before you start you can love that girl with all your heart
But you're just gonna love the upper part you're not gonna like the tail

So I signed onto a whaling ship and my very first day at sea
I seen a mermaid in the waves a reaching out to me
Come live with me in the sea said she and down on the ocean's floor
I'll show you a million wonderous things you never seen before

So over I jumped and she pulled me down down to her seaweed bed
And the pillow made of tortoise shell she placed beneath my head
She fed me shrimps and caviar upon the silver dish
From her head to her waist she was my taste but the rest of her was a fish

Her hair was green as seaweed and her skin was blue and pale
And her face it was a work of art and I loved that girl with all my heart
But I only loved the upper part I did not like the tail

Then one day she swam away and I sang to the clams and whales
I missed her face and her seaweed hair and the silvery shine of her
scales
Then her sister she swam by and set my heart awhirl
Cause her upper part was an ugly fish but the bottom part was a girl

Yeah her toes are pink and rosy and her knees are smooth and pale
And her legs they are a work of art and I love that girl with all my heart
I don't give a damn bout the upper part and that's how I end my tale

**********

Jenny

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Tenjiro
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 12:47 PM

That Rocks dad! I looked up the distance from Lynchburg to Fort Belvoir and it says 187.7 miles. ((It also says 4 and half hours but it looks lik eits near DC and DC is only three hours away from the school depending on the driver)) You could also see Adam as he'll be in DC.

~Amy~