Category: Events

A couple weeks ago we went to the southern end of Guam for a fiesta. For those of you who aren’t familiar with that tradition here on Guam, here’s my understanding of how it works.
Fiestas are the national pastime of the island. This is the only place (that I know of) that people take out a loan for up to $25,000 to pay for a party for hundreds of people (most of whom they are related to). Oh, there’s no wedding involved. It’s typically to celebrate a patron saint (98% of the island is Catholic), or celebrate some other event. Basically, any excuse will do, and on any weekend, you can find a fiesta that ranges from a large family gathering, to an entire village joining in a celebration.
Our experience was down in the southern village of Malojloj. Here’s one of the monuments to an event by 2 ancient chiefs of Guam, Chiefs Gadao and Malaguana. Here’s the basic story:
Chief Malaguana from Tumon (in west central Guam), heard of the feats of Chief Gadao from Inarajan (in south central Guam). He decided to paddle down by canoe to challenge the great southern chief. As he got close, he met a stranger along the way who invited him to dinner. Chief Malaguana then shook a coconut off a nearby tree. The host (who was actually Chief Gadao) then crushed the coconut with his fingers. Chief Malaguana thought, “if an ordinary man can do this, how strong is the chief??” So, Chief Malaguana decided not to challenge Chief Gadao, but as the both got in the canoe, they were facing opposite directions. As they began to paddle, the canoe actually broke in half and Malaguana paddled so fast, he made it all the way back to Tumon without realizing that the canoe had broken.
Here’s a monument to those chiefs.

Here are some of those coconuts…

This church is one of the major landmarks on southern Guam.

Here is Anna and our friend and neighbor, Rachael.

Here’s the fiesta we went to (there were many going on at the same time).


Here are our friends Jon and Libby.

There are many carabao around the island. They are still used as a beast of burden, but can also be ridden for sport (as they are here). It’s interesting to note these are actually water buffalo.

While there aren’t many cars like this on Guam anymore, it’s still fun to see a throw back to a time gone by.

Here is my favorite photo subject.

Another popular sport on Guam is kite boarding. Here’s one in Pago Bay.

This is back on our beach, looking back up at our condo.

This is the outrigger canoe that Dan and I bought last year from our old neighbor who built it himself. Unfortunately, it’s no longer sea worthy, but it was fun to take it out snorkeling in search of manta rays (we’ve seen three thus far).


So, until the next adventure…
–Jim

Last night Anna and I went to an outdoor concert here on Guam. Even though Guam has the population of a small to medium sized city in the mainland U.S.A. (160,000), there are a number of big name bands that come through. This is mostly thanks for the military’s support functions to sponsor their appearances. This was true yesterday as well. The Navy MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) brought in a band called Soldier’s of Jah’s Army (or SOJA for short). They are a reggae band from the East Coast. You may wonder who Jah is, well, it’s the name commonly used for God in the religious Rastafari movement. I think they use marijuana for their medium to commune with Jah … at least that’s how it sounded last night. Certainly an interesting experience watching this concert.
Also, reggae music is the theme of the island. Every week when there are large fiestas (parties), the music playing is reggae. So, it was, if nothing else, apropos for the island of Guam.
Guam is a finicky place. It goes from seemingly cool and torrential downpours to oven hot in a matter of minutes. These umbrellas in the crowd were used for both rain and sun. It was HOT!
Here are some pictures to show you what I am talking about:

Here is one of the opening acts, a couple local radio personalities. Not my sense of humor but many people here find them amusing.

Here’s Anna and I sweltering in the heat and trying to find relief under the umbrella.

Our friend John:

Carrie and Christy:

Hmmm … yes, here’s a person who has an interesting mix of religion, family and drugs.


These guys are representative of the audience at large:

The MWR folks were giving away T shirts with this pneumatic launcher:

The Caribbean Jerk Chicken and his girlfriend were out as well.

Finally, as the sun was setting and things cooled off, SOJA came out to perform.



That concluded the concert. The music is pretty good, but we (our group at least) decided that the reggae music doesn’t translate well to a large concert. It’s good on the radio, or in small settings, but doesn’t have a lot of energy to sustain a large concert. It was an enjoyable concert nonetheless.
Feelin ayrie…
–Jim

OK, so it was just 2 posts ago that I did a series of sunset shots for Brian and Constance’s wedding. However … I have a new camera that I’ve enjoyed playing with AND I’ve been home to watch most of the sunsets this week. So, I thought I would share a couple of the pictures with you all.
Here’s one from a couple days ago.

This is a picture of tonight’s sunset. It was particularly pretty with the array of high cirrus clouds. It was like there was a fire in the sky.

In fact, there appears to be a fire in Anna’s hair to. Oh wait, no, that’s just the new color.

OK, you caught me. Her new hair color (we’re calling it a strawberry blonde) and style is the reason for this post. I though you would all like to see how pretty Anna is as a (faux) redhead. 🙂
So, that concludes this short entry. I’m sure Anna would love to hear what you think of her new hairstyle, so please feel free to leave a comment.
–Jim

This afternoon we had the opportunity to witness our friends Brian and Constance’s wedding on the beach.
Brian and Constance decided to have a traditional wedding on the beach just down from our condo.
Here are a couple pictures of the set up. Our condo is just off to the left of this picture.


The beautiful bride, Constance and her son, Blake, walking down the “aisle.”

The Governor of Guam officiated their vows.

The Beale family and governor.



Here is the wedding chapel next to our building. This one is designed specifically for weddings and was built last year.





I know this is about Brian and Constance, but I couldn’t resist getting one shot of Anna. 🙂


It was a beautiful ceremony and we were honored to be invited. We are very happy for our friends and wish them the best.
–Jim

Anna and I were witness to history in the making (or rather destruction) this weekend. For those who don’t already know, there are a number of Vietnam era munitions (read: bombs) stored here at Andersen AFB. When these weapons reach the end of their service life, they are removed from our inventory and destroyed. This typically means putting them on a ship and sending them back to the mainland. However, since they are so old, there are some that are not stable enough to safely make the long voyage. So, that’s where we come in. Our expolsive ordinance disposal (EOD) flight was called in to destroy these munitions locally.
Anna and I were able to tag along and watch the process.
Here we are with da bomb.

A close up of the 750 pound bomb.

Our EOD range is perhaps one of the prettiest anywhere. Not to worry though, there are PLENTY of environmental protections in place to make sure we don’t harm the environment. Having spent a year working as an environmental program manager, I can safely say that the Air Force is doing well in protecting our natural environment on Guam.

Here’s where the bombs are placed.

A front-end loader is used to carry the bomb from the trailer to deposit as close to the limestone cliff as possible.


Here’s the view out from the beach to Pati Point.

It looks so small and benign, doesn’t it??


Anna even got to sit in the HMMWV (AKA Humvee) for a while. 🙂

Once we got 6,500 feet away, we found a good vantage point to watch the explosion from.
Finally, after two and a half hours of waiting, we got to see…

BOOM.


After the explosion, the plan was to repeat this process three more times that day. Unfortunately, when they got back to the site, so much of the cliff had come down, they had to wait until Monday to clear it out and repeat the process. It’s a long process to get everything set and make sure it’s completely safe. It’s the right thing to do, but makes for a rather anti-climactic finish.
It was a blast nonetheless. 🙂
–Jim

So, as the counterpoint to diving underwater to watch the beautiful and unique wildlife, we instead geared up a large boat, stayed on the surface and threw lures in the water to entice the fish to eat them, so we could in turn reel them in and eat them.
Perhaps that’s a little over-simplified, but it was fun, nonetheless. Nothing like being at the top of the food chain. 🙂
Ok, our morning was spent on a large and very comfortable boat. The Captain took us out in search of primarily Mahi Mahi.

First up to catch a fish was Michael. We had 4 lines in the water, so when a fish was on one line the other three were brought in. The crew worked very efficiently to make sure all we had to do was sit in the fighting chair and reel in the fish. That sounds a lot easier that it is though. These are large game fish and don’t come in without a fight. Granted, a Mahi Mahi or Tuna is no Marlin, but it’s still a great fight.
When Michael brought the fish close enough so that we could see it, I was really surprised at how beautiful it was. Such a vibrant blue. I’d never caught a mahi before (or even seen one in person).
When it came next to the boat, the crew again impressed me with their efficiency. One directed it in and got the door open and the other gaffed it and brought it directly into the cooler. If you have a weak stomach, it could be a bit of gruesome site, but the process is still fascinating.
Here’s Michael with his spoils. Unfortunately, the color fades when the fish dies, so it’s not nearly as pretty, but you can see what they look like (if you’ve never seen one before).

Next on the docket was me and a fish. Mine was rather elusive. It took lots of line out and was fighting hard. When we finally got him in, it was a football sized tuna. Perhaps not as impressive as the Mahi Mahi, but a good little fighter.


Dad was the final fisherman to get one. He also brought in a nice sized Mahi Mahi.

Well, after 4 hours, we only brought in 3 fish, but we had a great time doing it.
Here are some other shots as we enjoyed our time on the boat.


As we came back into the harbor, the crew filleted our fish for us. For part of the tuna, we enjoyed a little sushi. It wasn’t yellow fin tuna, but it was quite tasty. There’s nothing better than taking your catch from the sea and in a matter of minutes, fillet it and eat it raw (with a little soy sauce and wasabi of course). Yum. 🙂


Here’s our party and crew back in the harbor.

Next stop was back home to cook up some of that tasty fish. Michael helped make a delicious meal of the fillets.
After we had our fill of the fish, we packed up our gear and went North for a short hike to Hilaan beach (AKA Shark’s Hole and Lost Pond).
On the way there, we stopped by Two Lover’s Point. Here’s a picture of Julie and Michael there.

Here is everyone hiking on the beach.

Julie, Michael and I ventured into the jungle in search of Lost Pond (it’s not very lost if everyone finds it, is it??). Unfortunately, like many trails on Guam, this one had about 10 different branches going off it. So, we took a couple wrong turns and found ourselves in very think growth with the pond nowhere in sight. However, we did come across a number of coconut crabs (a land crab that eats primarily coconuts and is considered a delicacy here). Since none of us were wearing the right gear to be trail blazing, we turned around and headed back to the beach.
Since I couldn’t let the jungle beat me, I decided to go back and make sure I could still find this lost pond. I did, but as usual, the mosquitoes were voracious, so I didn’t savor the discovery for very long!
We stayed out on the beach until the late afternoon, then hiked back to the car.
Here’s another shot of the beach.

After this picture perfect day at the beach (which also happened to be New Year’s Eve), we returned home. That evening Anna and I went to a New Year’s party for work and everyone else stayed home, packed up and got a good night’s rest for the very long journey home the following day.
Early the next morning, we took everyone over to the airport and said good-bye. It was a great visit and we really enjoyed having them come see our home in Guam. Not just anyone would travel halfway around the world just to come say hi!
We can’t wait to see them again soon!
So, until the next adventure.
–Jim

Once the whole Gingras family was together, we decided it was time to celebrate Christmas together as a family. It was the first time in three years I had been able to join everyone so it was a treat for me to be there. Last year, Anna and I were here in Guam (and unable to make it home) and the year before, I was deployed to Kyrgyzstan over Christmas.
So, here are a few pictures from that night.

My Mom made herself right at home and treated us to some delicious meals while she was here!


Of course, the big event was opening presents. As you can see, Julie gets rather excited when she opens her presents (this was a new lunch box … she teaches 3rd grade, so now she’ll be the envy of all her students with this spiffy new one!)

Here’s Michael checking out his gift.

Anna trying on her pretty new bracelet.

This is the chaos that ensued after the presents were opened. In fact, since we don’t have a very large condo, it’s pretty much indicative of the state of our place while we have guests! Sorry Mom and Dad. Hope you didn’t mind the clutter too much! 🙂

Well, we also took everyone out on the dive boat while they were here. There is some of the best SCUBA diving in the world on Guam. Ok, so it’s not Palau, but it’s certainly better than most other places we’ve been! They (I don’t really know who “they” is exactly though) say that Guam is better than 80% of the diving in the world. I would have to agree with that assessment (at least from our perspective).
Here we are all geared up. Anna, Michael and I were the only divers. Mom, Dad and Julie all stayed closer to the surface and went snorkeling.

We were fortunate and on the first dive saw 2 sharks. Both small, one white tip and one black tip, but only our 4th sighting in the wild, here on Guam.
Both dives we did were drift dives. So, while we were underwater, we’d just let the current push us along and when we finished, ascend up to 20 feet below the surface and wait three minutes for the safety stop. While doing that, we’d inflate a long orange tube (called a safety sausage) and let it rise to the surface. That way, while were below waiting for our safety stop to finish, the boat captain could see our sausage and motor over to pick us up. If the group stays pretty close, it’s a fast process. If not, it takes a while to pick up spread out groups of divers. Both times were about average for us. 🙂
Here’s what we look like in the water waiting to be picked up.

Well, that about does it for this post. Next one will have the counter point to SCUBA diving. That is deep sea fishing.
–Jim

Ok, so this entry has pictures from our visit to Underwater World. Since I don’t have a good underwater camera, these are actually the best shots I’ve gotten of the submarine fauna on Guam.
To give you an idea of how these shots were taken: Underwater World is a relatively large indoor aquarium. There are three main sections and all of these were taken in the second. That is a large walk through tube under a 10 foot deep aquarium. The animal life is exactly what you find out on the reefs here, so it’s very realistic. Considering the size of Guam, it’s a very nice display.
Ok, enough with the background, here are the shots:
This is a view of the tunnel (the plastic is about 2 inches thick to keep the water at bay in the tank).

A blacktip reef shark (looking back on my dive in Hawaii, this looks pretty much what the sharks there looked like too!).

Here is a porcupine fish. If you look closely, you can see the “quills” lying flat. When threatened, it puffs up (like a puffer fish), but has sharp, unappetizing spikes that stick out.

Our venerable friend, the green sea turtle.

A blue starfish. There are many of these around the island. In fact, our bay has the highest concentration that I’ve found. They’re a very unique shade of blue.

A group of whitetip reef sharks showing off their unique ability (among sharks at least). They are one of the only species of shark that doesn’t need to move to breathe. They can stay still at the bottom without moving and be just fine.

Here’s a dusky anemone fish with his host anemone. If you’ve seen “Finding Nemo” you are all too familiar with this little guy.




Another dusky anemone fish in his home.

This is a lionfish. Here he’s swimming quickly through the water.

This is him stopped in full display.

I know it’s a bit like cheating to use pictures from an aquarium to show you all the fish of Guam, but, hey, it’s the best venue to get it all at once! 🙂
Hope you enjoyed. Perhaps now you’d like to come out and see for yourself?? If you already live here, perhaps you’d like to join us on a dive?
Until the next entry…
–Jim

Well, the first party was a blast, and the second party was just as much fun. For this one, I was one of the people who helped plan it, so I had a vested interest in it.
We had it on base and it was more of a “tropical Christmas” theme.
However, with all the decorations, it still felt very much like Christmas.


There was a competition to decorate trees…here are a few, can you guess which one won??
Tree #1:

Tree #2:

Tree #3:

So, was it #1, #2, or #3?
If you said, #3, you are correct. It certainly fit the theme of tropical Christmas the best.
Each table was also decorated….some tables were very elaborate…others were….less.
Here’s a sampling…
The security forces table:

The Civil Engineer table:

Our table:

After dinner, we had a cultural dance show. For those who haven’t seen a Micronesian dance show, here are a couple pictures. It’s quite enjoyable…not like the fire show, but fun nonetheless.


We also of course had Santa pay us a visit to help pass out presents. So, here’s a picture with Santa and the Commander.

After all that, the dance floor was opened and we let loose a little more.
Another good party.
Until the next one…
–Jim