Guam

Guam


I woke up well before 6 am and finally peeked out the curtains. There was a hint of dawn but no real light. Soon Ed told me I could turn on the light and I found it was 5:50 am so I threw the drapes back and we laid in bed for a while. The tug boat brought the pilot right on time: 6 am and we docked right on time as well: 7 am. You could set your clocks by much of this nautical activity.
In between I took a shower and promptly at 7, our room service arrived. We ate and Ed did whatever it is that he does in the morning. Then an announcement came on that immigration had gone much quicker than expected so everyone who wanted to could go down and get checked. They announced this several times. Ed did get into the shower through some of this and we actually got cleared through immigration AND agriculture check (I guess these two things HAVE to be done when you come onto US soil). We left the ship and almost got right onto a shuttle bus. We did have to wait about 15 minutes but this wasn’t bad considering the logistics. There were 200 people on tours (all but the snorkel and diving tour were filled) and since the ship holds 650 more or less (passengers: not counting the staff) that was a lot of folks wanting to go into town, Hagatha which is 30 minutes from this commercial pier. Princess has contracted for 3 shuttle busses that each held 50 people. The bus we were on left about 8:45 am. This timing was better than we expected because we were originally expected to go through immigration between 8:30 and 9 am.
Hagatna
So the shuttle dropped off at a Hyatt hotel and Ed went in and got us all day tickets ($10 each) for the local trolley which has several lines so that meant a lot of transferring and waiting. We were headed to the Micronesia Mall where I had the impression one would find a very local atmosphere and foods. It didn’t open until 10 am and we had to wait a while for the opening when we got there about 15 min. early. There were some of the usual expected stores and a few local. We wandered around checking out the local wares and we did purchase some fun things. I had brought the luggage carrier along so we had no worries about weight.
Eventually, we decided we’d better eat there since it was close to noon since we didn’t know how long it would take us to get anyplace else with the waits for the trolley, transfers to another route, etc. I saw a booth in the food court that said they had Phillipino and Chamorro (the local culture) foods. I think the food was only Pilipino but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Ed got some too but only after getting a dim sum from another vendor. After eating, we wandered a little more and then went to wait for the next trolley. We didn’t wait long and were headed for the old city but the driver said it had been bombed in WWII and scattered. Along the routes we recalled sites we had seen last time such as the Spanish Plaza, the cathedral, the statute of Pope John Paul II which rotates on it’s plinth (think Noumena New Caledonia’s Virgin Mary), and a few other familiar looking sites. After talking to the driver who wasn’t a font of knowledge but wanted to be helpful, and checking our time, we decided to check out a local mall. Well this was a real disappointment. It was depressing. Many stores closed. Others just very uncomfortable to be in. We went out to wait for the trolley. This took a while. From that trolley, we transferred to another one after a wait, and then crossed the 6 lane highway and hiked up to the Hyatt where the shuttle was to come. As we walked up, a shuttle, completely full, left. We waited another 45 minutes. The numbers of waiting passengers grew and the hotel invited us several times to wait inside in the air conditioning. Many folks had clearly done a lot of shopping, most of it was at Macy’s per the bags. There was a 70% sale there I heard and the non-US folks were grabbing up bargains like they were in an orgy.
When we got on the bus, one couple took up 4 seats with all their bags and persons. Eventually, peer pressure encouraged them to pull their bags in and allow someone (they knew and invited to sit there) to use those seats. The bus filled up with a handful of folks having to wait for the next bus. Then we bumped along for the 30 min ride back to the ship enjoying the clear water and gorgeous beaches along the way.
Guam itself
It is an island of course, part of the Marianas and not very large. Hagatna is a lazy modern metropolis where tourism clearly appears to be the major source of income. The beaches are a row of modern high rise hotels with gorgeous beaches. The Japanese vacation here probably more than any other group. Wealth is obvious in some stores and Hummer limousines. The weather is tropical and the temperature stays in the 80s with good breezes most of the time. The population are an amalgam of Asian ethnicities; I could not sort out the Chamorro, the native people, if I had to. In many ways, except for the tropical setting and architecture, it looks like many parts of LA.
Folklorico show
Ed took the purchases as we had them tied together securely and he was going to the room to drop everything, pick up the camera, and meet me in the Cabaret Lounge where a Chamorro Folklorico show was scheduled. For reasons I still don’t understand, the guard directed me to a clear path right onto the ship. I ran to the Lounge and got some good seats.
Ed came in right after the show had started and handed me the camera, which still feels gritty from the volcanic ash from Rabaul. I sat on the floor near the front and took mostly video since I now know how to pull out a single photo from a video and make it into a *.jpg. When they warned us they were going to pull folks up to dance with them, I skulked by to the seat next to Ed. The dancers, mostly younger than 16 from their looks, came out into the audience to shake hands and greet folks. They definitely look Asian but some could pass for Pilipino, some others for Hawaiians.
After the show, I zipped back to the room to see the missed lecture which the Patter said was going to be shown from 3-5 pm today. That channel is showing only the Princess sea witch. They have had some sound problems that have involved yoeman’s work on the part of the sound technicians on board and I’m assuming they are tied up with that.
When Ed returned we watched the kids on the pier as they continued to dance and sing for us until the ship was well away from the jetty. In between, I sorted out our purchases and stored Ed’s very funny T-shirts about a guy named Ed who has a surfing school. I assume it’s a joke as it’s hilarious. Ed has enough dried mangos to last him for ….well maybe a week.
So now the TV is on with the unbelievable vandalism and other ugly behavior toward those who voted for health care. Do you know how the world views us through this lens? Does anyone care?
Since I took so much video, I need to wait until Ed does whatever he has in mind for the storage on the computer before I can download the stuff on the camera. So no photos from the past 2 stops until I can get all that done after he’s finished with his part. I’m crossing my fingers.
Dinner
There was a review of what folks had done today. Norma was funny when she talked about Neville pulling her away from the sales at Macy’s. She did eventually buy a top somewhere and Neville added, since Normal didn’t volunteer it, that she bought some sun glasses too. Ha. Fay remarked that she saw another funeral today and now she’s wondering when #3 will appear. We clarified that none of these funerals were related in any way to the ship. We talked about legalizing drugs, specifically marijuana. This included a discussion of the exporting of American gangs and how different countries handle graffiti. A fun evening as usual.
Jon Bell
This is the fellow with whom we had lunch several days ago. What a talent and what fun. He plays instruments, sings, and tells hilarious jokes. He’s from the north of England but to me he’s so Irish in every way. Clearly the audience loved him and he sure does feed off of the good will of the listeners.
Star Party
This wasn’t a star party in the usual sense as there wasn’t anyone there to educate us about what we were seeing. The ship turned off the lights on decks 10 and 11 for an hour so we could be dazzled by how many stars you can see and how bright they are out here in the middle of nowhere. Interestingly, the moon was so bright that it impaired our ability to see many of the stars. We think we were able to identify some constellations and perhaps Venus and Mars but it may all be fantasy. Still it was a great experience and not one that can be duplicated on land these days.
We have to confess: we took the elevator from deck 7 to 10 and then walked up to 11 (no elevator to 11) as we were running late.
Emails
I received an email from one of our table mates on the last leg who also played trivia. He has created 20 really tough trivia questions. I tried to print them off but only ¾ of them printed because of some peculiar interface between the computer in the internet café and the printer there. To print them off properly, I will need to cut and paste them into a Word document and then print them off from that document. Since I had so much trouble (and paid for 6 sheets ultimately) Richard, the internet technician, said for me to bring the document to him and he’d work on printing it off for me. Then I’ll pass them along to Frankie for the staff to use on days when I’m not present and I’ll guard them with my life—well maybe not that much but no one on ship knows I have them so far.
Also heard from a table mate on our Baltic cruise who is following this blog. It is always such fun to think of all the folks who are reading this drivel and enjoying it. And then of course there are the usual troubles of the various friends and family that leave us feeling helpless and wishing we had some magic to make everything right.
Holy Week
It hit me today that Easter isn’t far away. Nor is Passover; we picked up a rabbi today but there are some “challenges” with his visas so the ship is doing some fast work to see if they can resolve those difficulties. But I wanted to decorate in some way so I bought some napkins with an Easter Rabbit painting eggs and I’ve put them outside our door for decoration.
Speaking of door decorations, it is fun to see what people put on their doors. Some have appropriate themes related to holidays, e.g. St. Patrick’s Day and now Easter. You can see the freebies folks were given in greetings on shore as they wind up on the doors or mailboxes. Balloons announce that someone had a birthday or anniversary.