Only on Guam...
Many of you know that I used to live on the lovely island of Guam. For those of you that don't know anything about Guam, let me fill you in.
1) Its tiny, approximately 12 miles wide and 35 miles long. There are two military bases one on each end of the island, that take up pretty much the large part of the north and south ends. Not that that matters much as there are lovely beaches along the sides.
2) Its quite near the Marianas Trench. This makes the beaches unusual because there are no breakers hitting the shore. Probably a good thing with an island this small. Strange though to live on an island and not be able to hear the ocean. There were only 2 or three places I could access (not sure about the bases) that you could hear breakers hit shore.
3) The food...oh boy the food. Great food, yummy food, really really bad for you food. Half of the island is overweight and has diabetis. To much coconut milk :)
4) Its hot. You have two seasons on Guam, wet and dry. It hovers around 90 degrees or so even when its wet. The only truely cold place is the movie theaters. Or falling asleep on concrete at 4 in the morning. Stepping out of the airplane the first time, I literally lost my breath, it was that hot.
5) The place is so laid back that they have something called "Island formal" its for weddings and funerals, basically it means you wear long pants. Believe me is that temperature you need to be specific when you want someone to wear anything that goes past the knee.
6) You have typhoons (hurricanes rotating backwards) AND earthquakes. Nothing like living in a place where drowning or falling into a pit are possible depending on the weather conditions. But it's handled like anything else. Stock up when the warning comes and prepare for a few months without power or running water. When Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of Alabama, one of my Guamish friends looked at her husband and said, "Well I don't quite remember where Tasha is but I guarentee she's got food and water for the next 3 weeks if she's anywhere near that." If we didn't live at the north end of the state she would have been right. On Guam everything comes by ship, so it could literally be weeks before a shipment of food/water/gas would be available. Where I live we have tornado's (the only natural phenomenom I haven't personally experienced) but I figure if your house is in a tornado path, its not gonna matter to much if you have a month's worth of water hanging out, cause you know the HOUSE is gone.
You can find a lot more I'm sure with a little research :) but that hits some of the high points...or hot points if you can stand the pun. (And you have to since I'm the one typing and not you, so nyah).
Yes all of this has a point, and I'm not just waxing nostalgic about my time on the tropical isle. This morning my stepdad sent a "OOG" picture. That translates to Only On Guam. There are a few of those, Guam is also the only place where you will find a Mercades in the driveway and chickens in the yard. Yes, really I've seen it.
So for your viewing pleasure.
Looks kinda normal right? Yeah...and now you see why it qualifies as a OOG...
1) Its tiny, approximately 12 miles wide and 35 miles long. There are two military bases one on each end of the island, that take up pretty much the large part of the north and south ends. Not that that matters much as there are lovely beaches along the sides.
2) Its quite near the Marianas Trench. This makes the beaches unusual because there are no breakers hitting the shore. Probably a good thing with an island this small. Strange though to live on an island and not be able to hear the ocean. There were only 2 or three places I could access (not sure about the bases) that you could hear breakers hit shore.
3) The food...oh boy the food. Great food, yummy food, really really bad for you food. Half of the island is overweight and has diabetis. To much coconut milk :)
4) Its hot. You have two seasons on Guam, wet and dry. It hovers around 90 degrees or so even when its wet. The only truely cold place is the movie theaters. Or falling asleep on concrete at 4 in the morning. Stepping out of the airplane the first time, I literally lost my breath, it was that hot.
5) The place is so laid back that they have something called "Island formal" its for weddings and funerals, basically it means you wear long pants. Believe me is that temperature you need to be specific when you want someone to wear anything that goes past the knee.
6) You have typhoons (hurricanes rotating backwards) AND earthquakes. Nothing like living in a place where drowning or falling into a pit are possible depending on the weather conditions. But it's handled like anything else. Stock up when the warning comes and prepare for a few months without power or running water. When Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of Alabama, one of my Guamish friends looked at her husband and said, "Well I don't quite remember where Tasha is but I guarentee she's got food and water for the next 3 weeks if she's anywhere near that." If we didn't live at the north end of the state she would have been right. On Guam everything comes by ship, so it could literally be weeks before a shipment of food/water/gas would be available. Where I live we have tornado's (the only natural phenomenom I haven't personally experienced) but I figure if your house is in a tornado path, its not gonna matter to much if you have a month's worth of water hanging out, cause you know the HOUSE is gone.
You can find a lot more I'm sure with a little research :) but that hits some of the high points...or hot points if you can stand the pun. (And you have to since I'm the one typing and not you, so nyah).
Yes all of this has a point, and I'm not just waxing nostalgic about my time on the tropical isle. This morning my stepdad sent a "OOG" picture. That translates to Only On Guam. There are a few of those, Guam is also the only place where you will find a Mercades in the driveway and chickens in the yard. Yes, really I've seen it.
So for your viewing pleasure.
Looks kinda normal right? Yeah...and now you see why it qualifies as a OOG...
posted by Kendi at 12:31 PM
1 Comments:
I only hope I can aspire to own a hovel just like that!
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