Summer of Quirky Showers

Disclaimer: So you don't read this and assume I am a shower snob, I have bathed in some very "unique" ways and locations before...from buckets to sinks. I'm just always grateful to be clean!  I'm just making light of all my crazy showers this summer.

I've have showered in six different showers this summer on my Pacific adventure. (No, not six times.)  Chances are there will be another shower location on my trip home (I hope).    

My first shower was in the Narita airport (Japan).  Overall, this has probably been the most normal shower of the summer.  But simply because it was IN an airport, it made the list.  As you can see, Perry very much enjoyed his shower. :)  

Next were my Saipan showers. Saipan showers have been questionable over the years due to the fact that I haven't always had hot water. Thankfully, the Buchers DO have hot water. They also had crazy high water pressure.  (So high, that it destroyed a water hose one day when I was there. When they called the water company, they discovered it was way higher than it should be.  Normally it is between 25-40psi and it was reading at 130 psi!) Since they had a removable shower nozzle, even a trickle of water was strong enough for it to go berserk and flood the floor.)  My other Saipan shower spot is the spa.  During the years of no hot water, this was my choice shower location because they did have hot water.  But it is so loud...and there is this thudding sound that hurts my head.  It is very strange.  

Moving on to Guam.  The person that tiled the guest bathroom kind of left an arch in the middle of the shower, so the water can't reach the drain. Therefore, after every shower you had to squeegee the excess water to the drain.  The in the last week, the ants attacked the parsonage.  So, at the end of the shower, you would be standing in water with hundreds of dead, floating ants. (Still beats the roaches a few years back!)  Normally, the shower at the hotel where we had the youth retreat would have received high marks, but somehow I got the short straw--bathing after a hundred teens.  They are filthy creatures, if you haven't noticed.  

Then there was the Philippines.  At my campground location, I was sharing with 4 other islanders and me.  There was never enough hot water. (And by hot, I mean warm water.) The hotel shower started off amazing.  Awesome shower head, perfect water pressure, hot water....and then I realized the hot water lasted 48 seconds.  (Great water pressure and cold water are not compatible.)

So, there you have it folks.  The summer of quirky showers.  (And if you think I'm going home to an amazing shower.  Well, I have a hole in the side of my tub.  But maybe I'll get my bathroom redone this summer! Of course, I said that last summer.)  

Catch the Wave: Guahan

The Guam youth retreat was awesome!  (I didn't exactly feel great...and I was so tired from my Philippines trip...but it was still awesome.)  We ate lots and lots and lots of great food.  We did lots of swimming.   We had an Easter egg hunt with really great prizes. (It was an "Easter" theme.)  We had four services, several quiet times, and a prayer walk.  (And did I mention we ate lots and lots and lots of good food?)  Somehow, I cannot seem to find a single picture of Perry.  Poor guy.  He was there though. Froze with me in the hotel room for a second year in a row.  On Sunday morning, the youth also led the music for the the Sunday service and some gave their testimonies.  Great weekend!

I ended the weekend with a celebratory lumpia from my favorite Guam restaurant (2nd favorite Saipan restaurant), Troung's.

Last Day in the PI

On my last full day in the Philippines, I had the honor of going to the very first place I ever went in the PI back on November 11, 2005. (I remember because it was Veterans Day and a US Navy band was playing.) I went to the Manila American Cemetery where many US soldiers were buried during WWII.  It is the largest cemetery of buried WWII soldiers of over 17,000.  It is a beautiful Cemetery.  I'm not sure a platypus was allowed, but I made sure to bust him out only around people I knew and not around any other visitors. 

After the historical portion of our day, we fought traffic to get to Greenhills, the happiest shopping in the world. Well, maybe not THE world. You see...I was born to haggle. My parents taught me at a young age in our many trips to Mexico. So, I have no problems arguing a price. I just go with the mindset that there is nothing I have to have so I don't overspend.  I was able to score a few Christmas presents before my departure.  

Later that evening, I joined the American delegates for the largest (and fanciest) buffet I have ever seen.  Leaving Manila is a good thing....between Midnight Meal and buffets, I'm going to be fat.