Christmas in July: Chuuk Edition

The Chuuk ladies retreat is always an evening event as most everyone works six days a week. I don't always love my band schedule, but when I get really tired and exhausted, I am grateful I don't have the typical Filipino work schedule.  (And it's not just Chuuk, it's all the islands.)  

When they greeted me at the airport, I was showered with gifts. I always feel a tad guilty as I'm the one that should be bringing the gifts! (And I do. Pasalubong is always packed.  That's the Tagalog word for welcoming gifts, and is one that is a part of my regular vocabulary.) I was given a mwar mwar  (head flowers...real ones, not the plastic). I was presented with a new Chuukese skirt to wear to the ladies retreat, a couple of pairs of cute earrings, and snacks! Gifts I bring are homemade cards, homemade soap, home canned jelly, pecans, and Bedre chocolate. (I did not bring jelly this year as the suitcases were already both at about 60lbs. And though I can have 70lbs, that is a lot to handle.)

The above paragraph was just so you would know I was wearing my new skirt, mwar mwar, and earrings in the pictures. 

We had amazing Filipino food to kick of the evening...

Then they opened the evening with music! (The keyboard player and drummer didn't make the pic. Sorry)

There were games, but I couldn't take pictures and facilitate at the same time.  (I'm pretty sure the gift exchange was the favorite.)

There was a devotion followed by small groups

We had Christmas themed prayer stations

And with all functions, there was the group picture(s).

And I was given another skirt!!! 

Short Runways

I'm on the island of Weno name. It is the state of Chuuk which is part of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).  Chuuk is made up of many islands and is known for wreck diving. (The wrecks being ships and planes from WWII.)  The FSM is in free associate with the US.  Their citizens can even serve in the US military.  This is a place of poverty.  Minimum wage is still $1.25/hr.  (It has been that since I first came to this island 20 years ago.)  But what has not stayed the same--prices of...well...everything.  

A few islands on the rainy descent...

But I didn't write this post to share of the poor conditions here in this country, but to share the short runways.  The TKK runway used to be the shortest runway Continental Airlines (now United) landed on. Most of these island runways are pretty short--and many date back to WWII built by the Japanese.  (Yes, they have been resurfaced.) Flights run eastbound one day and westbound the next between Guam and Honolulu.   

Here is a picture yesterday as we came in for the landing.  Just inches to spare...

Then you speed right down the coast...

Once you reach the very end, you should have stopped. (Hopefully, if not, you're in the water.  One of these flights did unfortunately land in the water once a few years back. One person died.)  The pilot has to completely turn the plane around and then take you to the middle of the runway where they roll up the stairs.  

Little Debbie

 Meet Little Debbie 

Sorry, it's a creepy night picture with her eyes glowing.  Little Debbie is my friend's dog. Sort of. My friend can't technically have a dog where she lives.  

Last year I met Little Debbie for the first time.  I was with someone she didn't like, so she didn't like me.  I was determined to befriend her this summer.   Our first meeting, she was a little growly. But I explained to her that we were going to be friends, and she had to get over it.  Eventually, she let me pet her that day, and we became besties.  

I parked the church van at her (ahem, my friend's) house).  I would drive the car (that gets good gas mileage) down to the village of Kagman and then switch to the van to take kids back up to the church.  When Little Debbie heard me coming, she would jump off the porch and run around to where I would park and wait for me. Every single time. She always put a grin on my face.

Yesterday, Perry jumped out of my backpack at her feet.  She immediately snatched him up.  I was willing to break our friendship over Perry. But I yelled at her, and she put Perry down. (Perry was not harmed in the exchange.  Now he is also friends with Little Debbie.)

And do you want to know the names of her first litter of pups? Zebra Cakes, Honey Bun, Swiss Roll, Cosmic Brownie....  (Honey Bun is still around the neighborhood.)

Barracks on Saipan...That's Different

I returned from Guam (back to Saipan) on Saturday morning. It was a mostly uneventfully flight.  (WAAAAAAY better than the flight to Guam when we had people screaming from the turbulence.) The only glitch was the 45 minute delay to repair a flight attendance's jump seat. (It probably broke in all the turbulence.)  

My illegally parked vehicle had not been towed (whew). This was a great relief to me.  I only worry about it a little, since I always park there. But I still worry.  There was one strange thing...or four...on the runway. Two military planes (large) and two helicopters.   But that isn't necessarily out of the ordinary, so I took my car and headed the mile long trip home.

I drove home, passing the grassy knoll.  (It's the grassy area in front of the airport where they play soccer and have bunkers.)

That's one of the bunkers. Less than a mile from my house. I am perfectly safe in an invasion.  It's been standing through WWII and the last 80+ years. 

I digress. 

I drove home past the grassy knoll and all was normal.  NORMAL.

That night, I met a friend in Garapan (the big "city") for supper.  I noticed a lot of military walking around.  Our restaurant was packed.  Since it was a Saturday night she figured they had come from Tinian for the weekend.  I wondered if I had missed a ship or a sub.

Well, 24 hours later I drove past the grassy knoll and it had been transformed.....into military barracks!

There were rows of "tiny homes" that they just put up over night.  Incredible.  There was porta-pottie row.  And then a couple of trailer/building/thingys that I believe are the shower houses.  

I'm probably going to have CIA at my door since I took those pictures.  When I drove back by later Sunday night, they had wooden posts laying all around it, so I am guessing a fence has now gone up.  I will try to go back (if I am not locked up) and get another picture before I leave island.  

Christmas in July

The Guam ladies had already done the lemon retreat, so Christmas in July for the win!  I mean....who doesn't want to get presents mid-year?

In true island fashion, we started 1 1/2 hours late. (That's one good thing about coming home to band. I always start and end on time.)  But once we got going, we had a really great time.

We played a game (and exchanged presents which I didn't take a picture of)...

We enjoyed a time of devotion and small groups...

And we ended with Christmas themed prayer stations

I missed the full day retreat.  However, many of these ladies also work on Saturdays.  So I feel like we had a better turnout having an evening event. Might have to be something I think about for future Guam retreats.  

Things Aren't Always as They Seem

Most of posts are glamourous (ish).  You see the smiles...the hotels...the fancy pools...the amazing views.  That's what people like to see.  The pretty.

In reality most of these people don't live in "the pretty."  

During my Saipan youth retreat, zero kids had been to that resort--to even walk around.  I have dropped in many times over the years to take in the beauty. I had swam in the pools. They live here, and had never stepped foot on that property.  I had asked a few of the girls if they had ever been there before.  Their reply, "Miss, we don't leave Kagman."  That would be the equivalent of me never leaving Francis.  It's true. They don't (except for when the church van picks them up to take them to church). 

During the Guam youth retreat, I asked if any of them had been to Onward waterpark before.  One had...in elementary school.  Me? I would have probably gone several times a year.

We had pizza at both youth retreats. That is certainly something that they never have.  It's just too frivolous and expensive. 

These kids are the kids that call at 9pm asking if you can take them and buy some food because they haven't eaten today.

These kids are the ones that ask if you could stop and get a jug of water because they have no drinking water.

These kids are the ones that are excited it rained because they could take a shower since there is no water.

These kids have no modes of transportation.  No ride. (And even if they did, how do you afford $5+/gallon?) 

These kids like going to summer school because it means they get to eat lunch.  

I'm sure some of them only come to church because it means getting fed.  But I hope that along the way, they are getting spiritually fed which will ease their hunger for an eternity.  

Guam Catch the Wave

Our annual Guam youth retreat was July 9-10 at what was formerly known as Onward Beach Resort.  (It has a new name now. It's Japanese, and all their literature is in Japanese, so I will just call it Onward.)  

We had the same lessons as Saipan, but new kids and a new environment.  There were two new girls (to me) that joined. They had moved to Guam last year from the Philippines.  They were a fun addition to the group. Everyone else had known me for years.  I shared a room with 8 other girls. (And the crazy thing is...I got more sleep that night than I would the next two nights. I whoppin' 5 1/2 hours!)

The resort has a waterpark attached.  I had been to the water park one time...at least ten plus years ago.  But I also recall having a terrible migraine that day, so I really didn't enjoy it.  In fact, very little looked familiar.  I only remembered one slide, but I think that was because it was on the commercial when I lived in Guam.   They have a lazy river, which I did remember.  (And it was actually better than I remembered, which was even better!)  

Only the islands have a covered pool.  And it was the most crowded pool the entire time! 

Since our stay was a week night, it wasn't super crowded.  After our first session and getting checked in, we had about 2 hours until the water park closed.  I counted less than 15 people other than our group of 13.  We only waited on our people for slides. It was awesome!

We ate lots of food and even had a birthday! (I finally got my SPAM fried rice!)

There was a game room open all night long, so late night ping pong and foosball was a must. 

And that was followed by even later night karaoke. (I am so sorry to those in the rooms above and below ours.  Hopefully they were empty!)  Thankfully, I am in control of my blog and don't have to post the video of me doing a Whitney Houston song in a moomoo.   

 But I promise, we had some great Bible studies as well! 

And I can't forget to mention the full moon and firetrucks. (We were afraid the firetruck came because of the birthday candles.)

It was a really special event.  Three of the girls had been sent to live with relatives 7ish years ago. I hadn't seen them since they were very small.  Now they are lovely young ladies and a part of the youth group.  That was a fun reunion!  I love my Guam teens and young adults.