Priorities!

Perry and I woke up on our first morning (not exactly refreshed.  Stupid chickens go off so stinkin' early.). I had a list of priorities for the day:

• Beach
• Island Food
• Phone
• Prepare for Doom (but you get that part in another post)

Since my pretty island days were numbered (more later), I saw sunshine, so a water source was a must.  A trip to Guam wouldn't be a trip without a walk at Nikko.  I stopped by the coffee shop and got a fresh mango smoothie (with a 20% discount--I figure they thought I was military as the hotel was crawling with them).  I knew Saipan had really taken a hit in April from the typhoon, but I wasn't expecting the rawness to be in Guam as well.  

If you look closely, the palm trees are either missing palms, or thew ones they do have are brown and dead.  There's also a lot of missing trees. This is from the super typhoon that hit Saipan (but Guam was still close enough for significant damage.)  

The troubles in this world slipped away as I had this view for my Bible study, sermon prep, and the occasional dip to cool off.  

So what's missing in these pictures.  FLOWERS!  This place is always a tropical paradise of rich color.  But since the storm, the color is gone.  The view below is usually just popping with whites, reds, pinks, yellow, etc. (But at least it is mostly green and not totally brown.)

I did find one flame tree busting with color.  (It is growing kind of inside the hotel, which is why it was probably saved.)

I said I had priorities and island food was one of them. There are so many to choose from.  I began with the very first island food I ate when landing on Saipan in 2003--Pancit!  Pancit is a Filipino dish that I absolutely love.

I was able to get a local sim for my phone.  It came with 7 days free unlimited talk and text (including the USA) and data, which you will learn later may be very important.

We're Back!

Perry and I are BACK!  Back in paradise and back to offer quality entertainment of adventures.  Sadly for you (and thankfully for me) our adventures TO the island were dull and uneventful.  

Sure I got to sit in the really great seats which gives out ice cream sundaes with dinner service and has fresh fruit and bread at the breakfast service.

And there's the added bonus of extra cubbies and especially the bed!

And I watched two really good movies on the way over.  I can't remember a single bad word or inappropriate scene in either movie!  I am so glad the two movies I was hoping to see were showing on the plane AND were good.  If you haven't seen Michael Jackson or Project Hail Mary, you should!

And we had more uneventful time in the Narita lounge.  Perry enjoyed sipping his green tea.

And after 24 hours of travel, we landed with a hard thud in paradise. 

Asia Pacific Regional Conference

I was able to end my summer with a week in the Philippines attending the Asia Pacific Regional Conference for the Church of the Nazarene.  This was five days packed full of Bible teaching and preaching, incredible music, and reunions with friends. 

There was also an incredible amount of food.  Not one...not two...but THREE buffet meals a day.  I guess it was probably a good thing I decided to have my annual island illness at this point in my journey.  I am pretty sure it was a sinus infection, but it could have been strep as by Saturday I wanted to cry every time I swallowed. (I went ahead and started antibiotics so I wouldn't infect everyone, especially if it was strep.)  By being sick, I went back to the room and slept through at least one meal a day.  Saved a few calories that way. Whew. (But I made up for it by eating an enormous amount of pineapple...at every single meal!)

The hotel where the conference was held was connected to a four story mall.  It was a small mall by Philippine standards. (Yes, malls are still thriving in Asia!)

But by being sick, I also didn't feel like shopping.  So calories and dollars (or pesos) saved! 

This was a very strange floating stocking hat in the mall....??? Obviously, I needed a picture.  (Sadly, Perry wasn't with me.)

Our room was on the 16th floor!  The views are terrible because it was always raining (flooding).  My roommate was my Filipino "cousin", Janary.

As I said, always flooding....

Janary took most of the pictures with friends, and I haven't gotten them yet as she is still traveling.  But you have to believe me when I say that I had the best of times reconnecting with friends: Cousin Jana; Brian & Julie (they lived in Guam when I lived in Saipan...then I moved into their place in Guam when they moved to the Philippines...and now they live in Japan); Cameron from Australia and Bakoh from Indonesia that I first met in December 2006 (We have been connecting with each other at conferences since then); plus so many of my Filipino friends.  The Nunez family, that I first meeting in Pohnpei, even drove over to my hotel to see me! 

The church services were so good! I should start my back-to-school with a week of church five times a day every year! :)

And the cultural presentations were incredible. 

I was sad to leave.  This was such an incredible event.  The Holy Spirit indeed made an appearance, and it was awesome.  Maybe next time, I won't feel so crummy.  

And just like that, summer 2025 is complete. 

The Greatest Summer Accomplishment (Don’t Judge)

Growing up I was fortunate enough to have a washer and dryer, so laundry was always done at home. Though I lived in the dorms for a bit, home was 20 minutes away, so I washed clothes at home. My apartments in Stillwater, Guam, and Saipan all had laundry. All that to say, I had never experienced the laundromat.

During my summer travels, I always wash when I am in Saipan or Guam…where I have a washer and dryer available. However, the Guam washer is leaking badly, and they plan to buy a new one after the conference. So I couldn’t really ask them to use their washer. I had been traveling in Chuuk and then headed to the Philippines, so I needed to wash.

I stopped to get my annual spam friend rice and noticed a laundromat next door. I peaked in while I was waiting on my order, and it was so big….so many people….so modern. I decided that was too fancy experience for me. So I looked up the laundromats closest to me and looked for the smallest…and maybe not as nice one. My reasoning: fewer people to embarrass myself around when I didn’t know what I was doing, and they would be the old school version of taking coins that I felt like I could figure out. 

Perry was a little nervous at first (see first picture), but eventually he was willing to venture out of his hiding spot. 

The Many Stages of Paddle Board

If you are on Facebook, you saw this posted.  But I would like to share with you the five stages of paddle board.

Stage 1: I'm in the water...how will I ever get on that thing? (Please note I would not allow the filming of me getting on it. However, it actually went fairly smoothly.)

Stage 2: I'm sitting on the board! I have conquered the world! (We enjoyed a lot of paddling around like this for a couple of hours. We even ate our supper sitting on the paddle board. They handed us food from the dock.)

Stage 3: Uhhhh... maybe getting on my knees is not a great idea.

Stage 4: I'm on my knees! I have conquered the world!

Stage 5: Standing! I am standing? I am standing! I have conquered the world! (I have to admit, I was pretty proud of this!)

It's a Difficult Place

Chuuk is a difficult place. Full of poverty.  Education is not valued. There is no motivation to work. Suicide rate among kids is ridiculous. The amount of alcohol consumed is unreal.  You drive down the roads after dark, it seems everyone is drunk.  Fights. Rock throwing. Theft.   

Here's the front door of the hospital.  Not really where you want to go.  There's a joke among my friends: they prescribe two things, Tylenol and amoxicillin. 

This is the common look for a store.  They are located all over, as most people don't have cars to drive.

The skirts you see hanging above are the local dress. I wore these a lot when I lived on the island.  Every once in a while, I see them in US.  I stalk those people down until I find out where they are from. 😂

Not a great picture, but there is ONE chain store in the state of Chuuk...Ace Hardware. (If you look closely, you can see the Ace sign.)  But imagine all the prices are at least double what you're used to. (Then remember, minimum wage is $1.25/hr.)

Can't forget about the port since there are islands all over, and boats are a big deal.

And here's the airport. One gate. One flight a day.  (And....guess who did not get the memo you don't have to take your shoes off when going through TSA?) 

There is a public school system and many private schools.  (Catholic, SDA, a couple of protestant schools).  This is a picture of one of the Christian schools.  I wasn't able to snag pictures of the other schools. 

 

Here's where the cars go to die. There are so many...just lining the roads. 

And what would a drive be with a pig?

I could show you pictures of the houses...or all the trash.  It's sad.  But you've now seen the nice buildings, so I think you can imagine.  

Pray for the churches in Chuuk.  It is a very difficult place to minister.  Many islands.  Many obstacles.  

Catch the Wave Chuuk

Third youth retreat of the summer. This one was done a little differently because everything had to be done in one day. So sessions were shorter, but it was still a lot of fun!

Perry joined the worship team!

Of course there were games...

And small groups...

I'm glad I finally made it back to the island!