Well Guam has changed. When I was there 35 years ago it was
not nearly as developed as it is now. The small villages that I remember are
still there at the far end of the island but area around my base has been
turned into housing developments and the village of Tumon is now hotel row. It seems
that everywhere you go there someone has figured out a way to create a tourist
draw. After reflecting on the change I totally understand the change. Guam’s
two major sources of income are the US military and Japanese tourists and both
groups are happy to spend their money on activities and entertainment. Oh well
things change.
Now Majuro reminds me of Guam of 35 years ago, limited
income, small villages, not a lot of night life, but plenty of quiet. Since we returned from Guam we have been busy.
I have been helping out a couple days a week at the school substituting as the craziness
of the end of the year takes hold. Mostly though I’ve been keeping the house
and entertaining the dog. We have just about reached the end of the dry season which
is a relief. We have been watching our water usage very carefully but haven’t
run dry yet. With the dry season came the trade winds which blow from the east consistently
at about 20 knots. It feels a little breezy at times but it also cools the
house and keeps the mosquitoes down.
Because of the trade winds the water in the lagoon has been
pretty choppy but it doesn’t stop us from getting out and snorkeling. We are
lucky to live in a place that has beautiful reef and fish to match. Yesterday we
were snorkeling off our reef and we saw a huge Eagle Ray just swimming by us, just
cruising by us and up the reef. We have seen small rays on top of the reef when
the tide is up but this is the first one we’ve seen in the open lagoon. Very
cool.
Shopping in Majuro is interesting. Most of the technology is
at least a year old and almost twice as expensive. We shop but generally don’t
buy. For most of our media (books,
movies, x-box games) we order from Amazon who will ship direct. For other items
from Amazon we send them to our friends John and Sue Rief who then forward them
to us. Music we get from I-Tunes via the
internet but at 5 minutes a song it takes a while to download our purchases.
Well it’s time to practice my guitar, after six months
sometimes it actually sounds like something. House to clean, dog to walk, and books to
read, life’s tough when you’re a cabana boy!
