Life on Guam

I have had very little chance to get internet access so I am not able to post any news. Here is what I have been up to so far.

Day 1:
Wow. It has been a crazy day and a half of travel. I have no idea what time or day it is. I feel like I am in a dream. So tired. I hope I don't have to sit in an airplane seat again for a long time. I finally arrived in guam last night and I am very excited to be here. It is a beautiful place and the people have been very friendly to me. This is totally foreign to me. Everything aroun me puts me out of my comfort zone. I am having a tough time wrapping my head around the fact that I am half way around the world from where I call home and what I know as 'normal'. Its going to take a while before I feel comforable and secure in this new land.

I was picked up by Dr. Terry and Dr. Marler, whom I will be working with here. They took me to dinner and to the student dorms where I will be staying for the next month. I have a room with no air conditioning and I feel like I'm going to suffocate in there. Last night I only had about 2 hours of sleep. I think it's a combination of heat, humidity, and my body thinks its afternoon. This is my first dorm experience...and and this will be the last. The dorm needs some serious work. the bathrooms are the worst part. I won't go into detail but I'm sure your imagination can take you to some 'magical' place and you can picture it yourself.

The living conditions may not be what I'm used to but the people at the dorms are probably the friendliest people I've met in a long time. I met a group of people last night who were extremely nice (more about them later). I told them I am from Utah and everyone was so impressed that I came from so far. They were also confused as to why I would choose Guam. The lady at customs asked me the exact same thing.

I got a chance to go to the world's largest K-Mart last night. WooHoo! I had to get a life-saving fan for the sauna I currently sleep in. This K-mart is so large that it attracts hundreds if not thousands of Japanese tourists every day. We were there about 9:00pm and there were about 4 large tour busses and several taxis loaded with Japanese people. At freaking K-Mart!!! They were buying cheap "American" crap probably made in China. Just another thing to put me out of my comfort zone. Like the crazy flying devil-beetle that was in the bathroom. I don't know what the people here call them but thats what they should be called. When I was brushing my teeth this morning I noticed it near one of the sinks. It looked like a big brown marble with a small head. Or like the thing harry potter chaces around on his broom (I don't know what thats called either. This is the informative part of this entry) Anyway, I thought it was just some sort of docile crawling insect so I didn't pay much attention to it. Then it took to the air. This thing sounded like a .50 caliber machine gun strapped to a helicopter piloted by the devil himself. It scarred the crap outta me. Luckily this thing was too fat to have any speed and too stupid to avoid walls. I hurried and finished brushing my teeth while keeping an eye locked on the 6 legged beast which by then had ran into a wal mid-flight and landed upside down again. I got out of there so fast one might have thought I was running from certain death...because I was.

I've been up for a few hours now and as I have been writing this, I have been keeping track of a little gecko on the window that has been pouncing on unfortunate insects. He has recently been replaced by a beautiful sunrise. It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day.