Farm Tours and Goodbye!

7am is just a normal time of day for me now!  We left bright and early this morning for our Farm Tour day.  I was excited because this would give me another opportunity to see the island for the last time.  I learned SO MUCH today and actually had a lot of fun learning about the agriculture.

Our first stop was at this farm called GrowGuam.  It’s owned by a guy from Australia, and the goal of this farm is to try and grow lettuce and tomatoes hydroponically. Hydroponics is growing things without soil. It’s so hot here and these have a hard time growing! Lettuce on Guam sells for $6 a pound! I was blown away when I heard that!  It was definitely the nicest farm we visited.  The other funny part of GrowGuam, is that they owner also owns a skydive company.  So next to the farm is the landing pad… it was the MOST random combination of things I’d ever seen! But I couldn’t help but think that this would be the perfect place for Grandma Karen and Grandpa Doug… gardening and skydiving in the same place! All they need is motorcycles!

 They grow lettuce in plastic tubes! It's weird but it works!

 We were in the middle of our tour, when we heard this little screech! A bunch of skydivers were landing!

 

 So funny and so random!

 

Look at how MASSIVE those tomato vines are!

 

The second stop was at the Guam Department of Agriculture Organic Farm.  One of the most interesting things I saw right away, was that they use shredded paper for mulch. It looked so odd, but is a great idea!  This was probably the most beautiful place we went. They had ALL kinds of fruit trees and plants, the only way I could describe it would be something close to the Garden of Eden. Things aren’t really planted in rows, it’s not like an orchard.  Western SARE has funded a lot of the research they’ve done here.

 Just a little shredded paper mulch...

 It ain't pretty (to me), but the plants like it!

 This doesn't even scratch the surface of what we saw, but know it was amazing!

The third stop was at a 30 acre banana farm.  The farmer’s name is Bernard Watson. He is a character!  He also grow watermelons on his farm and they picked on and cut it open—it was the best watermelon I’ve ever had in my life!  We also got to eat as many bananas as we wanted.  It’s so hard again for me sink in the reality of these beautiful farms we’re visiting… I’ve never seen anything like them. The plants and vegetation are incredible. Western SARE has also helped with funding to do research on bacteria that is killing the trees on his farm.

 Banana trees!

 

 They had to get on a ladder and lift the power lines to get the bus we were in to fit!

 Left is Bernard the Banana Farmer, and right is Frank Cruz who made my coconut oil sunburn treatment!

 Best watermelon of my life!

The last stop was at the University of Guam Extension Farm.  They are the only place on Guam that sells eggs, and they make bank on it!  They also use a  hydroponic system to grow lettuce, tilapia, and basil.  But the coolest part was that I heard/saw a barking tree frog! 

 You can sort of see the tilapia in the window if you look closely

 Hydroponic Basil- also where I saw a barking frog!

 They have 600 chickens! And I have some pointers for Mom's chicken coop now :)

 Fresh Eggs!

I really believe the Chamorro people are some of the best on the planet. I have had nothing but the best time with them this last week. They are a blend of Philippinos and Latins- literally and culturally! They have such a welcoming and open culture, they treat you like family even if you just met.  As crappy as doing the conference was, I am so grateful for the experiences I’ve had! It’s been wonderful.  However I’m so ready to be with my other half and go to Hawaii!

Oh and the Japanese families here are ADORABLE!!!! They have the cutest kids and they make having kids look like fun!

I've Made Friends!

Last day of the conference, huzzah!  Another bright and early morning today.   I had to be at the conference by 7:30 today, but it ended at about 4:00 (instead of 9:00 like last night).  I sit at the registration table with my bosses wife Linda all day, she is very intellectual woman and boy can she chat! She was my entertainment for most of the day. She can talk to you about anything and everything… most of it about her family and experiences in life. She didn’t ask me a single question about myself the ENTIRE time.  But I can tell you a lot about her J Which is fine, I didn’t mine the one way conversation. :)

 My boss Phil is in the middle! Everyone at at the conference in one pic

 This is the main room the conference was held in, pretty nice eh?

As completely miserable as my sunburn has been, it’s helped me make a lot of friends! I guess people instantly have something to talk to me about, and I’m pretty sure I have heard every sunburn joke in the book now.  One of my new friends is Manny Hechanova.  He works for the University of Guam and was a the conference to help with all of the IT stuff.  He is hilarious!  He has been SO nice to me this week and today after the conference he said he had two presents for me. He gave me some of his favorite cookies, and a jar of spice made here in Guam that he loves.  I was tickled pink! He is such a cool guy.

 My new friend Manny!

Haha then there is Frank Cruz… he is one of the attendees of the conference.  I wasn’t quite sure what to make of him at first, but today he brought me his own personal sunburn remedy.  It’s a bottle of coconut oil, some sort of plant that had medicinal value to help sunburns, and then the scent of some tropic flower to mask the medicinal plant smell. I again was blown away at how kind and thoughtful these folks have been!  He assured me that this would help my sunburn more than anything else.  I was SO grateful!

After the conference ended, I had to go to my room and scream into a pillow… the miscommunication and lack of communication today was putting me on the edge! I took a therapeutic walk to the beach and let my iPod and the waves take me away for a bit…

 This is my all time favorite view from the hotel, I stare at this at least 10 minutes a day in awe.

I am in love with the trees here! They grow over the beach chairs and it's my little sanctuary.

Then the fun could begin!  There is this place called the Chamorro Village that is a local market open every Wednesday night.  I was so excited! I was dropped off with 5 of my co-workers, and several others came in different cars. It was SO FUN!  There was so many little shops and tons of place to eat.  They had some Chamorro fire dancing which was pretty intense! But my favorite memory of the night is when I was talking to this DJ selling electric reggae music.  We were going back and forth on prices when he offered me “betel nut” which my understanding is this local nut that is totally addicting, gives you a high and rots every last one of your teeth. I laughed and asked him if he knew what a Mormon was.  He asked quizzically, “You’re a Mormon?”  I nodded my head and he gave me a nod and fist bumped me.  I guess that was a cool excuse in his book.

 On the mainland kids ride horses, in Guam they ride water buffalo!

 These were my favorite things I saw, coconut piggy banks!

 This guy had some sort of reptile on a leash and with its mouth taped shut... I wasn't too interested in getting closer than this!

 Catching part of the show!

 The youth dancing at Chamorro Village, so much fun to watch!

 They had a chocolate store! Chocolates made in Guam! I was SO tempted but I am holding strong on my no chocolate for a year...

 So instead I bought a BBQ chicken kabob :)

This couple was KILLING me! They caught me filming them and waved for the camera! The husband has got some hilarious dance moves, and you gotta love her fake smoking. It's worth watching!

My last friend I’ve made here is Ed.  He is one of the staff here at the hotel.  He was the first person I met when I got here and he checked me in and everything.  Every time he sees me he calls me “Miss Megan” and he is always asking me how I’m doing and giving me suggestions on things to do around the hotel. He’s 23 and we had about a 45 minute chat tonight, I think we’re going to be Facebook friends :)

My friend Ed!

Hafa Adai!

I think a little bit of jet lag is kicking in finally! This is the first day I haven’t woken up at 5:30am on the dot! My alarm went off at 6:00am and I still wanted more sleep. I had to be at the registration table by 7:00am, so no early morning snorkeling for me today :(

Today was a little less eventful in that I pretty much sat at a registration table all day.  However I was finally able to have a video call with Dan so that was good news! 
  

Just a few interesting facts about my time in Guam:

• I have fish for breakfast every morning and it SO good!  I mean we live on an island so it’s fresh, a girl has to take these opportunities, even if it’s at breakfast!

• In Guam the greeting here for everything is “Hafa Adai” (pronounced HALF A DAY) is "Hello" in Chamorro, the native language of Guam and the islands of the Northern Marianas. It's basically used the same way as the word "Aloha" in the Hawaiian Islands.

• Guam is proud of the fact that this is where the sunrises first for the United States. So we see this phrase often, “welcome to Guam, "where America's day begins".

So one of my favorite people here at this conference is the Dean at the University of Guam, his name is Lee Yudin.  He is originally from New Mexico and since the moment he saw me, has been saying that he needs to bring me an aloe vera plant.

Well this afternoon, he walked in with a little bottle of aloe vera for me and apologized for not having the real thing, but said this would have to do. I am pretty sure there is not another Dean on the planet that could care less if I had a sunburn, much less do something about it to help me! It was a pretty humbling moment and great example to me that you are never to big to take interest in the little guys.  He is just an outstanding guy.

I’m definitely glad to be here, but I am so glad there is only one more day of this conference. I am such an oxymoron when it comes to people. I find myself getting annoyed when I have to work a large number of people all day, but when I’m alone in my hotel room, I wish I had a some company.  Trying to communicate and make sure everyone is on the same page here has been incredibly frustrating. So I will be glad when I’m back to my small office of 4-5 and my wonderful husband to spend the rest of my time with.

I was able to go on a quick walk around the hotel before dinner. These are a few pictures of the trees growing over the beach chairs to provide the perfect shade. The picture don't do these trees justice at all, they are beautiful!