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!