More from the beginning....

It's Wednesday morning I think.  We've been on Guam since Saturday evening and time is very confusing.  I keep my computer on Eastern Standard Time so as to stay in sync with consulting assignments back home.  My computer clock reads 5:05PM Tuesday.  I'll be working often in the middle of the night.

Our first tropical rain this morning.  There were hints yesterday; brief, intensive showers that moved in and out with rushing winds, sounding like a truck barreling down the road.  I was taking a walk along Tumon beach right before one of the squalls hit and found myself using my umbrella as a shield against the almost horizontal sheets of warm water.

The wind shifted last night.  Guam sits on the edge of two trade wind patterns, either a westerly flow or a southeast wind.  So despite yesterday's prediction of only a 30% chance of rain, we instead are in the deluge.

When contemplating a car on Guam, we decided that because there was no snow like at home, and the roads were paved (although badly in spots), there was no need for anything but a good gas mileage economy car.  At home, all wheel drive and at least 8 inches of road clearance are the first considerations.

But this morning, taking Silvia to work, we learned that in these downpours low spots in the road quickly fill with torrents of water and clearance becomes important again.  The road to my wife's office was severely backed up with waiting traffic at 7:30AM in the morning.  We quickly realized it was school: three schools to be exact, filled with cars shuttling their children to the schools, waiting patiently in long lines to drop their kids off under shelter.

I had been contemplating more island exploration today and luckily the doorman cautioned us against going south: those roads flood over much more quickly and are to be avoided during rainy times.

It's not the rainy season in Guam, which is the summer.  But Guam averages around 90 inches of rain a year, so heavy downfalls can happen anytime of year.  Ken Koybayashi, our terrific real estate agent who has been helping us find a furnished rental so that we can move out of the Hilton Hotel, has been briefing us on Guam life during our rounds to various rental condos.  Ken, who was born on Japan, but moved to Guam when he was six, is considered a local and has the added advantage of speaking fluent Japanese.  This is a great skill, as Guam's primary business these days is Japanese tourists.

"The great influx of Japanese money to the island, though, has ended, but the tourists still come.  Especially among young people, it is often a preferred destination for weddings."

We were to learn later, from our new neighbor Lisa, who had lived for four years in Japan, that the Japanese still owned much of the prime real estate in the tourist area on Guam but because of the prolonged recession in Japan, had not been investing in keeping up the condition of the hotels in the primary tourist area, Tumon Bay.  As in most of the world today, many hotel chains don't own their physical properties, but are brought in under management contracts.  Thus, although Marriott, Hilton, Westin, and Hyatt all operate hotels on Tumon beach, none own the underlying properties; thus the deferred maintenance issues.  Marriott has already announced they are ending their management contract in the coming months.

We had already noticed two wedding parties in the lobby of the Hilton in our brief stay.  The buses seem to shuttle constantly to and from the hotel filled with Japanese.  United, which has an aviation hub on Guam, has daily non-stops to seven different Japanese cities and several other Asian airlines offer direct connections to Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and Hong Kong, as well as charter services directly to China and Russia.

Ken went on the explain the weather patterns.

"Summer, yes, it rains, but the main difference is the wind.  The trade winds do not blow as much so the air is much more stagnant and the humidity just hangs there."

Temperatures barely fluctuate on Guam, with the coldest being in the upper 60s-Fahrenheit and the warmest being in the upper 80s.  But with fewer breezes and constant high humidity, the summer months become "the rainy season."

Guam is about 20 miles long and from 8 to 12 miles wide, and in addition to the Japanese, it has become increasingly a major tourist destination for Korean, Chinese, and especially wealthy Russian tourists. There are also still two military bases, a naval base and Anderson Air Force base, America's largest Air Force base in the Pacific. The population of the island is around 150,000 and tourism is now a bigger economic driver than the military. It's an American protectorate, so US currency, driving, Internet, etc. etc. is all the same as the US - you technically don't even need a passport to go. It even has a US area code for phone calling. It's near the deepest part of the ocean, but the island itself is surrounded by coral reefs, so it is a world class, international destination for snorkeling and diving.

The "native" population is quite diverse: about 35% Chamorro, who are descended from the aboriginal population, but were converted to Catholic by the Spanish. Then there are American, Japanese, Filipino, and Chinese immigrant groups.  The Chamorro, who are believed to have migrated from the Malay Peninsula around 3,000 years ago, are spread throughout the Micronesian Island chain, although the remaining culture varies from island to island.  On Guam, there is a strong movement to revive the Chamorro language, which was brutally suppressed by the Spanish and later, Americans.  The language is now taught in the public schools, featured in a daily newspaper comic, and a weekly newspaper column.  The traditional Chamorro language has been heavily influenced by Spanish vocabulary but the modern language movement is attempting to revive the more traditional Chamorro words.