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January 08, 2009
Guam - Where America's Day Begins
Hafa adai is (apparently) the greeting here in Guam. I've only heard it pronounced one time though, and it sounded like "half a day." Everyone just seems to speak English.
Not that I mind.
So the flight to Detroit from home was on time, and in fact a little early. I made my way to my next gate and they were already boarding. Thanks to elite status I got to bypass the 300 people waiting in line and go right onto the plane. My seat was on the second floor of the plane. The very quiet second floor.
My seatmate was a woman whose shirt was about 15 times too small for her, such that every time she moved, which was very often, mostly to play with the buttons that control the position of the seat, both her tramp stamp and extreme stretch marks were there on display for me.
So I watched movies and drank Baileys until I fell asleep.
When we landed and got off the plane, the cleaning crew was already standing there in the jetway (no surprise - this is Japan), immaculately dressed, all smiling, and all greeting the passengers with a bow.
I went through customs and wandered through the shops for the two hours I had to wait. The flight to Guam was also on time, and took about three hours. I was wide awake when we landed. Customs here took about three seconds. I got my rental car and a map, found my way to the hotel, and went to bed.
Monday morning I got up, hit the coffee shop in the lobby, then went out and explored a bit. I sent a message to Shea telling her it was like an English Bonaire - 85 degrees all the time, beautiful breezes, and really friendly people.
Much like landing in Anchorage several years ago, it's odd to be on a plane for that long and see "Welcome to the United States" signs. But then one sees KFC, McDonalds, Ruby Tuesday, Outback, Ross, KMart, and Pizza Hut. Down in the Galleria area is a whole strip of upscale shops - Fendi, Cole Haan, Coach, Chanel, etc. I didn't stop to do any shopping - a) I don't like to shop and b) there is not a single thing on earth that I need, and c) if I did shop I would be drawn like a magnet to bags and luggage, and I absolutely don't need the temptation of that.
(See previous post about my baggage problem.)
There are tattoo shops all over the island. I didn't decide on one until yesterday afternoon, so I stopped in, and made an appointment for tonight. Size, color, location and design having thus been decided, I'll post a picture when I get home.
I've got today to explore around some more, so now that I've had my coffee and balcony time, I'm going to get in the shower and head out. With any luck I'll be able to avoid the tractor beam that is the LeSportSac shop in the lobby.
Written by Angela Tanner. January 8, 2009 07:34 PM