Guam, Day 2 (or is it three because of the International Dateline?)

Although I have not taken the Continental Micronesia flight to Guam a half dozen times, being on that flight was as comfortingly familiar as rolling our cars past Fritz Creek on the way home at night. There was nothing mysterious or surprising about it. The flight was only half full and I had a row to myself. It was over staffed. Carts were coming up and down the isle for what seemed like the entire trip to bring beverages or food. And then, like clockwork, an hour and a half prior to landing they came through the cabin with a vanilla ice cream with strawberry cup and a wooden stick. Beautiful.

In my first posting I mentioned that I had met a couple of cute young girls who let me use their laptop. They were Tom Petty’s song ’American Girl’ embodied, “raised on promises…she couldn’t help thinking that there, was a little more to life, somewhere else”. When I asked them they told me, “We had to get out of there, so we looked on the map and picked the farthest place we could go. We saved our money and rented an apartment for three months on Guam.” Both wearing black UGG boots. Both with tight low slung sweatpants. One with cool tattoo on the left hip, DD breasts in a tank and fabulous fake eyelashes. The other blond with her hair up on her head in a pony tail. Oh Yes…completely wonderful American Girls!

When we met again at the baggage pick up they told me they were hoping to find a couple of cute Navy men. I don’t think they will have a problem with that. They were such sweet and excited young women. I wish them such good luck!

Why do I bring all this up? Because all of us had wondered what would happen to me in customs. I have been very plain about my concerns about me and some big Chamorro guy and my suitcase. Well, wouldn’t you know… Who got through customs effortlessly? Who had their baggage searched from top to bottom and every panty was being spread out upon the table?

My poor friends…

Side note: I just saw my first pick up truck loaded with people drive by! Ah, home…

I walked through customs and who should be sitting there behind the glass peering in waiting for me but Stacey; my birthday twin and DeeJay and Willie’s sister. She is in 4th grade and she is beautiful. Coffee skin with a small mole by her eye. Lucy was behind her and Lucy looks good. She has lost weight and looks so much more relaxed than she did in Saipan. Manuel and Germaine pulled up in the car and they looked good too. Germaine is getting tall! He will be tall like DeeJay.

They took me to the “ranch” where they are living. This ranch is something I have not been able to figure out until now. Now, I have now seen it with my eyes and have been able to put the pieces together.

They stay there with their cousins and their landlord is a Chamorro. We pulled up and the main house is a well kept place sitting on that beautiful red island dirt. Plants are potted and growing around. There is a meeting place that Lucy told me that she built. It is in Yapese style, thatched roof, tables. We sat with her cousin who I remember from the old days in Saipan when they lived in CK. Someone’s grandma was there. A boy who I can vaguely remember from the CK days was there staring at this white mama. Everyone is enjoying betel nut.

After a few minutes Lucy said, “Well, lets get our stuff together” as this was our plan…that she and the kids stay with me at the hotel. She is so sweet because she would not let them pack their things to come with me right off. She said when she picked me up, “Alana you have traveled so far, you need to be alone tonight so you can relax. Then we come in the morning.” Totally leaving it up to me if I wanted to change my mind. The kids stood silently behind her. I said, “Are you kidding? You are coming tonight.” And the kids exploded with joy!

So we sat there, with the family, at the ranch, and then Lucy walked me back to what she referred to as “her house.” Valda, Mom, you know how Marina told Valda she could live in Vince’s shed? Lucy and the family would be overjoyed to live in that shed compared to the tin garden shack they are having to live in now. The place is maybe 10 by 12, tin walls, and the four of them are crammed in there with all of there clothes. They go to the bathroom in a jonny on the spot that gets filled to the rim and cleaned weekly. They shower in cold water that they collect from the rain and they have privacy because they have built a metal wall around it.

Outside the door of this so called house is a beautiful farm that Lucy is growing for the owner. Tidy rows of green onions, eggplant,…

She then told me about her plan to move. It is a good plan that is going to happen this week if I can help her. Because I now understand what is going on over there. The Paag family are like surfs to a Chamorro man who has this land for free from the Chamorro heritage land trust. He won’t let them expand their shack because there can only be so many houses on the land. I imagine he is supposed to be living on it, but he has a better place somewhere else. When the Paags have a day off from their day jobs and they go out to do other things, he gets very angry that they are not there farming. He doesn’t sound like an evil guy. Just a guy who knows how to get labor for nothing and wants to keep his land…

Um hum…

I thought the roaches at Resihna’s apartment were bad Lucy says the roaches crawl up and into their shack and crawl on the kids at night. . If any food gets left out in their kitchen (it is a huge communal kitchen and the other tenants of this farm are not as fastidious as Lucy) the next day, the food is full of maggots.”Alana,” she said, “The first time I saw it I really thought I was going to vomit”. The snakes…the snakes freak out all of them except for Manuel, who can kill them easily.

There are good things of course. Their garden is out of this world. They have pigs (and it disgusts Lucy how much of their food has to go to those pigs.) The owner took one to sell and then he split the profit with them (thoughtful, isn’t it?). She really is the farmer that DeeJay told us she was.

So, the Paag family is LOVING staying at the hotel. They are sleeping soundly while I watch the sun rise over Tumon Bay. It is cool this morning. A perfect temperature. Our room has a balcony looking out at the tourist strip and I have enjoyed two cups of coffee and this journaling while the sun made her un-dramatic rise in the sky. This is what I fantasize about as I sit by ‘My Precious’ each morning. The island breezes, the sun.

I am so grateful to be here. What a blessed life I’ve been granted.

Pan-Pacific Expo Day 0/1

After a week of parties, preparation and indecisiveness, I finally found my way to the Anchorage “Ted the Felon” Stevens International airport. It was not easy to get on the way. Irene and I made Matt decide if she should drive me up there or if I should just fly. Luckily, Matt knows what we need. I need my friend to keep me calm, ease my anxieties, help me prune my packing, and She needs time alone with her thoughts. We really are a good match that way.

Irene says that the minute she can see Homer in the rear view mirror of her van it’s over for her. All the pre-trip angst and worry vanishes and it becomes all about being where she is. I could not concur with the feeling.

I mean, it wasn’t until we got to Girdwood that I realized that I had forgotten to pack any shoes. It was another reason that I was glad Matt encouraged us to go up to Anchorage the night before. So, before we could go to the hotel, or out to eat we had to have a Value Villiage extravaganza, with Irene as my personal shopper.

Notes to Irene: My choice of pants (you know weirdly cute and comfy ones with groovy inner trim) set off every alarm at the TSA and I found myself getting pat down in the glass cage. Nice. Yea, the TSA agent was cute and all, but not as cute as the girls who work in Nordstroms…you know…

Luckily she and I didn’t try to blog from the airport! My pat down took so long that I got to the gate right in the nick of time. And I didn’t even get to tell the TSA fellows watching us through the glass to take my picture. Bummer.

It was a nice flight, mellow, relaxed, secure feeling. A few minutes into the flight the captain came over the speaker and said, “Welcome aboard. If you look to the left you will see we are now passing over the Hamlet of Homer and Kachemak Bay.” I looked out to wave at everyone, and saw that you, again, were covered in a blanket of clouds and I looked up, from my seat, into the sun. It was at this point I was able to finally relax and say Aloha to the worries of my Alaskan life.

One of the fun memories Falcom has of Honolulu is the cab ride we took in the limo. Falcom, you can imagine my surprise when I saw it parked there at the taxi stand. Since I was only one person, I couldn’t take it, but I could take a picture.

At 1226 Young Street, I found Resihna making bar-b-que for me. Gloria piled up a big plate of rice and Resihna piled it high with short ribs, chicken, and steak. The neighbors came over and brought me some fish soup. I pulled up the fin to take some meat from the bone and up came the head of a lovely little parrot fish. Yea baby…I’m back on the islands!

We talked and laughed and they couldn’t believe how skinny I’ve become. I write this because it is a terrific departure from the usual island greeting of, “You have gotten so fat!” And If you think I am kidding that this is the usual island greeting…leave me a note and I’ll tell you all a little story…

A young cousin of ours has been in the hospital for three weeks with a bone infection. She has to take IV antibiotics and everyone has been very worried for her. Gloria walked me over to the hospital after dinner so that I could visit her. Falcom has such dear memories of her. She had a couple of cousins over to her room for a sleep over. Everyone is very excited that she is well enough to have friends over to her room for sleep over parties. I also understand that there is a killer kids room there where they play Wii and Xbox all day. Another reason to come to Hawaii for your medical treatments!

Once we were away from the house Gloria and I got to spend a lot of time talking together. Oh! How I love and worry about this girl! Being with her is like being with Falcom. They are so alike, so heart centered, so sensitive, such hot blood!. The connection and love I feel with her is incredible!

Back at the apartment I sat with Resihna as she talked in Pohnapean with all of the neighbors and family. Mana finally was able to hang up the phone and come out and see me. You have got to love teenagers! They can be such a delight! Especially ones that don’t feel even the slightest sway of parental influence! It is amazing that she is graduating this year. Amazing that she is turning 18. Amazing that she is a woman. Yikee!

At midnight we went into the tiny apartment and we all crashed out. I spent all morning drinking coffee with Resihna, chatting, listening to her stories, listening to her complain to me about that family that won’t even leave her alone long enough for her to have time with me. It is so nice to have such a distinctive sister.

And now, at the airport waiting to fly to Guam. I am sitting in the open walkway feeling the afternoon breeze picking up from the sea. The palm trees are gently swaying. The sun is warm. The coy are huge in the meditation pond. There are no birds flying in the food court. It’s the embodiment of all those songs in the soundtrack of Hawaiian vacations. Tourists are scantly clad, locals are COLD, Asians and Micronesian woman are wearing lovely shoes with their slacks. It is nice to be on the islands again.

Alana's Pan-Pacific Expo

The post I typed is on my computer and I can't get online here at this airport!  I met a couple of cute girls and they are letting me use theirs.  Keep posted as I am quite sure that sometime tonight, once I am in Guam, I will be able to update you on my Pan-Pacific Expo part 0/1.

Yes, all is well.  Thank you all for all the support and love you gave me to help me get out of Alaska.  

To answer your question, yes, the sun is a beautiful friend.

Happy 16th Birthday Willie!

The most important thing I needed to accomplish this week before leaving for my trip was to organize the birthday weekend party for our beloved WILLIE PAAG! It seems like just yesterday that I was throwing him a 6 year old birthday; we were in Saipan, there was a pinata.

Who would have known that those early days together would have lead to this?

There was a lot of pre-party negotiating going on with Willie. For instance, he really wanted me to make lumpia. For those of you not familiar with these delicious Filipino treats, they are like a Filipino egg roll. They are filled with fabulous things and fried up and they are delicious. When you as a Filipino friend about making them they will often say, "So good! So much chopp chopp! You have to have a wrapping party!"

I put the ca -bash on that. We settled for pizza and sushi and he wanted pancit, but I said no to that as well, and when I thought we had worked everything out, he tells me that he wanted chili dogs and arn't they on the list? And the cake~he wanted a "Tokyo Mater" cake based on the short film that came before this summers animated 'Bolt'. Could he have picked a more obscure reference? I asked if an icecream cake wouldn't suffice and he said that it would...whew!

He also wanted boys and girls over for a party and did not really get the concept of a sleep over and that girls do not sleep over and you don't call their parents at like 11pm to come pick them up.

He also wanted a pinata.

Imagine: six 14 through 18 year old boys swinging at a pinata....inside my house!

This was also a concept that he was not fully able to let go of. His friends "aren't that crazy". I imagine that this is true because the parents of all the kids called me and interviewed me before sending their kids off to my house. I havn't had to be interviewed in a while and it gave me hope that indeed Willie has nice friends.

Irene told him that she would have a mid-year birthday party where there could be a pinata OUTSIDE. Seemed like a deal to me.

Suzanne and Valda and Mema were here. Vince got stuck in Anchorage and missed the cake festivities. Oh...all the food I made...no one was really eating because they all brought energy drinks to the party, so they weren't that hungry. As I sat around the table with the bunch of super hyped up young men I was so grateful that I did not spend hours chopping, rolling, and frying lumpia!

They spent the evening in the basement watching movies, playing Wii, farting on each other I'm sure...I know they were wrestling on each other and I was glad we hadn't finished the drywall down there. This post is virtually picture free because I wasn't going to intrude into the dude space with my paparatzi ways.

They were fun and funny and I thought I would be up all night listening to them, but I actually only woke up once when a very angry sounding DeeJay was yelling, "Jesse stop spraying my Axe! I spend a lot of money for Axe!" I was secretly praying that they were having Axe wars and that by the morning Axe would no longer be a part of my life, but...no such luck.

They all slept in and in the morning Wille came upstairs with happy eyes.

Happy birthday Willie, we love you.

Regular Tuesday with Irene

Today was a special day because it marks Maya's first bus ride home from school! Such a darling girl...and how marvelous listening to her little voice as her ability to form her thoughts into words becomes stronger!

She poured tea for us and for Lilly.

I was in such a excited rush to see Maya get off the school bus and take this picture that I completely forgot I had a meeting at the High School with Paul G. scheduled. I suppose in the greater scheme of things, documenting Maya's first bus ride was more important than a coffee date with Paul to discuss DeeJay's new schedule.

Topics Discussed:

Husband's stress and it's impact on marriage.

Chris's attitude change, even on report card.

IEP goals...how do you set reasonable IEP goals, I mean really?

Am I a total looser for missing the meeting with Paul?

The best way to make new friends...mutual interests or shared hatred of people and events?

Getting back on the program at WW

Blog buddies

Saipan...success? certainly! Does that mean I won't stress out about it non-stop right up until the very minute? Of course not.

And then, out of the blue, direct from Medical School, we got a call from the infamous Kimmy!

She's stressed to the max because she is giving a huge presentation of the benefits of global health work. I don't know what all it is about, but there will be over 300 people there and she will be a main presenter and she is stressed! I told her it really put my getting up in front of a dozen people with my kit of 'adult women's marital products' into perspective and she was laughing and saying that my talk was putting her talk about the needs of the world's poor into perspective. We laughed.

But I mean it Kimmy, how could you falter at all when you are getting up to discuss the fact that we can have an important impact on people's lives in the world!

Good luck Kimmy! You are indeed in my prayers! And I know you will ROCK!

Monday Night with the WW

In tribute to the One Year Anniversary of my going to Weight Watchers - Or - another birthday was being celebrated at the table next to us and the participant allowed us to use his candle when he was finished. I prefer the Anniversary tribute idea, although that little guy next to us was awfully cute!

After the second time of writing a fantastic post and having it vanish on me without a trace, I have finally discovered what I have been doing wrong. When an author finishes writing the title of a post, she should not hit enter from the title. It will automatically publish the post. Ah! Never to old to discover the delicacies of a new technology!

This picture is going to be replaced by the picture I am about to describe to you once Suzanne sends it to me.

Suzanne and I attended Weight Watchers where she took a picture of me on the scale wearing a pair of 'new-to-me' button fly 501 jeans that I had snagged out of a hand me down bag that was meant for DeeJay and Willie. I could not bare to see jeans this good hanging around those boys knees and so now they are mine.

I realize that I was breaking the golden rule of the WW..."No Carhartts, No Levi's on the scale", but I couldn't help it! I haven't worn this size jeans since before the adoption days.

I stood in the weighing room for a long time considering being reweighed in my under ware, but, there are too many men in the group now and...this may come as a surprise but... I am modest(-ish).

This week I had a plan. I worked my plan and even in Levi's I lost 2.8 pounds.

Plan your work. Work your plan. Go out to eat after.

Suzanne had called me this afternoon and informed me that over the weekend was Karen S. birthday. Suzanne said Karen had been keeping it on the down-low and it was just by chance that she had found out. I was shocked because it was on the day of her birthday that I ran into Karen and took her out to lunch, completely unsuspecting!

When I called Charlotte and told her about this Karen problem she said, so fittingly, "How totally un-Bush B*** Party Diva-ish of her to not glom onto an opportunity for a bit of adoration! To withhold the opportunity to throw a party to celebrate anything is, well, it's just rude."

Fortunately, Suzanne ran interference and the stars aligned and we were able to 'fall off the wagon' a bit for a funny night out at Fat Olive's with Karen, Mindy, Mema, Suzanne, and me. Margarita was working and so it seemed like she was joining us for the party too. Charlotte could not attend because she had already committed herself to babysitting my friend Bobo.

Karen, it has been a blessing for me to share many wonderful birthdays with you. Thanks for the years of friendship! From the 'Radical Mommy Playgroup' days to now...what a long, fabulous trip it has been.


In the mean time, loyal readers may be wondering what has happened to the many many many pictures of food and meals out that used to grace this blog. They may especially be wondering about this since I just admitted to having been out to lunch just this past weekend and it was not documented with a photograph.

I have often wondered if I am a bit of a food critic. I go out often. I eat. I savor. I relish. But, I know how difficult it is to run a small business and so I try to stay out of the critic business. Life is hard enough, you know?

Well, Karen and I went out. I chose an 'on plan' meal of a turkey burger and a salad. When the salad arrived I had the curious experience of not being able to pierce a leaf of ice burg with my fork. Upon further investigation I realized that it was because there was a band aide in the salad.
I checked out the band aide and found that it was once wrapped around the tip of someones finger and seemed not to have a blood stain in it. I am choosing to think that someone had just broken off a fingernail too low and had wrapped that around it to keep it from snagging on anything. I'm sticking to that theory. Really.

I told the waitress. She was horrified. She took steps to remedy the situation. She was completely appropriate. What more could she do? Karen was shocked that I was so mellow about the event as she and Mindy would have been totally freaking out. I said, "When I think of all the meals I've had all over the world that were right on the border line...you know? It's like those things happen...like...'Arg! I just drank a beer with a cigarette butt in it! Agk!' "

And although I claim to have taken the high road on this, I know that I haven't really. How do I know? I am still thinking about it. I found a band aid on the floor of the basement (thank you Willie and DeeJay) night before last, picked it up, handed it to Vince and said, "do you need a side dish to go with that cookie?"or when we were deciding on where to go for dinner and someone suggested we go to that restaurant I said, "I haven't cut myself or broke a nail today so..." It took a minute for them to get my joke.

Please know that when I leave here for my trip this blog will again be filled with pictures of food. The good, the bad...and the barbecue.

Oh...maybe you haven't heard. On Sunday I am leaving for a trip. I will spend one night in Hawaii, then go to Guam, then to Saipan, and then back home. It is a fast funny trip and I am going ALONE. I am going to see my island family and for reasons that are not family blog oriented. I am also going for reasons that have to do with the darkness and my mental health. I am freaking out a bit about being away, but...

I am also looking forward to getting back to the land from which I am so karmicly tied...

stay posted.

Veggie Day!

Do not ask me what happened that these pictures of texts came through on my posting! Well, here they are... Suzanne was a fantastic helper to me during the Veggie Deliveries! Look at how good she looks delivering the veggies. She's a natural!Can you say, delicious! This delight has not been featured at Two Sisters for a while, and thank goodness because in the old days this was a weekly part of my diet!

Instead of the Roulade, I had a soup and sandwhich and enjoyed this beautiful sunny window.

Look at my strong heathy daughter. She is proudly wearing my old tee-shirt. What a cute baby!