May 26 Tuesday: Dmitry, Chris and I spent some time loading their supplies onto the SpinDrift as they prepared for a Wednesday departure for the outer islands on the way to Yap and Palau. Dmitry likes to fancy himself a smuggler and he brought much more literature than he had told Mac and Charlie he would, but that is also what he feels is the biggest priority for those people on the islands, moreso than toys or even the medical supplies. We also did a bunch of errands, got water, last minute supplies, a fishing pole, etc. I spent some time reading and talking with the locals around the marina as the day wound down. Dmitry and I watched two short videos, Come By Here and Return to Hauna, about a woman who spent 23 years in Papua New Guinea, creating a phonetic alphabet for the language of the people she was living with, teaching them to read their own language, and ultimately translating the Bible into their language. Very emotional and very powerful. I'm glad I saw them.

May 27 Wednesday: Grace had the day off and Dmitry was needed at the boat, so after dropping him off, we headed to Mt. Lam Lam. It was only a half hour hike to the summit of the 'World's Tallest Mountain' (relative to the Marianas Trench) and the hike is marked by 10 shrines for the Catholic faithful, culminating with a field of Crosses at the summit. We were there contemplating the crosses and the views when we got a call from Dmitry and we needed to go back and retrieve him. They finished faster than they had expected and there was good wind so they wanted to leave sooner. We went back so Dmitry could get the rest of his stuff from home. Then we took him back to the base and said goodbye. I had time to quickly go through the War museum just outside the gates of the naval base. Grace took me to the Chamorro village, a weekly open market/cultural experience. The dancing was later in the evening, so we missed that, but I picked up a couple more souvenirs to fill out my box for home. Instead of staying for the dancing, we left to attend the farewell dinner for the principal of Guam Adventist Academy and also for one of the islands pastors. Again, lots of good fellowship and good food.

May 28 Thursday: In the morning before Grace needed to be at work, we went the get a tour of Adventist World Radio's facilities on Guam. They reach most of Asia and the Pacific and even can hit parts of the Middle East and eastern edge of Africa. June Ivy came with two newly arrived clinic workers, and Steven Silva came with his sister visiting from SoCal, so we all did the tour together. They have six antennas, each 100,000 Watts, broadcasting 44 hours of programming every day. This is all maintained by a seven person team of electrical engineers and staff. All programming material is produced in the country where it will be heard and sent via internet to this station, then broadcast back out. Their monthly power bill is nearly $60,000 and that is all covered by donations.

After the tour, Grace and I stopped at Simply Food for lunch. I had a spinach lasagna and some soy soft serve. Then Grace went to work and I took the car to go exploring. First I spent a thrilling 40 minutes in the post office sending a package home. The lone bright spot in that was I got to say hi to Charles' wife Wendy, who was also in line. Back in the car I headed north and made a loop crossing the island west to east, then north and stopping at Ritidian Point. This is a nature preserve wedged between two Air Force facilities. Two of the crew from the Rota race, Eli and Rachel, both work there, trying to find solutions to the invasive brown tree snake's decimation of the native bird populations. I stopped at the visitor center where the cheerful ranger gave me a baby turtle magnet and told me that they are currently watching the beach for hatching turtles. She also gave me two posters of the local fish. I'll keep the magnet, but there is no way for me to keep the posters without folding them, so I'll give them to Dmitry. I walked down to the beach and indeed a good portion of it was fenced off for the turtles. In the open section was a group of people doing a photo shoot in the water. There were three models and various crew. Further down the beach I could see a few other people. It was only moments after getting onto the beach that a ranger came running down to the photography group, asking them if they could read, if they had a permit, why they were in the water at all, why they had a dog in the water with them, that she needed to confiscate the film, since they were violated so many posted rules for the preserve. I am sure they deserved the grilling. I moved further down the beach, a wide white sand one, and looked at the tidepools from the shore. Back in the car I continued my loop heading south along the western coast. My next stop was at Two Lover's Point, where local legend says two Chamorro lovers jumped to their deaths rather than the girl submitting to an arranged marriage to a Spanish explorer. The sheer cliffs and expansive views are impressive regardless of the veracity of the legend. I still had time to drive down to Nimitz Hill and explore the park there before I had to return and meet Grace after her shift was done. This evening was the 8th grade graduation for Guam Adventist Academy, a class of 13 students. We went there directly after Grace was finished and were able to see the second half of the ceremony. Grace had gifts to give a few of the students. There were refreshments afterwards and it ended up being more like a meal. Back at Grace and Dmitry's we watched 'Fireproof' before going to bed.

May 29 Friday: Grace and I both slept in some this morning, but then after a quick breakfast we took Kemo and hiked down to Tarzan Falls. There is water running on it year round, but right now it was little more than a trickle. Enough so you can imagine how impressive it would be with a lot of water flowing over it. There was a decent sized pool at the bottom and it felt good to stand in the cooling spray from the falls in the humid morning air. Next we went to a series of caves near Grace and Dmitry's home. We had walked near here the first Friday I was here. This time happened to be in the midst of a butterfly swarm. Try as I might, I could not get a good picture of them with their wings spread, but I did get a number of shots I am happy with. The top of the wings look black with powder blue spotting, but in the right light the whole wing becomes a reflective blue. The undersides also look black on first glance, but are a deep velvety red when observed closely. Eventually we made it to the caves, including one that Grace had never actually gone in, thinking it was a dead end. There was actually room for close to 100 people in two large chambers. There was another overlook that had an impressive panorama of the Guam coastline. Kemo got his exercise and we returned home, got showers, and I finished my packing.

We went to the Clinic, so Grace could catch the tail end of her providers meeting. We got some good pesto pasta and fruit salad and I had a chance to say goodbye to Dr. Robinson, Pastor Nambu, June Ivy, Ruby, and Steven. On the way to the airport, Grace suggested we stop at Guam Premium Outlets for Coldstone Creamery. I got a mango banana smoothie that was very good. Grace and I had prayer as she dropped me off at the airport and my two weeks around Guam came to an end. It was a thoroughly enjoyable time.I had redistributed my stuff between the main pack and the carry on and this time I did not have to pay an overweight charge, so that worked out. The flight was full and largely uneventful.

Manila is a massive swarm of humanity. The taxi driver did not know the address, but knew the area, so between his driving and my directions from the hostel, we made it safely. The traffic is amazing, the jeepneys amusing to see, and the sheer masses of people quite overwhelming. The hostel is similar to the Flametree in Majuro, just fine for my needs. The Japanese couple that runs it are extremely helpful. I may go and do some exploring tomorrow. We will see.