How We Livin'

I've been blogging without pictures for a while so I thought I should post some. Here are just some random pictures of things we've done and events we've attended the past couple of months.
Maysa got an award for reading. She got two awards. One for first book read and another one because she read more than 10 books. She even got to meet Clifford The Big Red Dog!
We signed the girls up for soccer. Maysa didn't want to play but Eva was all for it. We are two months into it and Maysa is really loving it but Eva has her moments. Agustine and I are having a great time watching them play.
Our branch had a Valentine's dance for just the adults. They did an awesome job with the decorations and the DJ was pretty good too. Thanks to a couple of young women in our branch for babysitting so that Agustine and I could attend.
We don't have any dance pictures because Agustine doesn't like to dance! He was good to go and support the activity committee!!
Weather or not, we still play! It poured buckets of rain the entire game. The kids played through it all and had a blast. Guam is just die hard like that!
Kaylena trying to stay dry. She was the only baby out in the field that rainy day. Tongans always go hard or not at all!!
Guam's Rugby 10s! The venue is not as high tech and cool as the USA Rugby 7s but it does the job. We went to cheer on the team from Marshall Island. The team was mostly Fijians and Tongans. It should have been Team Polynesia. They placed 3rd this year after taking 1st place last year. Guam took 1st this year.

ENOUGH

When you are in love, how much will you put up with? How often will you allow yourself to be hurt? Are you worth what you believe you are or do you believe what he tells you? Do you need to be controlled because you lack the ablitiy to practice self control? Is being physically abused ok because you were in the wrong? How many times are you going to allow him to hit you before you get enough courage to run for your life?

Recently, a young and scared woman came to my door running for her life. I've never seen a woman so afraid that she would run from her home barefoot carrying only what she could carry in a tote bag. My heart felt for her but my mind did not want to jeporadize my family's safety by helping her. In the end, I helped her to get away from the abusive situation she was trapped in. I couldn't help but think about my own little girls. There was no other choice than to help this young woman. If it were my little girl, running for her life, I would hope that another woman would feel enough for her to take her to safety.

Before leaving this young woman safely with family memebers I asked her to run and never look back. She was concerned for my safety but I told her that should her boyfriend be crazy enough to ask me about her he would be making a big mistake! People often mistake me for someone who likes confrontation. I actually hate confrontation and violence makes me sick to my stomach. However, in the most basic of instincts to flee or fight, I tend to swing all the way to fight mode...LOL Especially when it comes to my family. If you come looking for a fight with my family, you had better be prepared to make some moves! Im a woman who knows who she is and my worth is beyond your comprehension. You could never control me because I will not surrender my being to you. So, young man, step carefully and watch how you approach a woman because you just maybe in the presence of the Tongan version of Madea!!

Another One Gone

The last of my Tongan neighbors has left Guam. Mou and Eileen left this morning at 2am. They are heading to Saipan to visit with Eileen's family before they move to Maui permanently. First, Miriam left and now Mou is gone. It seems there is an exodus of Tongans from Guam. This might be sign that I should get out of here too before its too late...LOL Best of luck to Mou and his family. Im sure that our paths will cross again because he and Agustine have a lot of mutual friends.

No Harm, No Foul

Yesterday, Agustine was involved in a fender bender. His first incident in Guam. After what happend, I hope it he nor I are ever involved in something like that for as long as we are here. Knock on Wood!!

Agustine and Maysa had just left, when I got the call that they had a minor accident. He said it was a fender bender and Im thinking...ok, no big deal, why do you need me to pick up Maysa? I get to the scene of the accident, actually it takes forever to get there because traffic is backed up. When I finally get there, Im wondering where is the other car because all the cars that are blocking traffic loook perfectly fine to me. I check on Maysa and she says she is fine. Agustine starts taking pictures of his car and the car involved in the incident. Then he tells me that the woman refused to move her car to the shoulder because her sister in law drove up right after the incident and told her not to move her car and to remain inside. Then the sister in law calls the police. Thats when Agustine called me to pick up Maysa because he knew that Guam PD would probably take forever to arrive. I got to the scene before GPD.

As we are waiting for GPD, Agustine is taking pictures of the scene and the vehicles. The driver of the other car finally gets out and decides to check out her car for the first time since the incident occurred. Remember her sister in law told her to remain in the car and not to move her vehicle. The woman is somber looking and doesn't even say a word to Agustine. Sister in law probably told her to remain silent. Im sitting in the van with my kids trying to call Calvo insurance to report the incident. All I get is a recording stating their hours of operation and they don't even allow you to leave a message. If you have Calvo Insurance and you get into a car accident prior to 8:30am, don't bother calling them because they don't care!! When GPD arrives, they check to see if everyone is ok and then the sister in law jumps out of her car and starts telling the police that she called and blah, blah, blah. She gets back into her car and leaves. The officers take their reports and then it seems everyone is ok but then here comes the ambulance.

The officer tells Agustine that the kids riding in the other vehicle requested to be treated for neck pain. The paramedics get there and then the kids are all of a sudden feeling ok. So first they tell the officer they are ok then they say their necks hurt then when the ambulance gets there they are ok. Well what the crazy cow is it? Are you ok or not? Agustine said the kids were middle school aged. Probably don't know if their necks are hurting from being ordered to remain still in the car.The officer that was taking Agustine's report came over and said that the report was going to be reclassified to show that all partys involved were ok. 10-4, Dano.

I leave with Maysa and Im thinking...in California this would be a no harm, no foul situation. Both parties would be on their way after agreeing that everything and everyone was ok. No need for a police report or a call to the insurance companies. Not the case in Guam. Here everyone is looking to make the most of every situation. The other car had a small scratch which we don't know if it was the result of the fender bender or if it had already been there. As for Calvo Insurance, Agustine calls them after they opened and the agent tells him that they won't take a report from him unless the other party's insurance calls to file a claim. I love Guam but situations with people like the woman and sister in law involved in this situation make me want to pimp slap somebody!!

First Word

When Agustine left to Guam, I was 7 months pregnant with Kaylena. He was able to return for her birth in April but had to leave a week later. When Kaylena was 3 months old, we finally joined him on Guam. She really didn't like her dad too much and it was hard sometimes to leave her with him because she would just cry. Secretly I liked that she didn't like him too much. Maysa is his baby. Evangelene, as everyone knows, belongs to my parents. So Kaylena is my baby. About two weeks ago Kaylena said her first word. DADA!! Whoa, now...it was supposed to be MAMA not DADA. Every morning when she wakes up I hear her scream out...DADA. All I can think is...why doesn't she just stab a knife through my heart!! Its ok, I'll get over it...eventually!!

Any Way You Cut It

My husband had the hardest time finding a barber on Guam. A barber is a barber, right? I mean he is a guy and don't guys just get their hair buzzed and its good? Ok, maybe its not that simple because he prefers a shave fade and not all barbers can fade well much less shave fade as tight as he likes it. Whatever. So he finally found someone in Yigo who does an alright shave fade. Yesterday, he came home quiet cheery, after his haircut. I didn't understand the cheeriness because his hair wasn't shave faded. Uusally, if his hair isn't cut exactly like he likes it, he has a problem with it. So Im curious as to why he is so cheery. His "guy" wasn't there but he needed a hair cut so badly that he just had one of the other guys cut his hair. While he was getting his hair cut, the assistant (the gofer and hair sweeper uper) was busy singing kareoke tunes. Yup, its one of those things that can only happen on Guam. Where else can you get your hair cut and be serenaded to Kenny Rogers...Once, twice, three times the lady...LOL When the gofer/kareoke singer finished with Kenny he started taking requests!! It doesn't matter how you cut your hair, if you are ever on Guam you need to stop by this little place in Yigo and be serenaded!!

At Last

Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy
Barack Obama

I have to admit that I had my reservations regarding Barack Obama and his ability to lead our country. Since the primaries, I've read, researched, fussed and fumed about my thoughts on the next leader of the US. Im not going to write about what I discovered in my readings or what new light came into my mind because thats all irrelevant now. What is relevant is what I feel and know now having just watched the inauguration of President Obama. Never in my life have I ever felt that I or someone like me could ever be President of the United States. Thats all changed now. It still remains to be seen what type of leadership President Obama will provide for a nation that is clearly in turmoil. What is clear to me now more than ever is that I can finally say and see that someone like me or more importantly someone like my children can be President someday. I hope to build for my children a legacy of empowerment and responsibilty for the next generation. I hope that they will dare to dream the impossible because its their destiny and nothing can hold them back!!