Island Reflections: 2009

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Photos from England

Here is a brief photo recap of my whirlwind week in England with Josh's mom back in April:

A gorgeous view at Waltham Abbey (Essex). Turns out my obsession with cherry blossoms is not limited to Japan...

CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, and friends' pub (Oxford)

Christ Church College (Oxford)

Radcliffe Camera, home to the Bodleian Library's reading rooms. I felt studious just looking at this building! (Oxford)

Low tide at Morecambe Bay in Northwest England...don't be fooled, the tide here is said to come in "as fast as a horse can run"!

A back view of Capernwray Hall...a Bible school in the Lake District that has housed generations of Cornthwaites.

An abandoned oversized chess game overlooking the sheep-speckled property of Capernwray on a blustery day

Mandi, Debbie, and Big Ben (London)

Trafalgar Square (London)

For my fellow Harry Potter fans... Next stop, Kenya!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Hello! Remember me? It's been almost 8 months since I blogged last - where did the time go? Josh and I have had an extremely busy year - luckily, it's been a year filled with fun! Here's a taste of what we've been up to since we both returned to the island in May...

Josh got home from the USS Essex just in time for Memorial Day. Guam celebrates Memorial Day at one of its historical invasion beaches by putting up one flag for each person who died during the Japanese invasion of 1944. It's a breathtaking, heartbreaking sight.

American flags

Guam flags

This year's "Salute to the Military" dinner...aka our yearly excuse to dress up!

Congratulations Junior Officer of the Quarter!

A rainbow in our backyard...I guess rainy season is good for something after all!

We have happily resumed our frequent hiking adventures. Here is a view of the southern part of the island from Mt. LamLam, the highest mountain in the world...that is, if you start measuring it from the bottom of the Marianas Trench!

A cluster of picturesque wooden crosses en route to the top of Mt. LamLam. Each Easter morning there is a procession up part of the mountain to worship at these crosses. I'm sure it brings a whole new element to a sunrise service!

Speaking of sunrises...

We have also resumed our snorkel adventures!

Hi Josh!

Surrounded by friendly...well, hungry...fish. Turns out fish get pretty bold when frozen peas are up for grabs!

Mandi and a school of needlefish

Mandi and a starfish. Don't you just love the clear water...and the bright blue starfish?!

See the eel? He was quite difficult to photograph...shy little fellow!

A cluster of Moorish Idols...flashback to Gill from Finding Nemo anyone?

A sea slug...careful, if you poke him he'll squirt sticky stuff on you, eww! (Guess who discovered that? Not me...)

I simply can't resist including a sunset photo...

Or two...

three...

Ok, last one!

Stay tuned - Mandi's trip to England/Kenya, Josh's travels on the USS Essex, our trip to the mainland for my cousin's wedding, and our recent adventure in SE Asia are all still to come!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Falling in love with Kenya

Jambo! Debbie and I have been in Africa for about a week now, and I have already had the experience of a lifetime. I have seen so much and learned so much, and I know there is much more to come. My first impression of Kenya was that the people are warm, loving, and generous. We have been shown so much kindness - people have gone out of their way to meet us and greet us and they have all thanked us heartily for visiting. We have been fortunate enough to be invited into the homes of several local families, as well as an American missionary family, so we have had the opportunity to see Kenyan culture first hand through the eyes of Kenyans as well as through the eyes of missionaries living in Kenya. I treasure those experiences - there is nothing more intimate and special than being invited into someone else's home.

Aside from visiting with new friends, we have also had the opportunity to visit two children's homes. We only had a brief time at each home, but each visit was so rich. The children were darling, and they just craved our love and affection. Who could resist smiling when there are crowds of children around you begging to hold your hand and hug you? I only wish I had enough hands to pass around! At each home we visited, the children made a point of taking us around their home and showing us their rooms. There are usually at least 4 children in a room, so space is very tight. Consequently, the only space the children have to call their own is their bed. That spoke volumes to me, as I am accustomed to having far more than a bed to call my own - in fact, that's something I think I have always taken for granted. These children take nothing for granted - they know how blessed they are to have even a bed to themselves. Each child took such joy in the simple act of getting a picture taken sitting on their bed, and I took joy in letting these children teach me things far beyond their years.

We are preparing to leave Nairobi tomorrow morning for the Masai Mara Reserve in the southwest part of Kenya, where we will go on safari for two days! I'm so excited, especially since we were able to visit a giraffe center here in Nairobi the other day, where I had the opportunity to have giraffes eat out of my hand. It was a slobbery experience, but quite an amazing one for an animal lover. It certainly whetted my appetite for safari (although I have no illusions of getting out of our van to feed the safari animals...)!

After our safari we will journey to Mama Lucy's Hope Community Center for nearly two weeks. After our recent visits to children's homes in Nairobi, I can hardly wait for my turn to get to know and love the children at Lucy's home. I am confident that they will teach me more than I teach them, but I treasure the opportunity to lavish some attention on them and let them know that they are loved by people on the other side of the world. What a gift that will be, both for the children and for me! I know our time there will pass quickly, but I pray that it will be as rich as our time in Kenya so far.

In the meantime, however...safari, here I come!!

Monday, April 6, 2009

A whirlwind week in England

After a whirlwind week in England, Debbie and I are ready to hop on a plane tomorrow night and sleep all the way to Africa (all 10 hours, mind you...) - I'm quite serious, we've accomplished a lot in our 6 days! Perhaps our biggest accomplishment was making it from the airport to our lodging by way of the London underground with four 50+ pound suitcases and two heavy backpacks. This was no easy feat! But we made it - and I'm not allowing myself to dread the return trip... Anyway, once we recovered from our arduous journey, we started off our week of sightseeing with an afternoon trip to Essex to see Waltham Abbey and Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, returning to our wonderful friends' house (the Hambletons, Debbie's friends for more than 30 years) just in time for a real English meal of fish and chips. The next day, there was no time to adjust to the time change, for we had a bus to Oxford to catch! We spent the day wandering around the "City of 1000 Spires," which is very true to its name. It was lovely. I believe the highlight of our day was eating lunch at "The Eagle and Child," which is the pub that CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, and their friends met at to discuss their books in progress - like "The Chronicles of Narnia!" The following day, we took a 7 hour bus ride to Lancaster, in the Lake District of England. We stayed with Debbie's dear friends, George and Stella, for two nights and they showed us a wonderful time. Stella cooked us loads of wonderful meals and George drove us all around the area, most notably taking us to Capernwray Hall, a Bible school where nearly Josh's entire family has studied at one time or another. It was so special to finally see this legendary Cornthwaite stomping ground! We spent the following day dozing on the 7 hour return bus trip to London (you'd think we've been getting enough sleep, but somehow sleeping on a bus doesn't leave you as well-rested as you'd desire...), and then we prepared ourselves for a crash course of London. Today, we spent the entire day touring London. We saw too much for me to mention it all, but some of the highlights were Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery, The National Portrait Gallery, and of course, Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Train Station. (Any true Harry Potter fan will understand that!) Now, we're tearfully drinking our last cup of real English tea (it just tastes better here!) and preparing to move on. We may have a stop at the British Museum before we catch our flight to Kenya tomorrow night - just to make sure we're sufficiently worn out and ready to sleep the flight away. And then, we'll wake up in Nairobi! I'm so excited for this opportunity, and I can hardly believe that the time is finally here. So, until Africa...cheerio!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Off to Africa (by way of England)!

Well, the suitcases are packed (very tightly, I might add...), and we're ready to go - tomorrow morning, bright and early, Debbie (Josh's mom) and I leave for England and Africa! We'll spend a week sightseeing and visiting friends in England, and then we're off to Kenya for 3 weeks. We'll spend most of that time with "Mama" Lucy at Hope Community Center near Nairobi. Lucy runs an orphanage of 200 children - on her own! What an amazing woman - I can't wait to meet her and all her children. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to get pictures posted while we're gone, so here's one to get us started...

Mama Lucy and her beautiful children!

Pray for safe travels and a blessed trip. Catch you later!

Friday, March 20, 2009

A Guam Christmas

After many inquiries, here is a photo diary of Mom and Dad's visit to Guam for Christmas. The time literally flew by, but we managed to squeeze in so much fun!