YAP-GUM-TRK-PNI

Would someone care to explain exactly how it got to be September? Summer is endless in the tropics, but we still feel like we missed out on what always feels like the shortest of seasons (except for what Colorado calls “spring,” which lasts approximately 37 minutes). Truth be told, the lack of seasonality is somewhat disconcerting for folks like us. Matt feels like he should be dusting off the skis and diving into the college soccer season. KC should be peaking for one or more races this month and next. We’re of course content to let those things wait for awhile longer, but it does make for an adjustment in lifestyle.

Speaking of lifestyle adjustments, Matt writes today from the Guam airport, where he is preparing for a conference while suffering through a fourteen(!!) hour layover on his way to Pohnpei, seat of the FSM’s national government.


Considering that incoming planes pass – deafeningly – perhaps 500 feet directly over the top of our house on their landing runs, we are often grateful for Yap’s sparse flight schedule. What we gain in sleep under normal circumstances can, however, be more than offset when travel does have to happen. On his way back next week, Matt will experience Guam in all its glory for a full 36 hours. That layover will warrant a hotel and a rental car. Local scenery will of course be a priority, as will a trip to one of Guam’s other signature attractions: the world’s biggest K-Mart. Considering neither of us has seen a stoplight, much less a superhighway, since February, the culture shock will be an interesting experience. Even sitting in the airport here has been a little bit strange. It is surprisingly empty most of the time, but at times during the day has been overrun by fascinatingly coiffed and expensively dressed Japanese tourists waging full scale assaults on the ubiquitous duty-free shops.


It certainly feels out of the ordinary to be in a place where everyone seems to be wearing a shirt, but Matt’s feelings of loneliness have been assuaged by the airport’s Friendly and Reassuring security announcements which, every five minutes or so, remind him in both English and Japanese not to leave his bags unattended or his car parked at the curb. Let’s see – one announcement every 5 minutes equals 12 per hour…times fourteen hours…that’s 168 Friendly and Reassuring announcements! No loneliness here, except he does miss KC.


Pohnpei is more densely populated than Yap, and as the seat of the FSM government supposedly has better infrastructure. It is also, by all accounts, quite scenic, so Matt is looking forward to some exploring during his downtime. Stay tuned for an update next weekend. Thanks for reading.