Thankful for Visitors
The parents are coming! The parents are coming! Morgans’ parents made the long trek from Fort Worth, Texas to Guam for a 2 week Thanksgiving vacation. We’ve been on Guam just under 6 months and we finally had our first visitors!
The Alexanders landed on Guam on Tuesday night @ 7PM after 20+ hours of traveling and jumping several time zones. Of course, we cooked and served them tacos for dinner 🤠. Comfort food you know? After sleeping off the jet lag, we started the Guam tour on Wednesday by eating lunch beachside at Tu’Re Café. We ate delicious burgers, sipped on Calamansi tea, and watched the local wind surfers enjoy the windy day. Calamansi tea is made from a local citrus fruit that originates from the Philippines and is smaller than a key lime. Small in size, but packs a big punch! It is similar to iced lemon tea.
Following lunch we visited Paul at work so Morgan could have her annual eye exam. Then stretched our legs and walked around Plaza de España and Latte Stone Park. Plaza de España served as the colonial Spanish Governor's Palace from 1734 until the invasion of World War II. There are three structures still standing including the three-arch gate to Almacen (Arsenal), the azotea or back porch, and the Chocolate House. The plaza is also next to the GUAM letters and Guam Museum.
Latte stone park is best known for its set of eight historical latte stones. Latte stones are remnants of ancient Chamorro culture found in Guam, Saipan, Rota, and Tinian. They were arranged in parallel rows of six to 14 pairs and used as a foundation for houses and other important buildings. Each latte is comprised of two stones. The shaft stone on the ground is the haligi, and the cap stone is the tasa. The latte were constructed by the Chamorros around 500B.C. and were in use up until around the time the Spanish colonized the Marianas in the 1600s. The park also includes the entrances to two sets of caves that were constructed during the Japanese occupation (1941-1944) by forced laborers.
On Thursday we spent the whole day cooking up brunch, a traditional southern thanksgiving dinner, eating, and playing games. Our best friends we’ve made in Guam came over to make our party a group of 6. Mango, Dragon, and our friends’ dog Calvin were great supervisors for the cooking! We were graced with the most beautiful sunset of the entire trip! We then wrapped up Thanksgiving by watching “Christmas Vacation”, an Alexander family tradition.
We were so busy and saw so many things during their two weeks here! Follow the next few posts to see all the beauty of Guam we got to share with our family!
