Guam

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The Southern Mountains

Tumon Bay

             

I went to Guam for a year, as an exchange student at the University of Guam.  People often ask me what it was like to live there and I always feel like it's pretty much impossible to describe.  I'm glad I have these pictures to share my experiences.  I made friends there I'll never forget and I saw and did things I can't possibly describe.  Surfing and scuba diving were my real passions and I tried to do one or the other every day.  Diving gear was cheap to rent, $30 a month for unlimited use, so I would go basically any time I had a ride and a partner.  I dove alone once, which probably wasn't a good idea.  I could skate board about half a mile to the nearest beach, which happened to be a good surf spot on the island.  Too much jagged reef and shallow water to learn to surf there so I body boarded for the most part.  A picture in this gallery is of me on the largest wave I caught.  Again, what a dream come true.

Leaving the island and coming back to Oregon was very hard for me.  I pretty much fell in love with the tropical lifestyle and island culture, the weather, the ocean, the land.  A year was long enough for me to make some really close friends and connections too.  I'll just say that leaving was harder than I thought.    

 

The hibiscus flower is common on tropical islands. It's Guam's official state flower.

A beautiful cemetary on a stormy day during the wet season.

A view of Guam from an island off the southern coast. We camped here a number of times and were always the only people on the island.

Me on a nice wave after a typhoon passed near the island.

The university entrance.

Me cooling off on a ledge. This was always a nice place to bring friends for a hot afternoon.

A view from my flight to the island. Everything started off beautiful.

Common jungle spider, with jungle and mountains in background. Most island species are harmless.

My favorite beach on the island. Dangerous currents though so swimming outside the reef was difficult.

Southern village of Shalan-Pago.

One of many caves.

A view up the western coast of the island.

Surfing buddies.

A surf spot only minutes from my condo.

 

  


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© 2003, Adam Lapierre
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