Hafa Adai: Learning to Say Hello in a New Place

We made it to Guam! Somehow, between our arrival in Japan and our flight to Guam, I forgot how exhausting it is to fly. I convinced myself that we were getting so accustomed to traveling that I would no longer feel anxious at the beginning and exhausted at the end. I was wrong! Regardless of the fatigue though, our trip went smoothly. As our plane was backing away from the gate we looked out the window and saw the ground crew smiling and waving at us. I have never seen this before. One last example of the kindness we experienced in Japan!

Hafa Adai (pronounced HAH-fah day) is the traditional Chamorro greeting from Guam. It’s the equivalent of saying hello, and is tied to the islands hospitality and friendliness. A huge sign welcomes you as you exit the plane, and many others throughout the airport.

Finding Our Way the Old-Fashioned Way

As we exited the airport, rental car keys in hand, it was pouring rain. Our phones weren’t working properly and we couldn’t connect to data. The eSIMs we purchased for the trip are not supported in Guam. We knew this ahead of time and just needed to switch back to our Google Fi network, but in our travel brain fog we didn’t remember this.

The Airbnb host provided what seemed like thorough directions so we decided to just try those. However, as we started to try to navigate them we got lost. It was very reminiscent of the old days where it was the norm to navigate via word of mouth and landmark based directions. We ended up getting out Google Maps on Dave’s phone once we were lost. Even though we had no data to get directions, Dave had previously downloaded the Guam offline map. We navigated our dot on the map to the Airbnb location he had saved. I can’t believe how bad I was at this! It was raining, we couldn’t get the defogger in the car to work properly, and I missed telling Dave the turn onto our street three times – but we made it!

I felt like this was a fun thing for the kids to experience. Well, at least Alexis experienced it. The drive took so long that Braxton fell asleep. Under normal circumstances, our Airbnb is only a 6 minute drive from the airport.

Our New Home Away from Home

Walking into our Airbnb felt like getting a giant hug. It’s spacious, clean, and has so many wonderful little touches – like throw blankets, tooth brush holders, and games/toys to play with. It has a cookbook from Guam that I am excited to look through and try some of the recipes. There are huge bamboo trees outside our balcony and you can see the ocean in the distance. We have already declared this the best accommodation so far!

Getting Settled and a Little Exploring

We jumped right back into school this morning, with a break in the middle to explore the beach. The walk to the beach was under five minutes, and the entrance felt like the most natural I’ve ever experienced. Most beaches we have been to are very groomed and have either a man-made walkway leading to the ocean, or an expansive manicured beach. When we walked up to this beach I felt like we had discovered a secret. We were literally the only people within 200 yards and it was breathtaking! The turquoise water is calm, crystal clear, and shallow due to the coral reef. We are super excited to snorkel here!

Dave and I made a huge grocery haul this afternoon, and felt some sticker shock from the prices of food here. We anticipated this, but it’s still a little hard to wrap your head around in the moment. The food here is very similar to what we find back home, and the kids were beyond excited to have some old recognizable favorites.

To round out our first full day in Guam we took a walk along the main strip of Tumon Bay and had a familiar home cooked meal. We are all excited to explore this new place!