I've arrived in Guam

I have been in Guam for officially 24 hours. After a 23 hour flight and two lay-overs I was ornery as a yellow jacket when I arrived. My back hurt and I was nauseous from the Continental Airline Cuisines. I managed to get through customs and find my bags in less than 30 minutes. The airport was a ghost town, nothing like Hartsfield in Atlanta. As I approached the taxi and rental car lane, a young man approached me, "Are you Kimberly? I'm Carlos!" Carlos had been sent by the manager of my hotel to help with rental car arrangements. As Carlos and I exited the airport I felt like I stepped into a sauna. At 9pm at night with no sun, Guam was sweltering with heat.

After my rental car was secured, Red, the manager of my hotel escorted me to the hotel and took me to the local grocery store to pick up midnight goodies. By the time Red and I left the grocery store it was after 10 pm. Red equipped my room with a refrigerator, mircowave, loveseat and 30" TV, which I understand are not standard amenities. The warm hospitality shown by Carlos and Red was just the welcome I needed.

As expected, I spent most of the day sleeping. I did manage to get out and find the infamous K-Mart that externs from last summer raved about. On my route to K-Mart, I spotted a Denny's, Taco Bell, McDonald's, Tony Romas and Lone Star Steakhouse. I was suprised to see so many familar places to eat. My visit to K-mart was the highlight of my day. It is slightly larger than our Walmart Supercenters, equipped with a pharmacy, full appliance center, Little Caesar's Pizza and furniture department. I don't think there is anything that you can't get at the Super K-mart. Best of all it is open 24-hours. I've already made another shopping list for my next visit.

It's almost 11:00 pm on Sunday night, so I'm going to turn in for my first big day at work tomorrow. The Supreme Court is less than 2 miles from my hotel. I'm going to enjoy the short commute and break from Atlanta's traffic!

Preparations for Guam

On Friday, May 29th at 7:30 am, I will depart Atlanta for a 6-week law clerkship in Hagatna, Guam. I have received an opportunity to work in the Supreme Court of Guam through John Marshall Law School's Micronesia Externship Program. I am excited yet nervous about this experience. After a few clicks on Google Earth, I just realized I am traveling more than than 7000 miles across the globe. The first question most people have asked is where is Guam? My thoughts when I first spotted Guam on the map was "wow this place is literally in the middle of the pacific ocean!" More recently I've learned that Guam is approximately 1500 miles east of the Philipines and 3,800 miles southwest of Hawaii. Guam is also the largest and most southern island that makes up the Mariana Islands of Micronesia.

Guam is 14-hours ahead of our clocks here on the east coast. Although my total flight time is nearly 23 hours, it appears I will actually gain several hours during my lay overs in Houston, Texas and Tokyo, Japan. I will land in Guam on Saturday, May 30th at 8:30 pm, but it will be 6:30 am in Atlanta. A few hours ago, I spoke with the manager at the Plumeria Garden Suites, who has assured me a home away from home in Guam. Thus far I am amazed at the friendliness of the locals and what we would call southern hospitality. In a few hours I will be headed to the doctor for my second round of Hepatitis vaccines and I suppose I should start packing.

Send up many prayers for safe travel and an enriching experience. I will post again after I've arrived. Email will likely be the best means of communication.