Time surely waits on no man. Six weeks have come and gone and so has the King of Pop, R.I.P. Michael Jackson.I will be leaving Guam in 2 days and getting married in 30 days! It is certainly a bitter-sweet ending. It took me an hour to bid my farwells today at work and I was overwhelmed with the relationships and connections built in such a short time.
The last 3 weeks have been incredibly busy, as my assignment was moved from the chambers of Judge Sukola to Judge Ingles. Judge Ingles oversees the child support and truancy divisions and the work load is incredible. My first task involved writing another Decision and Order for a statute of limitations on the enforcement of back child support against non-custodial parents (namely fathers). The Decision and Order would stand to provide a ruling on not 1, but 6 other cases that were under advisement with the judge. As I poured through the case files for 7 different families I was torn between ensuring children and mothers were not forsaken, while also ensuring fathers were not overly penalized with jail time and multiple digit child support judgments.
In reviewing the facts in each case and researching the applicable law, I began to develop an unpopular stance, which is one advocating the rights of fathers. Surely I believe that a father should be held accountable for the provision of his children but I also believe the accountability needs to be equally enforced against mothers. The lack of education, unemployment status and years of welfare dependency that characterized many of the mothers greatly concerned me. It seems as though many states have child support laws that tolerate being a dead-beat mom, but not a dead-beat dad. I strongly believe the best interest of children is served when both a mother and father contribute to their well-being, not only physically and monetarily, but intellectually and responsibly. I truly think there needs to be more enforcement and efforts focused on educating and employing mothers so that they too are equally accountable for the needs of their children. It is then that I believe we will breed a different generation of responsible and accountable adults who will decrease the burden on tax-payers and our local governments, who are ultimately penalized in supporting these families…well so much for my legislative soap box.
The last few weeks I have eaten enough to be able to fast for a whole month. I honestly believe it’s almost impossible to go hungry in Guam. The month of July is one of the most celebrated months, since July 21 is Guam’s Independence Day, also known as Liberation Day. From July 21- Aug 8th there will be many festivals, parades, and a carnival to commemorate the timeframe that the US fought to reclaim Guam from the Japanese in 1944.
On July 4th I toured a few historical battle sites and a museum in hono
r of Liberation Day. The highlight of my trip was enjoying a bowl of fresh picked mangos by the owner of the Pacific War Museum. It almost felt like being at grandmas to have the owner share war stories under a shade tree.Although the holiday has not yet arrived, the holiday spirit is already in full swing. I’ve already been to 2-3 different feasts, which included a big party at the Public Defender's Office and a Mango Festival. I've never eaten so many different types of mangos and mango dishes. As you drive down one of the coastal routes, you can spot families, sometimes in groups of 100+ feasting and enjoying a day on the beach.
One of the feasts I attended makes our style of Thanksgiving dinner look like appetizers. The spread contained a huge roasted hog, baked stuffed fish, dried pork, ribs, fried chicken, crabs, red rice, watermelon, an assortment of stuffed egg rolls, spicy spinach and tons of other local dishes and desserts. Kelaguen is one of the favorite local dishes which was prepared two ways, one with chicken and another with seafood that is finely ground meat, coconut, lemon, vinegar and an assortment of peppers and vegetables. There were well over 200 people in attendance, mainly family, who got together to cook in a huge out-door kitchen. I've noticed many of the homes are equipped with huge outdoor kitchens, which are somtimes larger than the homes themselves. The DJ and fully stocked open bar made for a full evening of Chamorro fun!I’ve been invited to another gathering before I leave and would really like to make a stop by the Liberation Carnival. I will certainly remember my time spent here in Guam and I hope you’ve enjoyed following along my journey.
