Sunday is the day of rest......

Latitude: 13°21'53.20"N Longitude: 144°46'10.40"E Elevation: 27'

Awakened to an overcast Sunday morning- lots of cloud cover and no sun out yet.
Did not manage to get to the blog last night as the week’s accumulated fatigue won out! We had a great busy Saturday clinic with some nice exams as potentials fro accreditation submission. That made being there in clinic on Sat. worthwhile! About midday there was a young woman who entered the department and waited at the reception desk. I was down the hall and called to here that we would be with her shortly. She continued into the department smiling and shrugging her arms as if to say “What’s going on?” It as HM1 Lady Haschke from the SD MRI department who is currently stationed on the Mercy, currently docked at Naval Base Guam. Drs. Duncan & Brown from Radiology are also on the Mercy. It’s almost old home week here in the Southwestern Pacific!
After we were done imaging the day’s schedule we hung the mammo board for radiologist’s interpretation. Nearly 40 cases for us to choose from to bring back to SD for Dr Goepfert’s final blessing for ACR submission. They will be in my carryon luggage. Not leaving anything to chance, particularly after my difficulty in arriving here…..
After work, Naomi collected the girls and we drove down to the Southern portion of the Island. We had lunch at a popular local haunt- Jeff’s Pirate Cove near Inana Talofofo. Beautiful spot with great fresh caught menu. We had fried calamari and Fish Kelaguen, a local preparation which is lightly seared and then marinated with lemon juice, green onions, chiles and the ever-present finadene condiment. Delicious. Jeff is a bit of a local surf legend, kind of an old hippie who has found his Nirvana here in tropical Guam. Like a true turista, I had my picture taken with him. 2 actually, as he wanted one for his own album. Naomi had a lot to say about that … haha. It was a fun place to experience and the welcome sea breezes felt great in the afternoon heat.
We continued South around the island through Inarahan and the beautiful pools, villages of Merizo & Umatac. This side of the island exhibits very different terrain from the North end. This Pacific side the beaches are rockier and currents more treacherous. There are mountains rising inland as well.
At the crest, there is a touching, sobering Vietnam War Memorial to the fallen local soldiers. It has sweeping vistas of mountains, valleys and the sea. A peaceful spot for reflection on the price paid by their lives. Heading back North we passed through Agat, Santa Rita & Piti. We watched the sunset at Agat. As it was dusk and nearly closing time, we took a quick loop through Asan beach and the National Park Memorial to the War in the Pacific.

Naomi and the girls then dropped me off at the hospital to pick up my car and I headed back to the Hyatt. I uploaded my photos and planned to blog last night, but I crashed at about 8:30. The filling, long week and time change have caught up with me. I slept really well until about 730 a.m.
Today I want to explore the beach in front of the Hyatt and plan to call a friend from San Diego’s cousin that lives here. I am grateful for a day off after going full speed for 8 days. What a blessing to be here in this place, doing this work.