guam: one

Mom recently sent me home with some items from their/our days in Guam. Among these was a calendar, targeted at new visitors to the island. This was a large and growing population during those years, as the military population increased at the base in Agana.
At any rate, I thought the opening welcome for this calendar, written in 1971, was interesting. Read along:

Hafa Adai! Welcome to Guam!
To the visitor of a few days – relax, slow down, and take a leisurely look at the island which local legend says is the center and beginning of the world. If you don’t see it all on this trip you can look at the rest of it the next time you return – and we hope you will.

To the visitor who will be here perhaps months or years – relax, slow down, and get accustomed to this nature-decorated ex-volcano. You’ll have plenty of time later to grouch about what man has done to it since. Please don’t make the mistake of just taking a quick trip around the whole island the week you arrive and another the week you leave two years later. You’ll miss everything, including the people, if you don’t slow down long enough to say hello.
You will find this island community a fascinating place if first you toss out about ninety percent of your pre-conceptions of what a tropical island ought to be. They might be true of the other islands, but not Guam.

We all realize that most of you newcomers are here for a purpose, or, if you will, a mission: National or world affecting. We respect this and try not to hinder or interfere. We hope the respect works both ways.

A foreign-flavored island, Guam is. A foreign country it is not! Guam is officially known as an unincorporated Territory of the United States, meaning that while it is not one of the fifty states, and residents don't yet vote in national elections, it still belongs part and parcel to the USA (Right down to the tax system). Guamanians and Chamorros, who have given much to their country in lives, land, and loyalty, highly resent any inference they are not wholly American.

You will find that the island has many flavors other than the original Chamorro. Spanish, Philippine, Japanese, Chinese and Malaysian are all reflected in one way or another in customs, cultures, foods, dress, names and spirit. Perhaps all these together are what account, rather than the bad roads and island-wide 45 mph speed limit, for Guam’s seeming reluctance to get too caught up in the hustle and bustle of the rest of the world.

An important point — your hometown Guam is not. To this observer of fifteen years it has become apparent that a good deal of the newcomer’s discontent with Guam is that he or she expects it to be ANYTOWN, USA. A realization that the island has in its not too distant history a heritage which is not USA in outlook, and which over a period of centuries has evolved customs which the island does not particularly want to lose, will make it easier for you.
More of a willingness to accept Guam for what it is, not what you were expecting or think it should be, will make your stay here more pleasant. God willing, it may make you want to stay a little longer.

Perhaps this calendar, a kind of diary of your time on Guam, will add to your understanding and your enjoyment of the island, I hope so.

The recipes you will read, and I hope use, are both Guamanian and Filipino. They show the rich Spanish heritage of both, but some are purely tropical in nature. Since most are common to both Guam and the Philippines I have written the recipe as I learned to cook it, making little distinction as to origin except in those included o show variation or as a matter of general information.

You will find both fiesta or holiday dishes here, as well as a good many every day dishes. For the most part, they are basic in preparation and ingredients, and can be added to to stretch or make fancier. To the old-timer these methods of preparation may seem comically detailed and probably over-Anglicized, but to the newcomer who has never seen Pancit or Red Rice they will be necessary.

I want to express my gratitude to all those who, at one time or another, have taken the time and patience to tell me interesting things about the people, customs and food of Guam and the Philippines, especially Agueda & Emilie Johnston, Remedios L.G. Perez, Janice Beaty, Paul Souder, Msgr. Jose A Lean Guerrero, Eduina and Manuel Jose, Joe Peralta, and my husband, Ben, who has read, advised, and tasted — and not laughed too much.

Si Juus Maase!
Montie M. Protasio
Copyright, 1971, by Montie M. Protasio
All rights reserved

Si Yu'us ma'ase,
Laura