Day at the Beach

Joel and Amelia have been asking to go see the Mermaid Statue. The mermaid, or sirena, plays an important role in Guam's legendary past. The legend tells how a young girl would disobey her mother to go swimming in the ocean. The mother became angry and turned her daughter into a fish. Hearing of this, the girl's godmother came and reversed part of the spell. Now the girl would remain part girl and part fish. Hence, the concept of mermaid was born.

The statue, and the site where it rests, underneath a bridge built in 1800 during the Spanish occupation, is in disarray. The statue is corroding, and the grass really needs a mowing. Too bad that Guam does not realize the importance of preserving these historic sites and tourist attractions.

This stained glass window is part of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Building. Marisol was fingerprinted here; we continue to await word regarding her citizenship application. We turned in the paperwork in June, and it usually takes a year or more to be processed. Please pray with us about this!

We stopped by Asan Beach (picture above) on our way to Agat Beach. These are the two beaches when the U.S. soldiers on July 21, 1944 made an amphibious entry to Guam to begin a three-week campaign to take Guam back from the Japanese Imperial Army. Every year July 21 is celebrated as Liberation Day.
At Agat Beach Joel and Amelia enjoyed exploring the caves where the Japanese hid waiting for the American advance. Alas, our camera battery "died" so we will post pictures of the caves after a future visit. We also built sandcastles and went swimming and didn't get too sunburned!
It feels wonderful to visit these places with such rich historical value in United States history! Come and visit us and we will give you the "Grand Tour."

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