Tarague Beach Campout and Emergency

We just finished our second whole week on Guam.  It is such a lovely place.  I am enjoying the weather and all the nice people we are meeting.  Guam is a friendly place.  People are very glad to meet you, and are very welcoming.

We were invited this weekend to go on a camp out with the Agat church and Pathfinder club to Tarague (pronounced Tara-gee) Beach.  This pristine beach is located on Anderson Air Force Base on the north end of the island.  It is protected from abuse and trash, but you have to know the right people to have permission to go there.  One of the church members is in the Navy and made arrangements for the group to have a camping site at this lovely beach.

We got there on Friday afternoon, in just enough time to get situated before dark.  Someone had gone there the night before and set up tents for everyone who did not have one, rented from the Navy.  Patti Powers was in charge of the food.  She thoughtfully arranged so I could eat a large majority of every meal, with just a few substitutions.  I found out she has even more food restrictions then I do and was so understanding.  What a big blessing.  Friday supper was a choice of curry or corn soup, with rice, and orange wedges.

Unfortunately my suitcase got forgotten back at our apartment.   I could have toughed it out all weekend with just what I had, expect I had put my contact lens in that day, and had to get them out before I went to sleep.  Patti came to my rescue again and shared half of her contact lens case with me, and her saline solution.  Her husband had to be at a funeral the next morning, so he brought my suitcase back Sabbath afternoon, and I was blessed with clean clothes, and a few other nice items.

Bright stars lit up the sky while we sat on the beach for worship.   Orion was right above us, but seemed he was laying on his side more then we see in the Pacific Northwest.  Araya was going to sleep with the older Pathfinder girls, but there were more girls then tent space, so she stayed with Mom and Dad in their tent.  William was excited to join the boys in their tent.  He has made two very nice friends here that have a lot in common with him, Jonathan, and JJ.  JJ is very tall, and just a couple weeks younger then him.  Jonathan is about a year older then him.

We slept quite comfortably that night with a comfortable breeze blowing through the big windows of our tent. Two new Army-type cots were provided for Rob and I to sleep on, though the ground wouldn't have been too bad, as there was sand underneath and the long needle like leaves of the Ironwood tree. 

Sabbath morning woke me up with a beautiful sunrise.  Araya and I made some music with violin and tenor recorder once people started moving around.  Sabbath school was hands on, with the kids divided into groups, making Bible stories out of natural materials, either at the beach, or around the camp site.  A young island pastor gave the sermon encouraging the Pathfinders to live their life for Jesus and have a daily relationship with Him.

Lunch was mostly pre-chopped.  As soon as the beans were heated we ate haystacks to our fill.  The kids enjoyed free time after lunch while the adults relaxed and talked.  I even took a little nap in the tent before we took a walk to star sand beach.

The orange tinted grains of sand on this beach are the shells of microscopic, single-celled organisms called foraminiferans or forams.  When you pick them up and look at them closely in your hand, they look like little stars.  They are found mainly on a few beaches on Guam and Japan.  I had never even heard of these organisms before and found them to be very amazing bits of God's creation.

This sand really sticks to you, and is hard to brush off.

Amazing bits of evidence of our creator God.  Did you ever believe sand could look like this?  Photo by William.

There were beautiful formations in and out of the water, and pretty fish swimming in the water right where you could see them without getting wet.  

We weren't allowed to get in the water, as the currents and rip tides in the area that day were very strong, and the whole beach was closed to any water activity.  Many people have been carried off to sea in this area and no one wanted a Pathfinder to be the next one to have to be rescued by the Coast Guard.  A rain squall came up a short ways out and a rainbow formed between it and the sea.  William cut his foot open stumbling on the rocks, but that didn't seem to stop him very much, he just hopped a bit more then usual.  I hope it heals quickly.  

Everyone was hungry for supper.  I brought along some gluten-free chickpea and oat patties and gluten-free bread so we could match the Bocca burgers everyone else was eating.  Pathfinders shared object lessons from something they learned while at the hike that day.  Next they there were organized games in the dark.  Down the beach a ways the Saturday night drinking parties started cranking up, and everyone in our group started taking the trek to the bathroom in large groups, for safety reasons.

I was glad to fall into bed when all the day's activities were over.  It really was a lovely day, and I enjoyed reminding myself that it was January, and I was wearing shorts and spending the weekend at a tropical beach.  (Sorry to all of you who are stuck back in the land of cold and snow.  I wish you could be taking a tropical vacation too.)  And I'm not only here for the weekend, I don't have to go home for a couple more months.  This is what I've been longing for for years.  There were so many years through my marriage that I spent winter quarter scheming for a way to be in the sunshine, instead of the fog of Walla Walla.  I have not been successful until now.  And now I am glad to be enjoying Guam's beautiful winter warmth.

Sunday morning early, so early the sun was just shining it's faintest hint of a glow in the sky, all of a sudden Araya cried out, "Ouch!  Mom!  Something just bit me!"  What a way to  be woke up!  At first she thought it might of been one of those vicious red ants, but there were no ants.  Then she saw a large shadow move, and she knew it was not little, "It's big Mom!"  There was a scurry for flashlights and glasses, that revealed nothing, except blood oozing from Araya's second toe.  A little tissue helped that, and then the search was on.  Towels, clothes, blankets, bags moved left and right until the four inch crab with the black beady eyes was found, cowering in the opposite corner of the tent.  We didn't know it was so important to have the bottom zipper of the tent closed up tight.  There aren't any bears on Guam after all, and there were no mosquito activity in the ocean breeze.  Before the crab was escorted out the front door, he was photographed so we could remember just how big a claw he brandished.  We were able to go back to sleep for a while, and then Araya got right to work tell everyone about her pre-dawn excitement.  

But she wasn't done causing a stir this Sunday.  After a breakfast of scrambled tofu, eggs, pancakes and French toast, the Pathfinders worked on the camp craft honor.  There was a lot of rain, but they came under the shelter if the showers got too hard.  Araya wasn't doing as well this morning, and sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m. she felt tired and maybe a little dizzy and so she went to a hammock and laid down, without telling anyone.  Kylie found her blacked out and shaking.  "Oh dear, not this again.  It's time to pray."  I didn't see it coming.  I sent people for her inhaler, and we gave her two puffs straight into her mouth, but I didn't think it was that effective.  So I sent them back to find her spacer, and we gave her two more puffs.  A lot of the little kids were really scared, so some ladies gathered them together to pray.  The rain had started really hard, so they prayed for the rain to stop, and it did.  And then they prayed for her to wake up, and she did.  But she didn't fully recover.  We moved her to a cot.

 Someone called the Air Force base security who showed up in just minutes, because they were actually on their way there to do beach patrol.  The EMTs didn't take too long after that, in their nice American style ambulance.  They checked her oxygen level in her finger and it was only 75.  So they quickly got her some oxygen to breath. 

Then they transferred her to the ambulance and got her hooked up with an IV.  Someone had found Araya's camera on the ground, and handed it to me at just the right time, so I was able to get some photos, so she could remember what was happening to her.  After she had woken up she could hear me and answer me with eye blinks and with hand messages, but she could not talk.  

Shortly after she got into the ambulance she started talking and half way to the hospital she started acting like herself.  

Her face got pink again.  By the time we got to Guam Memorial Hospital she was looking pretty good.  

The ER room seemed a few generations old.  It was very small.  There were eight beds, with just a tiny space beside them and curtains.  People were coming and going really fast, but not fast enough.  Soon they had patients in the hall too.  Because Araya came in the ambulance with breathing problems, she got help right away.  Another guy came in at the same time with a broken leg, and he was put in a wheel chair and left in the very crowded waiting room.  At first they wanted me to stay in the waiting room, but leaving kids unattended at the hospital is not acceptable in my book.  So I talked my way back there to defend and protect my daughter from anything unnecessary.  

Meanwhile an Ob/gyn, Dr. Faye, who was also at the campout and quite helpful with Araya before the ambulance came was bringing Rob to the hospital in a car.  I was so glad that she was there.  She was very helpful with the ER doc who was very busy, and didn't seem to have enough time to understand things.  She kept him from running all the tests that had been run and come back negative in the past.  And she was so level headed and calm, signs of a good ob doctor.  They did a complete blood panel which came back all normal.  And then the doctor came and said she could be discharged.  

Dr. Faye is going to get us an appointment as soon as possible with a new pediatrician from John Hopkins, maybe even for tomorrow.  We will see if she has any new ideas.  The only good thing I have to say about the ER doctor is that he thinks it is likely something else then we think it is, because it is displaying differently then what he thinks is typical.  We are praying that God will guide us give Araya the help she needs tomorrow.

We are back at our apartment now for the evening.  We had a nice supper, and showers and are relaxing.  Everything is peaceful again.  Araya has pink cheeks and is looking good.  We are thankful we have God's hand to hold as we go on this journey through life.  He is our help and strength.

You can read Araya's own account of her detour to the hospital at her blog.