NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

For the past few months I've been holding livestreams on behalf of the Guam Museum called "Faisen I Guam Museum" or "Ask the Guam Museum." Gi minagahet, I love these livestreams, sen ya-hu siha. Because they give me a chance to answer questions people might have about things related to Guam/Marianas History, Chamoru language and culture. This takes me back to when I was a graduate student at UOG in Micronesian Studies, spending half the day in the MARC archives and the other half doing oral history. I was always brimming with information, things I had learned or come across, and was always looking for ways to share it with others. At that time I was spending alot of time too shadowing my grandparents, being their driver or chaperone. Taking grandpa to the Chamorro Village or to present about Chamoru tools. Taking my grandmother to funerals and other events. I used to not particularly enjoy being their driver and following them around since, they tended to talk t

Dirk Ballendorf who taught for many years at UOG, most prominently in the Micronesian Studies program died last week. He was the second local historian, along with Tony Palomo to pass away last week. I knew Dirk Ballendorf while I was a student at UOG and even took one class with him while I was getting my MA in Micronesian Studies. Dirk was a character, in so many different ways. The class I took with him was Economic Development in Guam and Micronesia and for the Guam sections he actually brought in Tony Palomo to speak to us about economic development on the island. He did know about Guam History but it wasn't his focus or his expertise and so he invited Palomo to come and help him. It was an interesting class. Both Ballendorf loved to make silly jokes and include anecdotes when they talked and so it was like two old warriors trading anecdotes of people long dead and places long gone. The seminar was like a big card game where everyone else played with cards, while these two

Gof magof yu' na manunuge' ta'lo Si Desiree gi i blog-na, The Drowning Mermaid . Ti meggai na blogs para i Chamorro siha. Lao, nangga na'ya, ti mismo magahet este. Meggai na blogs mamfina'tinas ni' Chamorro siha, lao manmafa'tinas ha', ya ti manmasosteteni esta ki pa'go. Aligao gi i internet ya siempre para un fanodda' meggai na Chamorro na blogs, lao pinat manggaiunu ha' na post siha. Halacha managu Si Desiree, pues tumaiguenaihon, lao esta ha tutuhun ta'lo. Maolek i bos-na Si Desiree. Gi fino' Ingles ma alok na "articulate" yan "passionate." Fihu masasangan na kalang taisiente i tinige'-hu siha. Puru ha' fina'tinas tintanos, ya annok na ti mismo ginnen i korason. Si Desiree ha na'danna' maolek i sinienten i korason-na yan i hinallom-na siha i tintanos-na. I humuyonga na an un taitai i tinige'-na, sina pinacha' i korason-mu yan i hinasso-mu achagigu. In her most recent poem Desiree