Training Complete!

Hafa Adai People!
I just finished my last day of training. I'm now ready to begin my already illustrious ;) career as a P.I.C. Clubmate. This last week was spent learning how to windsurf, how to teach someone how to windsurf, how to run the trampoline, and lots of other stuff that I can't remember right now. Windsurfing is probably the coolest new thing I've learned how to do out here. About two weeks ago we tried to learn but there was absolutely no wind which makes it impossible. But this week, as the rainy season is starting to set in, there is usually good wind in the afternoon. It's pretty gusty and unpredictable but it works. Our instructor was this Filipino dude named Freddy that has worked here for more than 20 years. He's really intense, like camping. (for those who know) He was quite calm during the pre-lesson in the practice pool but when we finally got to the ocean he turned into a lunatic. He was yelling at everyone at the top of his lungs, it sounded like his little voice was going to break on him. I felt bad for the girls that were in the lesson with us, he tended to focus on them a little more than the guys. I'm pretty sure he meant well but the delivery was a little scary. I'm still totally a beginner but I've been trying to go out and practice when I have time. That's one of my favorite things about this place, they let us use any of the facilities we want when we're not working.

Another area I trained on this week was our waterpark. It's different than any other pool that I've worked at because we not technically lifeguards. They call us "pool attendants." For example, we not required to wear the strap that is attached to the rescue tube. You can just hold it in your lap if you want. But when you have to go in to save someone, you take the tube with you. I've decided to wear my strap when guarding because when you're rushing across the pool to pull someone out, I don't want to have to swim with one arm because my other arm is holding my tube. As we rotate through the waterpark, there are between three and four lifeguard posts. There are also usually around six to seven people working which leaves two or three people in what they call the "C.R.A.B." position. C stands for cleaning, R stands for recruiting, A stands for activities and B stands for bins. You either walk around picking up trash or collecting mats for the waterslides when you're C. R is gathering people to play water basketball, volleyball or water aerobics. A is when you actually get to do these activities with people. This is my favorite part. Sometimes when I'm in the middle of a hardcore basketball or volleyball game, I stop and laugh at how I'm getting paid to play games. It defintely doesn't suck. B is when you go get towel bins. This one isn't half bad either because it gets you away from the waterpark for 10 minutes or so and it's kind of fun to roll those bins down the hill. Especiallly when it's wet because they put coral in everything they use to pave so it makes everything extremely slippery when wet. If you get enough momentum, you can slide almost the whole way from the laundry to the pool which is about 400 yards. Good times.

My training group had the whole day off yesterday and we used the time to explore the island. We rented a car for the day which only cost 25 bucks and set out to see the other side of Guam. The part where we live is really commercialized and populated. Tumon Bay (where our hotel is located) is the center of tourism in Guam. We were looking for something a little more authentic. We headed north towards a beach called Ritidian Point. It may be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Straight out of Survivor. We spent a couple of hours just chilling on the beach and enjoying the sights. There was a lagoon that went out about 200 yards before the open ocean. The waves breaking on the reef were awesome. I walked out to stand on the barrier between the ocean and the lagoon and was amazed at how powerful and intimidating the ocean was. The reef pretty much dropped straight down outside the lagoon. If one were to jump in past the lagoon, he'd almost certainly die. Michael Phepls with gills and flippers couldn't contend with that stuff. It turned out that Ritidian closes at 4PM which we informed by a very urgent and rude park service worker. We're just strolling down the beach, enjoying paradise when he comes running up behind us and starts blowing a whistle very loudly. As close as he was when he started wailing away, a simple excuse me would've done just fine. I thanked him anyway and assured him we'd be gone by 4. We left the beach and headed south for some food and more sight seeing. We stopped at this little burger joint on the south-west side of the island and and some awesomely delicious burgers. It was also happy hour and so I was able to enjoy my first Pacifico since I left which brought me great joy. As we reached further and further south, things became more and more rural. There were boonie dogs and broken down cars everywhere. And because it was Saturday, it seemed like everyone was doing the family bbq thing. The Chamorros love to bbq but don't seem to love bbq sauce. I seen a bunch of bbq'ed meat but no sauce. It's a mystery. One of the many things that can be explained by simple shrugging ones shoulders and saying "Guam Factor". Life opperates at a different pace down here. For example, when we rented the car, we had two choices. There was one with transmission problems and one with brake problems. We took the one with transmission problems, figuring it would probably be better to be able to stop in hurry if necessary. You'll see cars stopped in the middle of the road and two dudes out of the vehicles just chatting it up. They'll pop their hoods to make it seem like there is a problem and when they are done, they'll close it up and drive off. When you're walking down the road, you don't make eye contact with the locals until they're right close to you and then it's just a nod or something simple. If you make eye contact from a distance, this is seen as a sign of aggression and you're likely to get your ass kicked. There are too many examples of the Guam Factor that I've seen to list here but I'll have some more in my next post. I love and miss you all! Thanks for reading these, it's good to know there are people at home who won't forget me and are interested in what's happening on the other side of the world.
Hasta Pasta,
Trevor