I've received some gentle reminders (and by that I mean loud verbal abuse over the phone from certain family members) to post to this site once in a while. Well, I've got some time before I go out hunting for snakes tonight, so here I go!
First off: man... it has been really busy here on Guam. I'm tired. For the most part, that's a good thing. It's just not incredibly enjoyable when you have to stay up late for work. Anyway, the reason I'm tired is because I've been doing a lot of stuff lately, such as running, biking, climbing through sword grass, attempting to swim, and staying up late. Most of this, save the staying up late, has been in preparation for a couple races I'll be doing beginning in a couple months. I'll be participating in the annual X-Terra Triathlon in Saipan on April 9th and then, sometime in May, I'll be doing a 24-hour adventure race here with Anna, Meaghan, and Jenn. That should be interesting. The X-Terra will be intense, but racing for 24 hours is something altogether different. Endurance is key... I just hope I can finish alive.
In other news, I've moved. I'm now living in a house in the village of Yigo, which is north of where I used to live in Upper Tumon. Yigo is much more laid back and where I live is well off the main road. That has many benefits, the best of which is not having to constantly hear cars and breath in their exhaust. This place is also closer to where I work, so the bike in isn't quite as long.
I'm living with a friend who I met through Jenn, whose name is Anna. This will get especially confusing for some people since my girlfriend's name is also Anna. But that's okay- maybe I'll just refer to her as "roommate" in this forum. Maybe that's too impersonal. Perhaps "friendly partner in cohabitation." All right, I'll work on it.
Coming up this weekend is the True Grit rugby tournament, which I caught soon after arriving last year. It's now official that I have been here over a year. Brent and I had the teary realization on February 2nd that it was our anniversary. The memories! Back to True Grit- several of my friends and acquaintances will be playing, including Brent, Haldre (who has been back for a few weeks and who'll be here for one more), Jenn, Anna (my girlfriend), and many more who you may not remember from previous entries. It will definitely be a fun time and I'll be right there snapping pictures of the whole thing.
I need to head out, but the other good news is that Anna's birthday is this Sunday. She shares that with my good friend Sheila, making it an even better day! It can already tell it's going to be a crazy weekend and I can't wait.