Caves, Cuts and Coconuts

Yet another exciting week here in Guam full of stories to write to all of you about. This week has been a week filled with learning which started off well with an opportunity to learn how to sail. I have gone out a few times in San Diego Bay with friends, but haven't really had proper training on the activity. I have been particularly excited about this new venture to learn how to sail because not all marine center employees are chosen to lead sailing excursions especially at the current busy time of year for PIC. Now I'm not sailing a 40 ft yacht or anything, but it is a six passenger catamaran that is quite fun to take out, especially on blustery days.  Maybe it's the sight of the vibrant colored fish below or the scenic lush green landscape onshore or possibly just the freedom of being out on the open water, but sailing is unquestionably one of the most peaceful and relaxing endeavors I have taken interest in. Part of the excitement is also is just seeing the astonished looks on the tourists faces when they see how exotic this beautiful island is.
So I decided to take up learning Japanese which has been a bit challenging, but also fun. I am starting to learn this interesting language for a few reasons: First, I haven't touched a book since graduating back in May, which I know is terrible, but I have to admit I am actually having a slight, slight, slight withdrawal from academics. Second, it is nice to be able to communicate with some of the guests in a manner other than attempting a game of charades. And thirdly, I get a raise..not bad. This past weekend I played in Guam's national qualifier for beach volleyball. I wasn't expecting to take first place or anything, but it was great to get out there and play some competitive beach volleyball. My teammate and I ended up taking 5th in the tournament..however there were only eight teams, haha. I have also found a great new snack that is delicious, healthy and free! Well sort of free, in the sense that I don't have to pay for it, but it does cost quite a bit of effort. Coconuts! Whenever I am on a break or want to take a stroll down the beach, I  go and look for coconuts. Sounds a bit weird I know, but they are actually quite healthy for you and are super tasty.
Yesterday was my day off, and you know what that means; Adventure! So a few friends and I went out to scale Mount LamLam. Now it may only stand at 1300ft, but the climb was brutal. First off, we weren't able to find the trail head, so we decided to blaze our own trail...bad idea. At first it was fun hiking through the tall grassy hillside, but then the soft golden grass became thick and sharp to be what is known as sword grass for, yes you guessed it, the reason that it cuts you like the worst paper cut you have ever had at the slightest graze of a single blade of grass. Before we knew it the grass was towering a couple feet above us, the wind started to blow and the cuts began to bleed. We were trapped on a steep hillside in what seemed to be a torturous frenzy of angry, sharp grass. Every movement was punished with a slice here or a cut there. Running away from the dilemma only provoked more painful slices. I think I counted over 30 small nicks on my arms, legs and face! Now as stingingly unpleasant as it was, this was sort of comical at the same time because even though  these paper cuts were painful, as paper cuts are, they were still just paper cuts. Upon telling this story to some of my local friends, they had quite a good laugh and simply replied, "it's called sword grass for a reason"...lesson well learned.
Unfortunately the grass was too overbearing for us to complete our journey to the summit, however upon our defeated return the rental car, we decided to check out Marbo Caves on the eastern side of the island. So if you have ever looked in a National Geographic magazine and seen the huge holes in the ground with vines and trees flourishing out of them, it was sort of like that, but with the freshest, clearest water I have ever seen at the bottom. These underwater caves were amazing! A bit scary at first since I was completely trusting my buddy when he said to hold my breath under water and feel around for about 10ft in pitch darkness until I could see a bit of light. Totally worth it though.  Upon surfacing on the other side of this close to unreachable water cave, I was suddenly immersed in turquoise waters with the most intricate rock formations I have ever seen overhead. The pictures don't do the justice of how beautiful this really was. It was incredible to see these small natural crevices leading to these astounding caves. After the cave we took a quick trip the coast where the dense greenery ran straight into the pounding sea. After the hike it was time to head back to PIC for a solid meal and some more Japanese!
Other things going on around PIC to look forward to is our annual Christmas party, where PIC rents out one of the local lounges and we all either chip in ten bucks or bring a holiday festive dish... I'll be bringing my ten bucks. There is also going to be a "Secret Santa" gift exchange which should be fun to see who gets who, what.

Love and miss you..