Hafa Adai from Guam!

Hafa Adai! Pronounced “half a day” in english, that means “Hello!” in Chamorro, the native language here in Guam. See, we arrived here in the wee hours of this morning—4:45am to be exact—and I’ve nearly assimilated into the Chamorro culture! Hah!

– view of Guam from my hotel room –

I won’t go into the full details yet of everything we did today because wow we did quite a lot! (Thanks to the Guam Visitors Bureau.) But, I will tell you this: After seeing the roads of Guam, I’m so looking forward to running the Guam Ko’Ko’ Road Race this Sunday!

Amidst the flurry of activities today, we managed to claim my race kit. I like the quality of the shirt. I’m glad that they’re probably serving Gatorade on the course (I noticed it’s the sponsor). And, lastly, I love the 10% discount coupon at Macy’s!  Woohoo!

I also made a new friend this morning, the only other person I know who is running the Ko’Ko’ Race this Sunday. Meet Ronnie, an immigration officer at the Guam Airport who has roots in Iloilo but was born and raised in Guam. Ronnie almost scared me to death this morning by walking up to me in his black uniform by the immigration booths saying “Hayme?” I thought I was going to be questioned and directed to some Immigration office, so I nervously answered: “Yes. Jaymie.”  He introduced himself and said that he actually reads this blog! Don’t you just love bumping into runners all over the world?!  Ronnie is running his first 21k on Sunday so wish him luck!

– All the best on Sunday, Ronnie! You’ll do great! –

There’s a lot of stories and pictures to share, but I’ll have to get some rest now. I’ve only had 1.5 hours of sleep since yesterday and I’m getting up early tomorrow morning for a swim. My new running buddy (see below) and I will chat with you soon!