“Stuck” in Hawaii

“When you jump for joy, beware that no one moves the ground from beneath your feet.”  ~Stanislaw Lec (Post WW2 Polish poet).

I was jumping for joy that I would get to go to Brazil with Chris Foster and Matt Chrabot to race the 11th annual Fast Triathlon, but I forgot to look down to see whether the ground was moving. Matt Chrabot backed out of the race at the last minute, leaving Chris and me with no teammate, and not enough time to get a visa for a replacement. Today we found out the race replaced our team with a team from Mexico, and will be cancelling our plane tickets. This leaves me in Hawaii without any certain plans, but, much worse, it leaves Chris Foster in Santiago without a return flight home! I have no way of helping Chris, but I feel really guilty for recruiting him to our team in the first place. I had no idea that there was any chance of us being in this situation, but after a week of phone calls to Brazil, to other American athletes, and again to Brazil, there is nothing more that I’m able to do. Perhaps there will be a silver lining to all of this, but, for now, Chris is up a creek without a paddle.

[above: last year’s Mexican and US teams at the Fast Triathlon in Guaruja, Brazil]

So… let the planning begin. I’m going to be here in Hawaii for longer than I anticipated, so perhaps it’s time to find a longer-term housing solution (currently I’m staying with Courtenay’s brother), or maybe I should head over to Maui and see if I can join the Canadian team during their camp, or maybe I’ll just get a flight home and drive to San Diego like I originally planned. I could conceivably just stay in Hawaii until the first races of the year, two months from now! I’d better start a pro/con list with all my options. Anyone have a good recommendation for how to spend the next few weeks? AAACCKKK!! This is like deciding what to eat from a Thai takeout menu: way too many good options!