Whirlwind

WHEW! What a few weeks it has been. Here's the breakdown- Last month as a store, we set a all time record for Del Sol St. Thomas. Jake and I as well as the local employees stepped it up.... huge. We set the highest average dollar per transaction record. (ADPT) It is pretty sweet, because this is really the only number that we can control as a store, most of our end of month totals and ship totals fall in the hands of the Port Lecturers, but how much people spend on average is really a testament to how we are doing as salesmen. We were able to achieve all of this while our managers were in and out of the store with sickness, and traveling. Last week we found out that our managers were leaving. Today..... We found out Tuesday that corporate wanted to make us (Jake Joel Charles and me) the managers of Cariloha and Del Sol. In the deal, we got a pretty sweet pay raise and an all expenses paid trip to the BVI's. We accepted of course and two days later, our managers are on a plane to Alaska and we are the new manages. HOLY #@$#. Talk about baptism by fire, busy season has officially set in as of this week, and here we are at the reins. I know we can do it.

St. Thomas has really grown on me. It has hit me down here about the same time it hit me in Durango. A little over two months into living in a new location I really begin to hit stride and see how much the location has grown on me. The local language is English (this could probably be argued). The money is American, and the people talk about Obama being president. The cars are left hand drive. That is about all that is American in St. Thomas. The USVIs are about the only place you can "live in the US, without LIVING in the US". Charles went to the beach the other day and took some beer with him, he didn't finish it all, and had to come home, so he finished the last one on the way home and left the empty beer cans in the car for days. Nowhere back home can you just leave empty liquor, and beer cans in the car, and not even have to worry, even if you get pulled over. You can literally be pulled over while drinking, and as long as you have a good story and are nice to the cop, they let you go no questions asked.

I am truly going to miss being a minority when i get home. Living on an island full of African Americans is AWESOME. It is so fun being able to joke with the local employees about my race. If they ever say "whats up", or talk like us, we always tell them that they sound super white. You find yourself daily thinking, "wow, that just sounded super white, i am an idiot." I don't know how, but we rarely get asked if we are tourists, and get honked at by taxi's anymore. Maybe it is the tan, maybe it is the scruff, maybe it is even my hair, who knows. All i know is that St. Thomas has definitely become a part of me, I hope to never forget the lessons i have learned here. We are more than half way through our internship, and time seems to be going faster and faster. Today is a long needed break for me, and I finally got a good nights rest for the first time in a week. More responsibilities and brighter days to come. Life is good.

I love and miss you all.

Don't Stop Breaking Down the Doors

-Kam