Rip Curl Pro Somewhere in Mexico – II

Mario stopped the car on the top of a hill, put the music down to let
us enjoy the view of a perfect loooong barrel after a barrel. A picture
of a paradise. Crystal blue with white foam, big red-orange ball
sending yellow waves to the lip of every wave, shining all the way to
the grey sand and green palm trees. Pure 10.

Probably surfers would describe the wave more picturesque with
more words, but this time even they were lost for worst. A moment of
hypnotic admiration was gone and Mario started the car to get us down
to the site. We were supposed to park the car at the parking (football
playground actually), pay for it and got on the truck, but as I knew
Pablo who was working that morning and as Taj was competing in the
first heat, we managed to get to the site with our car. Ok, yes, Taj
(yes, competitors had to pay for the entrance too, silly I know, but
this is the way Mexicans are doing their business) and photographer
Steve still had to pay few pesos to get in. Thanks guys and there we
were running to the Judges tower with Astrid. Making sure hot coffee,
cold water and some food was always available for people working over
there, sweeping the floor, doing some English-Spanish translation,
calming down all the fights and people on the verge of their breakdown,
persuading Ana Luisa that we need her on the team (PR people are at all
times important!), making sure no one comes and bothers workers,
checking people coming in, helping beach marshal, writing results on a
board, making a list of VIP, Staff and media people, welcoming at the
entrance to the site… well, this is what my work was at the site most
of the days. Sometimes it was fun, cause I could watch surfers riding
their best wave, sometimes all I could do was hear announcers talking
about the best air or longest tube. Despite the heat, hard work (don't
think this is easy, sitting at the entrance, smiling to everyone when u
have to go to pie for the last four hours!), lack of at least two hours
of sleep, I had fantastic time meeting cool people and listening to
their life stories. ASP staff are really intelligent people, hard
workers, doing their job as if this was their one time chance to prove
they are right for it. RC people were the same, well most of them… if u
want the event like that to go smoothly, u need more a team of people u
can rely on. And these guys knew what they were doing and why they are
doing it. They always had a piece of advice for me. It seamed such a
small deal to them, just another event, just another job to be done…
put a smile on your face, Kaya… it was nice to work in a environment
like that, multicultural and positive energy regardless of all the
tricky business we were into. Boys, professional surfers, are all super
nice and they don't behave like a damn movie star. Maybe it was just
Mexico, maybe because no one knew who they were, maybe there was not
much surfing fans at the site or maybe it just seemed like it, but they
all talked to me and everyone like a human being, said hello and even
made some jokes about where I'm from. Sorry guys, Slovenia does exist,
Kaya Papaya is not lying to u. Even the top of the cream surfers didn't
look away when they passed girls working at the entrance. They are guys
who eat their breakfast, lunch and dinner as we all do, have a beer or
margarita now and then, carry their own boards and take the stairs if
the elevator is packed. Some of them are quite serious and like to talk
about huge world problems, others just want to have fun and explore
life and culture of a place they have surfed (party every day of the
week…). U can even have a small talk with Kelly, just don't ask him to
take a picture of u and him together, amazing blue eyes look better
inside of a tube. Sure they are professional surfers and surfing is
still their job, they still have to go through all procedure of taking
pictures for sponsors, remaining their good reputation among the fans,
but.. come on, they are normal guys…ok. Cute, hot guys with even more
gorgeous girlfriend or a wife waiting for them at home if she is not
traveling around with them, u can't even get jealous at them. They are
not so posh and snobbish as we think they are. But girls forget about
them. It takes more than great body and love for surfing to win their
heart. Ok, now, I got to go – am being a babysitter, promise to write
more about chats and drinks with all those interesting people…