Awesome Welcome Party

My brother Felix had told me about the wild parties they do here, so I was ready for anything. Caspian and I put on fresh jeans and tee-shirts, then headed to the pool to see what's happening.

The air was hot, the music loud. Most of our fellow swimmers had gathered already, dressed in polo shirts or hoodies, jeans or jogging pants.

As I sat down at the shallow end, dangling my feet in the water, lifeguard Harry took the microphone:

Shower Call

"Attention all party guests. If you haven't had a shower before you came down, please do so now. You can keep your clothes on. Dry is not an option."

Now that's a new twist to get a pool party going. Get everyone wet from the start, cool.

I got up and followed the others into the crowded showers. It was fun to watch them take turns as they soaked their shirts, hoodies and jeans.

"Hey, Tim," Caspian shouted from underneath a shower, "come here, you can share mine."

He was already dripping wet and I was still dry. Swiftly he pulled me into the shower and held me under the running water until my jeans were soaked through and my tee-shirt clinging to my skin. The warm water flowing through my clothes felt really good.

After the shower we all jumped into the pool. It was pleasantly different to see the whole team swim fully clothed rather than in swimsuits.

"Hey, guys," Alex shouted when he saw us wearing just tee-shirts. "Put some hoodies on from the drying room before you get too cold."

We did as told and put on yellow hoodies that were a bit too large for us. Then we jumped back into the pool. In the water they were really comfy, floating around, feeling good. Out on pool side they almost went down to our knees. Huge fun.

I was amazed how much fun it is to swim in clothes, especially with friends. We splashed around for a couple of hours.

Finally we went back to our room for a shared bedtime bath to rinse the chlorine out of our clothes. Caspian and I quickly became close friends and I enjoyed sharing bath and bed with him.