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“El moto de un trabajo es la passion,”  translated as something like “The engine (or drive) of a job/work is the passion.”  This is displayed bright as day on a large sign across the street from Marques de la Valdavia, my metro stop.  Every time I pass this sign, I read it, and the message sticks in my head like peanut butter to the roof of my mouth.  The message seems to say that any piece of work is propelled by the passion of the person who is doing the work, which leads me to believe that the strength of the passion will determine the quality of the work when it is finished.  As I sit on the plastic metro seat wedged between a teenage boy listening to American rock music and a fragile white haired lady who must have just come from the grocery store judging by the roller bag she has at her feet, I think about the passion that I could be putting into my every day life.  I think about the little jobs and favors that I voluntarily sign up for on a daily basis and it occurs to me that I could be putting a lot more passion into the completion of my work, and why not?  Sure, I am busy during the day, but would it really kill me to take an extra 5 minutes and make sure that I have crossed my t’s and dotted my i’s?  Anyway, this is just something that I have been thinking about this passed week and wanted to share this quote with all of you.  I also wanted to ask if there are some words of wisdom that you heard at one point in your life that have stubbornly stuck to your insides like peanut butter does to the roof of my mouth?

Last week was filled with practices, games and more games.

We had an o.k. week of practice, definitely nothing to brag about.  Charly is truly a good human being, but once he steps between the lines of that magic rectangle that stretches  94ft by 50ft, his stance widens and his arms become thick slabs of chorizo that hang at his sides, his hands clenching and unclenching.  After the same mistake has been made several times, his arms break loose of their casing and he throws them up into the air with the speed of an olympic clean and jerk.  His mouth widens and a slew of not-so-nice spanish phrases proceed to tumble uncontrollably out of his chops.  Perhaps I didn’t notice all of these outbreaks as much last year because I wasn’t quite able to keep up with the language, but I must say that I am definitely more aware of them now.  Many of us are new this year and we are still learning each others movements, tendencies, strengths and weaknesses, I can only assume that with time we will minimize our mistakes and Charly will minimize his tantrums. 

After two weeks full of back-strokes and front-strokes, I have bid farewell to Carmen and company and have graduated to the elliptical machines as well as a good dose of light jogging.  I have started physical therapy sessions with a young lady named, Patricia.  Patricia was treating me last year as well, it feels great to be in familiar hands.  I must tell you one quick story about Patricia and our PT session that took place in the pool last week.  Being the thoughtful person that she is, Patricia brought me a water basket and some balls so that we could simulate what it would feel like to start playing again.  This was the drill: The basket was placed in the water about 8 meters or so from the stairs.  I started on the bottommost row of stairs with a flotation device around my midsection and another around my ankle.  Patricia was standing out in the water several meters away with two balls in her hands.  When Patricia threw the ball up into the air, it was my job to propel myself off the stairs, catch the ball, land and then shoot towards the floating basket.  After completing a handful of jumps from the first stair I would move up to the second, then the third and finally to the fourth stair where my whole body was practically out of the water except for the bottom half of my calves.  I was making quite a ruckus with all of my splashing and unconscious sound effects, I had to say a silent prayer that there weren’t too many people left in the facility since we were doing all of this at 9 o’clock at night.  With the amount of sheer chaos that was taking place in my end of the pool I probably appeared like an over-sized 10 year old playing water games like my life depended on it.  I must admit, however, that I relished in every splashed filled minute of it.

Friday came quickly which meant that it was game day.  The two day tournament was being held between Rivas (a Division 1 team), Estudiantes (a D2 team), Siglo XXl (D1) and of course, Alcobendas.  Our first game was against Siglo XXl and we lost.  The D1 teams are always bigger in size than the D2 teams.  I sat on the bench with ants in my pants, itching to suit up and go play.  I didn’t enjoy watching the bigger players taking advantage of our smaller post players.  I found myself with a sick feeling in my stomach, as if I was watching a bully strip a little first grader of their lunch money.  Claudia was our only true post player due to my absence and also because Charly is still looking to sign one more post player.  At the end of the 40 minutes, I was proud of the girls, they tried their best and that’s all I will ever ask of them. 

Game two on Saturday was against Estudiantes since they had lost to Rivas the day before.  Estudiantes is in our conference, they were in the first division last year but due to a lack of money and a poor record, they stepped down to the second division.  This game left a bitter taste in my mouth opposed to the game from the day before.  The players were about the same size as we were and they flat out wanted it more than we did.  Our defense was always a step behind, we gave up numerous turnovers which lead to uncontested lay-ups and the shot clock went off at least 5 times before we even attempted to score.  Live and learn.  We decided to stick around and watch the championship game between Rivas and Siglo XXl.  Does the name, Courtney Paris ring a bell with any of you?  She played for the University of Oklahoma and was an absolute beast on the boards.  Later, I she was drafted by Sacramento, then moved to the Chicago Sky where she was waived.  Anyway, Rivas is going to have quite the team with Paris and then a handful of women who are currently playing on the National team. 

Rivas and Alcobendas.

Lastly, we had one more game on Sunday against a Division 1 team from Portugal.  This game left us at 0 for 3 on the weekend.  Luckily, however, Spaniards don’t seem to let a few losses get their hopes down.  I have high hopes for our season because Charly will sign another post player in the next couple of days and I should be good and ready to go by our first game, which is around the 7th of October. 

Apart from our 3 losses, the rest of the weekend was as smooth and sweet as a bowl of ice cream.  Elena, Claudia and I have been venturing into Madrid as much as possible while the weather remains as warm as the summer nights in Minnesota.  Everybody is still out and about, lazily walking the nicely lit streets.  Even if we have nothing in particular that we want to see in Madrid, we go into the city anyway, just to soak up some of the energy that seems to be bouncing around the plazas, ricocheting off of shoulders and heads like a rubber ball does in a 4th grade classroom. 

That about does it for this week’s life in Madrid.  Enjoy the weekend and keep cheerin’ on those TWINS!!!

Leslie’s Loose Ends:

In Spain they don’t say “AIR BALL,” instead they say, “AGUA!”  meaning, WATER!

If you are in an accident or there is someone breaking into your house, you should dial 112, not 911.

The other day as we were sitting outside, Elena brought to my attention that there was a spider on my arm and that in Bulgaria, when there is a spider crawling on you it means that you will have good luck.  I was not too excited about my good fortune and quickly flicked the poor creature off my arm, sending him sailing into oblivion. 

This Saturday, the 25th of September, is the inaugural ceremony of the Women’s World Hockey Championships, and where else would that be taking place, but right here in Alcobendas.  Our team president pulled me aside two days ago and asked me if I would be interested in helping announce the opening ceremonies!  Of course I willingly obliged.  So, perhaps if you turn on the tv this Saturday and search for the Women’s World Hockey Championships, you might find Luis and I introducing the different countries.  I will let you know how it goes!


Have a GREAT Thursday, everyone!
Love,
Leslie