LAX en Sevilla

This morning I had my first experience with lacrosse in Europe. Since it is just gaining popularity here, there is only a boy’s team in Sevilla, and not a very big one at that. But even though I’m not a boy, and have never played boy’s lacrosse (an entirely different game from girl’s) I went to check it out. And I’m really happy I did. All the guys are really nice and patient with me. They helped me in drills and when I didn’t understand all the Spanish instructions. They did not, however, treat me differently when it came to hitting and checking.

Unfortunately it’s Sunday today and the team decided to practice at 10am, well that’s the timeslot they were given for the field. On a weekday 10am is late, but not on a Sunday, my day of rest (which is actually everyday here because there is nothing to do during siesta). But since I’ve been a little bored here since I started work, I thought it would be good to get out of the house and meet new people, even if it meant waking up at 8:30 on Sunday.

I took the metro a couple stops outside of the city to a town called Tomares. There the captain of the team, Javi, picked my up and brought me to the practice field. I was assuming it would be extremely awkward and uncomfortable to be picked up by a complete stranger and taken to practice a sport that I don’t really play in another language. But something I’ve learned from being abroad and away from home so much is let the awkward times roll. Nothing good ever comes from staying inside a comfort zone, except comfort I suppose.

Anyway, once I got to the field with Javi, he started taking out big body bag-esque bags. It hit me just then that guys play with pads. Obviously this wasn’t news to me but there I was with my little stick bag which I am thankful contained a stick stringed for guys lacrosse (good idea Barry!), and the guys start arriving and pulling huge bags out of their trunks. I must have looked a little intimidated or something because Javi said to me no te preocupe, no pasa nada, tenemos protecciones para ti. I love (and sometimes hate) how in Spain, no matter what happens, no pasa nada. It really is a great motto to live by, except if you are trying to live in the U.S. where no one would appreciate that attitude.

So we walked to the field where there were people playing soccer, and a few games of paddle, a new sport (to me) that everyone here is always talking about. We chit chatted for a while, well mostly the guys chatted and I listened attentively trying to understand what they were saying. It still surprises me after a month how fast the Sevillanos speak. I know Spanish fairly well but sometimes I think they are just speaking a martian language. I catch a few words now and then but it is really quite difficult to carry on a conversation, unless the person talking to you knows you are foreign and converses with you as if you were 5 years old. Pero bueno, I don’t mind pretending to be 5 as long as I can practice my Spanish.

After enough people arrived to start the practice (if you’re late in Spain, no pasa nada) we did some warm-ups. And you know, some things really don’t change from country to country. If you are out of shape and start to practice a sport all of a sudden, the warm-ups are going to be challenging. But luckily I was able to pull the chica card and get away with being slow. Partially it’s just the truth, guys are faster and stronger than girls. But I also can’t deny that my out of shape-ness made me that much slower.

We did our warm-ups and then suited up, a process I am not used to in girl’s lacrosse. I was given a chest protector, gloves, elbow pads and a helmet (things that only goalies wear in girl’s lacrosse) and told to go play. Play lacrosse in 90-degree heat, with all these pads, and a helmet that cuts off all peripheral vision? Okay, I tried. And it proved to be as much of a challenge as I thought it was going to be. But the good news is the drills were more or less the same drills that I am used to doing; at least that wasn’t new to me. And as I said earlier everyone was nice and understanding and I hope it continues that way!

After practice, a couple of guys were going to watch a rugby game, Sevilla versus Alicante I think, and invited me to come with. A few of their girl friends that had been there watching practice (cheerleaders they’re called) also went. I had never seen a rugby game/have nothing to do until work tomorrow, so I went too. And now I understand what people think when they see American football for the first time. Not only are there men throwing themselves on each other and jumping up on people’s shoulders, but there seems to be no rules, except you cannot throw the ball forwards. It just doesn’t make much sense. Even though I had no clue what was going on in the game and in much of the guys’ conversation, I still had fun. They brought liters of cerveza (nothing like a big, cold beer after lacrosse practice) and pipas (sunflower seeds). I felt like I was having an authentic Spanish experience, although by the end of the game I could hardly keep my eyes open.

En fin, I’m really glad I ended up going. Practice is every Sunday, so on weekends I don’t travel I’m pretty sure I will go. I left today relatively unscarred from all the golpes I took, but we’ll see what appears tomorrow. I might have to start working out more to build up enough strength to hit back. For now, a siesta. It’s been a long day.

*please forgive my punctuation. the girls/girl's thing kinda confused me when writing this. guess i've been away from english class too long.