Speaking of which, this weekend I did not sleep much. I was pretty much busy from early in the morning until really late at night. I was a transportation volunteer for the ITF (International Tennis Federation) which meant that I was in charge of coordinating private cars and shuttle buses going from the hotel to the stadium and back for kinda important people. It was quite an interesting mix of people we (me and my partner Nacho) had to deal with. Some people weren’t given clearance for a private car but thought they were entitled to one. Some people apparently never learned to read because everyday we had the bus schedule posted on a board in the hotel, and still people asked what time the buses were leaving.
Each day we caught the last bus to the stadium to watch the match. Since we were transportation volunteers, not ushers, we didn’t have any official duties during game time. Instead we were told to find seats where we could and enjoy the match. And I took full advantage of that instruction. I found pretty good seats each day, but Sunday’s seats were by far the best.
After the final match on Sunday, and after spain was presented with the cup, the volunteers were able to go down onto the court and TOUCH the very clay that the players had played on, QUE SUERTE. But really, it was cool to be down on the court, especially since Rafa and some other teammates were still down there doing interviews. When we left the stadium, a few volunteers and I decided it was time for us to celebrate. We may not have one a davis cup, but we did work hard over the weekend and deserved a little celebration.
At first we went to the hotel where the Spanish selection was staying to try to get a few more pictures/signatures, but it was so heavily guarded that we decided it just wasn’t worth it. Then we went to the argentinian’s hotel, where there was less police security. We waited for almost an hour and half because one of the other volunteers wanted a picture with one of the players, SJASJ, so badly that she wouldn’t let us leave until she got it. Which she did, so it was a success. In the mean time, we made some friends with argentine fans. We all got some dinner together, seven native Spanish speakers and me. I thought the andaluz accent was difficult to understand, but holy cow, I think the Argentineans were speaking another language entirely.
En fin, it was a really great experience for me. I would give up all that sleep in a heartbeat to do it again. Now I am getting ready to go to Prague tomorrow. My life isn’t too bad right now…
my video of nadal's winning point:
ps-the title of this blog is part of a song that was played every time spain won a game or set or match. the spanish are very into their songs. the argentineans might be even more enthusiastic if possible.
pps-sorry if the video doesn't work. blogspot is giving me some problems.
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