To celebrate a day away from our jobs, since we have all been at it for one strong week here, we celebrated labor day by having a community pot luck brunch. While something I never really been a part of, or heard of for that matter, it was a great success and such a fun way to spend the day off. Each house, couple, or person, just depending on who lived together, brought a dish that would go for breakfast, either a casserole, omelets, eggs, fruit, coffee, avocados or oatmeal. Amazingly enough, for not much planning and just invitation by spread of mouth, there was only one repeat of casserole, and a large spread of various other things to fill each person there, and leave some for those who were with us in spirit. As people gathered in the Miami style, which others may know as the latino style, people were eating in shifts. It really worked perfectly as we only had one small table to eat at. After everyone had their fair share of eating and talking, we all hit the pool together, which was right by the Miami river, which is a traffic way for all the barges, yachts and fishing boats that come in off the ocean. It was quite fun to watch all the different types of people that would sail by.
Then, come 2:45 it was off to the first day of football tryouts, as I was welcomed at 3 o'clock (starting time) by the other coach and one player. Wow! What a disappointment, but I guess I cant ask for much having the first practice on a holiday. People slowly started coming, with the last ones showing up about 4:30, thirty minutes after the official end of practice, however, we just kept running them for a while to make everyone feel like they came to practice for a good reason. Overall it was a good day of getting the boys accustomed to the rules of practice and what we will be expecting for them in the coming season. I could see the spark in some boys today, as they came ready to work. Others, came thinking it would be a time in the park to throw a football with friends. Some soon found out it was hard to run spring and do bear crawls while wearing flip-flops. I'm guessing they will bring shoes, and a water bottle tomorrow. They are not allowed to go in the school for anything, and we don't supply water. Therefore, they forget it, they don't get it. Being knew though, I didn't know this and I didn't bring a water bottle. With nine boys, coaches have to run drills to fill in for people. Once again I found the Miami sun to be an enemy in these times of the afternoon. Samir, the assistant coach, and I soon broke into the kitchen at school and found some milk they had on hand. I am glad I am the coach!
After practice, it is tradition to stick around and play a game of basketball. An obvious sign we don't run these boys enough. I never even had enough energy to come home and sleep, let alone, play a full out game of basketball in the same sun that just kicked my butt for two hours. Hey, different cultures call for different measures. I am learning. It is the sense of community being built between the boys, compared to going home and playing video games. I will stay with them as long as they want to stay and have good, clean and safe fun. This is not a problem for me. The problem for me is getting beat in basketball by these boys. This is why I will make sure I run them the adequate amount to get them tired enough to not play hard.
Its going to be an exciting season with lots of stories, as I am learning to be a part of this culture, and learning the rules to a very new game. I am pumped to get into the games and see what these boys can do.
Their motto of choice, "If you want to go somewhere you've never been, you have to do things you've never done!" These boys are getting ready to do some things they have never done!
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