Being back on the grid and all things sports

My new phone, charging as it is currently dead.

I made it almost a whole month here without a cell phone and, in my opinion, was doing fairly well! I was certainly able to both meet new people and stay in touch via e-mail and in person with my primary contacts in the Fulbright program. What a liberating feeling to not be tied 24/7 to other individuals (most of whom I likely enjoy spending time with very much!) when I am not in their immediate presence!  But, lo and behold, my immediate reality is that the vast majority of individuals in Resistencia have cell phones, making my purchase of a phone truly a necessity for maintaining relationships with new friends and colleagues. Without said phone, plans to meet up with friends, obtain a ride from someone (very important as I don't have a car or bike) or hear about last minute changes all become more complicated as other parties involved in the situation depend daily on communicating via their cell phones. Thus, I headed to Personal (one of the cell phone companies here) today with one of the guys that I live with and walked away successfully with my social existence's new lifeline in hand. Ultimately a good life decision and sound financial investment for my time spent in Resistencia.


My other most recent news comes from playing volleyball with some new friends. Sunday afternoon's asado included some nonchalant passing and setting which quickly made me eager for real playing time... Monday evening I met with friends at the court that ended up being a patchy grassy portion of land, its regulation lines chalked much like a softball or baseball diamond is chalked in the US. Nonetheless, the group that I met with conducted the first half of our time together like a regular practice (excellent warm up for me as I haven't played in several weeks) and the latter half in actual games. I have to say, I think I actually enjoyed all of the warming up and basic drills even better than playing for a few reasons. First, our court had no lights of its own; our play was illuminated by the lighting of several nearby buildings.  This made playing on one half of the court particularly difficult. Second, conversations during drills were a little more direct, allowing my ears to pick up on some of the slang and technical terms used in the game (more so than during actual games where the banter between teams/teammates is less directed and more rapid fire). Finally, as I am so accustomed to playing on either indoor or sand courts, not being able to dive for the ball just about killed the competitive spirit in me. Not being able to lay out to dig a hit and pop back up to simply dust the sand off myself made me miss the sand courts LOTS. Despite all this, I gained some excellent new vocabulary related to playing volleyball and connected with some new individuals. Overall, a win. :)

In other sporting news, tonight marked possibly one of the most exciting moments since my arrival in Resistencia with a new acquaintance that I made out on the plaza. I had just finished my run and was stretching my legs out on a set of bars when a young lady, named Yaneth, approached me and asked if I practiced any particular sport (pretty sure my basketball shorts gave me away. I haven't seen one other woman wearing them here yet). Of course I shared that I played basketball and was basically on cloud nine when she offered up that I should come practice with their team here in the city!  Not too many blocks from my house is Club Saramiento where they practice a few times a week; Yaneth shared that they travel to some of the nearby provinces to participate in tournaments as well. This meeting couldn't come at a better time as I have been thinking often over the past few days about how I might implement my originally proposed project: organized recreation focused on diversifying young Argentine girls' life experiences and sharing some of the life skills gained by participation in team sports/activities. Plus, I definitely will not be passing up any chances to play some hoops and continue to expand my contacts and friends here! More news certainly to come on that front....

Tomorrow I get to introduce myself to the new students of the English teacher training program at my university. Let the adventures begin!