We had our second game today, and hot damn, we won, 59-48. Only five players showed for an 11am game (I'm sure Saturday night hangovers killed half the team). Therefore, even though I'm so out of shape I feel like a 54 year-old chain smoker with emphysema and one more jelly donut away from cardiac arrest, I went the whole 40 minutes. Two hard fouls, a scuffed up left shin, a hobbled left knee that's led to seven consumed aspirin, and 12 points later, my shirt was so soaked with sweat, I literally RANG IT OUT in the bathroom sink. I wish this was an over exaggeration, but unfortunately, it isn't. The combination of massive amounts of exercise, the massive Satan fart heat of Mexico, and a gym that must double as a place to cremate bodies (ie - hot as hell) led to my shirt being wetter than...well, let's try to keep it PG for this evening. I love this basketball league. Love it. Those of you who know me know what basketball means to me, and to be able to play against really good competition and meet new people and show off my massive skill set (insert laugh here) has really made me so very, very happy.
Since my arrival, my choice hangout has been a quaint coffee shop near my house called Gloria Jean's. I literally am there every night, usually grading papers. I visit so frequently, I know every employee by name, they know my real name and many other aliases (ranging from "Rayn" to "Juan" to "Juanito" to one cheeky fellow who put my name on the receipt as "O'Bryan".), and I've held substanial conversations with each one of them. In other words, I'm a regular. And going there, I've really learned a lot of Spanish. Because I stay late and there are rarely other customers past 9pm, I have conversations with the employees for an hour almost every night. This alone has bumped my level of Spanish from "Yo hablo un muy poquito espanol," to "Yo hablo un poquito espanol." I feel comfortable enough now to speak to anyone in Spanish. It's fantastic. But anyways, the place really reminds me of the little coffee shops in Boulder, Colorado, my future home. Come visit me. I'll take you out for a cup.
Tonight, being that the Colts/Cardinals game was on national TV, it was on in most of the restaurants in Monterrey. I went to the Chili's near my house and watched. And what makes the perfect weekend more perfect? The Colts beating the living hell out of the Cardinals, 31-10, in case you happen to miss the score or don't care. I enjoyed a few Jack Daniels and Cokes and just realxed. And mis amigas favoritos came, too, which is always enjoyable. Fantastic, fantastic Sunday.
It's so nice to finally really enjoy being here. Even when things start to get boring or something should really get me down, it doesn't like it used to. I've taken the road of blissful ignorance, disregarding the things that don't go so well and truly enjoying each little thing that comes my way. I still don't know a ton of people. I'm not going out and drinking and partying like I used to. But, in a way, it's really nice. I figure pushing myself to really squeeze every ounce of happiness out of each experience can only serve me better in the long run. And plus, who wants to be fucking miserable all the time (oops - there goes the PG blog). Until next time...
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