octubre: You joined what?

I was invited by one of Sarah's coworkers to join her women's fútbol (soccer) team. I haven't played fútbol in 9 years, I don't know over half of the important vocab in Spanish, the league plays every Saturday in a town called Tepotzlan that is an hour away by bus, and as a volunteer I have to be rather judicious about how I spend the small amount of stipend we recieve for living expenses. I have a couple reasons why not to join but... “Carpe diem” right? I'm only living here once.

So now I am the new addition to Nuvia's team. Nuvia lent me some of her old cleats and I bought myself some socks and shinguards. Turns out the socks I bought were the wrong color and the shinguards are kid sized. Welcome to a day in my life, another example of how I get things wrong a few times before I finally get them right. Although I kept the espinilleras juventiles (kid shinguards) I had to buy different socks and I went to go play my first game on October 13th. I showed up and immediately felt some curious stares that screamed the question, “Who this blond girl and why is she hanging out at the soccer fields in this small pueblo? Did she get lost?” Well, I am the güera that joined a team. I am the güera that stands a good head taller than my other teammates (and I hope to get a team photo at some point to capture the image of what “sticking out” really means). I am the güera that hopes to make some new friends and find another definition of “home.”

Although we aren't playing in the Estadio Azteca (pro field in Mexico City) in front of thousands of fans, we are playing with a backdrop of mountains and cliffs. Needless to say, I have to pinch myself every once in awhile. Our skill level leaves something to be desired, but no one is there for the points scored or the team's record. We are there to have a good time and that is exactly what I get everytime I make my way to Tepoztlan on Saturday afternoons.