Hola Desde Colombia!
We moved here on August 14, with plans to stay for almost a year. It's been a whirlwind of getting the kids enrolled in schools, getting the house set up, and trying to get internet access -- a big priority -- as Gabo kept saying.
Last night one of the 16-year-old guys who was going to play in the usual men's game under the lights in the concrete soccer field in front of my house actually invited me to play! I was thrilled, but I told him I couldn't come until I got the kids to bed. By 8:30, when I went outside, the game was in full swing and being played with lots of intensity, the occasional foul, and some words that I'm pretty sure were vulgarities.
I watched in case anyone needed a sub. When it ended, there was talk about how much money the losers owed the winners. I didn't get the exact amount, but I was relieved, then that I wasn't playing. I'm afraid my skills are not good enough to keep up in a game where young men are playing for pesos!
This morning at breakfast Gabo and Mario and I were talking about this issue. And Gabo said I could just offer to cover everyone's losses. It's an idea, and with my American dollars I can buy lots of pesos, but I think Mario's wisdom might be better.
"When money is involved, I just don't play," he told me.
Spoken like a jaded Colombian school kid!