Hey guys,
I miss everyone more than you know. We lost our game today in Barcelona 2-1. I played the last 20 minutes and I was proud of myself. Aragon sports wrote about me on the internet and my first game with the team, it says :Alberto Berna dio entrada a la californiana Lauren Leslie, que debutó con el Prainsa Zaragoza y jugó con corrección. Alberto is my coach, and it says i had my debute and played with correction...haah whatever that means, it think it is good!!
The issue is, I followed my dream coming here, but now im wondering if it was really the right dream. I am glad i came, but I am really missing home. Not just my freinds and family, but my life, and coaching. I really enjoy coaching and sharing my passion and I think I am seeing it might be what i want. Here soccer is more of a job. Soccer is not a job to me it is a passion. I am slowly learning spanish, but not being able to communicate is horrible for me. I am the kind of player who likes to talk and inspire the team, that is one of the things i do well., and here i can not do that and it kills me. There is so much i want to say to the team and i cant. I cant be the player i want to be, playing well isnt enough for me. This team needs inspiration, it needs to be on the same page. There is a lot of individuals, who only care about themselves, and i want us to unite. I dont play soccer for myself really i think..i love the team stuff, but what good are the long bus rides if i can only speak so much...and not be fully me. I know it will come in time, but can i wait that long.
So now I am wondering if I can share my passion through coaching? I want to share how great soccer is with people..I loved seeing the Blues girls i coached getting so excited for games. And I know I will be a good coach, cus i have had the best coaches and bad ones, so i think i know how to treat players, and how to coach them into being good people not just players. I wont have favorites, and put people down... I don´t know. I am just really missing home, and im finding things very hard right now... I was so blessed back in california and now I am seeing that.
Thanks for listening guys! Love you all
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=585041022951&set=a.585040918161.2084728.201004106&type=1&theater Here is a picture of my jersey!
Wouldn't it be cool if you stayed in Spain for a while, learned Spanish, then came back here and made an awesome difference by being a bilingual coach, inspiring kids in two languages. :) Maybe that's why you're there. What an amazing experience you're having. Too bad about the 1-2 loss. I hope you continue seeking joy and spreading joy over there in Z-town. You're a natural. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, and I think "jugo con correction" must mean something like that you "played correctly."
I vote you stay and play a full season. You can't fully experience this unless you give it time. Great personal growth always comes through discomfort. Your plan to coach will always be there - waiting for you. This opportunity you may only have once in your life!
ReplyDeleteMary
lo bo-- i think you might regret coming home so soon.. but i do know the feeling. once we were in colombia i was like GET ME HOME!! even though i did want to experience the country and culture. of course now i regret moving our coming home date 2 weeks early. BUT i was also traveling with someone, you're on your own, and we learned the language really fast and didnt have too much trouble communicating. although you want to communicate in a different way than we did.
ReplyDeletei have no idea how you're feeling because i always had someone to turn to and speak english to, talk about home, love and laugh with... your situation is a little different.
if you really, honestly feel it's time to come home and your time there is done, then do it. but if you are having a bad week and missing everyone here in the states, remember we will still be here in another couple of months! make some calls, emails, go see some family out there, do all that to try and get it out of your system.
again, i don't want you to regret coming home because you are taking advantage of an amazing opportunity.. something that most likely won't come around again. you will always have the ability to coach here in the states, but never to play on a soccer team in spain. that's so awesome! plus, how great will that look on your resume??
i love you lo, and whatever you decide to do i'm right there behind you! let us know!
love, hillary
Stay and play! I know it's hard to be away from home the first time. But this chance will likely not present itself again. Learn the language and bring back the knowledge and experience you were able to get.
ReplyDeleteThis IS Southern CA and learning Spanish is HUGE. Stay and play!!!!!!!