Futbol, how I miss you

It's quite an ironic statement to make, as I am in Europe where football/soccer is more popular than, well, everything. I came to Spain with the intention of playing everyday but that hasn't quite happened.

In Madrid, my friend and fellow football-lover told me of a cool field in the middle of my favorite park. We decided to see if we could find a pick-up game to join in. As two girls, we are used to being welcomed with only a slight hesitation into a pick-up game if we are playing at Underhill in Berkeley. But this time was the contrast- the french men said their numbers were already enough and they had no room for us. It was clearly an excuse to avoid having two girls play with them.

That was my first lesson about football in Spain- the game is more important than girls. The next lesson I learned was with a conversation with a Northern Spain gentleman who tactfully told me that the only girls on his co-ed football team were not straight. Football in Europe is equivalent to American football; it's a man's game. For the past few months I have seen football games all over Spain and Europe; rarely do I see a girl playing. It's not that girls can't play, they just don't do so very often. The above, combined with traveling and other distractions, has made a ball a distant, long-lost friend to my left foot. The last time I went this long without playing soccer was when I was recovering from my knee surgery. This time, not as painful.

I am not complaining because what my life has lacked in football, I have made up in dancing, an equally important element in my life. I have finished my semester in Madrid and I traveled Europe for a month (including two crazy weeks with my parents). So finally I arrive in Sevilla, beginning my summer volunteer program. And guess what? At night from my window, I have a great view of a summer football league. With the fresh air and after a hard day's work, it's a great place to look up to the moon, look down to the cement-field, and wind down with a cup of tea...to an intense, enthralling football game. This field is at the end of the neighborhood, on the side of the freeway, and my window has the best view.

It's a bitter-sweet injection of soccer adrenaline for me, because I find it very peaceful to watch, but it also makes my feet itch to play. Then again, these guys are really good, and I am sure I am pretty rusty at this point. For now, I am enjoying the view of the unsuspecting football field at the end of Vasco de Gama Street, even if the games endure way past my bedtime and I have to wear earplugs to drown out the noise.