The first: playing basketball as the mongoloid giant is pretty rad. I am six inches taller that anyone native to this country, and I am enjoying being the biggest player on the basketball court for the first time in my life.
The second: my host brother, Andres. Andres is unlike anyone I have ever met. With him, there is definitely no middle ground. If he is going to do bodybuilding, he is going to bust it every single day as hard as he possibly can. If he is going to play Age of Empires (a strategy game that I played when it came out in the late 90's, he is going to be on the Ecuadorian national team. (He is currently the second best...) Anyway, Andres goes to work out TOUGH every day. He asks me to come with him. Basically, he convinced me join his gym.
Francisco, KO, and I went to test out the gym because we have STUPID amounts of free time. I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but I spend more time on facebook and the internet now in South America than I have in my entire life. Ever... Accordingly, we wanted to put this extra time to some good use. The gym is pretty impressive. All of the machines that you would find in a standard American gym. The differences: workoutfits. (I just made up this word, but I like it.) It is very standard for dudes to be working out in jeans and a polo. There is also a regular from Russia who rocks shorts that I could only generously call boxer briefs. A slight departure from the basketball shorts and t-shirts that Cisco and I bring, but I have become quite accustomed to sticking out bigtime. Best story from the gym so far was the negotiation process. We are only going to be here for a little over another month, so we had to sort of work the manager. She was definitely a tough egg to crack, especially in spanish. Luckily, schmoozing is something that Cisco and I have a fairly significant level of experience with. The clinching line may or may not have been, "We talked to the owner, but he told us that you were the boss here." A large smile, a slight blush, and an acceptable deal followed. Mission accomplished. This has been a great way to pass some time, meet some Ecuadorians, and do some very awkward partner stretches with my host brother. (I will leave that to your imagination.)
Here is a picture to keep you more entertained...
The second athletic update is far more ridiculous. When I first got here, I had a conversation with Andres about sports. I told him that basketball is my favorite sport, and I enjoy still playing it. These words prompted Andres to call his buddy, who is a 6-5 semi-professional basketball player here in Quito. He also told Miguel (the buddy), that 'Garrett is very good. He always wins when he plays at the park.' He neglected to mention the fact that I am 50% larger than all of my opponents in the park and most of them have heard of shooting, but are unfamiliar with the concept of 'defense'. I talk with Miguel and set up a casual game. Cisco comes too. We play well. This essentially served as our 'tryout' for his real team. He basically communicates to us that if we want, we could play on this team. Fast forward one week, and tomorrow we are going to have an official practice with this team. A couple of important items to mention:
1) Miguel is one of the smaller players on this team (and he is at least 5 inches taller than Cisco or I). He also comes off of the bench.
2) There are multiple players on this team that have tried out for the NBA.
3) Andres informed me today that this team is "by far the best in Ecuador, and is going to make a legitimate run at the South American championship this year". Perfect.
Keeping this in mind, tomorrow should be intense to say the least. I have tried to explain that although Cisco and I play basketball, we are NOWHERE NEAR THIS LEVEL. NOT EVEN CLOSE. For some reason, this doesn't register with Andres. His responses included the following: "I trust in you. We will make lots of money together." "You need to have confidence in yourself." "I made your dream come true in one week. This is your chance to live your dream." Hmm. Well, I am definitely getting a great story out of it in the very least. I am looking forward to being thoroughly humbled. The goal is to minimize the shame that I bring to my family and my country. Keep this in prayer.
This is a picture of me when I found out that I was going to represent myself and my country again profession 7-foot basketball players. Okay fine, it is from the back of the pickup truck we rode in to Lake Cuicocha, but the sentiments are similar.
G-the-lesser,
ReplyDeleteYou should not jalon (hitchhike in the bed of trucks)! I know everybody does it, but it is super dangerous. We had a group of people who I worked with who almost dies while doing it. You are in a country that does not have the best infrastructure. I know it is a bit slower and it costs money to take buses/cabs, but it is worth it. I used to jalon too, but those trucks flip. Lets be honest here people in all latin american countries that I have ever visited drive very poorly and it is unsafe. I know it may seem like it is worth it, but is it really worth the risk?
Life is good. I just started my 2nd year of law school, and it is going well. I am sad that you will not be to any ND games, but I will eat a meatball sub and poor out a little bit of garibaldi margarita in your honor when I go. When and where are you going to be when you get your assignment?
Will you have as much access to the world wide intraweb? If so, keep in contact.
G-the-greater (G by choice and choicest at that!)
P.S. Have you learned any cool slang or sayings that are unique to your current ciudad? (tu ya sabes mi habilidades...casi bilingual.) Requerdo a tener cuidado! Tambien, viva siempre con su mente. Todo Cheque (which sort of encompasses: Go with the Flow. Dont Stress the small stuff. Live life as it comes. Etc.).
Proxima vez, voy a enviar un correo totamente en espanol, pero tienes que tener paciencia con mi gramatica y mi ortografia (I have never been good at spelling, even when it is so much easier in spanish.)
Gracias por tu consejo. No te preocupes. Este truck era muy seguro, y esto es la unica manera de ir al lago. Aun los libros de viajes dicen que son seguros. Tenemos que practicar espanol e ingles porque estoy olvidando los dos. Espero que todo este bien contigo...
ReplyDeleteps Por lo menos come tres sanduches de meatball cada juego....por favor...
Hoopfest champion to South America professional basketball...quite the leap I would say. Don't let them intimidate you. They are probably just taller, stronger, smarter, and can jump higher than you...Nothing really that has anything to do with basketball. Go get 'em dude. Can I be your agent?
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