Living in Marbella

Well the truth is that I'm not actually living in Marbella, I actually don't really know where I'm living. I guess the house is in Nueva Andulucia, which I is supposedly near Marbella, but like most things in Spain, it is what it is and no one seems to give a damn. I do know that I am living in a very expensive home with the team president/head coach and his family. I live in the finished basement (Shark Shack) with AJ, my new teammate from Worcester. We've got a really cool set up down here with separate rooms, a few couches, a big flatscreen tv, and a bar. The best part is that this week we're getting an Xbox 360... that's the bonus from el Prez for the big win last Saturday.

Playing football has been a lot of fun and it's the reason I'm here, but to be honest, we only have 2 practices a week for two hours each and then the games on Saturdays. Living with the team president allows for some additional game planning and fine tuning of the playbook, but there is a lot of down time. Fortunately, there's always something going on over here...

The most obvious reason for constant action is probably the fact that Mike and Ann (who we live with) have 7 children. Chrystal is 2 months old, Connor is almost 2 years old, Charlotte is 3 years old, Cady is 4 years old, Chloe is 6 years old, Chase is 8 years old, and Cooper is 10. As you can imagine, living with 7 kids under the age of 11, creates some pretty hectic times, but luckily the basement is just about self-sustaining with a fridge and a bathroom and a good working lock. However, I've always really enjoyed being with kids, and its a lot of fun playing with them. Obviously it's a lot more enjoyable when you're not required to care for them 24/7 and provide for them, so I'm kind of getting the best of both worlds.

They also have 1 year old dog who is always competing for attention or jumping onto the counter to eat food. He's a schitzu, and I've had some bad experiences with schitzus in the past, so at first I thought I'd hate him. Luckily he's actually turned out to be not so bad. The best part is that there's a female English Bulldog living next door. AJ and I are trying very hard to get those two some alone time. I'll keep you updated on the success of that venture.

On top of that, there is the constant allure of the sun and beach. One step out of my dungeon and I can immediately see the potential bene's (beneficial rays: sun rays that provide a sweet tan) just flowing all over the place. My amazing parents bought me an Amazon Kindle right before taking off and I'm finding that reading books on the beach is going to be a pretty great, time consuming hobby of mine.

I'm really enjoying getting to speak Spanish all the time. I still mess up a lot but can definitely hold a conversation and get things done when I'm out and about shopping and what not. Sometimes I get a little nervous, but the wine is really cheap here so that's become a non-issue. Speaking of wine, AJ and I were dragged to a wine tasting last Friday, but it turned out to be actually quite interesting. They served us a bunch of food even though "it ruins the wine tasting experience"... I think they knew I'm truly a fat kid.

Well I really must be off to bed, although I haven't changed the time on my computer clock and it says only 8:30, I'm aware of this little time change thing and don't want to sleep through any potential bene's tomorrow. (Dillon, I'm trying, if this one isn't up to par, I think you're just going to have to pull the plug on me.)

Oh ya, I've put up a few links at the top on the side of this page; I have some pictures to look at as well as links to some of the Spanish football sites, a link to a google map of the house I'm living at, and of course, the great tale of Mr. Adventurer. We'll see ya.