¡Jugando al voleibol otra vez!

Today I started practicing volleyball with the Chileans!  It kind of came about all of a sudden.  I, of course, wanted to play a sport and was definitely going to do volleyball.  Until I heard that the coach didn't really like intercambio students from some girls from a few years back.  But a TON of girls from my group are doing football and basketball, the other two sports I was interested in.  Being me, I wanted to do something different and out of my comfort zone.  So I facebook messaged Jaime, our group's coordinator from UAI, and asked him to find out details.  He hooked me up with a ride to the practice, which was pretty far in Valpo at the Naval University's gym.  In order to meet my ride I had to take a micro to 7 Norte (remember, I live at 23 Norte) and wait for her inside a Shell gas station.  I know this sounds somewhat shady.  Random side note: yes, they have Shell stations and many other US stores/brands.  It's very Americanized here, although distinctly a different culture.  Back to the story.  I decided to leave with less than 15 minutes to do this so I found myself running to the bus (just like at school in the U.S.).  I barely got there on time, but Paola (my ride) wasn't there.  I sat in the gas station for 10 minutes, scared that she wouldn't come because the basketball girls' ride didn't show the day before.  Por fin, she arrived and ended up being very nice.  It was really good for me to spend almost an hour driving to and from the practice trying to listen to rapid, youthful Spanish and converse.  Though it was much more difficult to understand her than my host family (they talk slow for me :) ) because of her accent, vocabulary, and speed, I managed to converse with her.  When we got to the gym I was slightly nervous because I always am when I go to a sport's practice, but also I felt awkward and did not know how I would be received.  However, everyone was friendly and the coach did not seem put off in the slightest by my presence.  We started out just like any other volleyball practice I've had in my life.  We jogged around the court, warmed up our arms with slams and throws, peppered a bit, and then started drills.  We had to do passing, conditioning, hitting, and serving.  It was all very similar to at home.  I even told them to call me Shaughn like some other teammates have in the past.
A couple random differences:
It was all in Spanish so I wasn't even sure how to say "good set" or "sorry I was in the net"
They don't have drinking fountains here and I didn't have a water bottle at home, so I went thirsty
They actually ended up calling me Gringa (don't worry, it's a term of endearment)
For not playing since November, I did alright and it was pretty fun.  A girl from my group named Abby Mohr might come next time.  That's all on that front, but I will keep you updated and hopefully have photos in the future.

Besitos!
Shaughnessy