Aventura 22: Fútsaluna

Fútsal has been the highlight of my time so far in Barcelona.  I have practices Tuesday, Thursday, and games on the weekends.  Last Tuesday night, we had practice in our usual Tuesday night spot behind the church, outside (yes, outside, pretty cold!), and we were playing under the stars. At first, it didn't really seem like it because there were lights, but then the lights got shut off for some reason, so we could only see by the light of the full moon and the stars! I think everyone else might have been a little annoyed that the lights had turned off, but I just took it as a moment to reflect on where I was: playing fútbol with a wonderful group of girls outside a church IN BARCELONA!

http://www.photoentropy.com/2008/06/06/moon-and-soccer-field.php

We had a game this weekend, and we had to drive an hour and a half to Blanes, outside of Barcelona.  I hopped in the car with three girls from my team, three girls that I didn't know too well other than having two weeks of practices with them - but here I was driving with them to a footy game like I was at home on a weekend! We had such an exciting game, tying 2-2, but again, not until the ride home when I looked out the window and saw the stars and the moon looking back at me did I think and realize how amazing it is to be playing on a team here with these girls! I can't explain it really - but it just feels like I'm actually a PART of Barcelona, that I'm not just touristing here, not just visiting, not even just studying, but I'm getting to know and hanging out and driving 3 hours on a weekend, returning during the night, for a footy game!  

I can't explain the feeling, except with this new word I came up with:

Fútsaluna: fútsal + luna = futsal + moon.  

Maybe it shares the same meaning as the song that my grandma used to sing to me:

"I see the moon, 

the moon sees me, 

the moon sees the one that I want to see.  

God bless the moon, 

and god bless me, 

and god bless the one that I want to see." 

Or a quote that I like from the movie Dear John that I saw with my cousin:

 "There's a full moon tonight which makes me think of you, half a world away." - John Tyree

That the moon, no matter where you are, is always there with you.  That the moon is something that everyone has in common, anywhere in the world, and you can always look at the moon and know that whoever you are thinking about will be seeing that same moon.  I think, in a way, footy has become that for me.  I've played it in so many places all over the U.S., in Argentina, Africa, Norway, Australia, in all different schools and on many different teams, and now in Barcelona.  And every time I've played footy in these places, I've gotten to know the people and the place in a different way.  Fútbol has become my own moon.  I can find it all over the world.  I can connect with people far away or close by just by being on a team or kicking a ball around with them.  Its beauty puts a huge smile on my face.  And, if it's not too obvious to mention, the moon looks like a beautiful footy ball, shining high in the sky and the constellations are actually depictions of soccer Gods, some that even play here in Barcelona.

Fútsaluna...this idea...this word...is quickly becoming a huge part of who I am.