Every morning I was awakened by roosters...an entire squadron of roosters. Awesome.
Zac hired Fernando, Nardo, and "DJ Jose" to help us out with the camps. These were young boys in high school who were superb. Great at football, great attitudes, and hard workers. I became close with each of them even just after a short week. One day Fernando climbed the coconut tree outside our place. It was unbelievable. He climbed this 3 story tree, easier than I climb a ladder. He knocked down about 10 coconuts... incredible. These three guys are some of the best guys I've ever met. Willing to run through a door for you if you asked them to. I will miss them.
Bryan and Darrel were are neighbors who would always come around and check in on us. Always making us laugh, entertaining us, and brightening our day.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Typical Day
Tuesday morning I took the "prop" plane to Corozal. Zac picked me up, and drove me to Cristo Rey where Sports Servants runs its headquarters. I met the rest of the team: Reid, Coach K, Anderson, and Ellice. For week 2, Sports Servants was preparing a coaching camp for about 12 coaches from the surrounding area. And in the afternoon about 40-50 kids would show up for football camp. We talked about leadership, teamwork, discipline, and courage Monday through Thursday.
Coach K would prepare drills, and coach football like no other in the morning. It was impressive to see how eager, and motivated the coaches in Belize were to learn from Coach K. For lunch we would eat rice, beans, and usually beef or chicken. Good stuff. Afternoons were filled with energetic, smiling children. Anderson would coach the young guys, and Coach K would take the older guys. I would help out where I could. Reid was the drill master... Reid, there are only 24 hours in a day, never stop sweating.
We would finish up around 5pm and head back to base camp for a quick break. Late afternoons/evenings consisted of football games under the lights, or an impromptu volleyball game. I was a foot taller than the net, and our team lost badly. Dinner was amazing. The first night I ate 4 burritos. A family cooked for us every night, and every night I thought that was the best meal I'd ever eaten. After dinner we would prepare for the next day, and talk through the game plan. And we also endured Zac's multi-media blitz... podcasts, and interviews. I went to bed every night feeling like it was a full days work.
Coach K would prepare drills, and coach football like no other in the morning. It was impressive to see how eager, and motivated the coaches in Belize were to learn from Coach K. For lunch we would eat rice, beans, and usually beef or chicken. Good stuff. Afternoons were filled with energetic, smiling children. Anderson would coach the young guys, and Coach K would take the older guys. I would help out where I could. Reid was the drill master... Reid, there are only 24 hours in a day, never stop sweating.
We would finish up around 5pm and head back to base camp for a quick break. Late afternoons/evenings consisted of football games under the lights, or an impromptu volleyball game. I was a foot taller than the net, and our team lost badly. Dinner was amazing. The first night I ate 4 burritos. A family cooked for us every night, and every night I thought that was the best meal I'd ever eaten. After dinner we would prepare for the next day, and talk through the game plan. And we also endured Zac's multi-media blitz... podcasts, and interviews. I went to bed every night feeling like it was a full days work.
Catch Up
So it's probably obvious that there wasn't much internet access down there in Corozal, Belize. I will try to re-cap the weeks events hopefully in a quick and concise fashion. Thanks again to everyone who gave me a word of encouragement throughout the week, and thanks to those who kept me in their thoughts and prayers.
Monday - "Shotgun!"
I flew to Houston, then to Belize City, and caught the next to the last "prop" plane to San Pedro. I got the last seat on the 10 person plane, and to my surprise I was riding shotgun! Literally in the freaking cock-pit of this plane. Awesome. As we're taking off I could see that there were kids running and riding bikes across the dirt runway to see how many times they could make it before the plane got too close! Crazy. After this distraction I realized I didn't have my seat belt on. The pilot didn't seem too worried, it looked like he could fly this thing comotosed.
I was 15 minutes late for the last flight to Corozol. So... I stayed in San Pedro. Blessing in disguise. This place was amazing. I got a cheap room at "Ruby's" (literally a 50 ft walk from the airport down an alley). Ruby was really nice, and took care of me. I was right on the beach. Explored the beach-side, got wet, and had a couple Beliken Beers at this bar on the beach. Watched USA lose to Portugal, and was 1 of 2 people cheering for the US. Met a nice guy named Ryan who had spent 3 weeks hanging out in nearby Mexico. We ended up having dinner beach-side and it was delish.
Monday - "Shotgun!"
I flew to Houston, then to Belize City, and caught the next to the last "prop" plane to San Pedro. I got the last seat on the 10 person plane, and to my surprise I was riding shotgun! Literally in the freaking cock-pit of this plane. Awesome. As we're taking off I could see that there were kids running and riding bikes across the dirt runway to see how many times they could make it before the plane got too close! Crazy. After this distraction I realized I didn't have my seat belt on. The pilot didn't seem too worried, it looked like he could fly this thing comotosed.
I was 15 minutes late for the last flight to Corozol. So... I stayed in San Pedro. Blessing in disguise. This place was amazing. I got a cheap room at "Ruby's" (literally a 50 ft walk from the airport down an alley). Ruby was really nice, and took care of me. I was right on the beach. Explored the beach-side, got wet, and had a couple Beliken Beers at this bar on the beach. Watched USA lose to Portugal, and was 1 of 2 people cheering for the US. Met a nice guy named Ryan who had spent 3 weeks hanging out in nearby Mexico. We ended up having dinner beach-side and it was delish.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Bouncin' Back
So I missed my flight Saturday morning. Terrible. It was an early flight... I set my alarm for 4:30, and woke up half an hour after it left. I had a pretty rough day making alternate plans, but it all ending up working out. I kind of feel like I just lost the first 5 points to Jonathan "Big Purchase" Pearce in ping-pong... unfortunately for Pearce, now it's my serve. I leave in the morning and can't wait to get down there and start things... Today I bought a book (yes, Rotti..Frommer's) about Belize and have been thumbing through it. With this additional time I've also been able to check out the SS Live website, and hear how things are going. There is so much multi-media/audio-visual coverage! Zac, it's impressive..well done. I'll be ready for media day. The alarm is set. It's on.
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