I have many words of the day for today. Attraper means to catch. Lancer means to throw. "Tu cours trop vite" means you run to fast...for me to catch you and tear of your flag football flag belt.
Joanna went to a French flag football practice last week and graciously invited me along for tonight's practice. I wore my New Orleans Saints football shirt just to look official. The moment I arrived someone took notice of the Saints emblem, a fleur de lys, and told me how much they like the saints. They liked the Cowboys better, though. Seriously, what is it with Texas. It's a great state, but I don't get the French-Texas connection. In any case, the Saints are still number one in my heart. Coach-less season aside. It was great to hear some American football banter, and everyone loved Drew Brees which is reason enough for me to like them already.
My brother taught me how to play football, and my dad helped out too, so I felt comfortable just jumping right in. I thought it would be pretty low key, but these guys- and one other girl who was French but definitely showed us Americans up- mean business. We ran drills, then plays, then we scrimmaged. Luckily there is no tackling because I think some of them may have once played rugby. Huge. Scary. So not what I would expect from a French person. I'm still not the best at actually catching the ball, but the coach was confident that after a few more practices I would be ready for the Super Bowl.
The team name is Ours Toulouse (oohrs), which means the Toulouse Bears. They practice on Mondays and Thursdays, so it looks like I've found myself a hobby and a team to belong to. After doing sports for so long it feels strange to not have that team atmosphere. One of the players heard I was once a cheerleader, and he put me in contact with Toulouse's own pom pom girl squad. Apparently they're pretty new, cheerleading only just caught on in France in the last ten years, so he thought I might enjoy coaching or even participating. Cheerleading year 9. Bring it on!
I hope this week brings you a new hobby or new friends as it has for me. A plus...
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