15 January 2008             

Post #11:  Futbol Practice Begins

Today we took Isabelle shopping --- not much fun for the rest of us, but she has all kinds of euros to blow, and only three days left here.  We first went to Paceville and found most of the shops closed, (many businesses are open from 8-12 and then close from 12 or 1 until 4, so we decided to enjoy lunch out.  The kids were happy with Burger King (yuck!) -- I held out for Turkish kabab on pita bread.  Yum!  Very nice guy working the little kabab joint, too.   He got all the little kids smiling clowning with them.  We took a bus to Sliema, and we ended up leaving Isabelle and Rachel to shop down on the Sliema seafront.  The boys and I headed back home, in order to make it in time for their first soccer practice.  I gave Isabelle the map and showed her exactly where to walk to return to the apartment.  They were about a 25-30 minute walk away from here. 

I could see the boys were tired, and so we headed for the promenade on the water and began the long march home.  David started to poop out part-way, which was what I feared would happen, so I encouraged Ian to challenge him to a foot-race.  David perked right up, and they ended up racing from one trash can to the next, for about four blocks, David winning every time.  I didn't even have to suggest to Ian that he might let David win.  Ian is one wise big brother and knew just how to keep David's spirits high, so we could make it back here in time for practice. 

Unfortunately, the jogging made David even more tired, so after ten minutes of that, he was petering out on the sidewalk again.  Nathan, who I encouraged to ride in the stroller, was looking a little better off, so I asked him if he'd like to walk a bit, and he gave up the stroller for David.  I was carrying Bobby on my chest with the handy-dandy Kelty front pack we got from Bob and Camilla (Dave's brother and his wife) back when Rachel was a baby.  What a great thing that is!  I sometimes forget I'm carrying a baby, it's so comfortable.  Though naturally, after a few hours walking, I start to feel it in my back.

Anyway, long story long... we stopped at a small grocery for the day's fresh bread, and I perked them all up with a bottle of Sprite and some lollipops.  That did the trick and they basically skipped the last six blocks, hardly noticing that it was all up hill.

When we got to the front of the apartment, we saw Dave at the soccer fields paying for the boys' futbol program.  Ian and Addison had a great first practice  It's a costly deal (over 200 bucks for 10 weeks --once a week), but we figure you'd pay as much (or more) to send them to a soccer camp, and this is some really good instruction they're getting.  They'll be good and ready for the YMCA spring program when we return home.  Zazu, the coach, is an Aussie and former world-class player who apparently makes a living off this program. At the cost, and pushing about 40 kids through practices every night, six nights a week, I'm thinking the guy has got it made.  (That's two 90 minute practices a night) 

We watched Zazu coach the first night we were here, and he is very good:  positive, encouraging, funny, and enthusiastic.  I'll have to try to get video, so you can someday hear him.  He's so animated (and bald)...and he throws Maltese and English together in his exclamations.  The boys should learn some Maltese through this experience, we hope.

They returned after practice quite excited and telling me about all the moves they learned.  During their practice, Bobby and I watched them from the window, while Dave went down and watched from the sideline with David and Nathan.  In one drill, Ian beat his partner, and Zazu gave the kid a hard time for letting “the American boy” whip him.  :)  Cute.  Ian got a kick out of that. 

Addison got to partner with a boy we watched a couple weeks ago.  He was thrilled to have "The King" (the kid's nickname) for his partner.  The King is this cute little boy, probably 6, but looks younger, who has the greatest moves for his size.  We were cheering for him the first time we went to watch a practice, because he was so good at hitting the cones in a drill, and when he'd miss, he'd be so animated with his "aw shucks" that we'd laugh.  He's a major ham.  And Zazu, the coach, noticed us rooting for him from the fence and told us that he calls him "The King!"  I'll have to get video of him, too.  You'd appreciate his personality, even when you have no clue what he's saying since it's mostly Maltese.   :)

We had wonderful, fresh, fettucini noodles with a store-bought, but good, alfredo sauce tonight for dinner.  We added a few fresh mushrooms (which are amazingly inexpensive here) and it was delicious.  Our meals are often pasta, as mentioned earlier, but nobody here minds that at all. 

Hoping to see some of the major sights on the island tomorrow as Isabelle's time here is almost over.  Not sure where we're headed yet.  Going to go pore over the brochures and the Malta book we purchased and try to figure that out now.   

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