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Published: January 15th 2014
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Wow I cant believe that is has already been two weeks.... I would expect alot to report in those two weeks but 90% of my time has either been on the pool deck preparing the girls for competition this weekend (some of whom didnt even have music chosen to swim to yet!) and the other 10% of my time has been trying to go out with my one jamaican friend or do administrative work for the synchro club.... Here is a nutshell version of a few of my days...
The year started off with a bang (and lots of learning):
-I drove on the left side of the road for the first time ever (and in a right hand drive vehicle) and didn't crash or die! BONUS!
-I met the 'Synchro Stars Jamaica' athletes on January 2nd and 3rd. We all got to bond over t shirts and fabric paint, while we designed our team shirts for the 5km run on Jan 5th.
-I learnt that the house I am living in does not have hot water (and that this is very very common in Jamaica), so I have had a difficult time deciding if I should
suffer through the ice cold showers, or not shower for a year and have no friends... You will be happy to know I chose option number 1.
-I have also learned that my athletes have no regard for time and often show up to practice an hour late! Sometimes not showing up at all!!!! For any fellow coaches out there, you know how frustrating this is! So to help solve the problem, for every minute that the girl is late, the girl has one additional minute of workout... I am happy to report that in the first two weeks it has cut the average lateness down to 30 min! On the bright side, im going to have one very fit group of girls! Hahaha
On January 5th, we had a group of about 20 people show up to run the 5km with us. It was put on my a sporting goods store called 'Training Camp'. I am pleased to report that despite not running in AGES, I can still run a 5km (in 32 degree heat!) in only 33minutes... yes thats slower than my last 5km a few years ago, but hey..it was 32 degrees out at 7AM!!!!
Scotchies Jamaican Jerk
No jerk is complete without beer! Our girls placed 1, 2, and 3, in the 12&under category. and i was third out of 20 in our group to cross the finish line. The girls had a great time, and I even enjoyed it despite not being able to walk normally for 3 days afterwards.
On January 6th, I got to sit down with the owner/president of the synchro club and hear about all the miracles I am expected to work... I hope they realize they hired a coach and no a magician! I also got to experience my first tropical storm in Jamaica, the rain poured down for about 15 minutes (heavier that I have ever seen, even on Vancouver Island!) and parking lots, roads, and even our front deck started to flood! But on the bright side, The rain stopped before practice and made everything smell so tropical!
On January 7th, I trained swimmers from 8am-6pm (because they are still on holidays from school). It is exhausting to be in the sun and heat for that long! When I got home, Ishmael (my only jamaican friend so far) picked me up, and we went to Scotchies for dinner to have some jerk. It
Breakfast
fried fish fritter and coffee..... EVERYTHING here is fried! was really good besides the fact that the chicken and pork came with bones (as does everything here in jamaica)... For those of you who know me well, I HATE eating meat off a bone and it is almost enough to make me become a vegetarian! But, that cannot be helped here so I suffer through it 😉
On January 8th, breakfast consisted of Fried fish and coffee... yes; Jamaicans think eating fish "makes you smart" so fish is part of almost every meal.... I promptly added yogurt to the grocery list so I can avoid fish for breakfast again! Hahaha. I once again spent most of my day on the pool deck and right after training ended at 6pm I was taken to my first council meeting for the Amateur Swimming Associate of Jamaica (ASAJ). I am serving as an elected council member on their board.
January 9th was a normal day. In the morning we set up our booth at Immaculate school to recruit, and then had afternoon training. I went for a bit of a drive in the morning to try to find safe places to run/workout but was unsuccessful, so I will stick to
Senior Swimmers
There are my three highest level swimmers making their 'figure reminder/tips" cards for our upcoming swim meet on Jan 17,18,19th here in Jamaica
going for swims to try to stay in shape (which will prove difficult since everything here is fried or a carb... They make fun of me for eating salads, and the swimmers call vegetables "fake food")
Jan 10th: Today we started a new program with Immaculate (all girls Elementary School). We are going to have a school synchro team during their 'choice activity' period at school. We spent both Thursday and Friday mornings at the school recruiting, and at the initial assessment today there were 32 girls!!!! This will be the 3rd school we have a synchro team at!!! After the assessment I went directly to Hillel (another school that already has a synchro program with us), and after that directly to training. After the long day, I went out for Chinese food and a drink with Ishmael.
Jan 11th: practice this morning for the club started at 6am!!!! And yes, its a SATURDAY! UHG... Anyway, practice was from 6am-4pm and I was so exhausted afterwards that I fell asleep by 8pm!
Jan 12th was my first day off since arriving...I slept in until 11am, and then went for a quick swim to try and start a solo (since I have to compete in the competition on Jan. 18th!) Then in the late afternoon, my boss/roommate/club president Diahann took me to a football (soccer) match. Imagine our craziest hockey fans, yelling at the coaches, players, and referees between puffs of their joint... Yup! It was interesting and hilarious! After the game, we went down to the Kingston waterfront for Tessanne Chin's homecoming concert (winner of the voice). It was soooooo crowded and sweaty and sticky, but fun none the less. People were scaling buildings to get a better view! Shaggy also showed up and sang which was great!
Jan 13th was a typical Monday consisting of office work in the morning and a private lesson then training in the afternoon...nothing else because I am still exhausted from the heat and trying to adapt to life here (WITHOUT HOT SHOWERS).
Jan 14th: ITS OFFICIALLY BEEN TWO WEEKS.... and the thing I am most proud of: I HAVE NOT GOT A SUNBURN YET! WOOHOOOO.... mind you, it is winter here, and I am going through sunscreen like crazy! Today was a good day because I officially purchased an unlimited skype plan so I can call peoples phones in Canada! HOW EXCITING! Although, I do feel kind of bad for my friends back home because now when ever I am bored they will be getting calls from me... and I am bored ALOT! hahaha
Jan 15th... Thats today...... and since I dont know what exciting things will be happening to me today, you will have to check back and read my next blog post!
Sorry this one so long, I will try to keep post more frequent!
Hope you are all enjoying the cold and wet weather.... Im going to go lay outside 😉
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