Game Day

In a throwback to eighth and ninth grades, I've joined an American football team. The league is in its second season, but football is starting to gain popularity. I've learned that there are leagues all over Europe now and Germany even has several divisions.

I play for the Lisboa Navigators, a team that began four years ago when it joined the Spanish league. I'm one of two Americans on the team, plus we have one Turkish guy. Everyone else is Portuguese. It's been really fun playing again and getting to know a lot of Portuguese guys (plus it's good to practice speaking and hearing Portuguese in a non-work setting).

The league is a little different. It's 9 vs. 9 and the field is a little narrower and shorter. There are no kick-offs, but oher than that, all the regular rules apply. I play safety.

The first game was today. We won 57-12.