Put me in coach, I'm ready to play!!!I think it's been 15 YEARS since I last played softball. A decade and a half later, here I am at bat on the field at Escola Americana, under the scorching sun at midday!! WHAT A BLAST!

Here's watching to make sure I really made contact, and running from 1st to 2nd after Neise batted. As you can see, the infield is grass--very different from the true sand of a baseball/softball field. Also, I'm a fast pitch softball player. Anyone who knows anything about softball will be able to relate to the fact that they are two very different games. As a matter of fact, more than once I was asked to join a slow pitch league, and I always said no. However, today was International Family Day at Escola Americana and to give the girls' softball team some practice, I stifled my pompous attitude regarding the battle of fast pitch vs. slow pitch, joined the team of teachers organized to play against the girls. At the end of the game...I realized: I had one heck of a good time!!

After the sportsmanlike shaking of hands, teachers won 4-0, we commenced to discussing the possibility of scheduling another scrimmage. The girls have one tournament in April, where they play against 7 other American schools in Brazil, but before then, they don't have a single game and the chance to play another game would be really good for the kids. I said, "Yeah! I'll play! For sure." Then as I walked away, realizing I was a little stiff from the foreign activity I had just placed my body through, I realized, "Perhaps I should have waited to see how I feel in the morning before committing to another game." Truth be told...I didn't realize how much I missed playing sports.