Is it really December?

May seem strange, but I had no idea that it was December. Now that the monsoon rains have stopped during the days, it is really hot, 30 degrees at night.

Our next road trip was not until late in the day so Jorge arranged for me to go to "Casa Amarilla" (The Yellow house). It is the home of Boca Juniors, the most famous club in all of South America. As usual Jorge arranges for someone to go with me because of his concerns for security. Together we walked around outside the stadium and visited the Boca Museum while we waited to find out whether we would be allowed into training. Inside the museum was awesome. The history of this club is displayed on the walls with photos of all the famous players that played for the "yellow and blue." On one of the walls was a particular photo which caught my eye. It was the picture of Jorge Raffo, my friend and mentor. It struck me how fortunate we are in Victoria to have built a relationship with him.

Practices are held at a private complex attached to the stadium. After much negotiation, and phone calls with Jorge to the guards, security finally let me pass through the huge gates. Outside hundreds of fans waited hoping to get a glimpse of their idols. As we walked through the gates Mauro seemed more excited than me. He explained that his dream is to be the fitness coach of Boca. He has only imagined being here, only special guests ever get inside these walls.
Once inside we were led to a platform just elevated enough to have an amazing view of the field. As I watched training and filmed the players, Mauro was timing the number of seconds for each fitness exercise. He was noting the rest intervals and was focused on the trainers. Various players came by, we would say hello, shake hands and Mauro would tell me who each player was. This was his team, he knew everything about them. I met Requilme former Valencia star and center mid for Argentina. We got a photo with the Palermo, the #9 striker. He is closing in on the record to become the greatest scorer of all time in Boca history.

It was a great experience, made even more special because I shared it with someone from here that to him meant so much. This was his Barcelona!

I will try to add a photo to the top but no promises. Just lucky to even stay connected!

Later the story of our road trip that afternoon....