Walking on Coals: The Sand of Puerto Colombia

My first day of training was pretty uneventful. I did wake up in the middle of the night to realize that I had a small puncture in my left foot. I guess my adrenaline from all of the day’s events finally reached a normal level at 3:00 a.m…

It wasn’t anything that a little antibiotic ointment couldn’t begin working on. Well, the second day of training I figured couldn’t be that much different. I had devised a way to provide slight relief to my feet when they couldn’t tolerate the temperature of the sand. It’s a little sand shuffle that I do that turns over the top sand to reveal a slightly cooler layer underneath! LOL

Well, at 8:30 a.m. on the training grounds of Puerto Colombia, there was no shade and just a straight outpouring of bright sunshine from the heavens. It was very picturesque until I took off my shoes and socks. My professor and his footvolley partner were moving around like it was a normal day. I tried to play it off, but about 40 minutes into training I thought I was walking on hot coals. My quick 5 minute rest request intensified as I walked over to get my shoes and socks because the sand had just been heating up the whole 40 minutes. Hotter Sand! Fear, Shock and Fast tipping. I couldn’t get my socks and shoes on fast enough. Even the warmth of my shoes paled in comparison. Needless to say, I trained the remainder of the session in socks. It made a world of difference, but the Colombian sand and I will have to make peace with one another—it’s an inevitable reality.

Gringa Vs. Local: Walking A Fine Line

I know you want to travel everywhere with me in Barranquilla. However, I can’t make any promises on the images that you are gonna get.

I really try my best to blend in with the crowd when I travel. I do this for a couple of reasons. I train and travel in areas that are not frequented by tourists. Why call undue attention to myself?

I will admit that here are some obvious things that I do or wear that make me stand out like a sore thumb. (I will discuss those challenges in later entries) However, I try to keep those to a minimum.

Fortunately, I will not be short on commentary on the city with some of the hottest sand that my feet have encountered. Stay tuned to learn more about my latest South American adventure.

Footvolley.Rio.Bikini on Kickstarter

For the last month or so, I have been working on generating new content for my website and preparing for some upcoming international trips.

I have footvolley on my mind as there is an upcoming competition in May. To prepare for this, I will be heading to Rio for some fast paced, no nonsense training. Would you like to join me on the adventure? Well, here is your opportunity!

We are producing a web doc about this upcoming training stint called Footvolley.Rio.Bikini. It will chronicle my life training and playing against some of the best footvolley players in the world. I am excited about the training and about shooting the project. Ironically, the company that I am using to shoot the project is a native Brazilian who is a graduate of SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design). Isn't the world small?

Moreover, the people over at Kickstarter liked the project so much that they have added it on the site. The goal is to raise $1,000 to kickstart the 1st episode of the project AND I am offering some cool prizes. You should definitely check it out. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/qiana/discover-a-brazilian-adventure-footvolleyriobik