Hey Sports-fans-hand-ball-of-many-types!

> Haha, yes, you and Michael have brought back
> memories.... I think I used to play the
> *other* form of handball (smacking a tennis
> ball against the wall) at school,
> informally. Though we called it
> "downball" -- I'm not precisely
> sure if it's the same game

***Moving from New Jersey to California when I was 15 brought culture shock and sports shock into my life. Living in a beach community, I soon found volleyball was revered, and no "monkey ball" was allowed...the game was about strategy, strategy, strategy! To this day, I can still remember when I mastered "The Dig"...what a great feeling that was!

I also remember learning Racquetball, which was a new sport for me. I have this challenge with spacial/distance stuff, so I always chose racquetball over tennis (our options in high school PE). Our outdoor courts were really beautiful...you could smell the salty ocean water less than a mile away....and one day I was slated to play with a macho surfer dude. YOUCH! It was the first time one of those little monsters disguised as racquetballs made a huge impact on my thigh! Talk about black and blue.....

Sure helped my speed, though. Only happened to me once!

Memories.............

JULIE
PS-I really enjoy watching people cheer on their teams. In another "team sport" presenting an oral report on a class when I was in college I had a favorite internationally flavored experience. It was an International Economics course, and I was paired with a couple guys I had taken another course with taught in Spanish. We often would converse with them speaking to me in Spanish and me responding in English. Made for interesting looks from the people around us anyway!

As we practiced one morning, I remember Cesar from Peru clapping for me as I warmed up (I was the Introductory Speaker in our group) chanting, "Yulie! Yulie! Yulie!" That "J" sound is a tough one to make. In classes where Spanish is the language of choice, I am always the Spanish "Julia"....even so many years later I remember Cesar cheering for me.

By the way, we got a B+ on our report on the Mexican economy, which was raised to an A- when our professor read the Wall Street Journal the day after we delivered our report. I thought we should have gotten very high marks as we were the sole completely international team...a Peruviano, a Mexicano, and a Norteamericana!