A Series of Unfortunate Dreams

 After an intense day of school, horse-back riding class, swimming training and loads of homework, there could be nothing more needed than a a good night's sleep. Why would it be that that's exactly what I can't have? A few days ago, I started having very bad nights, and they are ruining my days! The funny thing is they all follow a very similar sequence:
 I first go to bed and get knocked out the instant my head touches the pillow, but then I begin to dream. These dreams however, are not the regular ones I am used to. These dreams are extremely vivid,  and make me feel like if I were awake. What happens next is never too clear to me. During the dream (no matter what is happening before), I suddenly feel there is something very wrong, and things start becoming hazy. I become desperate and run, thinking only that I need to fix that problem somehow. But then, I can't remember what the problem was, and then realize it was all just a dream. This situation really drives me nuts! Not only did I fail solving whatever problem the dream told me to solve, but I woke up for nothing, and have to try to go back to sleep. This is very annoying!
These situations are sucking away all my rest, and in the morning I feel like if I'd been awake all night. It's very inconvenient, especially when it comes to staying awake during the first class of the day. I hope my yawning hasn't scared my teachers yet.
Anyway, I have to deal with this soon, because not only am I having bad nights, but my restless sleepwalking is waking up half of my family (That's how violent it gets). My twin (which sleeps in my same room) says that I don't only sleepwalk, but I talk at night. She also tells me that when I stand up, I frantically ask her some nonsense, and suddenly go back to sleep. For example:
"Lu, dou you know when we zzzzzz."
Even in a langauge nobody knew existed.
"Lu, I think erhyostel myortliosta urgenmio zzzz."
My father is another one of the victims. On week days, I'm the one in charge of waking everyone to get ready for school (because I'm the only one who is able to wake up alone at 5:45 AM), so I go to everybody in the house and wake them up. One occasion, I dreamt the alarm clock was ringing, and the bus was going to leave us. I ran to my father's bedroom (he's the one I wake first because he gives us breakfast) and this happened:
Me: Dad, dad, it's time, we are late, wake up fast!
Dad: (half asleep and confused) What are you talking about, it's 3:30 AM.
Me: Oh. But I heard the alarm clock!
Dad: It's not time yet, go back to sleep.
I really hope this doesn't get any worse. Maybe school is giving me too many things to worry about, and they are causing these bad nights. I hope that whatever my dreams are telling me that's wrong has nothing to do with real life. Now that would be really scary!
Maybe I need some vacations. I hope June gets here soon.

Redemption

This weekend was the Country Club's Ninetieth Anniversary Swimming Competition. In short terms, it is the most important 25m pool competition of the year. 250 swimmers from all over Colombia came. There were people from Cali, Bucaramanga, and many parts of Cundinamarca.

It may have been a very astounding fact, but during this competition I couldn't care less about all this. I was completely concentrated on myself. To me, this competition was a test to see if my good-for-nothing knee would be able to endure the three rounds that made up all the heats. It had been ten days already since my knee had all of the sudden decided to turn into a painful lump extending from my body. I was completely desperate, and during this time, I'd had nightmares of what would happen. The nerves were crushing me as the days rushed by and my knee wasn't getting better. I felt completely betrayed by me knee! I had taken so much care of it since it started whining, and every single day I made my best effort to try and make it comfortable and never have to force it in the very least. I had even spent whole hours with a freezing bag of ice on top of it, and then an insanely hot fever bag over it. During the last training days I never even flexed my leg in any movement similar to breaststroke kick, because I didn't have the courage to see if the stinging would come back.
Finally, Friday came, with all the might of 50m butterfly and 100m freestyle. It wasn't the real challenge yet. Ironically 100m breaststroke (the only breaststroke race in the whole championship) was the last race of the last round. This was more like a test if at least I could get into my race mode, and this would probably take the fear out of my head. I was actually glad with this round. There was a moment when I forgot I had a knee problem, and for that small instance I went back to the old thrilling sensation of competing. That feeling that pushes you to the best of your abilities, and rushes the adrenaline through every inch of your body. It's precisely that feeling that makes the huge effort of competing worth it.

On Saturday morning we had the Inauguration Ceremony. It's a tradition of the Country Club that the flags are taken by a swimmer through the pool as the National Hymn plays. I got to take the Country Club flag! Apart from that, this round we had to swim 100m medley or "combi" and 100m backstroke. I was earnestly surprised, because I suck at backstroke, but I won a bronze medal! (Like my grandmother would say, the other swimmers were just to bad.) Also, in the 100m medley, when I swum breaststroke, my knee didn't hurt a bit! I felt a little relieved, but I still had worry eating at me. After all, those were only 25m. What would 100m do to my knee?

At long last, the third round came, and I couldn't stand the nerves. After 50m freestyle, I realized I was about to face my destiny. Whatever would happen next would decide my future for the rest of my swimming life. I would succeed or I would fail, and that would be the end of it. As I stood in front of the starting platform, I deiced an emergency plan, just in case. If my I couldn't go on, I'd finish the lap and get out fast, before anyone noticed. I realized it was stupid to think that, and decide to just concentrate.

It all ended too fast. I can't remember exactly what happened, but I do remember I suddenly felt a surge of energy pass through my body. I swam as I never had swum before, and it all came so naturally. I turned to the last lap and powerfully swum back, my knee finally cooperating as it is supposed to. I hit the black pad and turned my head. The timer marked 1:27: I had broken my personal record! I felt swollen like a balloon with euphoria. All my worries from the past ten days were gone. It all felt so perfect, and there was nothing that could pop me out of my happiness. I had finally confronted my fear, and came out of it better than I could have possibly imagined.

I am now getting ready to classify for the Mid-term Interleague National, and hope everything can turn out as great as it did this time. All I can say is I feel I have come back to good terms with my knee. It better stay that way!

South Africa 2010!

The Soccer World Cup is coming up, and everyone is getting the fever. Around the streets and in every store there are people selling the album stickers. You can see kids of all ages with the sticker packets, or their checklist walking around ready to trade or bet.

This year is the first time I'm making the album. Back in October, when Colombia was almost surely qualifying, my father promised he would make the album. Obviously Colombia messed it up in the end (as it always does) and was eliminated. It's just so sad that everybody loves soccer in Colombia. It's the national sport (apart form Tejo), and no matter how fanatic and obsessed people are about soccer, it just sucks! There is not one team and not one selection of good players that can represent our soccer mad country decently. I'm talking about men soccer, because women soccer is a lot better, and ironically, it receives a lot less attention from the media, the fans, and the general public. The day one team enters a quarter final in the "Copa Libertadores Cup" is declared a national day, while the women team (Sub-20) becomes Sub-Champion in the South American Championship and the game isn't even transmitted by T.V. Anyhow, even if Colombia didn't classify to the world cup, that championship is just too important to miss. We finally decided to make the album between us because it would be a lot more entertaining to do it together.

We started on Monday with a sticker we saw falling on the floor. The guy seemed to busy to notice and perhaps it was just a repeated one for him. We have kept on filling the album with the ones my father occasionally buys in the store. He is the most enthusiastic of us, because he says it reminds him of his happy childhood. Like every single Colombian boy, he too started playing soccer when he was about 5 years old, and like every true Colombian, any brief moment were there is enough space and time, he'd start playing soccer with his friends. (At least they always have something to do).

I’m so happy because until now, I have found Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, many team emblems (they are shiny) and part of the official logo. My little sister on the other hand found Messi (lucky her). Anyway, we still have along way to go before we fill the 637 stickers plus the Coca Cola ones. Really, there's no hurry, because we still have about two months before the championship begins, and by then, we'll be ready to enjoy real soccer. I can't wait!

Can't Keep Walking

One of the most important competitions of the year is coming up in a few months. This year's Interleague Swimming National is in Girardot, and I've been training so hard for it. It wouldn't be surprising that something had to go wrong so close to the competition. Last Wednesday, I was training as I usually do but something went wrong that I didn't notice until it was too late. My specialty is breaststroke, and I have to swim it a lot so I can get better and do great at the National. That day our trainer made us swim some (a lot) speed laps, and I was trying to do my best. The whole training was very intense, as had been training for almost two weeks now, but it was only now that I was noticing something was going to go wrong. It turns up next morning I couldn't even bend my left leg. It was stiff, and one of the inside tendons was swollen. This was a nightmare. How was I supposed to swim breaststroke if I couldn't bend my leg? I couldn't walk well in school (and my school is full of stairs and hills), and I felt so sore all day!

That day we arrived extremely late to the swimming pool (my dad had the brilliant idea to leave the car in the mechanic, and forgot that getting a taxi at 5:30 when it's raining is next to impossible. Fortunately fate smiled at us and after half an hour of soaking in the rain we got a taxi), which wasn't too beneficial for my cause. My trainer was burning in a silent rage (he hates that I horse-back ride), and I didn't dare to explain why we were so late. I got in to swim and my knee was killing me! I knew I couldn't breaststroke, but even in freestyle I was aware of a hard sting at the inside of the knee. We only had time to swim about 1500 meters, but they were enough to make me realize my condition was serious. As soon as we were done, I went to my trainer and told him. He didn't take me too seriously, but when I insisted, he came up with just the answer I knew he would say, and I had already ruled out, "That's just for horse-back riding." UGH, I hate it when he does that! That just wasn't right, because on Wednesday I wasn't able to horse-back ride, and it was only then when my knee got messed up. He always balmes it on horse-backriding.
My knee was getting worse, and walking around the school wasn't the best thing for it. What is very curious is that on Thursday and Friday, while I was horse-back riding, the pain just went away! The stinging was gone, and I even forgot for that short hour that anything was wrong with me. I am 100% sure it's not horse-back riding's fault.
 Sadly, my leg is still messed up. I'm very worried because my training isn't worth anything anymore. I've got to avoid breaststroke at all costs, even if my trainer is still pretending nothing serious is wrong with me. I'm hoping this weekend gives my knee a good rest, and if I'm lucky, it will get better on its own. I'll just have to "keep walking".