A veces la página en blanco te da miedo. Se queda ahí, mirándote fijamente, desafiándote a llenarla con tus palabras y tus pensamientos, pero no te viene nada. Capaz en esta edad de computadoras y smartphones y tablets la página en blanco se ha hecho más fuerte, más brillante, más poderosa, o capaz estoy sufriendo de un caso de bloqueo de escritor y estoy tratando de encontrar algo concreto a lo cual echar culpa. No es que no tenga nada en mi mente, al contrario, no paro de pensar, de repensar, de reflexionar, de imaginar, de meditar, de filosofar (bueno, por ahí sería mucho decir que realmente filosofo...) sobre la vida, el amor, la familia, los amigos, el trabajo (o el no tener trabajo), el fútbol, la salud, mi cirugía, la soledad, el propósito, la falta de propósito, la riqueza, la pobreza, la alegría, la tristeza, pero mi problema es: ¿cómo hago para expresarlo todo con la palabra escrita? ¿O debería aún escribirlo?
Escribir me da miedo. La mejor escritura abre la puerta del alma de una persona, pero no es fácil dejarse tan expuesto. ¿Qué pasa si la gente te rechaza? ¿Qué pasa si lo mejor de vos no alcanza? ¿Qué pasa si tus luchas personales son insignificantes y patéticas y tus sentimientos son impotentes y superficiales? ¿Qué pasa si tus preocupaciones más profundas son tontas e irracionales? ¿Qué pasa si todo este asunto de hacerte adulto no es para nada como lo habías imaginado y a los 24 años te encontrás de nuevo viviendo en la casa de tus padres? ¿Qué pasa si tenés un dolor constante, sofocante que empieza en tu pecho y sube hasta tu garganta cuando pensás en tu amor, tu mejor amigo, que está a miles de kilómetros porque sabés que no lo vas a ver durante más de dos meses y a pesar de las nuevas tecnologías asombrosas que te dejan comunicar virtualmente, no es lo mismo?
Todavía no respondí a mi problema inicial: ¿Cómo hace uno para escribir sobre estos temas? Por lo menos lo intentaré:
Estoy de nuevo en los EEUU, en Dallas, Texas si vamos a ser precisos, sufriendo de un shock cultural, un poco de depresión y de un calor de más de 38 grados todo al mismo tiempo. Mi familia y yo, asimismo con el cuerpo técnico y médico de River Plate Fútbol Femenino, estuvimos de acuerdo que volver a EEUU para mi operación del ligamento cruzado anterior y la primera parte de mi rehabilitación de 6 meses sería lo mejor para mí. Honestamente, no fue fácil convencerme de dejar Buenos Aires, tenía toda la confianza en los médicos del club que me iban a operar ya que son los mismos que han operado a muchos jugadores de primera, y no sólo a los de River. La logística postoperatoria, sin embargo, fue lo que me empujó decididamente hacia volver al país de los yanquis para la cirugía.
Durante el mes y medio entre mi lesión y mi viaje a los EEUU, tiempo que pasé luchando contra la atrofia muscular en mi pierna lesionada y trabajando para recuperar la movilidad completa en mi rodilla, intentando ir y volver de kinesiología sin auto fue bastante complicado. Le médica de fútbol femenino en River, además de mi mamá paranoica (y amorosa), me prohibieron usar transporte público ya que una rodilla inestable más colectiveros locos hacen una combinación peligrosa y tendría el riesgo de lesionarme aún más. Entonces, tuve que depender de amigos con autos que, por razones obvias, no siempre me podían llevar y traer a kinesiología en el club, que queda en la otra punta de la ciudad de donde vivo yo en Buenos Aires, y en esos momentos tuve que gastar como 25 veces más en taxi que lo que hubiera gastado en colectivo.
Y voilá, acá estoy nuevamente en Texas, pero esta vez no por mi propia voluntad. A pesar de que estoy agradecida por la oportunidad de pasar más tiempo con mi familia y de ver a amigos que no veo desde hace más que un año y medio en algunos casos, es imposible no extrañar a Buenos Aires en toda su locura gloriosa. Es como si hubiera sido arrancada de la tierra y plantada en un universo paralelo, pero mis raíces fueron dejadas atrás; mi cuerpo está en Dallas, pero mi corazón y mis pensamientos se quedaron en Argentina con mi equipo, mis estudios, y mi Cris.
El martes a la mañana me reuní con el traumatólogo que me va a operar. Un hombre alto y grandote con años y años de experiencia y cientos de cirugías de rodilla en su haber, me aseguró que todo iba a salir bien y que saldría como nueva—con la estipulación de que siga exactamente y fielmente sus instrucciones a lo largo de mi recuperación. Después de explicarme los detalles de la operación, que tipo de injerto recomendaba para el reemplazo del ligamento (para los que están interesados, usará un tejido semi-tendinoso del músculo izquiotibial), como será la rehabilitación durante los próximos 6 meses, y otra información que ya olvidé al otro día, la enfermera entró y, durante lo que me pareció como sólo 5 minutos, me dio un millón de instrucciones sobre lo que tendría que hacer inmediatamente antes de la operación y en las semanas siguientes. Traté de prestar atención, pero sentí que mi mente se iba deambulando y me encontré preguntando por qué tenía que pasar por esto. ¿Por qué la pelota en esa jugada no habrá pasado por arriba del travesaño ? Si hubiera sabido que iba a ocurrir todo esto, capaz debería simplemente haber dejado entrar la pelota al arco. Pero no puedo volver al pasado—aunque quizás lo deseara.
Algo que he estado repitiendo a mi misma y a los otros que tratan de expresar su simpatía por mi lesión (pero principalmente para mi misma) es "todo pasa por un motivo" aunque no creo que entienda todavía cuál es la razón en este momento.
La operación fue programada para el lunes, y estoy ansiosa por comenzar el proceso de mi rehabilitación para poder estar nuevamente en la cancha, haciendo lo que amo.
Este fin de semana, sin embargo, mi mente no estará pensando en mi cirugía sino en mi equipo ya que nos tenemos que enfrentar con nuestro rival, Boca Jrs., en el Superclásico del fútbol femenino. Este año está todo en juego, con 2 ex-jugadoras de River (que no se fueron de forma muy amistosa) entre las titulares de Boca y el campeonato que se debe ganar. Ojalá pudiera estar ahí para verlo en persona, aún más ojalá pudiera jugar en el partido (es el segundo Superclásico que pierdo por culpa de una lesión), pero me tendré que conformar con alentar desde lejos—y a través de Whatsapp.
Dale River Carajooooo!!!!
The adventures and musings of a twenty-something yankee goalkeeper in Buenos Aires
Showing posts with label superclásico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label superclásico. Show all posts
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
"Mi Buenos Aires Querido", homesick in Dallas
Sometimes the blank page is scary. It sits there staring back at you, challenging you to fill it with your words and thoughts, but nothing comes. Maybe in this age of computers and smartphones and tablets the blank page has gotten stronger, brighter, more powerful, or maybe I'm just suffering from a mild case of writers' block and am trying to find something concrete to blame. It's not that I have nothing on my mind, quite to the contrary, I can't stop thinking, reflecting, brewing, stewing, pondering, wondering, thundering (wait, that doesn't quite work...) about life, love, family, friends, jobs, soccer, health, surgery, loneliness, purpose, lack of purpose, wealth, poverty, joy, sadness, but my problem is how the heck do I write it all down? Or should I even write it down?
Writing is scary. The best writing opens the door to one's very soul, but it's not easy leaving one's self so exposed. What if people reject you? What if your best isn't good enough? What if your struggles are insignificant and pathetic and your feelings impotent and shallow? What if your deepest worries are foolish and irrational? What if this whole becoming-an-adult thing is not at all as you had imagined it and at 24 years old you find yourself once again living with your parents? What if you have a constant, suffocating pain which starts in your chest and goes up to your throat when you think about your love, your best friend, who is thousands of miles away because you know you won't see him for more than two months and despite the amazing new technologies which allow you to communicate virtually, it's not the same?
I still haven't answered my initial problem: how does one write about such things? I'm at least going to try:
I'm back in the US, in Dallas, Texas to be more precise, and suffering from culture shock, slight depression, and 100 degree heat all at once. My family and I, along with the coaching and medical staff of River Plate women's soccer, all agreed that returning to the US for ACL surgery and the initial part of the 6-month rehab process would be best for me. Honestly, it took quite a bit of convincing to get me to agree to leave Buenos Aires, I had complete confidence in the club doctors who would have operated on me as they are the same ones who have performed the same surgery numerous times on first division and youth Argentine professional players. The post-op logistics, however, were what pushed me decisively toward heading back stateside for surgery.
In the month and a half between my injury and my trip to the US, time which was spent fighting against muscle atrophy in my injured leg and working to regain complete mobility in my knee, trying to get to and from rehab without a car was complicated. The team doctor, as well as my own mother, forbade me to take public transport, as an unstable knee and crazy bus drivers make for a bad combination and would put me at risk for further injury. I was forced to depend upon friends with cars who, for obvious reasons, were not always available to take me to and from physical therapy at the club, which is on the other side of the city from where I live in Buenos Aires, and in those cases I had to spend about 25 times the bus fare for the same trip to take a taxi.
Et voilà, here I am, in Texas once again, but this time not voluntarily. Although I'm thankful to be able to spend more time with my family and to see close friends after more than a year in some cases, it's impossible not to miss Buenos Aires in all its hectic glory. It's as though I have been torn out of the ground and planted in a parallel universe, but my roots were left behind; my body is in Dallas, but my heart and thoughts remain in Argentina with my team, my school, and my Cris.
Yesterday morning I met with the orthopedic surgeon who will operate on me. A tall, heavyset man with years and years of experience and hundreds of knee surgeries under his belt, he assured me I would be fine and come out of this as good as new—with the stipulation that I faithfully follow his instructions throughout my recovery. After he explained the details of the procedure, which kind of graft he recommended for the ligament replacement (for those interested he will be using a hamstring graft), what the recovery will look like over the course of 6 months, and other information I've already forgotten just a day later, the nurse came in and in what seemed like only 5 minutes gave me a million instructions of what I would need to do immediately before the procedure and in the weeks following. I tried to pay attention, but I felt my mind wandering and wondering why I had to go through all this in the first place. Why couldn't I just have tipped the ball all the way over the crossbar? Had I known that this was going to happen, maybe I should have just let it in. But I can't go back in time—though I wish I could.
Something I've been repeating to myself and to others who express their sympathy for my injury (but mainly for myself) is "everything happens for a reason" though I'm not sure yet what the reason is right now.
The surgery has been set for Monday, and I'm anxious to start the rehab process to get closer to being able to do what I love once again.
This weekend, though, my mind will not be on my surgery but on my team as we have to face our biggest rival, Boca Jrs., in the Superclásico of women's soccer. This year the stakes are as high as ever, with 2 former River players (who didn't leave on particularly friendly terms) featured in Boca's starting line-up and the league championship on the line. I wish I could be there to watch in person, even more so I wish I could be playing (this is the second Superclásico I'll miss due to injury), but I'll have to settle for cheering from a distance and through Whatsapp.
Dale River Carajoooooooo!!!!
Writing is scary. The best writing opens the door to one's very soul, but it's not easy leaving one's self so exposed. What if people reject you? What if your best isn't good enough? What if your struggles are insignificant and pathetic and your feelings impotent and shallow? What if your deepest worries are foolish and irrational? What if this whole becoming-an-adult thing is not at all as you had imagined it and at 24 years old you find yourself once again living with your parents? What if you have a constant, suffocating pain which starts in your chest and goes up to your throat when you think about your love, your best friend, who is thousands of miles away because you know you won't see him for more than two months and despite the amazing new technologies which allow you to communicate virtually, it's not the same?
I still haven't answered my initial problem: how does one write about such things? I'm at least going to try:
I'm back in the US, in Dallas, Texas to be more precise, and suffering from culture shock, slight depression, and 100 degree heat all at once. My family and I, along with the coaching and medical staff of River Plate women's soccer, all agreed that returning to the US for ACL surgery and the initial part of the 6-month rehab process would be best for me. Honestly, it took quite a bit of convincing to get me to agree to leave Buenos Aires, I had complete confidence in the club doctors who would have operated on me as they are the same ones who have performed the same surgery numerous times on first division and youth Argentine professional players. The post-op logistics, however, were what pushed me decisively toward heading back stateside for surgery.
In the month and a half between my injury and my trip to the US, time which was spent fighting against muscle atrophy in my injured leg and working to regain complete mobility in my knee, trying to get to and from rehab without a car was complicated. The team doctor, as well as my own mother, forbade me to take public transport, as an unstable knee and crazy bus drivers make for a bad combination and would put me at risk for further injury. I was forced to depend upon friends with cars who, for obvious reasons, were not always available to take me to and from physical therapy at the club, which is on the other side of the city from where I live in Buenos Aires, and in those cases I had to spend about 25 times the bus fare for the same trip to take a taxi.
Et voilà, here I am, in Texas once again, but this time not voluntarily. Although I'm thankful to be able to spend more time with my family and to see close friends after more than a year in some cases, it's impossible not to miss Buenos Aires in all its hectic glory. It's as though I have been torn out of the ground and planted in a parallel universe, but my roots were left behind; my body is in Dallas, but my heart and thoughts remain in Argentina with my team, my school, and my Cris.
Yesterday morning I met with the orthopedic surgeon who will operate on me. A tall, heavyset man with years and years of experience and hundreds of knee surgeries under his belt, he assured me I would be fine and come out of this as good as new—with the stipulation that I faithfully follow his instructions throughout my recovery. After he explained the details of the procedure, which kind of graft he recommended for the ligament replacement (for those interested he will be using a hamstring graft), what the recovery will look like over the course of 6 months, and other information I've already forgotten just a day later, the nurse came in and in what seemed like only 5 minutes gave me a million instructions of what I would need to do immediately before the procedure and in the weeks following. I tried to pay attention, but I felt my mind wandering and wondering why I had to go through all this in the first place. Why couldn't I just have tipped the ball all the way over the crossbar? Had I known that this was going to happen, maybe I should have just let it in. But I can't go back in time—though I wish I could.
Something I've been repeating to myself and to others who express their sympathy for my injury (but mainly for myself) is "everything happens for a reason" though I'm not sure yet what the reason is right now.
The surgery has been set for Monday, and I'm anxious to start the rehab process to get closer to being able to do what I love once again.
This weekend, though, my mind will not be on my surgery but on my team as we have to face our biggest rival, Boca Jrs., in the Superclásico of women's soccer. This year the stakes are as high as ever, with 2 former River players (who didn't leave on particularly friendly terms) featured in Boca's starting line-up and the league championship on the line. I wish I could be there to watch in person, even more so I wish I could be playing (this is the second Superclásico I'll miss due to injury), but I'll have to settle for cheering from a distance and through Whatsapp.
Dale River Carajoooooooo!!!!
Labels:
ACL,
Argentina,
Boca Juniors,
Buenos Aires,
Dallas,
family,
Fútbol,
Fútbol Femenino,
homesickness,
injury,
love,
physical therapy,
rehab,
River Plate,
superclásico,
surgery,
Texas,
USA,
writing
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