Journey To Barcelona (Part 1) - On Our Way!

There is so much to tell about this amazing adventure, that it wouldn't do it justice to try and tell it all in one post.  I plan to break it up into parts.  I don't know how many there will be, but I suppose you will know when I get to the last one.  Enjoy the journey with us!

What is an adventure without some drama?  After we arrived back to Manila in August, we had to immediately turn in our passports to immigration for our visa renewals.  This comes up every two years and can take several weeks to process.  Our visas were due to expire on September 18, so giving them six weeks in advance should help, right?  Well, they actually like for you to submit everything two months in advance but we were not back in country yet.  For all of August, we didn't worry too much.  Even September was OK, although after the 18th we began to ask about the status. Into October, it was getting a little too close for comfort.  We were beginning to wonder if we would need to pull the passports and get a special letter that allows us to travel and then submit them again when we return.  This had become the plan, but we were still praying for a miracle.  Three days before departure we heard that the passports may be released with the visas.  However, a jeepney driver strike (public transportation) for two days meant that no government offices were open since the majority of their employees rely on public transport to get to work. Things were not looking good.  I won't leave you holding your breath for long though.   On the evening before our departure, just eight hours before we left for the airport, we picked up our passports and they were complete with visas.  What a blessing (miracle) that was.  With passports finally in hand, we were ready to go, and this trip began to feel like it was really going to happen. 

The day finally arrived for Noah and Dad's big trip to Barcelona.  It would start with an early morning flight to Hong Kong, so we left the house before 2am to make our way to the airport in Manila.  Because this flight was a separate ticket from our frequent flier tickets onward, we had to give ourselves a big enough layover to account for possible problems. Fortunately, there were none so we arrived as scheduled, and there was time for breakfast.  Should we eat like locals and have the noodles?  We ended up at McDonalds.  As long as there was coffee, Dad was happy.  Because we were so early now, we could not yet check in for our flight.  We had to wait and watch the Departures board to see when our flight would open for check-in.  We would be flying FinnAir to Barcelona via Helsinki, Finland.  This was kind of exciting because we would have twelve hours in Finland to maybe look around, and of course adding a new country to the list of places you have been is always fun.  It seemed like forever that we waited to check in and board, but we eventually found ourselves on a plane headed for Europe.  It still hardly seemed possible.
FinnAir was a new experience, and was a good one.  They had very good service and we felt well taken care of.  It was about ten hours to Helsinki, so we were thankful for it.  Upon arrival, the first thing we noticed was that it was dark already.  Hadn't really thought about the time of year, how far north we would be, and how early the darkness comes.  Looking around would not be an option.  Since we had twelve hours here, we opted to book a hotel nearby.  We found that the easiest way to get there was by shuttles that came ever fifteen minutes or so.  We had just missed one.  We went
outside into the darkness to wait and realized that we had also not anticipated just how cold it would be.  Living in the tropics, it doesn't take much to feel cold. I think it was around 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit).  In just our sweatshirt hoodies, we huddled together to stay warm.
Once we were at the hotel, it was

Outside the Helsinki airport in cold morning air

to the room and under some blankets.  Dad went downstairs to the restaurant in the lobby and ordered dinner for Noah.  We ate in our very small room, where we had a better chance of staying warm.  On the television, we found some of the original Batman shows from the 1960s.  These were quite entertaining (and interesting) to watch.  We needed to leave for the airport by 3:30am, so the lights soon were out.  At 3am, Dad got up to take a shower and start packing.  Shortly after closing the bathroom door, he heard what sounded like crying.  He came back and found Noah in tears.  He had woken up and found Dad not in bed and thought he had been left.  Poor little guy.  Concerns of whether we were crazy for thinking an eight year old was ready to  be sleeping away from either of his parents for eight nights at a soccer training camp were running high. He bounced back though and we were ready to keep going.  We ran from the hotel to the heated shuttle bus that morning and were glad to be back in the airport.
Since Finland and Spain are both part of the EU, leaving Finland was like a domestic flight.  Everything is also automated so that you never have to talk to an actual person.  We were able to self-check our bags and send them on their way, but when we went to enter the passenger security check area, we ran into a problem.  You are supposed to scan your boarding pass and then some glass gates will open for you to walk through to the security area.  Only one person at a time can go through. Dad made the mistake of going through first. 

Cinnamon Rolls and coffee, what more can you ask for?

Once through, it was Noah's turn.  He was not able to get his boarding pass situated correctly, so the gates never opened.  Dad tried to reach back across to help, but this sets off a buzzer to let you know that you are not supposed to do that.  Before any panic could set in, a very kind stranger came along and helped Noah to scan his boarding pass and we were reunited.  I think Dad is used to traveling by himself or with Mom's help too much.  Once we were into the gates, there was nothing to do but wait, and of course find some yummy Scandinavian breakfast foods.
Due to the darkness and the cold, we don't have a lot of photos documenting any of these experiences.  We had hoped that we might even get lucky and see the Northern Lights.  This was around the time of year that they are usually seen. No such luck though.   We could only capture a few moments at the airport before we left.  It would be a four hour flight from Helsinki to Barcelona.  We still couldn't believe this was really happening, and yet feeling so blessed for the opportunity.

Barcelona, Here we Come!

Exploring the Helsinki Airport

Big News from Barca!!

And now for the big surprise that followed the FC Barcelona Soccer Camp...

After the camp was finished, Dad and the boys had a lot of driving ahead of them.  There were a couple of family visits to make before leaving Oklahoma, and then the long drive back up to Indiana.  We planned to make the trip over two days, which we did, but as always the boys pushed to get a little further.  It is about a 12-hour drive, and I think we drove about 10 hours on the first day.  On the next day, we finally came to Indianapolis and reconnected with Mom and the girls.  It is always nice to have the whole family back together.

While spending time at Uncle Kevin's house and sharing all about the soccer camp experience, we received an unexpected email from the FC Barcelona Camp USA.  Below is what it said:

We knew from the previous year that they select players to train at their academy in Barcelona. Last year, they selected just two kids and they did this at the closing ceremony of the camp.  This year, no selections were announced, so we thought maybe they were not going to do it.  This email came as quite a shock.  Everyone cheered and celebrated the news.  Noah was chosen to go to Barcelona and train at one of the top academies in the world!!  Of course, reality had to set in sometime, and we eventually had to break the news to Noah that this is unlikely to happen.  There were numerous challenges that would have to be discussed and worked out:

1.  School - the trip is not on a school break, so he would miss around 8 days.
2.  Work - Dad would go with him so needed to have the time available. As it turns out, he had annual meetings to be at that same week.
3.  Finances - this is not an all expense paid trip. There is a package price for Noah's participation, a package price for Dad to get to be involved in some of the events with Noah, and of course airline tickets for both of us, and hotel and food for Dad (since Noah would sleep and eat with the team).
4.  Response Time - the email said that we only had two weeks to respond. This didn't seem very long so we were not sure we could figure everything out in that short time.  A few days later, they wrote again and said that they had made a mistake as we really only had one week!  If we needed extra time though, we could let them know.  We needed the extra time, but it only got us back to the original two weeks.

This was enough for us to think we should not consider it.  We decided it was quite an honor to be selected, so let's just celebrate that.  Of course, walking away from such an opportunity was not going to be easy.  The more we talked about it with others, the more we realized what a once in a lifetime opportunity it would be. We had to at least try to see if it could work.

For school, we found that there are a couple of holidays that will come up during this time, so he would miss a total of 6 days.  Since he is only in 2nd grade, we felt like that was not as much as it seemed.  He is a good student and could easily work ahead or catch up afterwards.
For work, we needed to see if Dad could miss his meetings.  He hadn't really considered it as a possibility because these were important meetings that he was always a part of. It was when someone said to him that 'meetings will be there every year, but a trip to Barcelona with your son may not. You should ask.'   Our director is a good friend and fellow fan of soccer.  He was even our neighbor when we lived in Africa and would often come over to watch the big matches with us.  That is all good for our chances.  The problem is that he is a fan of Real Madrid, the biggest arch rival of Barcelona on the planet.  This was not going to be easy.  Noah was able to talk to him about it, and only had to make the promise that he would only learn from Barcelona and play for Real Madrid.  Dad's absence from the meetings was granted.
While we knew this would make a dent in our savings, we were willing to consider at least crunching the numbers.  It would be significant.  This could be the deal breaker.  The first breakthrough came when we realized Dad had enough frequent flyer miles to get us there from Hong Kong, so we would only have to get tickets from Manila to Hong Kong and these can often be found quite cheap.  The big breakthrough was when family and friends said they wanted to help us make it happen. We felt quite overwhelmed by their generosity, and very blessed.
On the day that our response was due, we finally responded to them that Noah would be attending.  It all seemed quite surreal at that point.

Reality is sinking in and the planning is underway. The trip will take place in October, so time is short.  Maybe the hardest part of the decision that I didn't mention was the one to not take any other members of the family.  I know how much the other two boys would like to go, but there were just too many factors to consider.  We are hoping that a family trip through Barcelona some day can happen.

Check back for more stories on Noah's incredible trip.

FC Barcelona Camp - traditional victory celebration

Trips, Transitions, and Training

The boys have always looked forward to our long flights across the ocean, and this time was no different.  First of all, we were using an airline that we had never been on for the first leg of our trip, and that would take us to a new airport and country that they had never been in.  You almost have to travel with us to experience why this is such a big deal.  From the minute we touch down, these guys are scanning the tarmac for new logos on the airplane tails to report to each other.  Mom even made them bingo cards of airplane tail logos to keep them busy.  By the way, Air China was the airline of choice this time and it was the Beijing airport that we experienced.  The next leg was a twelve hour flight to Chicago.  The boys quickly settled into three seats together on the side.  The problem was that the rest of our family were on the other side of the plane.  It was the same row, but we had two people and an aisle separating us.  While the boys were good with this arrangement, the parents were not quite sure about it.  We shouldn’t have worried though.  Halfway through the flight, one of the flight attendants caught me in the galley trying to settle Audrey, and asked if the boys belonged to us.  She wanted to tell me how well behaved they were and how they always knew exactly what to do.  I thanked her and explained how they have literally all been flying since they were born.

After arriving in Chicago, we drove a couple of hours south to stay with family and start the time acclimation process.  It is a struggle, but always made more fun at Uncle Mike and Aunt Karen’s house, especially when cousins show up to spend the day.  Many memories were made in that short amount of time.  From there, the family split up. Mom and girls were off to Indiana and Ohio, while Dad and the boys were headed down to Oklahoma.  The rest of this story will be that of the boys. 

After having the opportunity to participate in a soccer camp sponsored by FC Barcelona in 2016, the boys were excited for the chance to do it again in 2017 even it meant an extra 20 or so hours of driving to get down to Oklahoma and back up to Indiana.  They knew what to expect and were ready for it.  The camp is always well done, with a group of coaches who come from the Barcelona team, and several other coaches who are not from the Barcelona club but are working with youth soccer all over Spain.  These guys are good and it shows.  They make it clear to the parents from the beginning that the camp is more about teaching the Barcelona values of Humility, Effort, Ambition, Respect, and Teamwork, but it is going to look a lot like soccer.  All of their training drills and even their break times had some very intentional efforts built in to encourage these things. 
The boys were split up into their respective age divisions and assigned to a coach.  There were usually about 12 kids per group.  Each training event was shown and explained to three or four groups by one of the main Barcelona coaches.  They would then go back into their smaller group and work on it with their coach.  After about 15 minutes, they would come together again with the other groups and add on to what they had already learned.  This was primarily what took place each morning, so that by the end of the week they had built on quite a bit to what they had been learning.  After the lunch break, they spent time scrimmaging against the other groups trying to put what they had learned into practice.  This was always a fun time as the scrimmage session always started by having the Barcelona theme song played and the kids walking on to the field to stand and wave at the crowd just like the pros do.  True to Barcelona's style of play, the training was all about short quick passes and control.  I think the boys learned a lot from the experience and are growing as players. 
What was Dad doing during all of this?  He spent the entire day walking between the three age divisions (as they were spread out with two on opposite corners of one field and the third on a completely different field) trying to get pictures and watch each boy perform.  He was also taking notes on his phone of as many drills as he could so that the boys could continue doing some of them once the camp was over during our 'family sessions' back home.  He also got to know some of the Spanish coaches, and especially one that we had met from the year before who spent the year between as the coach of the National Under 23 team of the Solomon Islands.  He had never been there before he went, so last year Dad was able to help him know what to expect. It was fun to hear about his experience a year later.  

Overall, it was an amazing experience and the boys (including Dad who has followed FC Barcelona as his favorite team since 1994) loved every minute of it.  All of the kids at this camp play in recreational leagues, school leagues, or on teams that travel and are much more intense. The extent of the boys experience is an annual parent run community league that plays on six Saturdays each Fall and has no training time or practices, playing on the playground at school, and playing with their Dad on the weekends.  To watch these three boys, who live in a country where all the fancy leagues are not available, hold their own against kids that do was incredible and made this Dad incredibly proud.  What an accomplishment.  Well, it didn’t end there, much to our surprise.  Check back for the big news that was to come.

Much Ado About Poo

A few months ago, there was a frog in the shower. There wasn't much to-do about it, as Dad was the one to find it, and the boys were taking showers. Had it been the girls, there likely would have been lots of screaming and running and crying. So it almost went unnoticed. Then, a couple days later, Mom found this in the guest room (adjacent to the bathroom):

Mom's suspicions were instantly aroused, and a vague memory rekindled from days in Papua New Guinea. The last time she had seen droppings like that, it was on our back porch in PNG. She had asked our helper, who said it was a mutmut - a very large rodent. (Those R.O.U.S's of Princess Bride fame are real!) The helper had reassured mom not to worry because the mutmut lived in our bamboo in the backyard and only came out at night so we would never see it - not the most comforting thought, but we really did never see it and over time it was forgotten. . . .

. . . Until we found rather suspicious-looking poo in the guest room in December. Mom found the Australian name for the mutmut - bandicoot - and began scouring the internet for photos of bandicoot droppings, and researching if such animals are found in the Philippines. She was sure this was exactly what she had seen before. With a large, gaping hole in our screen door, anything was possible. If, perhaps, it wasn't bandicoot, she began to wonder what it could be. It was too big to be rat, but could be a small cat. Plenty of those roam around the house, though we certainly would have noticed a cat inside. She also checked photos of bat, snake, and monitor lizard poo.

Meanwhile, as Mom fretted and weighed the possibilities, Dad was much more logical in his approach. He was certain that we would have heard a small animal and would have seen (or heard) more evidence from most of those than one single dropping. For him, there was only one possibility, so he looked only for images of frog poo. To Mom's complete surprise (after all, frogs are much too small to leave behind something that large!!), Dad was right.

After a short time, our 'guest frog' was forgotten for a few months - until last weekend. Mom again stirred the pot, making everyone think twice about what they find lying around. Late Friday night, when no little noses were awake to smell the chocolate, Mom baked a batch of brownies. Just before we headed out the door for basketball Saturday morning, she carefully shaped and strategically placed a few brownie pieces. When we came back in after a few hours, the dining room was littered with 'droppings' and we called on the boys to help us investigate. Our boys had learned well from the previous incident and immediately guessed frog or small cat.

As they searched the house for the animal which was likely still around somewhere, Noah voiced his doubts - it certainly looked a lot like chocolate, and it was April Fool's Day, after all . . . Mom challenged him to taste it and he didn't hesitate long before popping one in his mouth - and then reaching for another. Even after seeing that, Aden held one in his hand gagging a bit before taking a bite and Wiley psyched himself up repeating the phrase "it's chocolate, it's chocolate..." 

They had so much fun with it that they requested their brownies be shaped into poop to go with  their ice cream that night! And, we were sure to caution them not to eat such things they may find around the house in the future!