On Saturday we went to a bout between the Tsunami Sirens and Viva Roller Derby at the local fairgrounds. We had little to no idea what was going on, but slowly grasped more and more of it, and totally enjoyed the match. Jack discovered that they were holding a boot camp for people interested in learning to skate (and potentially becoming derby girls themselves) on Tuesday. The cost was $20, there was gear to be borrowed during the practice, all I had to get was a mouthguard. Which I did.
 |
| I nabbed this from the website - I'm in a black helmet 2 o'clock from the yellow helmet. This was at the end of boot camp. |
On Tuesday I joined a bunch of other folks and very few actual newbies (there were a lot of "vets" who were coming back after long breaks from the sport) for a night of drills and how-tos. It was awesome. I had so much fun! Not only was the activity fun, but the ladies were all really cool, very supportive and friendly. It was a blast! So I came back the next night, and the night after that. The $20 was the first of what I hope will be a long series of $20/month payments to skate with the girls and Coach Old Xchool (a guy, in case you were wondering) three nights a week. I'm starting out as a Level 1 Newbie, but with training and dedication I could progress all the way up to a Level 3 and participate in the bouts as a full-fledged Tsunami Siren. We've even come up with a derby name (everyone's gotta have one, right?) for me: the Rogue Ranger.
So far I am the owner of a mouthguard and a pair of "butt pads" (padded shorts), but hopefully next month I'll be able to purchase some skates and after that my own knee pads and elbow pads, and hopefully my folks are able to save me $20 and send my wrist guards from back home... within a couple months, I should potentially have all the basics for skating. Of course, this is all assuming that I'm staying here for the summer.
I had an unofficial interview with Redwood National on Wednesday which I believe went very well, and I'm really hoping to get hired because it sounded like a great fit - more relaxing than Sequoia, with just as much flexibility in my interpreting (if not more). Not to mention I'd be able to continue living in my beautiful rental home and continue developing my skating with the Tsunami Sirens throughout the summer! Oh, I hope I hope I hope!!!
Now it's off to packing for Cerro Gordo - we'll be town-sitting for a week and a half up there and we leave tomorrow to start our journey!
Until next time!
