Disco Volador 2600

Ultimate Frisbee is about the only sport I know of where you can show up to a foreign country and be welcomed to play on team full of people you've never met. I just spent the last four days playing in an Ultimate tournament in Bogotá with a group of Americans (mainly from WI and the Midwest) that called themselves the United States Amateur Team. I was put in touch with them by a mutual friend of the team captain/organizer. We ended up losing by one in the quarter finals to a very talented and super fast team from Cali, Colombia. I was honestly happy that we lost such a close game. That may sound odd, to be happy to lose. But to put it in perspective, the US (not our team, but the country in general) is the best in the world for Ultimate Frisbee, having invented the game in the 60s. So for this team from Colombia to play 'the best in the world' and win a very close game was something that they will long remember. We did our best to explain the word 'amateur' and that half of the team had just met each other a couple days ago, but to the Colombians, they beat the USA, so it didn't matter. The end of the game high five line was full of tears of joy on their side. It was beautiful.

After the four day long tournament, Jenn and I have left Bogotá for Medillín. We just arrived after a long 9 hour bus ride. We will explore this part of the country for the next week or so then back to Bogotá for Christmas with Jenn's mom and the Colombian cousins.

The squad. The United States Amateur Team.

The Apaches. Team from Cali that beat us in the quarter finals. 

Trading jerseys with other teams is common at international tournaments. The USA jerseys were a popular trade. I met this guy, Cesar, from Pamplona, Colombia, and swapped shirts with him.