What the Ruck Am I Doing?

Before leaving for Thailand, I made sure that I had two things: a rugby ball and a ball pump. I did not expect to play rugby with anyone. I had plans to find a wall and practice my line-out throws. If I was lucky, maybe some CIEE students would want to learn how to pass and occasionally throw the ball around with me. I did not know what was about to hit me...

For my teammates who I love and miss dearly, I hope you laugh at the ironic name of the blog and get a good belly laugh at my ridiculousness. I'm sure there will be plenty of roasting material in here. For everyone I play rugby with in New Orleans (team touchie, NOLA Men, Crescent City, the minis and of course Lagniappe) thanks for letting me integrate into the community, those skills have been instrumental in my Thai adventures. To everyone: I hope you enjoy my chronology of international rugby in a place where I did not think rugby existed.

It all began on my morning run with Julie and Camille. After a toasty three miles, we made our way back to the apartments. While anxiously crossing the congested road, I saw a unicorn: a man on a motorbike with a bag of rugby balls attached to the back. He puttered past on the motorbike and disappeared into the distance. I did not think I would ever see them again.

It was the first day of class at the Public Health faculty and the first time trying to figure out the bus system. My cohort and I went to the local fruit stand for breakfast and were ready to embark on our trek to the bus stop. Then Camille grabs my arm and goes, "There!! There they are, the rugby balls!". I did not care that we were in a time crunch for the bus. In my calf length, pleated skirt, I ran toward the boys and rugby balls with my arms flailing. My friends, standing across the street, laughing at the fool I was making. I explained to the boys that I am an American (if that wasn't obvious enough), I played women's rugby, and that I wanted to play with them. I pulled out my phone and demanded they add me on Facebook and notify me when the team would practice. They said 5pm at the fields next to the basketball court.

I returned from class with an hour to spare before practice. I was so excited to have friends that I could play rugby with. At 4:30, I was ready to go. It was pouring rain outside, but I did not care. I grabbed my ball, my cleats, and headed over. When I arrived to the field, I threw line-out's to the cross bar, by myself, waiting for others to arrive. Come 5:15, there was nobody. Finally, Guy (it means chicken in Thai) pulled up on his motorbike. He introduced himself and I fumbled with the little Thai I knew to introduce myself. He told me that practice was cancelled due to the rain. I then asked when the next practice was and he said 5am. I thought this would be the end of my rugby in Thailand. No way would I wake up to practice at 5am each day. I was discouraged, I missed New Orleans, Tulane, and my teammates (and Jess, of course!).

Before I gave up completely, I got a bunch of friend requests on Facebook. I was then put into a group chat of a few guys. The group chat was all of the guys just saying "hi". They were all on the rugby team and wanted me to play...

...and so, the journey began.