This marks the first in a series of posts highlighting the work of our foreign (we like to call them "imported") instructors. Starting it off is David Navailles, our Joko Garbi instructor.
David came to the Basque Cultural Center in February for the anniversary celebration with a group of Joko Garbi players to do workshops with the San Francisco children. (Joko Garbi is like Jai Alai's cousin.) We were so impressed that David was asked to return for Udaleku. Each hour groups of eight wrap their wrists with tape (we had some nasty almost blisters the first day) and put on their chistera to practice how to catch and throw the ball. A completely different skill set than pala or handball, it’s been fun to see kids discover and excel at a new sport. The language barrier (David speaks French much, much better than he speaks English) makes very interesting and inventive hand gestures necessary providing anyone looking, including the unsuspecting restaurant goers who peek in through the kantxa door window, with some serious entertainment.
The kids love learning this new sport. One camper (shout-out to Vincent!) even asked if his day could consist only of Joko Garbi, Pilota, and Pala classes. They just can’t get enough! Don’t be surprised if your kids come home and start grabbing the bread basket to fling balls against the wall.
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