A new week

Sorry I haven't posted for a day or two, but I wanted to make sure the kinks were worked out of the system.
After a beautiful day of sunshine and typical Mediterranean weather yesterday, we had another day of rain and even some thunderstorms. If any of you are into the weather channel, you can see that Europe is getting a great of rain right now. France and Italy have really gotten some wet weather, which apparently will continue for a few more days.
Yesterday, the team was off in the afternoon which meant that we could go shopping, sightseeing, etc... and do some things on our own. I decided to go for a run into the hills toward Mt. Faron, which is the backdrop of the city of Toulon. Mt. Faron is not the tallest of the mountains in the immediate area, but is one of the most popular and most widely known. Much of the town is built into the side of the mountain, as you can see from photos of the city. Once one gets out of the busy downtown area near the water and the harbor, many of the residential areas are simply built along winding roads on the side of the mountain. I took some breathtaking photos of the city, harbor and surrounding sites as I gradually made my way along the mountain roads.
There are many questions to answer in your comments, so I will try to address those things now.
I have the privilege of working with the US Under-23 Mens National Soccer Team, which will also be the Olympic Team representing the US in the upcoming Beijing Olympics. The team is made up of professional soccer players who are all under 23 years old. They either play professionally in the US for the MLS, or for a team in Europe or other parts of the world. Currently we have American players on our roster playing professionally for teams in Mexico, Italy, France, Denmark, Germany, England Portugal, and Spain. My job is that of an Athletic Trainer, which means I provide medical care for the athletes. I am similar to a physical therapist, but my area of specialty is Sports Medicine. I focus on preventing, diagnosing, evaluating, treating and rehabilitating any injuries that may occur during practice or a game. Someone in my field needs to learn biology, anatomy, physiology, etc.. in order to know what type of injury an athlete has and how best to treat it and make it better. Athletes such as professional soccer players require much attention in order to stay healthy and play at their best. Some things are not very glamorous but must be done before we go to practice including preparing water, gatorade, injury ice and getting my medical bag ready. Many athletes have things taped for a practice, such as their ankles, which usually is done approximately 1 hour before we leave for practice. Other athletes perform rehab/corrective exercises or do other things such as stretching, etc... with me before leaving for practice. During practice, I have to be ready to handle any injury, big or small, that may occur at any given time. Most days guys stay healthy and don't suffer any injuries, which makes my job easy. Other days, such as two days ago, a player was hit in the face and received a bloody nose that we had trouble getting to stop bleeding. I use special nose plugs made of cotton that are actually made small enough to stuff into a nostril to absorb the blood. Pretty gross huh?!!? In the evenings after we have returned from practice and eaten dinner, I will do evening treatment sessions on some of the players including massage, ultrasound, electronic stimulation, rehab exercises, etc... Tonight I didn't finish my treatment sessions until around 10 p.m., which kind of made for a long day.
While getting out and about in the city, I have seen some French sailors. They are commonly seen in restaurants and are easy to spot because they have similar 'military style' haircuts. There are many young people around town, too, as the the elementary, middle and high schools are right in the heart of the city. Kids are seen walking to and from school and it seems like many high school age kids commonly use the public buses to go to and from school.
I do miss my family and my kids, Ashton and Jonas and look forward to seeing them soon.
I have not had any squid soup or any other crazy seafood dish. I've eaten a great deal of french baguettes (sp??), which is the local french bread. Most meals, including breakfast, include bread, cheese and various meats such as salami and bologna. Sounds kind of weird, but it takes great to eat bread and cheese for breakfast! The French Baguette has special meaning for French people about which Ms. Snyder can help you learn. I won't her fun, but there was an infamous French person who once decided that the poor peasants of France didn't need their precious bread anymore, which was their main sustenance at the time. She said, "Let them eat cake". Anyone know her name???
I noticed that someone mentioned playing soccer for Manatee Magic Soccer Club. One of our coaches, Tim Mulqueen, is the goalkeepers coach for the team and he has a son who plays for the Magic, as well, I believe.
I will do better at answering more questions tomorrow. It is 12:15 a.m. here in Toulon, so I need to be getting to bed. I hope there are no type-o's in this!!