El Fin de Semana #2

Hola todos! Before I start....YES I know I'm white as a ghost in this picture! Due to the windy winter season in Mallorca the beach is not considered a hot spot for recreation. Therefore Stefanie's skin is very pale!! Good I'm glad we got that out of the way.
It's hard to believe that another week of has gone by. Last Monday was the first chance I got to explore the older, romantic part of Mallorca. The Plaça Espana in the downtown area is a gorgeous maze of old buildings and cobble stone sidewalks. This is the official location of the San Sabastian Festival every year, which just so happened to arrive in time for some of the girls and myself to go. About five different stages are set up with various artists/bands allowing the public to walk around to hear different music and a change of scene every once in a while. And did we have great food from local restaurants that set up their tents?? Oh no we brought our own food to cook at one of the HUNDREDS of community grills set up all over the plaza. We cooked chorizo and pork filets with french bread and washed it down with some tasty wine. Even the rain couldn't keep the people from enjoying good food, a free concert, and great company!
Wednesday was an unexpected day off from practice. Yes we were super bumbed about it, but once we got over it we decided that life wasn't so horrible afterall and we headed over the men's volleyball game in Palma Arena. Eventhough it was hard for me to watch 6'7'' men in uniforms crushing balls, it wasn't such a bad swap of events.
Now you'd think that I would have pictures of the festival and the men's game right? Well it turns out that I'm not very good at the "remembering the camera" thing so I apologize for not having proof of my experiences. Although I did remember to finally take a picture of my roommate and myself at our most recent game against Rebeira Sacra in Vigo, Spain yesterday. So hang in there San Diego, I'm trying really hard to remember this taking pictures thing!

El Fin de Semana #1

Hola Todos!
This weekend went by wayyy too fast. I guess time flys when you have culture shock. Our first game of this season was on Saturday. We're just going to put that behind us right now. Like in any sport, you always learn from your mistakes and focus on the next battle. After the game a couple of us went to Silvina and Laura's (teammates) apartment to release some tension from the game. And just like in the U.S. people really like to drink beer here! Gracias a Dios! The beer of choice in Mallorca is called Mahoo and is tasty enough to have seconds! :} This was also the first I've ever played "Singstar" where two people compete against eachother to sing a popular song the best. Pretty fun when it's in english, not so easy when in spanish ha.
Today was a very laid back and relaxing day. For lunch we went to a hip restaurant called D'presion and it was AMAZING. I cannot eat enough of these fresh olives. My god are they good. I had a nice little dish that consisted of five barritos filled with chicken/some other amazing stuff smothered in queso blanco. Holy hell I ate the whole thing. The mentality is a little different in regards to time. We sat around for almost three hours just for one meal talking and eating course after course. There was no rush to get going or join the rat race again. Super chill. Also, being a tax free/tip free city, I will never get used to paying what the menu actually says ha. The other girls don't quite understand the concept of our 20% gratuity charge we have in the U.S.
Afterwards we headed to another apartment that belongs to girls from another team in Mallorca (a much better one than ours) to chat and drink some more. It's cool to see that no matter where you are in the world people still complain about the same things. Once we decided that we had enough sitting around we were off to eat again at an amazing Creperie (crepe house). There's really no words to describe a fluffly crepe filled with caramel, bananas, and walnuts covered in vanilla ice cream and powered sugar. It's probably a good thing I'm training every day.

Ah the beauty

I just can't get used to this horrible winter weather here in Mallorca. I get confused in the morning when I only have to put one layer of clothes on. Then I just look out the window at all the orange and lemon trees and remember, ahhh right I'm not in -15 degree tundra anymore.

Did a little walking around my "barrio" and saw some neat things. The picture on the left is my apartment in Son Roqueta. It's on a hill looking over the town so I get to enjoy a nice hike up everytime I come home.

The picture on my right is the little town about 15 minutes walking distance from my apartment. There are tons of little tiendas and cafes to sip cafe con leche and watch people walk by. It's very peaceful here. The first couple nights I slept for 12 hours straight undisturbed. I'm sure not sleeping a wink on the tour had something to do with that.

This is what I have to put up with!

Vale Nadal!!!!!

Okay I just had to this with everyone! Today my teammates informed me that Nadal actually freaking lives and trains on Mallorca! Holy Crap! Don't worry Jody, I'll wait til you get here to start stalking him. Anywho, hoping to get some good pictures of the town soon so stay tuned!

Vale Mallorca!

Man what a crazy, hectic, exciting day yesterday! From getting on a plane in Prague to landing on an island off the coast of Spain, I feel like my brain is on overload. As soon as I arrived in Mallorca I had to start speaking Spanish. There was no time for "easing into it". My assistant coach, Bas Lopez, picked me up at the airport and took me straight to the apartment where I'll be staying for the duration I'm here. No one really speaks english so it is all on me to communicate in spanish. Being here for two days has taught me more than a year of studying the language at home. Crazy how that happens!

As soon as I dropped my things at the apartment, we went straight to my first practice. I didn't know what to expect so I was a bit nervous. When we got to the gym I met all the girls and they were more than welcoming. I've noticed that the attitude about volleyball is very serious. There are few occasions when girls will be goofing around on the court. My coach, Tony Figuera, is very nice. His spanish is very fast and slurred so a bit difficult to understand. I can tell that he worries about me not knowing what the hell is going on. Most of the time I just follow what everone else is doing or Tony will TRY to explain in slow slow spanish.

The drills and games are very similar to the ones I grew up with in the States. I get very excited to go to practice everyday because we have a lot of fun but work hard too. Today my roommate and I went into town by bus. Once we got there I couldn't believe how big it was. There's just about anything and everything someone would need to survive luxuriously on an island. Plus Mallorca is a tax free city so goods are a little cheaper here than they are in other European cities. Always a good thing in my book! Here is the view from my apartment's pateo, not too shabby! Hopefully I will have more pictures soon!

Off to Spain!

Today I will be moving to Spain for three months to play with a team on the island of Mallorca. It's crazy how fast things happen over here but that's the way it goes. Not too much time to mull it over. Don't have many details on the team and schedule yet but I'm sure I'll be figuring that out very soon...

Tour Day 4

I have had an absolute blast in Prague. This city has so much beauty it's overwhelming. The nightlife is quite an amazing experience. From the outside the social life looks bleak and almost nonexistent. Many of the pubs and bars are tucked back into alley ways or have draped windows to appear empty. Once you get in the party is definetly happenin'! Club Blue Light was our party of choice where one can purchase $1.50 pilsner (About 27 Koruna) and enjoy a wide variety of music, including a lot of Michael Jackson!

The next morning we took a stroll through the statue park and saw some very interesting expressions of art. Yes some of the statues can be disturbing but these are the things that make Prague so exciting! More to come...

Tour Day 3

Two words. Apple Strudel! I think I'm in love! A little piece of heaven in your mouth. And the crepes are quite amazing as well. There aren't many popular dishes that include fruit and veggies so it's a little hard to get ajdusted to the heavy cuisine. Sorry no pictures today. It was a day filled with finally getting to sleep in, practice, and dinner...more good news to come! Until then stay classy San Diego!

Tour Day 2

We're not in Kansas anymore. Everywhere you turn in this city you see an even more beautiful building and landmark than the one before. Prague in the dark is the most stunning thing I've ever seen.

Practice this morning was good. Everyday we take the tram to the gym and probably annoy the heck out of the czech people trying to have a peaceful commute to work. There's nothing like a bunch of loud American girls confined in a small space. Yikes.

After dinner and our long day ends around 12am, I get to retire to a cute little European apartment where we have out own beds!

Stay tuned...

Tour Day 1 (Part 2)

Last night was the first night of play here in Prague. Not too much was expected from the players seeing as all of us are struggling with the time change ugh...eventhough this was the case we played at a much higher level than expected. (considering we were competing against girls from the czech national team)
The national team system in the Czech Republic is a little different than the United States. Here girls, no matter what their age, can play on the women's national team. Whereas in the States, there are Junior national, A2 teams, etc. It's very impressive to see 15 year old girls competing on the women's czech national team.
Four games and zero wins later :( we feel relieved to have the first day rust out of our systems. Oh and they only play to 24 points here, kind of strange. At least we scored a minimum of 20 points for most of the games.
No worries. After a great practice this morning we are all feeling WAAAYYY better and getting our sh*t together. Tonight will not be a normal night of play. Only the girls who are committed to staying in Europe for the season are competing. Everyone else has the night off for sight seeing.
Much later we will be checking out the supposedly hottest club in the CR. Klub Lavka has five floors and plenty of raving for everyone! Good thing we don't have practice tomorrow morning! Good times.

Tour Day 1

Okay finally found some internet in Hotel Verona, the abode in which we will be staying while in Prague. Now I can upload some pictures so you can see better the places we go...

Yesterday the girls and myself walked through downtown Prague and saw the "Mezeum". We found our way luckily by means of public transportation. Then to Old Town Square for some drinks..

Our first drink to celebrate the start of the tour! Locals are happy to give us Americans suggestions on good traditional pubs. Yummy goodness!

Today marks the first day of play. It's been very exciting to meet all the girls that will be on the tour. For more about the details of individual teams, I'm sure they will be posting the info on the bringitpromotions website soon. Until later...

Finally here!

Five airports and five connections later..I've finally arrived in Prague! And it is cooolllllddd! Absolutely breath taking this town is...met up with two other girls and did some touristy things. Stay tuned, hopefully I can figure out how to get pictures uploaded on this thing.