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!