White Christmas #2

As the 21st approached, I was anxious to get the week and final match done, but was thinking about the work that had to be completed before I left. The televised match was on the monday before I was to depart for Sweden, so as you could imagine it was tough to think about just the match. When we began I knew I wasn't going to start in the first set, but I told myself to try and stay positive and to have a good warm up. So I pushed through the warm up and then took my place on the bench ready to cheer on my team for better or worse. We started out very well taking a big lead. Then all of the sudden around point 10, the lights, cameras, microphones, and music went out in the gym just before we were about to serve. The team came together in the middle of the court and started to sing and dance with one another. We were told the TV vans outside were taking to much electricity from the gym so it just gave up and shut down, ha! Finally after about 15 minutes everything was back up and running except for the score board,  which was done manually. I got to play in the last part of the first set, a little more in the second, a lot more in the 3rd, and then started in the 4th set. Personally I played well and had no hitting errors, I was in the positive, finally! After 2 matches in the minus I was happy to be where I was after the match. We unfortunately did not win, but we could have beat them. They seemed to be more hungry for the win, more motivated. Next match we all need to be on the same page and change our attitudes so we can play and win as a team. Its true we can do our job individually but we must support one another through out the match. We have to go for it, plain and simple. I have to go for it most of all.

Anyway, enough volleyball for now. That night, after the match a teammate and I took a night bus to Helsinki where her dad picked us up from the station in the center. Once we got to her parents apartment we went straight to sleep for 4 hours, woke up, had some food, got ready, and then drove to the airport to drop me off. My teammate was so nice to let me spend a couple hours at her parents house so I thanked her, wished her a happy Christmas and then went inside to check in. I thought about all the trouble the airports were having, so I expected the worst. Once inside, I realized quickly that things weren't as crazy as I imagined they would be. I saw one really long line that looked as though people had been standing in it a really long time near my check in area, but other then that the airport was pretty calm. I got through security in less then 10 minutes and was at my gate with 2 hours to spare. I saw a few people here and there sleeping in some of the empty waiting areas but like I said before, the airport was fairly calm and collected. I was more then certain that if I had been in LAX or any major airport in USA it would be nuts. My other American teammate and her friend who had come to visit for 2 months, had been at the airport since 3am, trying to get on an earlier flight to California. I saw them wondering around outside the gift shop I was browsing. They looked tired and told me they were sure to be there until the next day, such a bummer. A lot of European airports were closed, including the one they were headed to first, Frankfurt. Lucky for me, Copenhagen was open and working well at the moment. I said good luck to them, bid them a Merry Christmas and was on my way to Sweden, only about an hours delay. Not bad considering what other people were going through. I got to Copenhagen airport around 7pm and was so excited knowing who was waiting for me beyond the baggage claim doors. I quickly grabbed my bag and hauled ass to the double doors. I only had to look around once and then I spotted them. My old teammates and good friends Sara, Muck, and Alex. Sara was dressed in a santa hat , red dress, red jacket, black tights, and boots. Muck was dressed like rudolf the reindeer and Alex was just there to say hi really quick because his flight to London had been delayed quite a bit. They held up a sign that read "Shitney" (another story to tell later) and Sara drew a stick figure in the corner with red hair (me obviously haha). I laughed and then teared up as I got closer to them hugging them for at least a minute and a half. I couldn't believe I was finally seeing those girls and Alex again after 6 months. It was the best feeling I could have had at that moment.
Since everything was going haywire with the trains we opted for the ferry to Helsingborg, Sweden and was picked up there by Ulf, my "Swedish Dad". We went to his house and had a late dinner with him and his wife. Also got to see his twin boys who are 15 now and have grown a couple inches since I last saw them, one of them is almost as tall as myself! It was crazy. We laughed, ate, and drank well into the night. Unfortunately we had to get going since Sara had to work early the next morning and I also had a long day of working out, shopping, and meeting up with friends for lunch. We were in bed and asleep by 1am, it was the perfect first day :)

White Trees

Have you ever seen a perfectly all white tree before? When I say white, I mean from the ground to the tips of the tree branches. I certainly have not experienced the site of a white tree until I got here to Finland. A teammate and I were talking about how hard and complicated an explanation of the white trees to anyone who hasn't seen them for themselves would be. Words and pictures just don't do justice to the real thing. However, I will try to do my best and show you through words and photographs what it is to see white trees.
I usually wake up every morning before 10am, luckily the sun is about up by then. A quick reminder of the suns habits around this time of year in this location, it feels like 5am at 8am, the town is still under a heavy blanket of darkness that is a bit unerving considering where I come from. Whenever I wake up here I tend to head straight for the blinds at the windows opening them instantly to get some light in my apartment. Sometimes darkness still, blue sky, fog, etc. One morning, I went through my regular morning routine and when I opened the blinds my eyes widened and my mouth dropped. I went though those thoughts of what I was going to see that morning, but white trees? How cold was it outside?! I lingered at the window for what felt like at least 10 minutes just staring. I honestly could not believe what I was seeing, nothing looked real. I opened the balcony door, camera in hand and stepped out to the frigid cold to snap a few shots. Not just the small trees where white but every single one was incased in layers of snow and ice. Every branch was sparkling like someone had taken a can of liquid glitter and doused everything in glitter. I guess I had never seen snow sparkle as much as it does here because I find myself walking along with my head on a swivel. The environment I am living in feels worlds away from the beach town I come from, its another world out here. Numerous times I have thought, "I am living in a black and white picture...a really cold one.." The trees tower over head, shaking small particles of snow with the slightest breath of wind. A real wind storm would be a trip, all that snow flying off those trees, there would be a white out situation indefinitely.

Walking through town late at night or even during the middle of the day when people are working and the streets are pretty quite, the ghostly trees are mostly still, hang high over the streets, creating a cavernous like space. Looking up at them I wonder how on earth do they survive this type of weather. If they could talk, what would they say? "SON OF A! ITS FREEZING!!! MY BRANCHES ARE FROZEN SOLID! I need a vacation...somewhere tropical." That would be my guess considering my imagination. As cold as it is here, its definitely not a barren wasteland, its so much more interesting and beautiful. Everyday I look forward to seeing the what the weather has brought me because its usually some phenomenon I have yet to witness.

Tough Week #2, X-mas dinner, and Kokkola

With the weekend gone and another work week well in sight, the team was underway yet again. Practicing can be tough when there is no "light" at the end of the tunnel, that light being a match at the end of the week. With that said, this week was tough and tiring, but like before we pulled through having minimal players at each practice. Luckily we had our setter almost the entire week, she was going to be a no show on saturday because of intervening family plans. No need to get into specifics about our practice schedule, just read the blog before, our time spent in the gym was pretty similar to that of the week before. However we were given one morning off, that was a plus. Since the start of the 2 week minus a league match, my knee problems have risen again. Last season they began after a few months training. I have what is called jumpers knee which is convienently affecting both my left and right knees. Not to worry (mom), I am taking care of them as much as I can. I ice after every evening session and am trying new excersizes in the weight room suggested by my coach. I will be able to stick out the last 3 and a half months of the season.

Saturday was a small blip in the routine that I am used to. We practiced twice Saturday instead of a match. The first session commenced at the all to early hour of 9am. I cannot seem to forget the practices I once endured at 6:30am for Mira Costa High School, oh so long ago. That was the earliest I have ever had to wake up for a practice and thus far have never had to go back to that. 9 am is early enough, maybe I am just getting old...but I certainly hope not. Moving on to Saturday night, the Christmas dinner with the club and some of the important faces behind the scenes. We traveled to the Hotel down the road to a nice restaurant/bar for the feast. We had the traditional gloggi which is a sweet Christmas drink you can sometimes add vodka to, not tonight however. There were many speeches and cheersing to be had. The food we ate was tradition Finnish Christmas food. There was salad with salmon, a carrot bake, a yam bake, a liver bake, then ham or turkey with spicy mustard. On the side you also had a traditional Christmas bread that is only made around this time of year. Everything tasted good, except the liver which I took one whiff of and decided to pass, smart decision I believe. After the exchange of gifts from the players , a few sponsors, and the team mom we chatted and then head out to our respective homes. Tired from the 2 practices that day I fell asleep rather quickly. Sunday was another big day for me since I and another teammate were going to Kokkola to shop and watch a mens division 1 match that my friend Eric from Texas, was playing in. The next morning the assistant coach, myself, Nikke, and her boyfriend headed out early for our trip to Kokkola, a coastal city to the west. This city, I was told, had the highest number of Swedish residents in Finland and all the road signs, menu's, etc were Finnish and Swedish, I liked that. The drive was long and we were purposely lost a few times because of our driver may have not been listening to our direction to the center, but never the less we got to our destination with enough time to do what we needed to do. Walking around the medium sized town, there were plenty of cute shops and cafes to stay busy while living there. I was jealous and envious of my Texan friend. He got to live in a town big enough to have a night life and on the coast, what a great place. Having lived in many different sized cities and towns, I can tell you that a medium sized city with the suburbs not far from the center is the way to go. One of Nikke's friends suggested an Indian restaurant for lunch, perfect idea. If you know me, you know I am pretty easy when it comes to food, as long as what I am eating is not cows tongue, brain, or some weird national delicassy then I will at least try it. The restaurant we went to was surprisingly good for an Indian food place in Scandinavia. I had the Tikka Masala and it was spot on. Very good choice and we were so full and happy afterward. The match we watched was pretty good considering who Kokkola was playing, a bunch of players whose average age was 18. Kokkola was playing a junior nationals development team. They were fired up and played all out nothing hitting the floor. Their libero was nuts, diving and running all over the place. Kokkola came out thinking they were going to win easy, so they played nonchalantly at first but then when they saw the other team was full force and going for it, all Kokkola had to do was turn up the heat a bit and shut them out. It went 5 sets but overall was an interesting match to watch. We ended up at the Texan's house for a couple of beers and then headed home. I was glad to get out of town that night and to socialize with other people then my team for a little.
The week leading up to the match against Salo was tiring and hard, no surprises there. I was in the gym every day starting on Wednesday, probably 4-5 hours a day. Sometimes volleyball and sometimes weights. I won't get into the match against Salo to much because we lost, but in 4 sets this time. The second set we took them 26-24. I was to nervous to play against them so I was taken out after 19 points in the first set but put back in in the 3rd only to finish the match on the sidelines. I was extremely disappointed in myself and boggled as to why I am so nervous playing them every time. My self confidence needs a little bit of a boost next time we play them and that needs to come mostly from myself but also from my teammates, I just hope I can perform better in the future. I hate being benched for any reason but especially because I am playing badly. But now what I need to do is focus on the next game, so practices leading up to that match are going to be tough and I am going to work very hard to earn my spot back on the court again, I promise that to myself and most of all to my team.
One week until I am on my way back to Sweden. All the packages my family sent have arrived at my "Swedish moms" house so all I need to worry about is making that flight and hoping the weather has nothing to do with delays and so on. I can't wait to be back in the comforts of Swedish life, its going to be a blast!

PS My internet is being really slow and LAME so I cant upload pictures right now. I have some so I will try when the signal is stronger. I apologize for Europe internet connections, they seriously suck!

Beyond Tired...and we are only half way done.

The first week of our two weeks without a match is now half way over. The thought that our coach was going to go easy on us was not smart. After the weekend win and some heavy duty sleeping in, monday rolled around all to quickly. Went to the gym to do our regeneration work out to wake up our bodies from the somewhat lazy weekend. It was clear, the work week was underway. Usually when we have a game on the weekend, most of the team is there during the night practices and usually never the morning sessions because most have either day jobs or school. Instead this week it was the four of us, myself, Nikke (the serb), Missie (fellow CA resident), and Jenni (19 year old Finnish chica). Tuesdays practice was the initial wake up call. I am all about working hard at practice and trying to better myself , so that night we did about an hour and 15 minutes of defense and then hit the weight room and began a new program. It was heavy, in other words more sets, heavier weights, and fewer reps. Needless to say, I could feel how much I needed to get a gym membership over the summer, because running on the beach and following "Self" magazine at home work outs was not enough, lesson learned. Wednesday morning was tough after the previous night weights session but we weren't as sore as we thought we were going to be. However, the soreness caught up to us the next morning, burning our hamstrings and shoulders. Soldiering on is an athletes motto in these cases, push through the wall and you WILL survive. Wednesday night was different since we had 5, lucky for us our setter showed. Thursday was a repeat of Tuesday, thank God Friday was within reach, I was ready for the beating to be over. Our coach was also harder on us, which was what I would have done in this situation as well. Not playing for two weekends in a row definitely does not mean time to slack and be lazy, its time to better yourself and to work on the skills you need to help your team win. Friday came and so did the rest of the team to the night practice. It was a good feeling having everyone there, we needed it. Plus it was only so much fun to have 4 people at every practice. Finally the week was done and Friday night had arrived.....beer me.

Exhausted and aching, I drank some cider, a beer, whooped my friends butt in online gin rummy (at least its not World of War Craft ok) and then passed out around 2am to wake up a few hours later to get ready for a shopping day in the closest city next to us, Jyvascuyla (hour and a half away). The city was also were a lot of the rest of the team lived so we were bound to bump into at least one of them, which we eventually did. Jyvascuyla was adorned with christmas lights and to our luck it was lightly snowing. We must have went to 20 different shops and walked around for hours. My favorite part of the day was posting up at a donut shop with a coffee and a donut to people watch. Almost Everyone here has their own eccentric style and or hair color. But in the end they all look scandinavian to me, I have gotten used to their type of style. I like what they wear too, might be starting to get the hang of it only I think I need to layer a little bit more and buy a couple more oversized striped t-shirts. I have also noticed that a lot of girls have short hair and here is my theory on that. In the winter, girls are constantly wearing scarves and hats. With long hair, it is continuously getting in the way, tangling with scarves and in your jacket zipper. I get it, but I will never cut my hair above my shoulders. Even then thats an iffy situation. However I definitely am in need of a trim, its getting to look like Brooke Shields hair from the movie "Blue Lagoon", jungle like but red.

Tomorrow the other American, her visiting friend, and I will have ourselves Thanksgiving dinner. We were practicing on Thursday night, thus not having time to do the traditional dinner. Not going to lie, I am pretty excited about the dinner, one of the girls has been talked up to being a pretty awesome cook. I was designated to bring the wine and dinner rolls, a perfect job for me :) Being away from home this Thanksgiving was a bit harder then years past. I was able to talk to almost the entire family. In Slovenia I had my ex-boyfriend with me that day, although we didn't have a traditional dinner, it was like family was there. Last year we celebrated a little early because we had a Canadian on the team so we had the dinner between both Canadian and American Thanksgivings. This year it will be late but only by a couple days.

Ok, now I would like to take this moment to commend every single older woman and man in scandinavia. I don't know what their secret is or what they eat in the morning, but through freezing weather and snow, I continue to see active seniors around town, walking, riding their bikes, or skiing along the side walks and foot paths. I finally understand the secret to a long life (although might not be that big a secret), don't sit still, get out and be active. The ones who stay active live longer, fact! I was on my way to practice the other day and this man who looked to be in his 80s was out walking slowly down the side walk in weather that felt like the top of the world freezing over. He looked comfortable and at ease with his own thoughts. He even stopped to try and talk to me. I was freezing my butt off but he seemed to have all the time in the world and didn't look the slightest bit uncomfortable. I on the other hand was wearing most of the clothes I brought with me and my shoulders were intensely pressed to the bottoms of my ear lobes. Of course he was most likely raised in that sort of environment from birth, but even people from this area think its crazy how cold it gets. They aren't dumb, they know this weather is hard to live in but they have had success living in it back then and now, so i say keep on keeping on. Its what they are used to and some absolutely love it, that makes me smile. I love warm weather but experiencing actual seasons has opened my eyes to a lot of new sites, smells, sounds, and people.

Thanksgiving tomorrow, then another week of hard work, a Christmas party, focusing on three more matches, then off to my home away from home for Christmas break. But first things first...sleeping in :)

Cold enough for an Ice Princess.

These past two weeks have been blurred together as one fast tracked movie. We faced off against Eura, a team we beat in the Liiga Cup (Finnish Cup), but this time lost in 4. After the somewhat disappointing match, we traveled to Salo for a Cup game against the top team in the league. We would stay with them in the beginning of the first two sets but then they would pull away and win. We forgot who we were in the 3rd set and lost 8-25. Following another loss, we had to redeem ourselves with the weekends up coming league match against Kangasala. I learned that my team had lost to them in the beginning of the season and to add it was also the match that our starting setter was taken out with a knee injury. So needless to say it was time for a little pay back not just for us but for Outi our injured setter. We knew that they weren't a very strong passing team so our game plan was to go after them at the service line, also to put pressure on them through blocking and defense. You can be a great attacker and server but when it comes down to it, I believe defense wins match's. We ended the match in 3 sets winning nicely. During the last set I was looking across the net at one of the girls on the Kangasala team, I remembered her from somewhere but couldn't quite put my finger on it. I turned to one of my teammates and told her that I knew her, she looked so familiar to me, like I had played her in high school. After the match I decided to ask her where she was from. I knocked on their locker room door and when I saw her I immediately asked "where do I know you from?" and she responded "I played at Redondo Beach High School!" I was shocked and relieved that my assumptions were right on. I was instantly happy to have another fellow South Bay beach chick here with me in Finland. While we spoke she told me she had just graduated from UCSB, so I asked her if she knew a couple guy vballers as well who were playing in Austria. She then shocked me some more saying that she did and was going to visit them for New Years! Amazing! I proceeded to tell my teammates that she was in fact from my high school league and we had played against one another even though she was about 3 years younger then me. It was great to see/meet her again, hopefully I will have a chance to go visit her area of Finland.

Now for the explanation of the title of this entry. While I was walking to our game Saturday night, I made it a point to layer up as well as I could. Unfortunately I forgot to layer up my legs, only dressing in my thick warm up pants and to wrap a scarf around my head. It took about 5 minutes for my legs and lower half of my face to feel completely frozen. When I got to the gym some of the girls asked if I was ok, seeing that my face was frozen into a frown, I told them that the cold was just bumming me out. They told me, unfortunately this wasn't the worst and it had yet to come. Fabulous. It only gets bad when you have to walk for a while or when you can't leave your apartment. With all the bad things that come with cold weather, there are plenty of good things. For the first time in my life, I woke up one morning to see that every tree had frost on its branches, making their colors turn from grey and brown, to a pure white. The other day the sun decided to show making these branches stand out against the blue blue sky. I decided to lug my camera around with me on my way to practice that morning, taking shots of all the nature that was frozen in place.


Almost every morning I try to wake up more by standing on my balcony and taking a bunch of deep breaths. The air smells so clean and the scent of the snow makes me feel like Im at a ski resort. Oddly enough there is a small one a couple clicks down the road from here. I saw something rather odd the other day on my way to the store. Many people in this town have what looks like a sled with a chair on the front. Almost like a small dog sled. They ride them around everywhere, sometimes with a small child sitting on the chair, sometimes they ride solo. I have decided that I need to invest in one of those, I have been close to slipping and falling far to many times to count....Finland doesn't take it easy on clumsy people like myself.





So to sum up, we lost one and we won one, Finland is freezing, I reunited with an old playful rivalry, and now we have two full weekends off. Definitely going to try and get out of this town and to a bigger city to do some shopping and some socializing. Thanksgiving is this week, I think some of the Americans and I will try to put something together. Less than a month until I go back to Sweden, I can't say how excited I am to go back for the 2 weeks we have off. It will definitely rejuvenate me for the last 4 months of the season. Enjoy the pictures!

New digs, a loss, and a men's vball match

After a little over a month living in the team apartment or other wise known as "PBB, Phitipudas Big Brother" as our manager and assistant coach Martti likes to call it, I was told that I was going to be living in a teammates temporary apartment here in town while she has surgery on her knee and recovers. She was supposed to be our main setter this year but unfortunately acquired a torn ACL in the beginning of the season during match play. I have only seen her set in practice standing at the net and let me just say its a shame that she is injured, as a hitter I appreciate a good setter when I see one and she has got some great
hands for a setter. Hopefully she will be up and back in the saddle by next season ready to make her come back. She has her surgery tomorrow morning so I hope all goes well for her and I will be sending positive energy and thoughts her way. Its an unfair trade to be living in this new apartment but I am so happy to be here now. The apartment is on the other side of town (down the street) behind the church and on the main road into to town. I walked in and the first thing I noticed was the lovely ("Ihanaa" in Finnish language) fragrance of freshly washed sheets. I will always love the smell of laundry for as long as I live, its one of the best smells in the world, besides the way a kitchen smells on Thanksgiving or Christmas, laundry is top of the list for awesome smells. The second was the huge bed, so stoked on that. It is been difficult getting a good nights rest in a dorm style twin and a thin mattress. The living room is decorated with a three person grey couch, black and grey carpet, computer desk and chair, small rolling coffee table, TV, and cute flower curtains that frame the bay windows that look out onto the small parking area and woods. I also have access to a pretty sizable balcony. The kitchen is small but big enough to house a table for three. The cabinets are white with gold fixtures (something I thought I would hate but they are actually cute), a small refrigerator and a lot of counter top space. The bathroom holds the washing machine and the shower is hid by a dolphin scene shower curtain, cute. I think I am going to like living here for the next couple months.

My teammate Nikolina, her boyfriend, and I went to a division 1 men's volleyball game about 140 kilometers away sunday night. She knew two Serbians on the team. I was excited to see the game because a friend of mine was the setter for the team the Serbians were on. He is from Texas and we first met in Slovenia when we had come to the womens team of the town he played for as well. I saw him play there and also when he came to Sweden to play in a tournament with a Danish team and now this year I will see him play again. We keep running into one another, seems like such a small world out here sometimes. We watched their match as did all of Finland, it was a televised match. They wanted Nikolina or I to say something during the 15 minute break after the second match. I was totally interested (my mom was supposed to be watching so I wanted give a shout out) but Nikolina, not so much, she said she hated talking on TV. After the 2nd match I went down to say a few things about the match and give my shout out but then they told me that they wanted a little more so I decided to ask for my friend to come back and give a short interview. Long story short the "interview" was unplanned and pretty horrible. Oh well. Next time if there is one I will be a little more prepared. My friends team ended up winning in 3 sets, turned out to be pretty easy win.

Game against the giants Tuesday, should be an interesting show down. I want to win, but knowing how good they are we all would have to be on our best game to beat them. Important thing to remember is that we have nothing to lose so might as well go for it.

Liiga Match...playing with giants

Wednesday night we played another Finland Cup game against the number one team in the league, Salo. Now before I talk about the match, I just wanted to preface who was on the other side of the net and why they should maybe play in higher league. The libro is about 5'4 a buck ten, amazing on defense and passing, other wise known as the best libero in Finland right now. The setter is also national team royalty with quick wrists, making it sometimes hard to read where she is going to send the ball. Both middles were 6'5 with fast arm swings both I think were from Belarus, Russia. And the last of the notable players on the team and easily argued their best player on the team, the opposite, De Carne. She is around 6'9, over 2 meters when she takes a full approach and swings putting the ball inside the 10 foot line. Even though she is 35 years old she has quite the resume, playing almost everywhere important in Europe. Getting to the point, we lost in 3 sets, thankfully breaking double digits in scoring but getting no higher than 16 points. The other team was just really good at playing the basic game. They never did anything mind boggling or super acrobatic that we were all shocked at what we were seeing. Salo is a team to beat for sure, they have won 50 consecutive matches in a row here in Finland. Yes, they are very well respected, yes, they have some amazing players on their team, but they are human just like everyone else and can be beat, we just need to not give them so much respect that they know that everything will be easy.
Our team had moments of genius in the match but we all know that we can be better all around. The fact that they were making hot dogs and the smell was permeating the nostrils did not help at all. But non the less I was focused on the game at hand, my nose was the only thing distracted. Luckily the match does not count against us in league play. So this weekend we face Eura, a team we have already played and beaten so its time to get fired up about that. Not throwing the Salo game totally away, but learning from it and moving on. There is only so much one or a whole team can do when playing against giants. I hope we get that win this weekend, that is where it really counts. One point at a time to the finals is the goal for everyone on this team I hope.
I am moving into a teammate who is getting surgery on her knee apartment this weekend as well. Will be by myself at last, at least until the end of January, then she comes back for work and I will move somewhere else. There are only so many apartment buildings in this town so we shall see. Until another time.

Kuusamo, Finland and another Win!

This weekend we traveled to Kuusamo (Norhtern Finland) for a match against a team called Paka. They were currently seeded 2nd in the league with 2 powerful Brazilians as outside hitters. We left on Friday because the trip would take us 7 hours and we were to spend the night at a hotel about an hour and a half from our destination. On our way we were stopped by a dead moose in the road. A smaller car had plowed right into the poor animal, smashing in the drivers side car window and front hood. No one was hurt luckily….except the moose. A man with a shot gun was walking towards the huge animal ready to shoot it if it wasn't completely dead. He nudged its nose and decided that the animal was in fact dead. Steam rose from the animals nostrils, reassuring us all that this was a recent accident. Our bus driver snapped a few pictures and we were on our way.

 We got to the hotel around 10pm, exhausted from the trip. The accommodations were a little on the shady side, but I am just going to believe that it was maybe undergoing a small remodel. The rooms were typical european hotel rooms….small and the beds were super close to one another. I was so tired and already used to this sort of hotel living that I could have cared less at that point. I fell into bed around 11pm and my roommate and I were out by 11:30. Unfortunately for me, I was having a very hard time reaching REM sleep for two reasons. One was the consistent clicking noise coming from the unnecessary mini fridge by the desk. I tried to see what the problem was quietly but nothing was getting better so eventually I opted to shoving wads of toilet paper in my ears. The second was my uncontrollable and rogue cough that has been plaguing me since I have gotten here. At first there was something to cough up, but now, I've got nothing, just the constant tickling sensation before the wrath of the ultimate dry cough. I hear it in a few of my teammates as well so going to chalk it up to being a Finland thing for now. 

We had a short practice in the morning on Saturday, had some hotel breakfast (so good) and then headed to our final destination. On the road we watched video of the other team, critiquing and contributing our own perspective on how we were going to beat them. It was apparent that one of the brazilian outsides was very powerful indeed and celebrated like a soccer player when she scored, running around the court making her teammates run after her for a high five. I love it when opposing players celebrate like that, gets me even more fired up to block the crap out of them. The other "star" hitter on their team also looked good as well but where they lacked was in their reception. Both Brazilians could not pass and their libero wasn't much help either. So we had our game plan, serve tough and block both star hitters out of the game. While on our drive to the gym we were stopped a couple times because reindeer were either crossing or on the side of the road feeding. I remember them being brown but their fur was changing from the brown color to white. I felt like we were on a Finland safari….kind of a lame safari only seeing one animal but whatever, it was still fun and exciting to see them since not to many are roaming around Manhattan Beach back home. 

Their gym was similar to our gym again, having the court on one side and the stands on the other. The match was emotionally exhausting, there were good judgement calls and really bad judgement calls to make it that way. Personally I had a good game, I blocked one of the outsides pretty well, although they were not blocks that went down unfortunately. My hitting was better but I still need to make better contact with the ball and the setter. We are getting there, slowly but surely. By the 4th set we were all about winning the match. We came back from a 3 point gap and won! It was a great feeling but for the other team they looked and acted extremely pissed, I am going to guess it was mostly because of the bad judging calls by the refs. Oh well, a win is a win, which puts us at second place in the league right now. Hopefully we can hold on to that placement for the season and maybe even take the title!

This month is already flying by. This week will be fast as well with the league cup game wednesday against the former Finland Champions (going to be a tough game) and then another match this weekend. Hope for the best! Got to keep a fighting spirit on the team and in my own head. 

Sorry I didn't take any pictures of our trip because I didn't want to bring my big camera along so there are some pictures that other people took, thanks other people :) Take care all!!

Pihtipudas, Finland

 I haven't yet gone into depth of where I am living so I thought I would do it now in this post. The first thing I noticed about the town, or should I say village was how compact the "center" was. The town sits on one street with surrounding buildings, housing small shops and an alcohol store. There are three grocery stores, a couple of clothing and appliance shops, a library, two churches, two pizza and kebab restaurants, another random restaurant, a sports shop, two banks, a taxi station, two gas stations, a taxidermy museum of fish, a history museum, a hair dresser, small hospital, pharmacy, and a flower shop. I am sure I am leaving out a few more things but that sums up most of the town. There are many forests and lakes surrounding the town and on sunny, rainless days you could walk for hours through the wilderness. However I was warned about being aware of bears and moose while I'm out there. This town is known for two things, 1. the annual yearly javelin throwing contest in the summer and 2. Mounted taxidermic fish. So if anyone is need of a mounted fish, let me know because this town rocks at doing just that! I have yet to the visit the museum but I am bound to go there one of the days that I am living here. Yes this town is small, but there is a lot of beauty in it as well. The forests are bombarded with birch trees, they are the ones with the white trunks. When I see them I am reminded of Ansel Adams and the photo he took of a forest full of white trunked trees. I am constantly trying to get the same effect in my photos as he did but am coming up short a lot of the time. I'm not certain if they are the same kind of trees but they are similar in appearance at least. I went for a long walk the other day when the sun was out. I took my camera with me and took a few shots of the surrounding area and the town itself. Pretty soon the lakes will be frozen over and we will be snowed on (I hope) which will bring more light then dark to this part of the world. Right now the sun has been setting around 4pm and completely dark by 5:30pm. Everyone hates this time of year even the locals, but its the way of life up here and so we push through. Some do it by getting drunk at a local pub, some by walking outside during the day rain or shine in freezing temperatures...to each his own right?                                                                    Lonely Bench              



               Lake next to Pihtipudas
We are traveling to a lot of other volleyball towns and all are similar to the one I am
living in, however I think I might be living in the smallest one of the league. Luckily the girls from the team said to me that I would be more then welcome to come to the city of Jyvascula any time I like to visit. I enjoyed that city a lot so I am sure I will be back there very soon. We have a match this weekend that we are leaving for tomorrow night since it is a good 7 hours away. Saturday night we will be driving straight all the way back to Pihtipudas after the game. Luckily it starts at 5, so we will be getting home around 3 or 4 in the morning....sleeping on the bus is a must then. Good thing its a big bus with a bed in the back. Will be taking this computer with me as well so more things to do on the bus :) Enjoy the pictures!

                                                          

Another Win, This Time it Counts :)

This past weekend we traveled 3 hours east to another small town to play against Orpo. This team is different then any other team in the league for one specific reason, their uniform is fashioned after field hockey uniforms. In other words, they wear spandex skirts instead of spandex shorts. Interesting choice they made, however towards the end of the match I started to think they looked good, but one of my teammates snapped me out of it. The gym was like ours, grand stands to one side and the court to the other. There was quite a crowd there as well. I was told after the match that our team hadn't won in their gym since 2006! I felt pretty honored and super stoked to have played in and witnessed the win. Personally, I played better this match and seem to be progressing as we go along. I am now hitting and defending on the right side, a position I played in college my senior year. I hadn't played right side back row defense however, so that was a new and somewhat tough experience for me these last two matches. I think that this position is a good fit for me on this team. I am a good passer so I am a little bummed I wont be in the passing rotation but I feel like a smarter hitter from the right so it sort of all works out. After the win, we piled into the bus at which point our coach got on the microphone and announced that we had a great game so we deserve some ciders and beers, just as long as we are able to walk off the bus unattended at the end of the trip. I grabbed two Cider drinks because I have never had them before, so why not. I ended up liking them a lot, it was like drinking sparkling fruit juice. A bunch of us were dropped off in a city called Jyvasckula, the closest city to the town I live in, Pihitipudas (still not sure on the spelling, nor do I think I ever will be). Some of my teammates live in the city and go to the University during the week. I stayed with the setter and one of the libero's. They had a great two bedroom apartment close to the center and to the lake. Their place had a huge balcony perfect for parties during the summer and winter maybe, a big living room, two decent sized bedrooms, a cute kitchen with windows facing the lake, and a big bathroom with...wait for it...a three person sauna. We got ready and went out as quickly as possible since we got to their place at around 10pm. We road bikes to the center, locked them up and decided on a cozy little bar to start, we also met up with the girls two friends who were really fun to talk to, their english was really good. After that we went to a club called the Giggling Marlin which was packed with some people in costume and a lot of people just there to dance. Apparently there was a famous Finnish DJ there. He was spinning techno records so we went to another one of the three rooms. One room was 90s music and the other was Finland music. We took a little time in all rooms and stopped in the 90s music room the longest and had a 3 song dance off with some Finnish guys dressed like fisherman. We ended up getting home around 4am, I was almost falling asleep at the last club we were at, I was so incredibly tired from the game and the two beers I had went straight to my legs and my brain. I could have fallen asleep next to the subwoofer, but the girls realized that I wasn't a dancing machine anymore and decided it was time to head out, thank god! Stopped at McDonald's for a chicken sandwich and fries (first time in like 5 or 6 years) then road our bikes back to the apartment. I think I was asleep by 6am. What a night, almost forgot how the europeans party, literally until dawn.

The next morning two of my teammates and I woke up late, went in their sauna for a bit and then headed out to the center for some shopping. Luckily there were a bunch of stores open, it being Sunday we weren't expecting this. The city had many shops that I recognized which was comforting. I went home that night with another teammate who was driving back to the town were we lived. We talked the entire time about our lives and got to bond a little bit more. She tricked me twice though, I thought she was driving on the wrong side of the road but she was actually just using the passing lane which I forgot was there some of the time. Freaked me out but once I realized we weren't playing chicken we had a laugh and I relaxed. Got home and realized it was halloween and I was doing nothing at all that night, for the 3rd year in a row....bummer. Luckily my friends in Austria were getting ready to go out and celebrate halloween American style. None of them had costumes so they borrowed dresses and skirts from some girls they knew and went to a party dressed like chicks. I skype called with them and watched as they accessorized and twirled their skirts in front of me. It was a hilarious site, being that they were all over 6'5 and in tight fitting t-shirts, dresses, and long hair wigs. Was nice to see some people living it up USA style on halloween in Europe. Today we had regeneration program we did in the weight room that took about 45 minutes. Woke my body up for a little while but I was still pretty tired from Saturday. We have a match next weekend near Santa Clauses supposed home town. I was told that we will definitely see reindeer, but Santa Clause? I don't know, we will see if he comes out to show his face. Until then, good night.

Redemption for me and the team!

Last night team Pislaploki had a "Cup" game, meaning a non league match but equally as important. We played against a team called Eura from another small town here in Finland. Cup games are against the other teams in the league, if you lose then you are out of the Cup league and therefore have more weekends off then the others do. If you continue to win you stay in it naturally. If your team wins the whole thing the club gets money and the title of Finnish Cup Champions. Wouldn't mind winning that title. So, last night was the second cup game the team has played and the first for me. It was a home match, meaning our crowd (which I am loving more and more every home match) was going to be there, perfect! Our gym can hold up to 1500+ people if you packed people in and set up chairs around the court. The court is to the left and the stands to the right. The side lines are up against a wall where the big scoreboard is. At the beginning of every match they turn off all the lights in the gym and spot light each player as they run on to the court. The announcer announces the other team first quickly and then turn up the pump up music and announce us individually at a much slower pace. I am second to come out and am instantly blinded by the spot light, should probably try to not look up at the crowd next time, can't see anyone anyway. Two of  the girls when announced come out and do these intense cartwheels that gets the crowd going a little more. Once that is over we go to the bench and wait for the starting line ups to be called. After the starting 6 are out on the court the match begins. Our crowd never stops cheering for us which is always encouraging. They are the best consistent crowd I have played in front of.

The match went to 5 sets and was up and down with points and performance. We ended up pulling through with a strong last set for the win. Personally I was playing a lot better and was hitting harder. I was playing on the right side instead of outside hitter which I think is a better fit for me on this team. The only thing that was slightly lacking was my defense on the right side, I had never played that position before so it was a little frustrating at times when tips and hits would go down that were mine. But time will help me with that area and I believe that it will get better. Another match this weekend and then to Jyväskylä for some much needed social time with the team at a dance club or bar. Will be a much better night if we win, so lets hope for a W.

1st Game of "my" Season

The first match of the season (for me) was last night against the team HPK (2nd place finish last season). To get to the point, it was a bad game, not just for me but for most of the team. When we stepped on the court it was like some of the players brains flipped off or to panic mode. Personally I played timid in the front row, not hitting as hard as I can and from the back row not swinging smart. My attacking skills lacked big time but my reception and defense wasn't a total disaster. There was no one person to blame in this match since most of the team was more or less not themselves on the court last night. Trying to get used to the new team and players on the court was a little harder then I thought it was going to be. We are all very happy and fun with one another in practice and off the court we click as a team. But during the game last night, it felt like I was meeting most of them for the first time. It was a bit difficult to get into the match when other players were playing scared and confidence levels were low, including my own. However, it was just one match, on to the next, there is no point in dwelling in this last match because it will only mess with our heads for the next match. We need to move on and move on fast, our next match is wednesday. I need to try and find a connection with the setter and also continue to communicate with the team. This is a very different team then the Swedish team I was on last year, but they also have many great qualities as individual players, they just need to apply them in the matches as well as in practice. I know I can play better then how I played last night, I am not worried that we will rise above this match and soldier on. I don't think it can get any worse then last night, we can only go up and forward from here. Wednesday's game will be interesting and hopefully more fun than last nights game. Need to be focused, a lot less nervous, and confident in our play individually and as a team.

The Try Out…

Day 2:

Met the team tonight under heavy jet lagged sedation, feeling slightly dizzy from all the traveling. The girls are nice and welcoming, some were a little shy but warmed up to me after I came out of my zombie like state. I Watched half a practice and they looked legit. I am excited to get into practicing tomorrow, its about time. The team manager is gave me 70 euros for the week while I'm here which was different from any other try outs I have been on. The food here is similar to Swedish food, a lot of potatoes, sauces, salads, and meat (fish, beef, pork, etc). The people here have to learn Swedish and English with English as their second language and Swedish as their third. I thought this was interesting since Swedish people don't have to learn Finnish. Man I wish I grew up in Europe, I would have been at least trilingual. Practice in the morning, hopefully I am rested enough to play to my fullest. Its the second day of a full week ahead of me. There is a game this weekend against the best team in the league so it will be good to see their toughest competition. 

Day 3 and 4:

Had a full day of practice today and I didn't totally suck! Yess. The team was preparing for their game this weekend so I was put on the B side for obvious reasons (not on the team yet). I had an ok practice but was exhausted after the morning session. Two of the teammates came back to the team apartment with me, once there, I decided to check out and take a nap, they understood immediately just by looking at me, ha! The night session was a bit of the same but with more attacking and blocking. I was on top of my blocking but a little weird with my attacking. It will come to me, not to worried about that. After the night session I collapsed into bed done with the first day, satisfied for the most part. Saturday was a blur, got up at 7am to get to the bus that was to take us to Salo which was 6 hours away. Their bus seats were 2 and 2 half way to the back then came a queen sized bed, then a table with wrap around style booth seating. Two TV's on board and a microphone at the front (which the coach used often right before we would stop for the bathroom or food, or both). We stopped a couple times through out the trip, getting to Salo a little early. The gym was huge with grand stands on either side of the court. These guys were Finnish  Champions 3 times in a row, I would have expected nothing else from this team but to be grand. Salo was everything they were said to have been, big, tall, and really good. Their team consisted of 4 or 5 national team players and this one Russian chick who is a beast (towering at around 6'7, maybe taller) opposite hitter. Our team lost to them in 3, the first and last sets were the best out of the entire match. It was a good fight for how good the other team was, but maybe give them a little more run for their money next time. The drive home was mundane with a lot of sleeping.
                                                                                                                                                                               Home Gym

I walked around town yesterday (sunday our day off) which took me about 5 minutes down the main stretch. There are 2 supermarkets, an alcohol store, some small shops, 2 gas stations and a few kebab restaurants. There are around 5, 000 people in this town. Not a whole lot to do around here so traveling and getting out of town as much as i can would be on my list of priorities. There are a few beautiful lakes surrounding the town which is nice since we are not totally land locked. This wouldn't be a bad place for me to live for about 6 months. I believe this place will teach me to conserve money, since there aren't to many places for spending temptation. Also it would be a good place to really work on getting healthy and my travel writing. Yes I miss being home but if I can make some good money out here then I will be taking home a lot more then I bargained for salary wise. Plus there is

a city about an hour and a half away that we can always go to on weekends off to get out of the town. Wish it was warmer but I am happy to be playing at all right now. 

Day 5: 

Today was a regeneration day. The two other foreigners and myself were supposed to go to the pool to swim but one of them was sick so we didn't end up going. Instead we had weights at 6:30. I followed their program (sort of) and biked for cardio. It was a doable work out plan so I think I will be able to keep up. Other then the weight lifting, I pretty  much sat in the apartment and either emailed or watched TV until practice, boring I know, but if I had played in the match on saturday Im sure I would have been relishing in the fact of getting most of the day off. 

Day 6 and 7: 

                                                                                                                                                              Walk from the team apartment   

Had morning and afternoon practice. Both went better then the days before. Feel like I am getting my stride back, a little slow at first unfortunately, but it is coming around. The apartment I am staying in right now is a bit drab and is serious need of some much needed character. If a contract is produced, I will hopefully get my own place and make it my own for the time that I am here. Starting to get soar from all the work outs and weight lifting, so excited about that! 

After the 7th day of my try out I was asked to stay after the night session practice to talk details of a contract (yey!!). They (the manager, sponsor, and coach)  asked me what my feelings were about the team and the situation. I told them that I would like to play for them this season and that I respected the coach and the players. They also asked if I would be able to step it up a level and play harder during matches, I answered them with a very confident "Yes". I was still a little weird after all the traveling and time difference, which they understood, so hopefully I will show them that I can bring more to the table. The coach realized that how I was practicing was not exactly what I was showing on the video I gave to them. This was true however I am just starting to get back into the swing of things, so give me a little time and it will come, I always do come around. After the chat with the coach, manager, and one of the sponsors, we decided that the manager would write up a contract and email it to me and my manager Juraj to look it over and make sure it was everything we had discussed. After I talked to my manager about everything, we would finalize details and most likely say yes to the deal....

Talked to Juraj about everything and he said the contract looked good and he thinks I should sign, I agree. I emailed the manager with the final addition to the contract and after that was added I would sign as soon as they wanted me too. I'm pretty excited and anxious to sign....After practice tonight (Thursday) I went upstairs to a meeting the board members of the club was having. There were around 12 people sitting around this one table staring at me, ready for any answers to their questions. This was a first. I answered all their questions with a confident smile but my palms were shaky and a bit sweaty. I told them I was going to sign the contract with my LA Lakers pen, because we won the championship this year I thought it might be lucky, guess we will see ;) They all smiled and laughed when I explained to them why I was signing with the pen.   After all questions and comments were said I stood at the head of the table where the president of the club signed and then stood up for me to sit down and sign under my name. With the Lakers pen I made my mark, looked up, smiled and then stood up to applause and welcoming eyes from the group sitting around the table. I felt like a real professional at that moment. I left the gym tonight feeling rejuvenated and happy, I am back on a team again with a group of girls I have come to like over the past few days. I think that this season will be fun and also a time to learn and grow more as an individual and a player. So I am here to stay! :) Will be back in the states mid April, until then you can follow myself and the team online at 

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=fi&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mestaruusliiga.fi%2Ftilastot%2Fnaisten-tilastot%2F

Long web page but it will direct you right to where you want to go. 

                                                                                                                                                        New team, new number, new jersey :)

 
                                   Lake in the town.

Took maybe a day and a half to get cleared to play this weekend. Everything happens fast out here when people want it to. Its when they are not sure about things or they don't want things to happen is when it is slow. Plus I was on top of everything from the moment I signed the contract. The only tricky part about it all was getting medical clearance for my asthma medication which was on the list of drugs players were not allowed to take (another first). With my parents help (thank you so much!!) I was able to get the paper work all filled out and ready to go the very next day. So all was cleared and ready by Friday afternoon. I got my jerseys (numero dos!!), team warm ups, and winter jacket (couple sizes to big, I look like a gangsta). Tomorrow is the game and I am excited and a bit nervous. I want to impress and show them they made a good decision bringing me on. The team has already expressed that they are glad to have me and could really use me this season, but I want to show them that they were right in signing. Tomorrow is the day to do it. We play the second place team. We have watched video already and know what they are and aren't capable of, so I think we are as ready as we can be right now. Cross your fingers for us and hopefully I will have good news after the game! 

Helsinki and the 3 1/2 hour ride to Pihtipudas.

Exhausted from the 10 hour flight from LAX I instantly fell asleep on the 2 and a half hour flight to Helsinki. Once we touched down, I immediately hit the bathroom, been holding it for a while. Going to the bathroom may have been a mistake because when I came out there was no one around from my flight. Thankfully the signs to baggage claim were in three different languages including english. I got to passport check and myself and four other people were the only in line. The manager and the statistics man were there to pick me up. The drive to the small town that may be my home was 3-4 hours drive. We got to the apartment around 4am. I was so tired but at the same time wide awake. Two movies later I was asleep. Woke up this morning to falling snow. From the beach to the snow of course, what else. Which apparently is weird weather for them at this time of year. Just my luck, some more weird unexpected weather. 

Departing US of A, next stop...Finland

"Hey! You sound like your from London!"

Waiting at the gate in LAX, I am anxious to hear what seat I have for the 10 hour and 20 minute flight before me. Since I am flying stand by and am preferred business class, I am hoping for the best. I ask the guy at the desk how its looking, he tells me that everything is full in business but coach looks promising. I accept this turning away excited that I am even going to make the flight at all. I call my mom who is looking at the list of non-revs listed and sees that my name is now on the cleared list. As we talk continually, she suddenly stops our conversation to tell me that there are three seats left in business because one just upgraded to first, there might be a chance that I get into business. The women behind me on the list of non- revs is waiting for first, so we think nothing of it, until she is assigned a business class seat. My mom in an uproar, tells me to go to the desk right away, I do. I had to hang up on my irate mother in order to talk to the man at the gate. I ask him why the women below me on the list who was also waiting for first got a business class ticket when I was ahead of her and also waiting specifically for a business class ticket. All he could say was "oops", with some rapid typing in between and then a ticket handed to me that said business class and my seat number. I was in!! The woman behind me was then handed a coach ticket in the row directly behind the last row of business class. Victory! It feels like I have won the lottery with this seat. Now I can semi-relax, knowing that I will be fed and have access to a seat that lie almost flat so I can sleep. I board the plane and get settled in to a middle seat in the last row of business class, yesss! 

The flight was bumpy, but I was able to get in at least 2 hours of sleep. The sleeping aide didn't help as much as I thought it was going to. I watched numerous episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (pretty damn good I thought). I began to watch Grown Ups but fell asleep less than half way through the movie. We were given Bose earphones for the flight and now I am convinced those earphones are the only way to go. They completely lock out the sound of the planes jet engines, people talking, coughing, snoring, or babies crying. It was amazing! We touched down in London town a little past schedule but not by that much. I got through security again, checked in on British Airways transfer gate and then headed out into the terminal. Heathrow is huge! I think I may have walked close to 1 mile from the flight gate to the transfer area. The shoes I was wearing, unfortunately were not the best walking attire in that airport. I ended my final steps to the transfer gate looking like I had gained a little hitch in my step. 

I am glad to be back in Europe but my trip has not even begun. Once I arrive in Helsinki, I am to look for the team stats guy and the President (not of the country of the team) in Pislaploki jackets. My eyes are half open now, I can only imagine how I will look, feel, or respond to them when I get there. I just hope I don't get into the wrong car with some strangers and end up in the middle of nowhere. I have a feeling I might do a little bit of sleeping on the drive to the small town which is around 4 hours away from Helsinki, lovely. I am to stay in the team apartment in the small town. Luckily a friend and teammate will be around the corner from the apartment. Stomach is growling and I need to head to the gate soon, so until next time. 

Puerto Rican Adventures 2010

I took the red-eye from LAX to San Juan, Puerto Rico on a saturday night. With maybe two hours of sleep I was restless and wide awake. Looking out the small airplane window, I saw a flash of light that I knew was not from the planes light system. Quickly realizing that what I had just seen was a lightning storm up ahead, I immediately hoped we were not going to be traveling through it. Luckily we were able to go around the aggressive storm, however I had the perfect seat for the show. Watching the flashes of light from above wondering how bad it really was on land, we were high above all the chaos while the moon was shinning on the tops of the dark ominous clouds. Up ahead I saw what looked like a city blanketed with light clouds. My eyes were playing tricks on me though, I then realized I was looking at the beginning of the sunrise through a window in the sky. Once again I had scored the best seat in the house for this particularly spectacular sunrise. I waited and watched as the sky on the horizon turned from deep dark blue to light powder blue. Five minutes later other colors began to appear. Different shades of orange and red were seeping into the picture perfect sunrise, this part of the world was waking up. I still couldn't see the actual sun, but I knew it was coming, with the way the colors changed in the sky, it was close. Huge rays of light were sprouting up on the blurred horizon. The anticipation was starting to get to me, every time I thought the sun was going to break up over the clouds, I was wrong. After five miss judged sun sightings, it finally rose above the clouds, forcing me to squint hard and shade my eyes in order to look in that direction. The way the suns rays danced on top of the clouds, I felt like what I was witnessing wasn't real, like I was looking at a painting. The day had finally arrived for American Airlines Flight 238. 

I arrived in San Juan at 9:15 in the morning. I was exhausted but my adrenaline kicked in when I realized who I was going to see at the arrival gate. My best friend Scott is a USA national Coast Guard, stationed in Puerto Rico (one of a couple reasons as to why I decided to go). I made my way outside and was instantly hit with a breath of hot, wet air. First words out of my mouth to Scott "its hot as balls out here!" truth. It must have been about 85-90 degrees the day I got there. After an awesome hug from Scott, we jumped into his terrifically air conditioned truck and headed for the base and the beach. What I noticed while driving around in PR was the illusion of the not so smooth roads. It may look like they are nicely paved with little pot holes and cracks, but that is just because you are racing along at incredible speeds. Puerto Ricans are crazy drivers, yes, but not as crazy as German drivers. I would place them 2nd to the Germans. A friend told me that the law's in PR were more like suggestions or guidelines. They are there, but most people usually don't follow them, so you need to be on your game when driving at all time, especially during heavy traffic or late at night. The Coast Guard base was right in the middle of San Juan directly on the beach. We then immediately changed and headed to the beach close by. It was a sunday so people were out and about everywhere. The beach we went to was beautiful yet small, the water was like bath water, I loved it. While there I decided to call college friend Alejandro who is from Puerto Rico and lived close by. Since Scott had to go back to work, Alejandro took me to another beach away from the tourist trap that is San Juan, where we drank beers and updated each other on our lives. After about an hour on the beach we ended up at his friends place inland for some more beers and BBQ. It was great meeting his friends but as I sat there listening to them talk, I realized I had no idea what they were saying. They spoke so fast, it was very hard to keep up at all, so I gave up and opted to taking pictures. Later that night Alejandro took me to one of his favorite restaurants for dinner. I told him to order anything traditional to Puerto Rico. When our meal arrived, there was a baked whole fish (including the head, teeth, and eyeballs), rice, sausage in red wine sauce, beans, and chicken mofongo. The fish was crazy good, sausage in red wine was amazing, rice and beans were standard, and the mofongo was my favorite. Mofongo is mashed up plantains with chicken, beef, or seafood in the middle. I wish I could have eaten the whole thing but plantains are very filling. Alejandro was surprised and excited to see that I loved everything he ordered. I was happy and full when we left. 

That night I stayed at Scotts house in Vega Alta, a nice suburb about 30 minutes from San Juan. We rolled up to a 4 bedroom two story house at the end of a coldasack. Since Scott had to work all the next day, I met up with three of his friends from the Coast Guard. They took me to a beach they go to often. It was partly sunny that day but extremely warm so getting right into the ocean was priority for all of us. Two of them started a hand stand contest that lasted for about 20 minutes and was highly entertaining and a bit dangerous at times since they were crashing into one another every so often. Lucky for Scott, his Chief let him off early so we were able to hang out that night. He decided to have a small party where I met some more of his friends and co-workers over a competitive game of beer pong, which we unfortunately lost by one cup. Slightly hung over and wondering where I was, Scott went to work around 5:30am. I decided to get up, feed the cat Scott was babysitting and clean his place in preparation for our three friends who were getting there that night and early the next morning. Once scott came home after work, we both decided to collapse on the local beach near Scotts house for the day. The ocean water was slightly cooler then the beach in San Juan but still like bath water. That night we picked up our 3rd member of the Puerto Rican crew, Kim. She told us that she will probably never come back to PR since she thought they were going to die on the flight coming in. The next morning the rest of our group arrived, Tom and Vince. They too commented on how the flight was a little rough, quoting Tom "The landing was rough, we hit the ground pretty hard. The man sitting next to me who said nothing through out the whole flight sort of screamed." Apparently this time of year, its difficult to fly because of all the weather, something I should have known but didn't. 

The adventure began that day at the local beach near Scotts house. We were in and out of the water, snorkeling, and drinking Corona's. One of Scott's Coast Guard buddies had an underwater camera which I instantly fell in love with and took a few pictures. After the day at the beach we ended up going home and crashing on the couch with Guitar Hero and some good home made food. Earlier that day we went to Costco to buy the weeks food. That was a genius idea since going out to eat every night would add up financially. The next morning we got up early and headed to Charco Frio, a popular hiking trail that heads at a waterfall with a pool of deep water and two tree swings. Along the way we trudged through deep mud, slippery tree roots, and steep inclines. We finally made it to the pool under the waterfall. All was so beautiful, however there must have been some young juvies that had just been there because there was a huge mound of trash to the right as we walked past to the water. That was the hardest thing to see, was all the trash around such a beautiful area. knowing it probably wouldn't be picked up for a while or ever was disheartening. Disregarding the trash as much I could, we began to play in the water and on the tree swings. Tom jumped off the tall rock formation with a small yell on the way down. After we had had enough of the tree swings we headed a little further up the waterfall to another high cliff that Tom, Vince, and Scott all jumped from. Having a pretty big fear of heights, it looked way to scary and high for me so Kim and I both decided to bail on that idea. I decided to conquer my fear though and jump from the smaller rock formation by the pool, the one Tom jumped off of earlier. They had to do a count down for me to encourage my jump. I was scared but I did it, I couldn't believe it, but I guess you do more daring things when your around people you trust. The five of us trekked back not by trail but by river, weaving, slipping, and swimming our way back. Note of caution, go slow when walking on the river rocks and boulders, they are ridiculously slippery, we had a few nasty falls on the hike back. In total the hike took us around 35 minutes there and 45 minutes back. Driving home we were all exhausted but felt great after the long hike. 


Friday was my favorite day in PR. We woke up early and started our drive to this spectacular cave. What was interesting about this particular cave was you started your hike at a gas station. Pass a stolen gutted car rolled on its side, and then around a corner to two caves, one is worth seeing and the other, not so much. We lowered ourselves down the rickety steps and slippery rocks into the first part of the cave. Note: wear shoes not sandals. Once inside you wind your way around a few turns and end up in an open cavern, the ceiling slightly covered with bats who fly and chirp all the time, especially when you flash your lights on them. Scared that one of them was going to swoop down onto my head and give me rabbis, we moved through quickly, ducked around a couple more rock pillars and into another large cavern. This time however, the cavern had an opening with a spectacular view of the valley below. If you walked to the mouth of the opening and looked out what you see is amazingly gorgeous and calming. It was a 200 to 300 foot drop to the valley floor. There was a river running through a small village, brown from the rain we kept receiving three or four times a day.The green on the mountains across from the cave was a deep green color and the sky was slightly cloudy, showing just enough sun through the opening to snap off some great silouetted shots. After sitting for a little looking out at the view of the valley before us, we packed up and left the same way we came in. We stopped for a minute in the bat cave and Vince took some cool pictures of us turning the flash lights on and off in the dark. With the long exposure, the pictures turned out really great, illuminating the spots where the light hit. Once back at the car, we headed to Crash Boats beach on the west coast of PR near Rincon. The beach was the more beautiful beaches we had been to while in PR. At this particular beach there used to be docks and piers for military boats a long time ago. Now the piers were in ruins and the docks were dry. We were told that there was a lot of snorkeling and diving to be had near the pilings. Unfortunately the sun was behind clouds so visibility was short, plus we were with out fins and the current was strong and a little on the dangerous side so we decided to not take any chances getting pushed up against the pilings. Still we enjoyed the water and the boats stacked on the sand to our right. Tom, Vince, and I decided to do a short but heavy work out on the beach that almost made me vomit but I finished right along side the two firefighters. We left the beach around 5pm, sleeping in the car on the way home. We needed a lot of rest because that night we were headed to La Placita, a local bar scene, like Hermosa Pier but with many more bars and rowdier people. 



We headed out to La Placita around 9pm that night and met up with my PR friends and Scotts Coasties at a bar called El Rubi. The place was decorated with 1940's style pin up girls dressed like the Chikita Banana woman and tinker bell painted on the walls. There was a stripper pole placed right in the middle of the small dance floor and a big bar in the front with a patio area on the side. The reggae tone music blared and as the Don Q shots set in, we began to dance. The stripper pole was to be had by all of us. Tom attempted an upside down manouver a few times and unfortunately failed, he wasn't worried though, he knew we would be back and he would try again. The next destination was Fat Tuesdays around the corner. Once there we were ripping it up on the dance floor and on the bar. After we left Fat Tuesday, successful we headed back to El Rubi for some more dancing and attempts at the pole. We headed home around 2am and were all in bed by 4am, exhausted. Saturday was a lazy day filled with movies and sleeping. We decided to go to San Juan later to walk around and the boys bought cigars. Kim and I also went to a popular restaurant "Raices" for some amazing mofongo.

Sunday morning was upon us to fast. The airport was where we said our sad goodbyes to Scott. I wish I could have stayed longer to have gone island hopping and seen Rincon, but I have a feeling I will be back again some day in the future.