The Road Les Traveled: Islanders.

Drip, drop, drip drop. It is a dreary day here in Madrid with overcast skies and just enough rain to make me wish I had an umbrella as I walked to class this morning. Further enhancing the dreariness of this day is the fact that apartment 4A is now without internet access. There is, however, that famous saying that goes something like this, “every cloud has a silver lining.” Well, ladies and gentlemen, this cloud does in-fact have a silver lining and no matter how much drearier this day becomes, nothing can take away from the fact that Club Alcobendas reigned victorious over Tenerife this past weekend.

There is a group of islands off the west coast of Africa called the Canaries from which our competitors arrived. How delightful to live and play basketball on a small slice of spanish paradise. At the same time, however, this group of women must travel by plane, every other weekend in order to face their competition. Perhaps this is no different than my college experience, but these women must perform just a few short hours after stepping on solid ground. They do not have the luxury of resting their heads on pre-fluffed pillows and setting their sleep numbers before going to play the next day. Nevertheless, this travel procedure has probably become quite normal for these ladies and anything else would undoubtedly feel a bit strange.

Canary Islands

Wish we could've spent some time here!

Now, time for a little trivia for all you gopher basketball fans out there. Who was the small, fast and incredibly talented point guard for the Indiana Hoosiers from 2002-06? If it’s on the tip of your tongue, don’t worry, I’ll let that question simmer for a sentence or two more. I ask this question because during Friday’s scouting session I saw her name on the scouting report, but her first name just didn’t sound right, so I dismissed the possibility from my mind, even though her last name is quite uncommon. Well, sure enough during warmups the very next day, my eyes wandered down to size up the competition and I instantly realized that my gut instinct had been right all along. There she was, Cynthia Valentin. She might not look like a gifted athlete, but then again I can think of two former gophers who are excelling at the highest level of their professions who also didn’t always look the part, and the conclusion that I have come to is that you can never, by any means, let the outward appearance of a person fool you.

Yes, anyone can see that Valentin is short in stature, perhaps only 168cm. And you would be lying to yourself if you didn’t notice her womanly curves, which seem to be a trait that is not typically found in point guards. I say this only because one might assume that a curvaceous woman with a few extra lb’s would not excel to the same degree as a point guard with abs like Rocky Bilboa and a percentage of body fat that is lower than the voice of Barry White. My hope is that whoever is fortunate enough to watch her play, realizes that they too are full of potential and can surpass the predisposed expectations that have been set upon them. In the beginning, Valentin single handedly sliced through our defense, scoring at will. Guarding her was a serious assignment, so we changed defenses and fell into a box and one. This slowed her down for the time being, but she was quickly figuring out how to get herself back into the action of the game, so we mixed up our defense once again and stood firm in a 3-2 zone. We managed to keep Valentin at bay during the 2nd half and finished off the game with a 10pt win over the islanders.

Our team captain, Ana Aritzmendi-Millan, had invited all of us over to her house for dinner after the game. The game ended around 7:30pm, but of course dinner didn’t get underway until after 10. When I walked into the apartment, my senses quickly lead me into the kitchen where upon entering I was greeted with an utmost wonderful surprise. There on the kitchen counter sat the hind leg of what must have been a rather large pig. The leg was set in a contraption that reminded me of those painful looking devices that car accident victims must wear on their heads, complete with screws and the whole nine yards. There was an abnormally long knife sitting next to the spectacle which I assumed was used for cutting thin slices of this scarlet colored meat. Spaniards love their ham, and a tasty ham bone can cost a pretty penny of 400 euros or more.

Don't you have one of these on your countertop?

The next day was Sunday and it was a day very much like today, dreary, wet and best spent inside drinking hot cocoa and watching movies. I, however, had this great premonition to go do some shopping in el Rastro (the huge market in Madrid where I randomly bumped into Alana), figuring that the throngs of people would be less cumbersome due to the less than satisfactory weather. Well, everybody and their uncle must have had the same idea as me because I have never, ever, seen that many people at the market before. Slowly shuffling shoulder to shoulder through the tunnels of the metro I couldn’t help but think that I was in the dead middle of an incredibly unsafe fire hazard. The escalators were packed and being sick and tired of being bumped, pushed and kicked I opted to take the stairs. Mamma mia, the metro is a lot further underground than one might suspect, and there are enough stairs to give a person a heart attack.

Surprisingly there were a few handfuls of us that were putting ourselves through this unpleasant climb. By the time I reached the top, my breathing had increased and my legs were heavy with lactic acid. The mystery that lingers in my mind is how all the other people were able to scale these steps at the same rate as I? And I call myself an athlete?! Not to mention that more than half of them were probably frequent cigarette smokers. In a small attempt to defend myself, around the next corner was another immaculate staircase and upon seeing it, many of the climbers gave a sigh of disbelief and defeat as they succumbed to taking the escalator, but not I!

The Road Les Traveled, huffing and puffing!

Before going into such a situation as the Rastro, one must take on the right mindset. If you are a person who does not have the patience for being nudged, bumped or pushed aside while looking at jewelry, perhaps you should consider a different venue than el Rastro. I have been told that in Spain you must speak up for what you want, or else drown in a pool of your own self-pity. So, I was standing bellied up to this man’s jewelry counter admiring his work when the woman who was standing to my left and who was half my size, started leaning over into my line of sight. At one point I could not even see the counter that was right in-front of me, but instead had a most wonderful view of the back of this ladies head. Surprising even myself, I put Minnesota nice aside and summoning up my inner Spanish subconscious, said quite frankly, “PERDON!” The lady immediately came back to earth after being completely out to lunch and actually walked AROUND me to view whatever it was that she was looking at before. Ha, 1 point Leslie, 0 points inconsiderate, spanish space cadet.

A blurry picture of the throngs at the Rastro.

Julie and Julia: Well, this week there was a third party, perhaps we should call her, Julianne. Julianne is from Zamora, Spain, and she wanted to make a dessert called Tarijas, which in the end turned out to be exactly like French Toast except we just ate it with sugar on top instead of syrup.

Torrijas, hmm, hmm good.

Leslie’s Loose Ends:

As a team we picked names out of a bag for something like Secret Santas, but they call it amigos invisibles (invisible friends). Throughout elementary school and high school, this game has always been a highlight for me during the holiday season. I can’t wait to start planting secret notes and treats around the locker-room;)

My student Roberto, brought to my attention that in Spain when you order a Coke, the waiter always brings it in a bottle, never in a glass. He then told me of his experience in New York when he saw the man behind the bar making his drink. Roberto had ordered a Rum and Coke. After the bartender had poured the Rum into the glass, he then picked up two “guns” (as Roberto likes to call them) and out of one gun came a dark colored liquid and out of the other came a clear liquid. Roberto was mystified by this experience and thinks it to be the most odd thing. Once again, a cultural nuance that is brought to my attention that I would never have thought about before.

OH, and how could I forget?!? This next bit of news is not a loose end by any means but something of great significance. This past Thursday at 3:35pm, I became the aunt of a darling baby girl, Olivia Jeanne Knight. I was able to see her on skype yesterday and let me tell you, her older brother, Benjamin, is already quite protective of his baby sister;) I am looking forward to seeing her in just a a couple short weeks!