Silently cruising along in one of the AVE Trains at 300km/h or 186mph, we were northeastern bound, final destination, Barcelona. Our first victims de la Temporada (of the season) were Siglo XXI or Century 21. Now, this team is a bit different than any other team that we will play against in our conference and here is why. The average height on this team is 6’1’’, and the average age is 17.4. If you look at the team’s roster online you will find that many of these girls were born in 92 and 93. I am pretty sure that my whole world came to a jolting halt when these dates crashed painfully against my eardrums. I know, I know, I am not OLD, but, when you find out that you will be playing against 17 and 18 year olds, you do not exactly feel young. Just for the heck of it, why not add more salt to the wound? Not only are these girls young, but they are quite talented. The school that these girls attend is private, only female athletes can be found in the classrooms, and the only way that you can get in is through an exclusive invitation. Essentially, these young women are being groomed to one day play on Spain’s Senior National team.
So, these girls were tall, fast and talented, but they were young and there was absolutely no way that we were going to lose to a bunch of teeny boppers. 14-2, that was what the scoreboard read as I looked up during the first quarter. We were losing. 21-19, it was half-time and we were still losing. I tried to think on the positive side of things; we were playing such awful basketball yet we were only losing by 2 points. 47-28, the game was over. What a strange and low scoring game. In twenty minutes of play, these young spit fires had only scored seven points. We had continued to fight, digging ourselves out of an early deficit and had forced the young wiper snappers into 26 turnovers. I was very happy for my team and for Charly; it had been six long years since he had won a game in Barcelona. The win, however, was bitter sweet. Obviously it is always nice to win, especially on the road. On the other hand, there is this annoying little voice in my head reminding me that some of these girls were not even 18, and that our win was as easy as taking candy from a baby. I almost feel bad about beating them, can you believe that?! Perhaps this is why Charly has nicknamed me, Bambi, because I am such a softy off the court.
What better way to start off the season than to be 1-0. This Saturday we will face Zaragoza at home. Rumor has it that Zaragoza will be a force to be reckoned with this year, however, so will Alcobendas, the people just do not know it yet.
A quick little story about Madrid and why it continues to capture my heart on a weekly basis. Several nights ago a few of us were walking around the city with no particular destination in mind, quite typical for us really. Anyway, as we sauntered down the glowing walkways and threaded ourselves through the narrow “streets” we suddenly crossed an invisible threshold that transported us from the subtle sounds of everyday life into a pulsing mob of young people who were jumping up and down with their hands thrust up into the air, hailing the group called, Taxi, that was performing on stage. As I scanned the crowd I realized that the concert was a street concert, no fee required. A radio station of Madrid called, Los Cuarentas (the 40s), was hosting the concert and had contracted several different groups to perform. The whole event was taking place in Plaza de Espana, so we proceeded to hang out for a bit longer and soak up the ambiance that was floating all around us. Every day as you walk through the streets of Madrid, there is always the potential of stumbling across something you have never seen before, something free, something beautiful, something old, something loud, something quiet, and this is why my thirst for this city has remained unquenchable.
On a different note, I have quite a few random thoughts and observances going through my head at the moment so we will skip right on down to the loose ends...
Leslie’s Loose Ends:
In Serbia, every family has its own Saint day. Families always adopt the saint of their father. This saint is extremely hard to trace, but has been passed down from generation to generation. On this day it is quite common for the family to have a pig or lamb roast.
Both Elena and Tanja’s families make their very own Sauerkraut. Does anybody know of anyone who does this in the U.S?
When a bird is so generous to leave their mark on your shirt or in Claudia’s case her hand, it is said in Bulgaria that this is good luck. Claudia was not too excited about her good fortune.
Friday the 13th is a normal, care free day in Spain, BUT, Tuesday the 13th is not! There is a saying in Spain that goes like this, Martes y trece ni te cases ni te embarques. In other words, Tuesday the 13th, don’t get married and don’t travel.
In an Irish pub this past week, there was a futbol (soccer) game being displayed on several flat screen T.V’s while an American Football game was being shown as well. Where do you think all the people were sitting? Correct! Everybody was enthralled by the futbol game and not a soul was paying any attention to the American Football game. I found this to be quite comical.
Walking down the street this past week with Elena, a man stared at us and proceeded to say, “Madre Miaaaa.” He either said this because A.) we were stunningly beautiful in our baggy basketball clothes, or B.) we look like giants compared to the average spanish woman. We laughed all the way home.
Migas is the spanish word for, Crumbs, and is a very common dish throughout Spain. Depending where you are, the ingredients are sure to vary, but the closest thing I can compare it to would be the stuffing that we eat at Thanksgiving. Small pieces of bread are mixed with small pieces of Chorizo (spicy sausage) which are then tossed in a mixture of olive oil and garlic. A nice light first course.
I ordered a salad from McDonalds the other day and was automatically given two packets of dressing, olive oil and vinegar. Are there any McDonalds restaurants back home that offer these two condiments?
Take care everyone,
love,
Leslie
Monday, September 12, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Eastern Europe Education.
Pan fried fish with a side of green olives, mushrooms and cheese. A bowl of noodles with a gooey dollop of nutella plopped right down the middle. French bread sliced in half, a thin omelette placed between the two slices of bread along with a couple slabs of semi cured cheese laying on top. Another plate has a portion of rice, chicken and stir fried vegetables. It is midnight and we have just arrived home from practice and are about to start eating dinner. Looking around the kitchen table I cannot help but smile. “Chicas, our lives should be a television series, 4 Countries Under One Roof.”
Our new teammate, Tanja from Croatia, is now living in our apartment as well, which brings us to a grand total of five. We are truly, One Big Happy Family. Living with four young women who have all grown up in different parts of the world with different customs, food, religious views and thoughts on life is something I treasure like a young boy does his baseball card collection. I could not be more content to learn from these ladies and try to understand where they come from and why they are who they are. If you are curious to learn a few tidbits about eastern Europe, skip on down to Leslie’s Loose Ends, otherwise follow me through this weeks happenings.
6 foot 5 and 134 pounds. Her name is DeWanna Bonner and she is currently playing for Rivas, a playoff favorite this year in Spain’s first division. Bonner is one year younger than I am, played for Auburn University and in 2009 was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury. I had actually watched her play against the Lynx this past summer at the Target Center. I remembered thinking, wow, that girl belongs on a runway, not a basketball court, but then she drained a three ball and picked off several passes with her teradactyl like wingspan. Yea, perhaps she fits in better out there on the court than I thought she would. Anyway, Alcobendas competed against her, her teammate Courtney Paris and the rest of their Spanish teammates last week on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I was still glued to the sidelines, but my teammates put up a rip roaring effort and flat out competed. We ended up losing by 23 or so, but it sure felt like we were hanging right in there the whole time.
Wednesday was our day off and then Thursday was THE day. Sitting in the locker-room (vestuario) I held my laces between my fingertips and laced my Nikes up good and tight. The four month drought was finally coming to an end. With an extra bounce in my step, I exited the vestuario and joined my teammates out on the court. I completed about half of the practice and felt pretty good. In hindsight, sitting on the sidelines during the first month of pre-season was a real blessing. We are not always blessed with the opportunity to sit and observe, but when we are, I think that we need to take advantage of the opportunity. There are many aspects of life that usually go unnoticed, but are brought to light when we allow ourselves to see them. I learned a lot about my team during this first month, which is now helping me as I transition back into playing.
Friday’s practice went smoothly and then Saturday was our last friendly scrimmage of the season. The front of their jerseys says, Canoe, but to the rest of the basketball world they are known as the “Lakers of Madrid” since their colors are yellow and purple. Canoe should be one of the best teams in our league this year. They played in the first division last year, but due to a down season and financial instability they have descended to the 2nd division. “Leslie, do you know the player from Minnesota?” Charly asked me. “What?! They have a girl from MN? What’s her name?” Corianna Montgomery from Cannon Falls, MN is now playing in Spain. I am embarrassed to admit that I did not know who this was off the top of my head, even though I should have since we played against her in College during my Junior year. Cannon Falls is a 2A school, which is why I did not remember her from high school, but the University of Nebraska was a top 25 team during the 06-07 season, which is why I should have some sort of recollection of this tall post player, but for the life of me I could not picture her face at all. As of right now there are three Minnesotans in the league, myself being one of them. Small world, huh? We ended up losing by 12pts, next time the outcome will be different.
Ok, now for some worldly news from Eastern Europe.
Leslie’s Loose Ends:
In Bulgaria if you want to give your mother roses on Mother’s Day, you will give her 1,3,5 or 7 roses, never 2,4,6 or 8. Flowers are only given in even numbers when they are bought for a funeral, otherwise they are always given in odd numbers.
At the end of a Bulgarian wedding, the bride and groom will stand back to back. Above their heads will be a large, round loaf of bread. The bride and groom will then place their hands on their own sides of the loaf and pull. Whichever person ends up with the biggest chunk of bread will supposedly be the person with the most say in their marriage. This tradition is more for fun and is not taken super seriously, but every bride and groom in Bulgaria will do it.
Many people in Bulgaria are named after Saints. Each Saint has it’s own specific day of celebration during the year, so if your name is Elena, your “name day” is the 21st of May. On this day all of your friends will randomly stop by your house to wish you a happy name day and to give you presents. Your name day is like a little birthday.
October is here already! Enjoy the apple orchards and pumpkin patches;)
love to you all,
Leslie
Our new teammate, Tanja from Croatia, is now living in our apartment as well, which brings us to a grand total of five. We are truly, One Big Happy Family. Living with four young women who have all grown up in different parts of the world with different customs, food, religious views and thoughts on life is something I treasure like a young boy does his baseball card collection. I could not be more content to learn from these ladies and try to understand where they come from and why they are who they are. If you are curious to learn a few tidbits about eastern Europe, skip on down to Leslie’s Loose Ends, otherwise follow me through this weeks happenings.
 |
| Claudia is front left, Tanja is front right, behind her is Elena and straight back is Sara. |
Wednesday was our day off and then Thursday was THE day. Sitting in the locker-room (vestuario) I held my laces between my fingertips and laced my Nikes up good and tight. The four month drought was finally coming to an end. With an extra bounce in my step, I exited the vestuario and joined my teammates out on the court. I completed about half of the practice and felt pretty good. In hindsight, sitting on the sidelines during the first month of pre-season was a real blessing. We are not always blessed with the opportunity to sit and observe, but when we are, I think that we need to take advantage of the opportunity. There are many aspects of life that usually go unnoticed, but are brought to light when we allow ourselves to see them. I learned a lot about my team during this first month, which is now helping me as I transition back into playing.
Friday’s practice went smoothly and then Saturday was our last friendly scrimmage of the season. The front of their jerseys says, Canoe, but to the rest of the basketball world they are known as the “Lakers of Madrid” since their colors are yellow and purple. Canoe should be one of the best teams in our league this year. They played in the first division last year, but due to a down season and financial instability they have descended to the 2nd division. “Leslie, do you know the player from Minnesota?” Charly asked me. “What?! They have a girl from MN? What’s her name?” Corianna Montgomery from Cannon Falls, MN is now playing in Spain. I am embarrassed to admit that I did not know who this was off the top of my head, even though I should have since we played against her in College during my Junior year. Cannon Falls is a 2A school, which is why I did not remember her from high school, but the University of Nebraska was a top 25 team during the 06-07 season, which is why I should have some sort of recollection of this tall post player, but for the life of me I could not picture her face at all. As of right now there are three Minnesotans in the league, myself being one of them. Small world, huh? We ended up losing by 12pts, next time the outcome will be different.
Ok, now for some worldly news from Eastern Europe.
Leslie’s Loose Ends:
In Bulgaria if you want to give your mother roses on Mother’s Day, you will give her 1,3,5 or 7 roses, never 2,4,6 or 8. Flowers are only given in even numbers when they are bought for a funeral, otherwise they are always given in odd numbers.
At the end of a Bulgarian wedding, the bride and groom will stand back to back. Above their heads will be a large, round loaf of bread. The bride and groom will then place their hands on their own sides of the loaf and pull. Whichever person ends up with the biggest chunk of bread will supposedly be the person with the most say in their marriage. This tradition is more for fun and is not taken super seriously, but every bride and groom in Bulgaria will do it.
Many people in Bulgaria are named after Saints. Each Saint has it’s own specific day of celebration during the year, so if your name is Elena, your “name day” is the 21st of May. On this day all of your friends will randomly stop by your house to wish you a happy name day and to give you presents. Your name day is like a little birthday.
October is here already! Enjoy the apple orchards and pumpkin patches;)
love to you all,
Leslie
Avila, a Disney Dream.
When I was around eight years old, Friday nights often started out with my dad asking me, “Sport, which movie would you like to rent tonight?” I would look up at his 6 foot 6 inch frame and shout out, “Robin Hooooooood!” Now, I am not talking about Kevin Reynold’s film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, no. I am referring to the cartoon version that was released way back in 1973, where Robin Hood and Maiden Marian are played by two well groomed foxes. My little heart practically exploded with anticipation as I raced down the aisles of blockbuster video and found the video cassette sitting on it’s shelf, looking at me as if to say, “I’ve been waiting for you, Leslie, now let’s go and out smart that scoundrel, Prince John!”
I think that way back in the almost invincible crevices of the brain, every human being has at one point in their lives imagined themselves living in a grand old castle with sweeping staircases, plush velvet pillows, mile long dinner tables and beds with enchanting canopies. As a young girl who grew up with two older brothers, I also dreamt of dawning armor like King Arthur, riding horse back through the woods and of course saving the towns people from the bad guys. Oh, how I loved the dramatically funny story of Robin Hood and all his friends.
Living in Europe over the past several years has given me the opportunity to see several castles, some of them have been quite impressive, for example the Chillon Castle in Switzerland. This past Monday, however, I saw the structurally sound remains of something quite unlike anything I have ever seen before. Something altogether magical that brought me as close as I have ever been to living out my childhood dream of being, Robin Hood. The town is called, Avila, with an accent over the the first A. Lying just an hour or so north west of Madrid, Avila claims its home atop a barren hill, making it the highest provincial capital in Spain. Driving along the highways outside of Madrid I am surrounded by dry, arid farm land. Cows and bulls graze lazily in pastures, while the mountains grow in size with each passing kilometer. As we are approaching the outskirts of Avila I notice the signs of life; there are more buildings, more people and more trees. Everything seems to appear rather normal; Avila is just another spanish town with people going about their daily lives and then, I see it.
Atop the hill that is stretching along side of the car is a wall, but not just any wall. This wall is thick and sturdy, like your neighbors pound cake at Christmas. Made of brown granite, it glows in the afternoon sun like a perfectly toasted marshmallow. Even from afar I can tell that it was made with paramount precision, not one brick out of place. As the wall reaches towards the sky, the surrounding plants and shrubs are sheltered by a cool shadow. The car continues to move forward, but the wall matches us car length for car length. Still standing and living in all its splendor, this tangible chunk of history continued for quite a ways across the plateau of the hill. The wall boasts eighty-eight towers and nine entrances. The city that sits protected inside the medieval walls is known as the “old town” while the surrounding area makes up the rest of Avila.
I felt like I was experiencing something out of a fairy tale as I walked along side the beast, tracing my finger along its rough edges and smooth faces. He was even so kind as to let me climb up on his back and walk along his spine. I could see for miles from the tops of the towers. How many other Robin Hoods had looked out upon these lands from these same towers that were constructed all the way back in 1090?
To accompany this wondrous wall there is a large Gothic cathedral a Gothic Monastery, several lovely plazas and enough cafes to keep the world awake. If you’re ever on vacation in Madrid and have time for a day trip, I would highly recommend seeing what this quiet little town has to offer.
The next big event that took place this past week was the opening day ceremonies of the Womens World Hockey Championships. I don’t think that I explained this real well last week, but I am talking about roller hockey, not ice hockey. Saturday evening after our friendly game against Ibiza (we lost by 6) I road with Vicente to the sports complex, Jose Caballero, where the ceremonies were set to start at 8pm. I was given a lanyard that said I was part of the Prensa or Press and then was whisked away to the court. I had already gone through a practice run on Thursday night, but now the gym was filled with spectators, there were cameras positioned all over and people were asking me “estas lista?!” (are you ready)? I felt ready. I had my black pants on and a collared shirt. I had even swiped on a coat of mascara in honor of the event. The only part that gave me a bit of the heebee jeebees was when I had to say “Welcome ladies and gentlemen” in German and Japanese, other than that I didn’t think I needed to reapply any more of my antiperspirant deodorant.
The program followed a bit like this; a spanish man named, Luis, would speak to the crowd, welcoming everyone to the show, talking about the nights events, introducing the teams and so on. Immediately following each one of his segments, I would translate what he had said into English. This was not too difficult because earlier in the week I had been given the program which I then translated all of my parts into English, so all I had to do was read my pre-typed script and smile for the camera.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole ceremony. I was overwhelmed with emotion as I watched each team skate out onto the floor, their faces radiating a palate of emotions, pride, happiness, excitement and at the center of it all was the look of desire, the desire to compete. Along with each team came the sound of their National Anthem and their flag. We announced each team as they took the floor, Germany, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, The United States of America, Spain, France, India, England, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Switzerland. After the teams had exited the floor, another group of skaters took their place, the OLOT Artistic Skating Club. Each woman was dressed in a silver outfit that had an upper body which resembled a robot. Their faces were painted silver with black paint outlining their eyes. They moved as one across the floor, everybody in sync with one and other. The idea was that their movements were to reflect water running through pipes that intertwined and separated, in the end remaining united. I had never before seen such a performance. To say that I enjoyed their 5 minutes of show time is an extreme understatement. I was left speechless. One of the most entertaining spectaculars I have ever witnessed in my life. Top notch, 5 stars, 10 out of 10, two thumbs up.
About an hour later the program had come to an end and it was time to watch the first game, Spain vs. Japan. I had never seen a game of roller hockey before, but it was good. Spain went on to clean house, beating Japan 12-0.
What an honor it was to be a part of this grand event. Something that I will not be forgetting anytime soon, that’s for sure. Here’s the website for those who are interested, www.alcobendas2010mundialhockey.org
Besides visiting Avila and helping out with the WWHC, I started teaching english to a 14 year old girl twice a week, we had two games (we lost one and won one), we dined at a delicious Indian restaurant in Madrid, I had my first experience going to an Arabic Bath and we visited the Caixa museum which is now one of my favorites in the city. Busy week, but I could not be more thankful for everything that continues to unfold.
Leslie’s Loose Ends:
“Leslie, did Ooosah win last night?”
“Who?”
“Ooosah.”
“Who?!”
“The U.S.A.!”
When referring to the U.S.A. during times of competition, Spaniards pronounce U.S.A. as Ooo-sah. To me it sounds more like a yoga phrase than a country.
In Spain, the middle finger is called, Corazon, the translation being, Heart. Nobody seems to know why, it just is. The thumb is also informally called, Dedo Gordo, or Fat finger, which I find to be absolutely hilarious. In Bulgarian the name of the index finger is, pokazalec (poke-a-zahl-ets). I just thought that this word was great and wanted to share it with all of you. As you can tell, we do a lot of comparing between the three different cultures.
We have a new teammate from Croatia. Her name is Tanja, pronounced Tan-ya. She spent two years of high school in the USA and went to college at Rhode Island. She speaks perfect English, Croatian, Serbian, and is now learning Spanish. Wow.
ciaaaoooooo,
love,
Leslie
I think that way back in the almost invincible crevices of the brain, every human being has at one point in their lives imagined themselves living in a grand old castle with sweeping staircases, plush velvet pillows, mile long dinner tables and beds with enchanting canopies. As a young girl who grew up with two older brothers, I also dreamt of dawning armor like King Arthur, riding horse back through the woods and of course saving the towns people from the bad guys. Oh, how I loved the dramatically funny story of Robin Hood and all his friends.
Living in Europe over the past several years has given me the opportunity to see several castles, some of them have been quite impressive, for example the Chillon Castle in Switzerland. This past Monday, however, I saw the structurally sound remains of something quite unlike anything I have ever seen before. Something altogether magical that brought me as close as I have ever been to living out my childhood dream of being, Robin Hood. The town is called, Avila, with an accent over the the first A. Lying just an hour or so north west of Madrid, Avila claims its home atop a barren hill, making it the highest provincial capital in Spain. Driving along the highways outside of Madrid I am surrounded by dry, arid farm land. Cows and bulls graze lazily in pastures, while the mountains grow in size with each passing kilometer. As we are approaching the outskirts of Avila I notice the signs of life; there are more buildings, more people and more trees. Everything seems to appear rather normal; Avila is just another spanish town with people going about their daily lives and then, I see it.
 |
| Our quaint restaurant. |
 |
| Enjoying a wonderful meal on the way to Avila. |
 |
| The castle wall. |
 |
| closeup. |
 |
| A view of the cathedral from the hotel window. |
I felt like I was experiencing something out of a fairy tale as I walked along side the beast, tracing my finger along its rough edges and smooth faces. He was even so kind as to let me climb up on his back and walk along his spine. I could see for miles from the tops of the towers. How many other Robin Hoods had looked out upon these lands from these same towers that were constructed all the way back in 1090?
To accompany this wondrous wall there is a large Gothic cathedral a Gothic Monastery, several lovely plazas and enough cafes to keep the world awake. If you’re ever on vacation in Madrid and have time for a day trip, I would highly recommend seeing what this quiet little town has to offer.
 |
| Sitting on the back of the beast. |
The program followed a bit like this; a spanish man named, Luis, would speak to the crowd, welcoming everyone to the show, talking about the nights events, introducing the teams and so on. Immediately following each one of his segments, I would translate what he had said into English. This was not too difficult because earlier in the week I had been given the program which I then translated all of my parts into English, so all I had to do was read my pre-typed script and smile for the camera.
 |
| Luis and I at the World Championships |
 |
| Claudia and Elena came to support me as well! |
About an hour later the program had come to an end and it was time to watch the first game, Spain vs. Japan. I had never seen a game of roller hockey before, but it was good. Spain went on to clean house, beating Japan 12-0.
What an honor it was to be a part of this grand event. Something that I will not be forgetting anytime soon, that’s for sure. Here’s the website for those who are interested, www.alcobendas2010mundialhockey.org
Besides visiting Avila and helping out with the WWHC, I started teaching english to a 14 year old girl twice a week, we had two games (we lost one and won one), we dined at a delicious Indian restaurant in Madrid, I had my first experience going to an Arabic Bath and we visited the Caixa museum which is now one of my favorites in the city. Busy week, but I could not be more thankful for everything that continues to unfold.
Leslie’s Loose Ends:
“Leslie, did Ooosah win last night?”
“Who?”
“Ooosah.”
“Who?!”
“The U.S.A.!”
When referring to the U.S.A. during times of competition, Spaniards pronounce U.S.A. as Ooo-sah. To me it sounds more like a yoga phrase than a country.
In Spain, the middle finger is called, Corazon, the translation being, Heart. Nobody seems to know why, it just is. The thumb is also informally called, Dedo Gordo, or Fat finger, which I find to be absolutely hilarious. In Bulgarian the name of the index finger is, pokazalec (poke-a-zahl-ets). I just thought that this word was great and wanted to share it with all of you. As you can tell, we do a lot of comparing between the three different cultures.
We have a new teammate from Croatia. Her name is Tanja, pronounced Tan-ya. She spent two years of high school in the USA and went to college at Rhode Island. She speaks perfect English, Croatian, Serbian, and is now learning Spanish. Wow.
ciaaaoooooo,
love,
Leslie
0-3
“El moto de un trabajo es la passion,” translated as something like “The engine (or drive) of a job/work is the passion.” This is displayed bright as day on a large sign across the street from Marques de la Valdavia, my metro stop. Every time I pass this sign, I read it, and the message sticks in my head like peanut butter to the roof of my mouth. The message seems to say that any piece of work is propelled by the passion of the person who is doing the work, which leads me to believe that the strength of the passion will determine the quality of the work when it is finished. As I sit on the plastic metro seat wedged between a teenage boy listening to American rock music and a fragile white haired lady who must have just come from the grocery store judging by the roller bag she has at her feet, I think about the passion that I could be putting into my every day life. I think about the little jobs and favors that I voluntarily sign up for on a daily basis and it occurs to me that I could be putting a lot more passion into the completion of my work, and why not? Sure, I am busy during the day, but would it really kill me to take an extra 5 minutes and make sure that I have crossed my t’s and dotted my i’s? Anyway, this is just something that I have been thinking about this passed week and wanted to share this quote with all of you. I also wanted to ask if there are some words of wisdom that you heard at one point in your life that have stubbornly stuck to your insides like peanut butter does to the roof of my mouth?
Last week was filled with practices, games and more games.
We had an o.k. week of practice, definitely nothing to brag about. Charly is truly a good human being, but once he steps between the lines of that magic rectangle that stretches 94ft by 50ft, his stance widens and his arms become thick slabs of chorizo that hang at his sides, his hands clenching and unclenching. After the same mistake has been made several times, his arms break loose of their casing and he throws them up into the air with the speed of an olympic clean and jerk. His mouth widens and a slew of not-so-nice spanish phrases proceed to tumble uncontrollably out of his chops. Perhaps I didn’t notice all of these outbreaks as much last year because I wasn’t quite able to keep up with the language, but I must say that I am definitely more aware of them now. Many of us are new this year and we are still learning each others movements, tendencies, strengths and weaknesses, I can only assume that with time we will minimize our mistakes and Charly will minimize his tantrums.
After two weeks full of back-strokes and front-strokes, I have bid farewell to Carmen and company and have graduated to the elliptical machines as well as a good dose of light jogging. I have started physical therapy sessions with a young lady named, Patricia. Patricia was treating me last year as well, it feels great to be in familiar hands. I must tell you one quick story about Patricia and our PT session that took place in the pool last week. Being the thoughtful person that she is, Patricia brought me a water basket and some balls so that we could simulate what it would feel like to start playing again. This was the drill: The basket was placed in the water about 8 meters or so from the stairs. I started on the bottommost row of stairs with a flotation device around my midsection and another around my ankle. Patricia was standing out in the water several meters away with two balls in her hands. When Patricia threw the ball up into the air, it was my job to propel myself off the stairs, catch the ball, land and then shoot towards the floating basket. After completing a handful of jumps from the first stair I would move up to the second, then the third and finally to the fourth stair where my whole body was practically out of the water except for the bottom half of my calves. I was making quite a ruckus with all of my splashing and unconscious sound effects, I had to say a silent prayer that there weren’t too many people left in the facility since we were doing all of this at 9 o’clock at night. With the amount of sheer chaos that was taking place in my end of the pool I probably appeared like an over-sized 10 year old playing water games like my life depended on it. I must admit, however, that I relished in every splashed filled minute of it.
Friday came quickly which meant that it was game day. The two day tournament was being held between Rivas (a Division 1 team), Estudiantes (a D2 team), Siglo XXl (D1) and of course, Alcobendas. Our first game was against Siglo XXl and we lost. The D1 teams are always bigger in size than the D2 teams. I sat on the bench with ants in my pants, itching to suit up and go play. I didn’t enjoy watching the bigger players taking advantage of our smaller post players. I found myself with a sick feeling in my stomach, as if I was watching a bully strip a little first grader of their lunch money. Claudia was our only true post player due to my absence and also because Charly is still looking to sign one more post player. At the end of the 40 minutes, I was proud of the girls, they tried their best and that’s all I will ever ask of them.
Game two on Saturday was against Estudiantes since they had lost to Rivas the day before. Estudiantes is in our conference, they were in the first division last year but due to a lack of money and a poor record, they stepped down to the second division. This game left a bitter taste in my mouth opposed to the game from the day before. The players were about the same size as we were and they flat out wanted it more than we did. Our defense was always a step behind, we gave up numerous turnovers which lead to uncontested lay-ups and the shot clock went off at least 5 times before we even attempted to score. Live and learn. We decided to stick around and watch the championship game between Rivas and Siglo XXl. Does the name, Courtney Paris ring a bell with any of you? She played for the University of Oklahoma and was an absolute beast on the boards. Later, I she was drafted by Sacramento, then moved to the Chicago Sky where she was waived. Anyway, Rivas is going to have quite the team with Paris and then a handful of women who are currently playing on the National team.
Lastly, we had one more game on Sunday against a Division 1 team from Portugal. This game left us at 0 for 3 on the weekend. Luckily, however, Spaniards don’t seem to let a few losses get their hopes down. I have high hopes for our season because Charly will sign another post player in the next couple of days and I should be good and ready to go by our first game, which is around the 7th of October.
Apart from our 3 losses, the rest of the weekend was as smooth and sweet as a bowl of ice cream. Elena, Claudia and I have been venturing into Madrid as much as possible while the weather remains as warm as the summer nights in Minnesota. Everybody is still out and about, lazily walking the nicely lit streets. Even if we have nothing in particular that we want to see in Madrid, we go into the city anyway, just to soak up some of the energy that seems to be bouncing around the plazas, ricocheting off of shoulders and heads like a rubber ball does in a 4th grade classroom.
That about does it for this week’s life in Madrid. Enjoy the weekend and keep cheerin’ on those TWINS!!!
Leslie’s Loose Ends:
In Spain they don’t say “AIR BALL,” instead they say, “AGUA!” meaning, WATER!
If you are in an accident or there is someone breaking into your house, you should dial 112, not 911.
The other day as we were sitting outside, Elena brought to my attention that there was a spider on my arm and that in Bulgaria, when there is a spider crawling on you it means that you will have good luck. I was not too excited about my good fortune and quickly flicked the poor creature off my arm, sending him sailing into oblivion.
This Saturday, the 25th of September, is the inaugural ceremony of the Women’s World Hockey Championships, and where else would that be taking place, but right here in Alcobendas. Our team president pulled me aside two days ago and asked me if I would be interested in helping announce the opening ceremonies! Of course I willingly obliged. So, perhaps if you turn on the tv this Saturday and search for the Women’s World Hockey Championships, you might find Luis and I introducing the different countries. I will let you know how it goes!
Have a GREAT Thursday, everyone!
Love,
Leslie
Last week was filled with practices, games and more games.
We had an o.k. week of practice, definitely nothing to brag about. Charly is truly a good human being, but once he steps between the lines of that magic rectangle that stretches 94ft by 50ft, his stance widens and his arms become thick slabs of chorizo that hang at his sides, his hands clenching and unclenching. After the same mistake has been made several times, his arms break loose of their casing and he throws them up into the air with the speed of an olympic clean and jerk. His mouth widens and a slew of not-so-nice spanish phrases proceed to tumble uncontrollably out of his chops. Perhaps I didn’t notice all of these outbreaks as much last year because I wasn’t quite able to keep up with the language, but I must say that I am definitely more aware of them now. Many of us are new this year and we are still learning each others movements, tendencies, strengths and weaknesses, I can only assume that with time we will minimize our mistakes and Charly will minimize his tantrums.
After two weeks full of back-strokes and front-strokes, I have bid farewell to Carmen and company and have graduated to the elliptical machines as well as a good dose of light jogging. I have started physical therapy sessions with a young lady named, Patricia. Patricia was treating me last year as well, it feels great to be in familiar hands. I must tell you one quick story about Patricia and our PT session that took place in the pool last week. Being the thoughtful person that she is, Patricia brought me a water basket and some balls so that we could simulate what it would feel like to start playing again. This was the drill: The basket was placed in the water about 8 meters or so from the stairs. I started on the bottommost row of stairs with a flotation device around my midsection and another around my ankle. Patricia was standing out in the water several meters away with two balls in her hands. When Patricia threw the ball up into the air, it was my job to propel myself off the stairs, catch the ball, land and then shoot towards the floating basket. After completing a handful of jumps from the first stair I would move up to the second, then the third and finally to the fourth stair where my whole body was practically out of the water except for the bottom half of my calves. I was making quite a ruckus with all of my splashing and unconscious sound effects, I had to say a silent prayer that there weren’t too many people left in the facility since we were doing all of this at 9 o’clock at night. With the amount of sheer chaos that was taking place in my end of the pool I probably appeared like an over-sized 10 year old playing water games like my life depended on it. I must admit, however, that I relished in every splashed filled minute of it.
Friday came quickly which meant that it was game day. The two day tournament was being held between Rivas (a Division 1 team), Estudiantes (a D2 team), Siglo XXl (D1) and of course, Alcobendas. Our first game was against Siglo XXl and we lost. The D1 teams are always bigger in size than the D2 teams. I sat on the bench with ants in my pants, itching to suit up and go play. I didn’t enjoy watching the bigger players taking advantage of our smaller post players. I found myself with a sick feeling in my stomach, as if I was watching a bully strip a little first grader of their lunch money. Claudia was our only true post player due to my absence and also because Charly is still looking to sign one more post player. At the end of the 40 minutes, I was proud of the girls, they tried their best and that’s all I will ever ask of them.
Game two on Saturday was against Estudiantes since they had lost to Rivas the day before. Estudiantes is in our conference, they were in the first division last year but due to a lack of money and a poor record, they stepped down to the second division. This game left a bitter taste in my mouth opposed to the game from the day before. The players were about the same size as we were and they flat out wanted it more than we did. Our defense was always a step behind, we gave up numerous turnovers which lead to uncontested lay-ups and the shot clock went off at least 5 times before we even attempted to score. Live and learn. We decided to stick around and watch the championship game between Rivas and Siglo XXl. Does the name, Courtney Paris ring a bell with any of you? She played for the University of Oklahoma and was an absolute beast on the boards. Later, I she was drafted by Sacramento, then moved to the Chicago Sky where she was waived. Anyway, Rivas is going to have quite the team with Paris and then a handful of women who are currently playing on the National team.
 |
| Rivas and Alcobendas. |
Apart from our 3 losses, the rest of the weekend was as smooth and sweet as a bowl of ice cream. Elena, Claudia and I have been venturing into Madrid as much as possible while the weather remains as warm as the summer nights in Minnesota. Everybody is still out and about, lazily walking the nicely lit streets. Even if we have nothing in particular that we want to see in Madrid, we go into the city anyway, just to soak up some of the energy that seems to be bouncing around the plazas, ricocheting off of shoulders and heads like a rubber ball does in a 4th grade classroom.
That about does it for this week’s life in Madrid. Enjoy the weekend and keep cheerin’ on those TWINS!!!
Leslie’s Loose Ends:
In Spain they don’t say “AIR BALL,” instead they say, “AGUA!” meaning, WATER!
If you are in an accident or there is someone breaking into your house, you should dial 112, not 911.
The other day as we were sitting outside, Elena brought to my attention that there was a spider on my arm and that in Bulgaria, when there is a spider crawling on you it means that you will have good luck. I was not too excited about my good fortune and quickly flicked the poor creature off my arm, sending him sailing into oblivion.
This Saturday, the 25th of September, is the inaugural ceremony of the Women’s World Hockey Championships, and where else would that be taking place, but right here in Alcobendas. Our team president pulled me aside two days ago and asked me if I would be interested in helping announce the opening ceremonies! Of course I willingly obliged. So, perhaps if you turn on the tv this Saturday and search for the Women’s World Hockey Championships, you might find Luis and I introducing the different countries. I will let you know how it goes!
Have a GREAT Thursday, everyone!
Love,
Leslie
3 months later
“Hola Leslie! Que tal? Que tal tu viaje y que tal las vacaciones del veranito?!” “(Hello Leslie! How’s it going? How was your flight and how were the vacations of your summer)?!” Castellano swirled all around me like leaves in the breeze as I walked out of baggage claim and passed several handfuls of people with ravishing olive colored skin tones. Feeling fabulous and pale, I continued down the line towards my welcome back crew. Charly stood several meters away wearing a smile that danced excitedly across his well tanned face while Vicente (our team president) welcomed me back to Spain with their form of saying hello, a kiss on each cheek. This whole process is always a bit awkward because I am a hugger and Spaniards are kissers, which often times leads me into situations where I am accidentally kissing the person right smack dab on the lips. Whenever this happens, however, it just gets laughed away and brushed off to the side since I am a “guiri” (pronounced “gid-ee”), or foreigner for lack of a better term.
I was back in the Madrid Airport and feeling quite at home. A little over three months ago, May 22nd to be exact, I was leaving the Madrid Airport, homeward bound for Minnesota, not knowing where I would be playing the following season. I knew that I wanted to continue my basketball career in Spain but as to which city I wanted to venture off to, I wasn’t quite sure. After much thought and help from assembling one of those pros and cons lists, I decided that playing another year for Alcobendas was in my best interest for now.
So, I am back to living in my same apartment which is conveniently located in the never dull or quiet, Plaza del Pueblo, and I am back to playing in the same gym. One major aspect of my life that is not the same, however, are the people that I am living with. My two absolutely wonderful roommates from last year, Sarah Crooks and Marta Cobian, have started new phases in their lives. We still manage to keep in touch and I cannot help but think of them often as I go about my daily life here in Alcobendas. Here are the introductions for this year’s cast...Starting at center, 187cm tall, 24 years old, coming all the way from the charming southern city of Granada, Spain, Claudia Viceira Cobooooooo! Next we have this year’s starting shooting guard. Lean and lanky, standing at a height of 170cm, with an age of 24, all the way from Sophia, Bulgaria, let’s hear it for Elena Yankovaaaaaa!
Now, from the bottom of my heart, I wish that I could scoop all of you up and place you in my pocket so that you could each experience the live version of these two young women. In many ways, Claudia is your typical female from Andalucia (southern region of Spain), likewise, she is also a complete 180 from many of her peers. We have deemed Claudia the “Mother” of our flat for several different reasons. The number one reason being that last week alone she cleaned the bathroom 3 times. Number 2 is that she is constantly washing our dishes (against our wishes, mind you) and lastly she cooked up baked chicken and potatoes on Monday and when I came home and inhaled the aromas floating out from the kitchen I thought for sure that my mom had made a surprise visit and was cooking me lunch. The top of Claudia’s head is a vibrant mass of dark brown curls and her smile spreads a mile wide. She could keep up with Leroy Van Dyke http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn4jXABztCw without batting an eye, and I am positive that even Mr. Serious Ted Danson from the T.V show, “Becker,” would find himself laughing in her presence.
I cannot say whether Elena is your stereotypical girl from Bulgaria because she is the first friend I have ever had from this particular country. What I do know, is that she is as wonderful and sweet as the syrup I put on my pancakes, as calm, cool and collected as Tim Duncan, and definitely smarter than a 5th grader. Elena spent 2 years in the U.S at a junior college in Kansas where she quickly picked up on American English. She spent just 4 short months in Spain last season and can already understand almost everything that is thrown at her, not to mention that she can respond as well. Last night I had the pleasure of saying hello to her mom on skype. In a very chipper voice her mom said to me, “Hola Chica!” That was about the extent of our conversation. Unfortunately, this girl does not know a lick of Bulgarian, expect for my last name which Elena taught me the other day, Knight=Nosh. So I smiled, waved at the screen and then left the mother daughter combo to continue conversing in their drastically different language. Bulgarian is not a romance language like Spanish, Italian or French, so it’s all Greek to me.
My third roommate is Sara Castrillo. Sara was here last year as well, however, she has dozens of friends here in Madrid so she is almost never at home.
Besides having new roommates, I have also had a new pre-season experience this year. Many of you already know this, but for those who might not, I had ankle surgery this past summer. I had the surgery at the end of June and am recuperating quite well, but still have not reached 100%. For the past week and a half my days have consisted of going to Valdelasfuentes (a medical center/workout facility) to swim in the pool, use the bikes and get questioned by older women. See, even though you might not think so, the truth of the matter is that I do not blend in too well here in Spain. Everyday in the pool there are several older women who are also doing their own exercises and from day one they started taking account of my presence in their pool. None of these women approached me, but I could tell that they were buying their time and calculating their plan of attack. Last Wednesday my day at court finally arrived. One woman broke loose from the pack and slowly swam my way. She didn’t wast time with small talk but got straight to the point. What was I doing here, where was I from, what was my name, and then she shared a bit of her own information. Her name was Carmen, and she too had ankle problems, we would be seeing a lot more of each other. There was no doubt in my mind that by the same time tomorrow, all of the other women in the whole facility would know who I was and why I was here.
So far we have had one friendly game against Las Rozas, a team from the lower division. From the sidelines things did not look too chaotic, but like any pre-season game we have a lot to improve on. This upcoming weekend we have 3 games, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I really wish that I could participate in these games because at least two of them will be played against teams in the first division. Last year we got our tails whipped, 100 to 45. This year, however, not all of the Spanish players will be present due to the Women’s World Basketball Championships. The USA will play against Australia in an exhibition game on the 15th in Salamanca, just a couple hours north west of Madrid.
Speaking of World Championships, the basketball world in Spain was pretty bummed out last week when Spain fell to Serbia by a last second long bomb in the quarter finals. Water, nestea and a few beers sat atop a wooden table next to a platter of cheese, meat, bread and patee. It was 5 o’clock and practice wasn’t until 8:30pm, so we gathered in a bar to watch the game. Has anyone read the book, Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert? You know that scene where she is talking about watching a Futbol game in Italy and how the italian man sitting behind her is rattling off a mouthful of profanities mixed in with words of encouragement and praise? Well, unlike Gilbert, I am keeping this e-mail g-rated, so I will let your imaginations paint their own picture as to how you see the following scene when Milio Teodosic buried the 3pter from downtown with 3.1 seconds left to cinch the win. Picture a spanish bar with a handful of passionate fans all shouting out similar obscenities while using various hand gestures to express their innermost frustrations. Chaos and heartbreak.
Later in the week, Spain fell to a very good Argentina team while the USA plowed right over Turkey like an SUV would over a Smartcar. Many Europeans did not like the USA style of play. Too much one on one and not enough team basketball. I would have to agree with this opinion. Many people also say that Pau Gasol was quite thin when he left to play in the NBA and when he returned he had morphed into ROBOCOP, muscles bulging out of places where they never were before. I wonder what types of performance enhancing drugs are taken by NBA players and how often they are tested. In the major leagues there are 162 games in the regular season and we all know that many spot light players have been proved guilty of taking drugs. There are 82 games in an NBA season with the potential of 21 more games during the playoffs, bringing us to a grand total of 103 games. Why don’t we hear more about NBA players using performance enhancing drugs?
Anyway, getting back to one more pleasant aspect of this past week, La Noche en Blanco. http://lanocheenblanco2010.esmadrid.com/lneb/en/index La Noche en Blanco or The Night in White was held on Saturday, September 11th. From early evening into the early hours of Sunday morning, anything and everything was open to the public, for free! Museums, Theaters, Concerts, exhibits of photography, schools of literature, tours of the stock exchange building, the Palace and much much more. There was even a massive game of twister in the plaza de colon that stretched 14 meters by 14 meters! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kzxB7FWLxMIn here you have a video of the game with some music. In the plaza, Dos de Mayo, there was a massive beach ball fight, here you have one chica’s personal video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YyJw9DsuRU. There were an insane amount of people in the streets and the metros were jam packed, but being the smart guiris that we are, nobody was the victim of a pickpocketer and we all made it safely home.
That about sums up this past week. I hope that each and every one of you had fulfilling and satisfying summers and that the Fall has you off to great starts! Please fill me in on the nitty gritty of your glorious lives, I do love hearing from you;)
I will leave you all with a few of Leslie’s Loose Ends.
This past week at practice I told Elena, “I’m going to be Minnesota today” as I put on my Minnesota Gophers practice jersey. She looked at me and said, “Me too.” I was quite confused and then I saw the black tank-top that she was wearing had the logo of the Minnesota Lynx! Ha! I could not believe it. What is this girl from Bulgaria doing with a MN Lynx practice shirt?! A friend of a friend had the shirt and gave it to Elena as a present. It was just crazy how it worked out that unknowingly we doth decided to wear the shirts on the same day and that for some reason I even made a comment about my shirt to Elena, weird.
Did you know that in Bulgaria most of their computers and phones have keypads that are in English, even though their alphabet is 100% different from ours? Elena said that when people write they just write how the Bulgarian word would sound using the sounds of the english alphabet. So, the words don’t look at all like they would in Bulgarian, but if you were to sound them out, they would sound just like the Bulgarian word.
The Spanish National Anthem has no words, only music. Claudia told me that there once were words, but after the dictatorship of Franco, there was lots of controversy as to whether or not the words should be kept. In the end, the words were dismissed and the music remains. Currently there is a debate taking place whether new words should be installed, but so far nothing has been decided.
I was back in the Madrid Airport and feeling quite at home. A little over three months ago, May 22nd to be exact, I was leaving the Madrid Airport, homeward bound for Minnesota, not knowing where I would be playing the following season. I knew that I wanted to continue my basketball career in Spain but as to which city I wanted to venture off to, I wasn’t quite sure. After much thought and help from assembling one of those pros and cons lists, I decided that playing another year for Alcobendas was in my best interest for now.
So, I am back to living in my same apartment which is conveniently located in the never dull or quiet, Plaza del Pueblo, and I am back to playing in the same gym. One major aspect of my life that is not the same, however, are the people that I am living with. My two absolutely wonderful roommates from last year, Sarah Crooks and Marta Cobian, have started new phases in their lives. We still manage to keep in touch and I cannot help but think of them often as I go about my daily life here in Alcobendas. Here are the introductions for this year’s cast...Starting at center, 187cm tall, 24 years old, coming all the way from the charming southern city of Granada, Spain, Claudia Viceira Cobooooooo! Next we have this year’s starting shooting guard. Lean and lanky, standing at a height of 170cm, with an age of 24, all the way from Sophia, Bulgaria, let’s hear it for Elena Yankovaaaaaa!
Now, from the bottom of my heart, I wish that I could scoop all of you up and place you in my pocket so that you could each experience the live version of these two young women. In many ways, Claudia is your typical female from Andalucia (southern region of Spain), likewise, she is also a complete 180 from many of her peers. We have deemed Claudia the “Mother” of our flat for several different reasons. The number one reason being that last week alone she cleaned the bathroom 3 times. Number 2 is that she is constantly washing our dishes (against our wishes, mind you) and lastly she cooked up baked chicken and potatoes on Monday and when I came home and inhaled the aromas floating out from the kitchen I thought for sure that my mom had made a surprise visit and was cooking me lunch. The top of Claudia’s head is a vibrant mass of dark brown curls and her smile spreads a mile wide. She could keep up with Leroy Van Dyke http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn4jXABztCw without batting an eye, and I am positive that even Mr. Serious Ted Danson from the T.V show, “Becker,” would find himself laughing in her presence.
I cannot say whether Elena is your stereotypical girl from Bulgaria because she is the first friend I have ever had from this particular country. What I do know, is that she is as wonderful and sweet as the syrup I put on my pancakes, as calm, cool and collected as Tim Duncan, and definitely smarter than a 5th grader. Elena spent 2 years in the U.S at a junior college in Kansas where she quickly picked up on American English. She spent just 4 short months in Spain last season and can already understand almost everything that is thrown at her, not to mention that she can respond as well. Last night I had the pleasure of saying hello to her mom on skype. In a very chipper voice her mom said to me, “Hola Chica!” That was about the extent of our conversation. Unfortunately, this girl does not know a lick of Bulgarian, expect for my last name which Elena taught me the other day, Knight=Nosh. So I smiled, waved at the screen and then left the mother daughter combo to continue conversing in their drastically different language. Bulgarian is not a romance language like Spanish, Italian or French, so it’s all Greek to me.
My third roommate is Sara Castrillo. Sara was here last year as well, however, she has dozens of friends here in Madrid so she is almost never at home.
Besides having new roommates, I have also had a new pre-season experience this year. Many of you already know this, but for those who might not, I had ankle surgery this past summer. I had the surgery at the end of June and am recuperating quite well, but still have not reached 100%. For the past week and a half my days have consisted of going to Valdelasfuentes (a medical center/workout facility) to swim in the pool, use the bikes and get questioned by older women. See, even though you might not think so, the truth of the matter is that I do not blend in too well here in Spain. Everyday in the pool there are several older women who are also doing their own exercises and from day one they started taking account of my presence in their pool. None of these women approached me, but I could tell that they were buying their time and calculating their plan of attack. Last Wednesday my day at court finally arrived. One woman broke loose from the pack and slowly swam my way. She didn’t wast time with small talk but got straight to the point. What was I doing here, where was I from, what was my name, and then she shared a bit of her own information. Her name was Carmen, and she too had ankle problems, we would be seeing a lot more of each other. There was no doubt in my mind that by the same time tomorrow, all of the other women in the whole facility would know who I was and why I was here.
So far we have had one friendly game against Las Rozas, a team from the lower division. From the sidelines things did not look too chaotic, but like any pre-season game we have a lot to improve on. This upcoming weekend we have 3 games, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I really wish that I could participate in these games because at least two of them will be played against teams in the first division. Last year we got our tails whipped, 100 to 45. This year, however, not all of the Spanish players will be present due to the Women’s World Basketball Championships. The USA will play against Australia in an exhibition game on the 15th in Salamanca, just a couple hours north west of Madrid.
Speaking of World Championships, the basketball world in Spain was pretty bummed out last week when Spain fell to Serbia by a last second long bomb in the quarter finals. Water, nestea and a few beers sat atop a wooden table next to a platter of cheese, meat, bread and patee. It was 5 o’clock and practice wasn’t until 8:30pm, so we gathered in a bar to watch the game. Has anyone read the book, Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert? You know that scene where she is talking about watching a Futbol game in Italy and how the italian man sitting behind her is rattling off a mouthful of profanities mixed in with words of encouragement and praise? Well, unlike Gilbert, I am keeping this e-mail g-rated, so I will let your imaginations paint their own picture as to how you see the following scene when Milio Teodosic buried the 3pter from downtown with 3.1 seconds left to cinch the win. Picture a spanish bar with a handful of passionate fans all shouting out similar obscenities while using various hand gestures to express their innermost frustrations. Chaos and heartbreak.
Later in the week, Spain fell to a very good Argentina team while the USA plowed right over Turkey like an SUV would over a Smartcar. Many Europeans did not like the USA style of play. Too much one on one and not enough team basketball. I would have to agree with this opinion. Many people also say that Pau Gasol was quite thin when he left to play in the NBA and when he returned he had morphed into ROBOCOP, muscles bulging out of places where they never were before. I wonder what types of performance enhancing drugs are taken by NBA players and how often they are tested. In the major leagues there are 162 games in the regular season and we all know that many spot light players have been proved guilty of taking drugs. There are 82 games in an NBA season with the potential of 21 more games during the playoffs, bringing us to a grand total of 103 games. Why don’t we hear more about NBA players using performance enhancing drugs?
Anyway, getting back to one more pleasant aspect of this past week, La Noche en Blanco. http://lanocheenblanco2010.esmadrid.com/lneb/en/index La Noche en Blanco or The Night in White was held on Saturday, September 11th. From early evening into the early hours of Sunday morning, anything and everything was open to the public, for free! Museums, Theaters, Concerts, exhibits of photography, schools of literature, tours of the stock exchange building, the Palace and much much more. There was even a massive game of twister in the plaza de colon that stretched 14 meters by 14 meters! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kzxB7FWLxMIn here you have a video of the game with some music. In the plaza, Dos de Mayo, there was a massive beach ball fight, here you have one chica’s personal video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YyJw9DsuRU. There were an insane amount of people in the streets and the metros were jam packed, but being the smart guiris that we are, nobody was the victim of a pickpocketer and we all made it safely home.
 |
| La Noche en Blanco |
 |
| Juanma, me, Elena and Claudia. |
 |
| The team! |
I will leave you all with a few of Leslie’s Loose Ends.
This past week at practice I told Elena, “I’m going to be Minnesota today” as I put on my Minnesota Gophers practice jersey. She looked at me and said, “Me too.” I was quite confused and then I saw the black tank-top that she was wearing had the logo of the Minnesota Lynx! Ha! I could not believe it. What is this girl from Bulgaria doing with a MN Lynx practice shirt?! A friend of a friend had the shirt and gave it to Elena as a present. It was just crazy how it worked out that unknowingly we doth decided to wear the shirts on the same day and that for some reason I even made a comment about my shirt to Elena, weird.
Did you know that in Bulgaria most of their computers and phones have keypads that are in English, even though their alphabet is 100% different from ours? Elena said that when people write they just write how the Bulgarian word would sound using the sounds of the english alphabet. So, the words don’t look at all like they would in Bulgarian, but if you were to sound them out, they would sound just like the Bulgarian word.
The Spanish National Anthem has no words, only music. Claudia told me that there once were words, but after the dictatorship of Franco, there was lots of controversy as to whether or not the words should be kept. In the end, the words were dismissed and the music remains. Currently there is a debate taking place whether new words should be installed, but so far nothing has been decided.
Tio Pepe (Uncle Pepe)
As he spoke about the season and described it’s ups and downs, my high school coach used to say, “the season is a Marathon.” Well, Alcobendas just crossed the finish line and they did so with smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes.
Our last game of the season was an away game, played in the south of Spain in a town called Jerez against a team called Chajeba. Strong rays of sunshine beat down on all surfaces left uncovered. The thermometer read 26 degrees celsius, about 80 degrees fahrenheit and it is only April. The hotel was a ten minute walk from the gym which meant that I was already sweating by the time we arrived; who needs warm-ups?
After last weeks theatrics, a game would not be a game without something a bit odd happening, right? So, we are all in position for the tip-off when suddenly, every player on the opposing team drops to their bums and decides to take a seat right then and there at center court. Most of them had serious looks on their faces, however, a couple of them cracked a grin. A few photographers circled around the court, snapping pictures of the scene while the referees just stood there and waited for the girls to get back on their feet. After about a minute or so the girls got back up, the ball was tossed up into the air and we proceeded to play a normal basketball game. I later found out that the opposing team’s club had not been paying their players for the past three months and that is why the players decided to sit down on the floor, holding their own little protest before the start of the game. The media will then put the photos of the protesting players into the newspapers which will then bring the club’s financial problems out into the public. Perhaps this action will help to bring the club more money, I do not know, I am just glad that I was not having to sit on the floor.
As the game got underway I no longer felt any sympathy for our poor opponents. They were clawing, grabbing, holding and pushing their way around the court and the referees were letting them do it. Crooks and I could barley move from one block to the other while reaching the high-post was nearly impossible. Oh well, I decided not to work myself up too much since it was our last game and that sometimes forgotten word, “fun,” was going to be had on my part, period. I personally did not have my best game of the season, but I did have fun and when the buzzer went off Alcobendas had earned a win in a low scoring game, 58-48.
When all of the hugs and kisses were given and the tears were dry, we changed shoes and walked back to the hotel. Before heading out to dinner that night we all gathered in our coaches room to watch a video that our speed and agility coach’s brother had put together for us. Each player had a section on the video that was full of game clips. Naturally, the spanish versions of oooooh and aaaaaah could have been heard by anyone else in the hotel that night. The music that accompanied the video was a mixture of spanish and english while the words that popped up on the screen were all in Spanish. Officially starting to get hungry, we headed out the door around 10:30pm in search for a place to eat dinner.
Dinner was a mixture of a handful of different tapas. The southern regions of Spain are home to a different food palette than the northern regions of Spain, which was great for the guiris (tourists, Crooks and myself) because we got the opportunity to try a few new dishes. The dishes included, croquetas de jamon y pollo (like mozzarella sticks but filled with chicken, ham and a flour paste instead of cheese), Chocos (calamari fried), Puntilitas (small calamari), tortilla de camarones (thin egg and flour tortilla filled with little shrimp, you eat the whole shrimp without taking it out of it’s shell), Adobo (fish in a special sauce and then fried) and lastly there was neck meat of a cow, oh and of course there was plenty of Tinto de Verano (one part red wine, one part carbonated lemonade) to help us wash it all down.
The only set of parents that made the long trek down to Jerez were those of Maria Espin and towards the end of dinner, Isabel (Maria’s mom), decided to bust out her video camera. Once the camera made its appearance my teammates started to chant, “que hable la capi, que hable la capi!” which calls for our team captains to give a little speech. After Ana and Sara gave their off the cuff speeches, the girls proceeded to repeat the same chant for several other people, including the guiris, “que hablen las guiris!” Crooks went first and made a nice, short and sweet spanish speech that conveyed her thoughts and feelings about the season. Then the camera focused in on me and I was requested to share my thoughts and feelings as well.
Maria then went on to hand each player a piece of paper. Maria had written each one of her teammates a personal message about what she thought about them as a player and as a person. I was rather surprised to be holding my piece of paper and thought to myself that I felt like I was back in high school. For the most part, I think that as one climbs higher on the professional sports ladder, they will notice the absence of genuine team camaraderie and coaches who truly care about the individual player. Obviously this is not always the case, however, referring back to my high school coach one more time, he always said that high school sports were the purest form of sport and that once you got passed that, it all just became a business. I completely agree with him, but I also believe that I was truly blessed this year with the teammates and coaching staff that I had. Of course the season was not without its ups and downs, but in retrospect, it was truly a wonderful year.
Now, what do you suppose we proceeded to do once dinner was over? Dance, of course! From the restaurant, the whole crew to walked to a rather interesting dance club. I do not remember the name of the club but I do remember the life size elephant statue that was taking up a large portion of the first floor. The whole club was decorated in streamers and lanterns, typical ornaments used to celebrate the Feria del Caballo (horse fair), which would be taking place the following weekend. Our group of 15 people quickly claimed a portion of the dance floor where we wasted no time in starting the limbo and a handful of other funny dances. My favorite part of the night, however, was watching Charly dance with a friend of one of our teammates. The two dancers stood in the middle of the man-made circle and began twirling, stepping, stomping and weaving their arms in and around each other in a quite impressive fashion. I had absolutely no idea that Charly could dance like that. Later, Charly told me that the dance that they had preformed was called, Sevillana and was a close relative of Flamenco. He then went on to tell me that his mother used to be a dance instructor, giving lessons in the Samba, Sevillana, Flamenco and several others. Ok, now I understood where his talent derived from. The highlight of the whole show, however, were his awfully expressive facial expressions. Crooks and I stood on the outskirts of the circle laughing in amusement and wonder as our coach danced circles around the stage.
Around 4:30am Crooks and I were begged by our teammates to sing the National Anthem, which we did a fine job of if I do say so myself. Although, right as we were in the heart of it a male employee came right up next to us and asked us to leave. Either we sounded that bad or else it was closing time and they were anxious to be rid of our rambunctious group. More than half of us decided to turn in for the night while the rest were not yet ready to go home. The next morning I was informed that they had arrived back to the hotel around 8am, typical spanish.
Sunday morning in the hotel we had the pleasure of eating breakfast while looking out onto a division one soccer stadium. There was no game being played but there was a half marathon being run. One by one the runners entered the stadium and ran the last leg of their race around the track. Filled with motivation after watching the runners, Crooks and I forgot about our late night and joined Charly and Jose (assistant coach) in a trip to the Gonzalez Byass Vineyard. The vineyard was founded in 1835 and is quite famous. Many world renowned people have walked the grounds, including Pablo Picasso, Stephen Spielberg, Margaret Thatcher, kings, queens and many others. Jose and I climbed on the trolley of the spanish speaking tour while Charly and Crooks walked off with the English tour. Our guide spoke relatively fast, but with Jose’s help I was able to comprehend most of what was being said. A few interesting tid bits of the tour were that ... The vineyard has the world’s largest weather vein that is 45 meters long, the largest barrel of wine held 16 thousands liters, in one of the grand rooms the owners leave out a little wine cup for the mice that live amongst the barrels (we actually saw a mouse run out and take a sip!), and a grand total of 400 employees are what it takes to keep it going year in and year out.
I had never toured a vineyard so massive as this one, it was really quite a neat experience. After the tour we met back up with the rest of the team, had lunch and then headed towards the train station. http://www.bodegastiopepe.com/historia.php if you are ever in the area, I would highly recommend checking the place out.
One more quick story before I wrap things up...This past week I also had the opportunity to tour an old fashioned town called, Alcala de Henares, just 35 km northeast of Madrid. For all of you literature buffs out there, Alcala de Henares was the birth place of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the two famous characters Don Quixote and his trusty sidekick Sancho Panza. Cervantes house is still well preserved after more than 400 years and is open to the public. Along with touring the house there are a couple other tourist attractions in the town, one of which is the old Alcala University (the best preserved Renaissance University complex in Europe, says my tourist brochure) and the Cathedral-Magistral of Saints Justo and Pastor. My favorite part about the cathedral had nothing to do with arches, stained glass windows or organs, but had everything to do with, Storks. Alcala is well known for its population of white storks. The protection and maintenance of their enormous nests is actually by official policy. There were several of these massive nests perched atop the cathedral. My mouth about fell all the way to the floor upon seeing these grand structures that the storks so carefully and meticulously put together. The stork population is also well kept track of, recently showing that there are 90 resident pairs in the area. Later in the week I was talking with one of our assistant coaches and he informed me that cranes are sometimes needed in order to remove the nests from the tops of old cathedrals since their weight can be too much for the old buildings to support.
Leslie’s Loose Ends
Yesterday I saw a group of grandmas sitting on a park bench talking away and eating sun flower seeds. Pretty typical here in Spain.
As a tradition I always treat myself to a pedicure after the basketball season. I found a store that wanted to charge me 50 euros or 67 US dollars. Has anyone ever heard of a pedicure costing that much?!
One of Spain’s top bull fighters was gorged in the leg the other day while bull fighting in Mexico. Ouch.
Last week Carrefour (like a super target) was having a sale on basketball jerseys. Sara Castrillo went to the store during practice (since she is still out with her sprained ankle) and purchased Spanish Pau Gasol jersey’s for all of us! They were only 3 euros a piece. I have never been a Laker fan, but since the jersey is of his Spanish team I can justify my purchase.
Well ladies and gentlemen, this is my last e-mail of the year. I will continue to live in Spain until the 22nd of May but I am afraid that I will not have the time to let you know how I am doing. I will be making trips to Malaga, Ponte Vedra, Barcelona and perhaps a few other places that are still up in the air. Thank you so much for coming along with me during this past year and for all of your e-mails and well wishes. I thoroughly enjoy hearing from all of you. Your updates give me comfort and joy as well as the sensation that I am not too far from home. I wish you all the best as the MN summer gets under way and look forward to reuniting with many of you in the very near future!
Take care everyone,
Love,
Leslie
Our last game of the season was an away game, played in the south of Spain in a town called Jerez against a team called Chajeba. Strong rays of sunshine beat down on all surfaces left uncovered. The thermometer read 26 degrees celsius, about 80 degrees fahrenheit and it is only April. The hotel was a ten minute walk from the gym which meant that I was already sweating by the time we arrived; who needs warm-ups?
After last weeks theatrics, a game would not be a game without something a bit odd happening, right? So, we are all in position for the tip-off when suddenly, every player on the opposing team drops to their bums and decides to take a seat right then and there at center court. Most of them had serious looks on their faces, however, a couple of them cracked a grin. A few photographers circled around the court, snapping pictures of the scene while the referees just stood there and waited for the girls to get back on their feet. After about a minute or so the girls got back up, the ball was tossed up into the air and we proceeded to play a normal basketball game. I later found out that the opposing team’s club had not been paying their players for the past three months and that is why the players decided to sit down on the floor, holding their own little protest before the start of the game. The media will then put the photos of the protesting players into the newspapers which will then bring the club’s financial problems out into the public. Perhaps this action will help to bring the club more money, I do not know, I am just glad that I was not having to sit on the floor.
As the game got underway I no longer felt any sympathy for our poor opponents. They were clawing, grabbing, holding and pushing their way around the court and the referees were letting them do it. Crooks and I could barley move from one block to the other while reaching the high-post was nearly impossible. Oh well, I decided not to work myself up too much since it was our last game and that sometimes forgotten word, “fun,” was going to be had on my part, period. I personally did not have my best game of the season, but I did have fun and when the buzzer went off Alcobendas had earned a win in a low scoring game, 58-48.
 |
| We should have taken this picture before the game...nice television, too I might add. |
Dinner was a mixture of a handful of different tapas. The southern regions of Spain are home to a different food palette than the northern regions of Spain, which was great for the guiris (tourists, Crooks and myself) because we got the opportunity to try a few new dishes. The dishes included, croquetas de jamon y pollo (like mozzarella sticks but filled with chicken, ham and a flour paste instead of cheese), Chocos (calamari fried), Puntilitas (small calamari), tortilla de camarones (thin egg and flour tortilla filled with little shrimp, you eat the whole shrimp without taking it out of it’s shell), Adobo (fish in a special sauce and then fried) and lastly there was neck meat of a cow, oh and of course there was plenty of Tinto de Verano (one part red wine, one part carbonated lemonade) to help us wash it all down.
 |
| Charly and La Capitana, Sara. |
Maria then went on to hand each player a piece of paper. Maria had written each one of her teammates a personal message about what she thought about them as a player and as a person. I was rather surprised to be holding my piece of paper and thought to myself that I felt like I was back in high school. For the most part, I think that as one climbs higher on the professional sports ladder, they will notice the absence of genuine team camaraderie and coaches who truly care about the individual player. Obviously this is not always the case, however, referring back to my high school coach one more time, he always said that high school sports were the purest form of sport and that once you got passed that, it all just became a business. I completely agree with him, but I also believe that I was truly blessed this year with the teammates and coaching staff that I had. Of course the season was not without its ups and downs, but in retrospect, it was truly a wonderful year.
Now, what do you suppose we proceeded to do once dinner was over? Dance, of course! From the restaurant, the whole crew to walked to a rather interesting dance club. I do not remember the name of the club but I do remember the life size elephant statue that was taking up a large portion of the first floor. The whole club was decorated in streamers and lanterns, typical ornaments used to celebrate the Feria del Caballo (horse fair), which would be taking place the following weekend. Our group of 15 people quickly claimed a portion of the dance floor where we wasted no time in starting the limbo and a handful of other funny dances. My favorite part of the night, however, was watching Charly dance with a friend of one of our teammates. The two dancers stood in the middle of the man-made circle and began twirling, stepping, stomping and weaving their arms in and around each other in a quite impressive fashion. I had absolutely no idea that Charly could dance like that. Later, Charly told me that the dance that they had preformed was called, Sevillana and was a close relative of Flamenco. He then went on to tell me that his mother used to be a dance instructor, giving lessons in the Samba, Sevillana, Flamenco and several others. Ok, now I understood where his talent derived from. The highlight of the whole show, however, were his awfully expressive facial expressions. Crooks and I stood on the outskirts of the circle laughing in amusement and wonder as our coach danced circles around the stage.
 |
| How low can you go? |
Sunday morning in the hotel we had the pleasure of eating breakfast while looking out onto a division one soccer stadium. There was no game being played but there was a half marathon being run. One by one the runners entered the stadium and ran the last leg of their race around the track. Filled with motivation after watching the runners, Crooks and I forgot about our late night and joined Charly and Jose (assistant coach) in a trip to the Gonzalez Byass Vineyard. The vineyard was founded in 1835 and is quite famous. Many world renowned people have walked the grounds, including Pablo Picasso, Stephen Spielberg, Margaret Thatcher, kings, queens and many others. Jose and I climbed on the trolley of the spanish speaking tour while Charly and Crooks walked off with the English tour. Our guide spoke relatively fast, but with Jose’s help I was able to comprehend most of what was being said. A few interesting tid bits of the tour were that ... The vineyard has the world’s largest weather vein that is 45 meters long, the largest barrel of wine held 16 thousands liters, in one of the grand rooms the owners leave out a little wine cup for the mice that live amongst the barrels (we actually saw a mouse run out and take a sip!), and a grand total of 400 employees are what it takes to keep it going year in and year out.
 |
| Part of the Vineyard. |
 | |
| Margaret Thatcher. |
 |
| Vino or Wine |
 |
| Two guiris with Tio Pepe! |
One more quick story before I wrap things up...This past week I also had the opportunity to tour an old fashioned town called, Alcala de Henares, just 35 km northeast of Madrid. For all of you literature buffs out there, Alcala de Henares was the birth place of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the two famous characters Don Quixote and his trusty sidekick Sancho Panza. Cervantes house is still well preserved after more than 400 years and is open to the public. Along with touring the house there are a couple other tourist attractions in the town, one of which is the old Alcala University (the best preserved Renaissance University complex in Europe, says my tourist brochure) and the Cathedral-Magistral of Saints Justo and Pastor. My favorite part about the cathedral had nothing to do with arches, stained glass windows or organs, but had everything to do with, Storks. Alcala is well known for its population of white storks. The protection and maintenance of their enormous nests is actually by official policy. There were several of these massive nests perched atop the cathedral. My mouth about fell all the way to the floor upon seeing these grand structures that the storks so carefully and meticulously put together. The stork population is also well kept track of, recently showing that there are 90 resident pairs in the area. Later in the week I was talking with one of our assistant coaches and he informed me that cranes are sometimes needed in order to remove the nests from the tops of old cathedrals since their weight can be too much for the old buildings to support.
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| Storks nest |
Yesterday I saw a group of grandmas sitting on a park bench talking away and eating sun flower seeds. Pretty typical here in Spain.
As a tradition I always treat myself to a pedicure after the basketball season. I found a store that wanted to charge me 50 euros or 67 US dollars. Has anyone ever heard of a pedicure costing that much?!
One of Spain’s top bull fighters was gorged in the leg the other day while bull fighting in Mexico. Ouch.
Last week Carrefour (like a super target) was having a sale on basketball jerseys. Sara Castrillo went to the store during practice (since she is still out with her sprained ankle) and purchased Spanish Pau Gasol jersey’s for all of us! They were only 3 euros a piece. I have never been a Laker fan, but since the jersey is of his Spanish team I can justify my purchase.
Well ladies and gentlemen, this is my last e-mail of the year. I will continue to live in Spain until the 22nd of May but I am afraid that I will not have the time to let you know how I am doing. I will be making trips to Malaga, Ponte Vedra, Barcelona and perhaps a few other places that are still up in the air. Thank you so much for coming along with me during this past year and for all of your e-mails and well wishes. I thoroughly enjoy hearing from all of you. Your updates give me comfort and joy as well as the sensation that I am not too far from home. I wish you all the best as the MN summer gets under way and look forward to reuniting with many of you in the very near future!
Take care everyone,
Love,
Leslie
The Marathon Game.
Our basketball game this past Saturday took a grand total of 4 hours from start to finnish. Yep, F-O-U-R. In college games usually took about 2 hours and that was including media timeouts, which we most definitely do not have here in Alcobendas.
The game was set to start at 7pm and so all of us arrived around 5:50pm. The game did in-fact start on time and we played a solid 18 minutes and 50 seconds until we were told that we had to stop and change venues. See, the weather on Saturday night was dark, gloomy, and inevitably rainy. The roof of our gym has a bit of a problem where rain is concerned, it leaks and not just a few innocent drops. I happened to be sitting on the bench when the referees called for a few towels to help soak up the small lake that was rapidly developing a few inches in-front of the free throw line. Even from the bench one could see the dangerous liquid claiming more and more territory. So, with one minute and ten seconds left in the half, we changed our shoes and climbed into our cars. The team we were playing had come from Ibiza, an island off the eastern coast of Spain and they had come from the airport to the gym in taxis which meant that they did not have transportation to the new gym. My teammates who have cars graciously invited the competition into their vehicles and drove them to the new facility.
Now that we had arrived at the new gym, which is only about a ten minute drive from our main gym, the next obstacle we had to conquer was finding a parking spot, which as you know by now can be extremely difficult in Madrid. After driving around for a bit, our physical trainer, Chiry, found us and ordered us out of the car so that he could take it and find a spot for us. Finally stepping into the gym we were struck with the realization that there was another game going on and it was only about five minutes old. With nothing else to do, we sat and watched the rest of the game. Once the game was over, we put our shoes back on, took the floor and proceeded to go through our warm-up routine one more time. The game started once again and after one minute and ten seconds it was halftime. Luckily, the referees decided that three minutes was a sufficient amount of time for the half. We played another twenty minutes and by the time the buzzer sounded it was darn near 11pm. Never in my life have I ever been a part of something so comedic, it just seemed like it was one thing after the other. Crooks, Cobi, Castrillo and I will laugh about this day for a long time.
I guess I should also probably tell you what the outcome of the game was. 87-79, Alcobendas walked away with the W. We lost to Ibiza the first time around on a last second 3 point shot. I was a bit more nervous for this game because Ibiza had acquired a new post player since Christmas. Before the holidays Lori Nero had been playing in the first division in Spain, but must have been let go from her team, regardless we knew she was going to be good. In college she played three years at Auburn and then finished her senior year at Louisville. She was then drafted by the Houston Comets in 2003. Nero definitely did her damage against us, scoring 29 points, but it was not enough. Our starting point guard, Castrillo, was sidelined due to a sprained ankle but Cobi stepped in and did a fabulous job. We finished with five players in double figures and even executed against their zone, it was a good day. A win will always feel sweet, it is just too bad that we will not be going to playoffs, but Ibiza will if they win their next home game.
Now, what would one of my e-mails be if I did not have at least one paragraph dedicated to food, eh? Lucia, the mother of Alvaro and Mario, has been telling me for weeks now that I have to go to Casa Mingo and try their roasted chicken before I head back to the USA (because their chicken is the best in Madrid). So, this past Wednesday her wish was my command. Casa Mingo is a very old Asturian (northern region of Spain) style restaurant in Madrid that was founded in 1888. They are famous for their roasted chicken and for their cider. Their chorizo and cheese desserts are also rather tasty and unique since they too are made with the sparkling cider. The chicken was phenomenal, period. Besides the great food, I really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere, the old wooden tables, high vaulted ceilings, the large barrels of cider that adorned the walls and the charming waiters, some of whom have been working there for decades.
Now I can check Casa Mingo off of my list as well as El Riojano. El Riojano is another beautifully cared for antique that is sitting along calle Mayor, having been founded in 1855 by Damaso de la Maza, who was actually the chief confectioner for Queen Isabel II. This wonderfully precious cafe appears quite small to the untrained eye. I have actually walked right past it a half dozen times without even giving it a seconds glance. Thankfully I was introduced to it’s richness just this past Sunday. We ordered coffee and these flaky, heart shaped pastries (palmeras de chocolate) that have one half that is covered in chocolate. The cafe’s employees continuously walked past our table carrying large plates of freshly baked treats. I could not help but gaze in delight at each new item that was brought out of the kitchen. I truly believe that Casa Mingo and El Riojano are two places that travelers need to visit before they leave Madrid. I am only sorry that I am just learning about them now and not when my parents were here.
Leslie’s Loose Ends:
It is very common for parks in Spain to provide several ping-pong tables. All you have to do is bring your paddle and a ball. How great is that?
This past week in practice we have been playing a lot of fun games, for example, musical chairs, freeze tag, basketball with a large exercise ball and even a man made game of foosball!
The volcanic ash has been causing a ton of problems for travelers in Europe. I am amazed at how many people I have come to know who are being directly affected by this natural disaster.
A good friend of mine sent me some Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies the other day in the mail. I offered them to my roommates and Sara Castrillo gave me a look that I have come to know all too well. “Como en las peliculas! Fue un Girl Scout?!” (Just like in the movies, you were a girl scout?!) We then went on to have a long conversation about Sara’s thoughts about girl scouts and how they are basically the female version of Family Matter’s main star, Steve Urkel. Sara about died when I told her that yes, I went from door to door selling cookies and that yes, I had a sash with badges on it, such as the outdoors and campfire cooking. They do have some form of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in Spain, but I get the impression that it is not too popular. In my elementary school, practically every boy and girl participated in Scouts.
We have our last game this weekend, how fast time flies.
ciao,
Leslie
The game was set to start at 7pm and so all of us arrived around 5:50pm. The game did in-fact start on time and we played a solid 18 minutes and 50 seconds until we were told that we had to stop and change venues. See, the weather on Saturday night was dark, gloomy, and inevitably rainy. The roof of our gym has a bit of a problem where rain is concerned, it leaks and not just a few innocent drops. I happened to be sitting on the bench when the referees called for a few towels to help soak up the small lake that was rapidly developing a few inches in-front of the free throw line. Even from the bench one could see the dangerous liquid claiming more and more territory. So, with one minute and ten seconds left in the half, we changed our shoes and climbed into our cars. The team we were playing had come from Ibiza, an island off the eastern coast of Spain and they had come from the airport to the gym in taxis which meant that they did not have transportation to the new gym. My teammates who have cars graciously invited the competition into their vehicles and drove them to the new facility.
Now that we had arrived at the new gym, which is only about a ten minute drive from our main gym, the next obstacle we had to conquer was finding a parking spot, which as you know by now can be extremely difficult in Madrid. After driving around for a bit, our physical trainer, Chiry, found us and ordered us out of the car so that he could take it and find a spot for us. Finally stepping into the gym we were struck with the realization that there was another game going on and it was only about five minutes old. With nothing else to do, we sat and watched the rest of the game. Once the game was over, we put our shoes back on, took the floor and proceeded to go through our warm-up routine one more time. The game started once again and after one minute and ten seconds it was halftime. Luckily, the referees decided that three minutes was a sufficient amount of time for the half. We played another twenty minutes and by the time the buzzer sounded it was darn near 11pm. Never in my life have I ever been a part of something so comedic, it just seemed like it was one thing after the other. Crooks, Cobi, Castrillo and I will laugh about this day for a long time.
I guess I should also probably tell you what the outcome of the game was. 87-79, Alcobendas walked away with the W. We lost to Ibiza the first time around on a last second 3 point shot. I was a bit more nervous for this game because Ibiza had acquired a new post player since Christmas. Before the holidays Lori Nero had been playing in the first division in Spain, but must have been let go from her team, regardless we knew she was going to be good. In college she played three years at Auburn and then finished her senior year at Louisville. She was then drafted by the Houston Comets in 2003. Nero definitely did her damage against us, scoring 29 points, but it was not enough. Our starting point guard, Castrillo, was sidelined due to a sprained ankle but Cobi stepped in and did a fabulous job. We finished with five players in double figures and even executed against their zone, it was a good day. A win will always feel sweet, it is just too bad that we will not be going to playoffs, but Ibiza will if they win their next home game.
Now, what would one of my e-mails be if I did not have at least one paragraph dedicated to food, eh? Lucia, the mother of Alvaro and Mario, has been telling me for weeks now that I have to go to Casa Mingo and try their roasted chicken before I head back to the USA (because their chicken is the best in Madrid). So, this past Wednesday her wish was my command. Casa Mingo is a very old Asturian (northern region of Spain) style restaurant in Madrid that was founded in 1888. They are famous for their roasted chicken and for their cider. Their chorizo and cheese desserts are also rather tasty and unique since they too are made with the sparkling cider. The chicken was phenomenal, period. Besides the great food, I really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere, the old wooden tables, high vaulted ceilings, the large barrels of cider that adorned the walls and the charming waiters, some of whom have been working there for decades.
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| From the outside |
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| The interior of Casa Mingo |
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| The famous chicken. |
Leslie’s Loose Ends:
It is very common for parks in Spain to provide several ping-pong tables. All you have to do is bring your paddle and a ball. How great is that?
This past week in practice we have been playing a lot of fun games, for example, musical chairs, freeze tag, basketball with a large exercise ball and even a man made game of foosball!
The volcanic ash has been causing a ton of problems for travelers in Europe. I am amazed at how many people I have come to know who are being directly affected by this natural disaster.
A good friend of mine sent me some Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies the other day in the mail. I offered them to my roommates and Sara Castrillo gave me a look that I have come to know all too well. “Como en las peliculas! Fue un Girl Scout?!” (Just like in the movies, you were a girl scout?!) We then went on to have a long conversation about Sara’s thoughts about girl scouts and how they are basically the female version of Family Matter’s main star, Steve Urkel. Sara about died when I told her that yes, I went from door to door selling cookies and that yes, I had a sash with badges on it, such as the outdoors and campfire cooking. They do have some form of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in Spain, but I get the impression that it is not too popular. In my elementary school, practically every boy and girl participated in Scouts.
We have our last game this weekend, how fast time flies.
ciao,
Leslie
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