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. 

Claudia is front left, Tanja is front right, behind her is Elena and straight back is Sara.

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