WE WIN!

By the title of this blog, I hope you can tell- we got our first win!!! I'm so excited and happy for our team. Of course there are quite a few games that we should have won before this one, but it's a great feeling to finally get a win.

We played against Aris, who was 1 above us in the rankings. They have an American post player on their team, too. Her name is Monique Oliver and she played at Rutgers, which means that I played against her at least once every year in college since Rutgers was in our league. Monique has been having a great season so far. She's been averaging a lot of points and rebounds and overall has been playing really well. I knew it was personally going to be a tough game going against her and I was hoping that our guards would have solid games. 

Our guards did play a solid overall game, which was key for our win. Our older point guard had 20 points and made some clutch plays at the end of the game. Our younger point guard (she's 16!) had 7 assists! She did a great job of distributing the ball. The rest of our guards played great defense and also contributed on the offensive end by getting offensive rebounds and making big time shots and good passes. I actually had one of my better games , too. I didn't score so many points, but I pulled down a lot of rebounds and played a good defensive game. I was so happy with the win that I could have cared less if I had a good or bad game. All that matters is that we won! It was a happy bus ride home!

When we got home, I got a message from one of the other American players on a different team here in Athens asking if I wanted to meet up with her and go out to one of the clubs. I was exhuasted and really wanted to go to sleep but I thought it would be a lot of fun to see the nightlife scene here so I decided to go! And I'm really glad that I went. I had a great time! We stayed out really late (or really early!) depending on how you look at it but we met some cool people and had a blast. So I spent most of the day yesterday laying in bed recovering haha. 

Today, I came to the downtown/center area to do some Christmas shopping and to get Starbucks! They don't have the same seasonal drinks here (no white peppermint mocha) but I had a pretty good drink- a toffee nut latte. I'm currently sitting in Starbucks, using their free wifi and enjoying my hot coffee while writing this blog.

Our coach just told me the other day that I can go home for Christmas a few days earlier than expected. This was such happy news for me! I'll be home next week and can't wait to see everybody back home! I know I'll have a lot of fun!

We have another game this weekend and again, it's against a team that we should be able to beat. It would be so awesome to head into the Christmas break having won 2 games in a row. Then, we'll come back and gear up for the 2nd half of the season. 

Well, that's all the news I have for now. Thanks for checking in!

December?!?!

Welcome to December! It's hard to believe that Christmas is only a couple of weeks away. With that being said, that means that I'll be home in a couple of weeks!! I'm really excited to come home and see everybody and take a long shower!!!

My mom left a week ago so I've got about 2 weeks left till I get to go home. She made me a sweet little Advent calendar so I have a treat to look forward to every day! So far this week, I've gotten some chocolates and a Starbucks gift card! I'm gonna go to Starbucks on Monday! If I wrote to you guys about everything that my mom and I did, I could fill up 3 blogs so instead I'll give you a couple of quick sentences.

We rented a car and drove to Old Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games. The ruins of the buildings there are awesome and the museum was really cool, too. Although we didn't have the best weather, I'm really glad we got to see that. As an athlete, the significance of seeing the birthplace of the greatest sports stage in the world was really amazing. We also went to Sounio, another city with some ruins. Of course we did all of the traditional touristy things in Athens and did some shopping, although not nearly as much as when my sisters were here!

It was awesome to have my mom here to spend Thanksgiving with. If you remember, I wrote about that in my last blog! This week has gone by really fast so hopefully these next 2 weeks will fly by as well! Our team still hasn't won yet (0-6) but we play again tomorrow and I really believe we can win this game and our game next week, too. It would be awesome to go into Christmas with 2 wins.

I cannot wait to get home for Christmas! I have so many people to see and things to do and so much food to eat! I've been making a mental list of all of the fatty American food I want to stuff up on before I come back! I'm looking forward to spending time in both Columbia and Chicago and seeing family and friends in both places. My mom and I are planning on catching the DePaul game on the 29th in Peoria and I'm trying to get some tickets to the Bulls game on the 28th in Chicago. 

Another thing I'm excited for when I get home is to open the packages I have waiting for me at home! I've done quite a bit of online shopping since I've been here. My sisters brought me some of the stuff that I had bought but there will be more when I get home! Sometimes it's nice to treat yourself to things. I'm trying really hard to save up a lot of the money that I'm making because my cousin and I are planning a backpacking trip through Europe for 2 months this spring, but I also like to do nice things for myself and for others. 

That's all I can think of for now. Thanks for checking in!

Thanksgiving, Greek Edition

Wow, I can't believe today was Thanksgiving! It felt like a normal Thursday to me. This morning, my mom let me sleep in for a Thanksgiving treat! When people aren't here to visit, I usually sleep until noon or 1 pm. However, while I've got guests, I wake up quite a bit earlier. We've also been doing A LOT of walking, so when you add in my practices and running on less sleep, I'm pretty tired by the end of the day! This afternoon, we went to the top of Mt Lycabettus. It's the highest point in the city and overlooks all of Athens. It is really a spectacular view. You can see the Acropolis, down to the sea, and all the way north. It made me realize just how huge Athens is!

After Mt Lycabettus, we were going to have Thanksgiving lunch in Glyfada. Glyfada is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Athens. There are tons of bars, restaurants, and shops in Glyfada. Since we knew we weren't going to be able to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, we decided that we were going to have as traditional of an American meal as possible. For me, practices are at night, so we had to have Thanksgiving lunch instead of dinner. We chose TGI Fridays and headed out there on the tram. We both had chicken with mashed potatoes and as a treat, ordered dessert! Apple pie is one of my most favorite desserts and I was so thrilled they had it. While enjoying our desserts, the power went out! All of the lights and electricity in the building went out. So I whipped out my phone and used my handy dandy 'Flashlight' app and we finished our dessert by the candlelight of my phone.

Today on the tram to our Thanksgiving lunch, a homeless man was begging for money. While I couldn't understand a word he was saying, I pretty much gathered that he was homeless and asking for some money or something to eat. A young guy gave the homeless man some food he had just recently bought and by the looks of it, you would have thought that the homeless man had just received a five course meal from the nicest restaurant in town. He was so appreciative and thankful for the small amount of food from a random stranger. While they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, it reminded me of all I have to be thankful for. Yes, I'm living alone in a foreign country and I moved here without knowing a soul, but this has been an eye opening experience for me and has made me realize what a truly fortunate and blessed life I have lived so far. I'd like to share with you guys some of the things I'm thankful for today:

-A loving and supportive family who would travel across the world, literally, to support me and my dreams

-My past and present teammates. My past teammates at DePaul are some of my closest friends and I'll always have them in my life. My current teammates who have made me feel so welcome here. A special shout out to my translator teammates, Jenny and Anna Maria, who are constantly letting me know what the coaches and girls are saying when they speak in Greek. And a special thank you for the teammates here who are trying their hardest to speak English so they can talk to me, even when they don't know much!

- iMessage, FaceTime, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Blogspot and all other social media that has allowed me to keep in touch with friends and loved ones back home!

-My health and the health of my loved ones

-My coaches, past and present. Grade school, high school, college, and now beyond. Each one has taught me not only about basketball and every other sport, but also about life 

-My friends back home. I know that they are always just a text message away and they will always be there for me. I can tell them about the good times and the bad, I can laugh with them and I can cry with them, and I know that they will always have my back, no matter where in the world I am

-Internet cafe's, especially the VS Cafe and all of the employees there who always greeted me with a smile and a Freddo Cappuccino. (Side note, I still go back once a week even though I have wifi in my apartment now, just because I miss them! Not sure they miss me though! Ha!)

-A support team back home. Not just my family, but every person that reads my blog or checks my Facebook and wishes me well. There are more people than I realize that want me succeed and that are rooting for me. It's really great to have you in my corner, even if I don't always know or acknowledge that you're there

-WiFi in my apartment. Enough said

-Basketball. Bball has taken me some really awesome places. Not just around the globe, but in personal growth as well. It has helped introduce me to my closest friends and has provided an outlet for me in tough times. Basketball led me to college where I got a great education and has led me to fulfilling my dreams of playing professional ball. I've been to Denmark, France, Hawaii, the US Virgin Islands, Greece, Rome and countless other cities and states because of basketball. I've played and won against the best in the nation and have also come up short. I've celebrated because of basketball and I've cried because of basketball. I've known victory and I've known defeat. Basketball has led me through some deep valleys, but also some very high mountain peaks. 

I could continue to go on and on with things I'm thankful for. I could talk about every family member I have and every friend I have and every cool thing I have ever done or experienced. And someday when I'm feeling down, I should because it would be a great reminder of how fortunate I am. I've done and seen some really amazing things in my relatively short life thus far and I'm blessed with the best support system a girl could ask for.

So while I couldn't have turkey and mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and 3 different kinds of apple pie, that's not what the holiday is about to me anymore. And while I couldn't spend the holiday at home where my family lives, I've realized that family lives in your heart, too. I might be 6000 miles away from them most of the time, but I'm more thankful for them now than ever. 

Today, I'm thankful for every day that I've woken up and been able to live my life. I'm living out my dream. Yeah, some days it's tough, but it's also made me really thankful for what and who I do have in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

36 Hours in Rome

Wow, I had a crazy quick trip to Rome! My flight landed at the Rome Fiumicino Airport at 1 pm on Sunday and I had to figure out how to get to the city centre and to my hotel, which was near the Trevi Fountain. I researched some options and found that a taxi would cost me 50 euros or taking the Leonardo Express train would only cost 14 euros! Of course, I took the train. It dropped me off at the Rome Termini Station. I decided to walk from there to my hotel. It only took about 20 min to locate my hotel! I was really proud of myself for finding my way there!

After checking in, it was only about 3:30 so I headed out to explore Rome! I walked over and saw the Trevi Fountain and took some pics there before moving on. Next up, the Pantheon. After checking out the Pantheon, it was still pretty early, so I headed towards the Colosseum. While walking towards the Colosseum, I passed by the Roman Forum. The sun was setting so I had a really pretty view of the sunset and the forum. I only got to see the outside of the Colosseum on Sunday night so I knew that I was going to be heading back there on Monday to go inside. After checking out the outside, I headed back towards my hotel for dinner and gelato! Along my way back, I passed by a lot of leather stores and couldn't stop myself from stopping in! I found a bag that I fell in love with but didn't buy because I didn't want to spend the money on it. I stopped in a little restaurant for dinner close to the Trevi fountain. I had a delicious dish of baked lasagna and a side of bruschetta. This was the first time that I've had pasta since I've left home and it didn't disappoint! 

Once I was finished with dinner, I thought I would head over to the Piazza de Spagna and see the Spanish Steps. So many people were sitting on the steps that it was hard to get a good picture, but I'm glad I went by there. Then I headed back towards the Trevi Fountain and got some gelato and sat and watched the fountain.

Monday morning I got up early because I had booked a tour of the Vatican. I asked the concierge at my hotel the best way to get there and he recommended the Subway. I left really early and walked to the entrance to the Vatican museum. Since the company I booked the tour through didn't send me a verification email, I couldn't go on the tour. Frustrated as hell, I headed back to the hotel. Upon walking in the doors to the hotel and my phone connecting to the WiFi, I received an email from the company telling me that my request for the tour had been declined since their offices were closed when I put the order in. There was another tour leaving at 2:30 so I booked that and decided to head to the Colosseum and Roman Forum instead. On my walk to the Colosseum, I had to pass by the Trevi Fountain again. This time, all of the water had been drained and they had collected all of the coins from the bottom. I watched while they cleaned the fountain and counted the money. They take the coins out every morning but only clean it every 2 weeks. It was kind of cool to see it all drained of water. It's definitely much prettier when the fountain is full!

The Colosseum was next on my list. I bought a ticket for entrance online so that I could skip the line and it was a great choice since the line to get in looked to be about 45 min long. It was neat to walk in there and see something I'd only ever seen pictures of before. Some parts of the Colosseum are very well preserved while others are completely gone. The pure size and design are incredible. I really enjoyed reading about the construction and history while walking through. 

After the Colosseum and Roman Forum, I had lunch at a little pizzeria. I felt like when in Rome I had to have pizza! The crust was really thin and surprisingly, the pizza itself was really salty. No matter, it was still delicious. I stopped in the leather shop that had the bag I fell in love with and decided to buy it. I knew it was something that I could keep forever and it would always remind me of my trip. Next up: tour of the Vatican. I was in one of those awesome groups that gets to wear the identifying stickers and gets to wear a headset so you can hear your tour guide. I looked like the ultimate tourist because I was wearing my camera around my neck. The only thing that would have completed my look would have been a fannypack. Anyways, we spent a lot of time in the museum of the Vatican, and rightfully so because there are so many things to see. There are some things I wish we could have spent more time looking at and other things we could have bypassed altogether in my opinion. I loved seeing the Sistine Chapel. It is an incredible piece of work. 

Our tour ended at 5:15 and we still hadn't seen St. Peter's Basilica. I thought it was included in the tour so I was kind of confused when we didn't go! I quickly bought and sent some postcards from the Vatican Post Office and then walked very quickly/ran to the Basilica. It closed at 6 and I was worried that if I didn't get there early enough before 6, they wouldn't let me in! No worries, I made it inside in time and got to see the Pieta and the tomb of Pope John Paul II. There was a mass going on so there was a big section of the church that was blocked off. It was so beautiful inside and I wish I would have had more time to spend in there. Dinner on Monday night was at another restaurant close to my hotel. Pasta and bruschetta were on my menu again, of course! 

Tuesday morning came too soon and I had to leave early to catch my flight back to Athens. I was sad to leave Rome but I had a great trip and made the most of my time there! I'm really glad I decided to go and see everything there. It would have been easy to stay home and just hang out at my apartment for 2 days but I went out of my comfort zone and I'm really glad I did. Check out some pics from my trip below!

The Pietá

Inside the Colosseum

Colosseum at night

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

And since 'selfie' was just named word of the year by the Oxford Dictionary, I'll include a selfie of me at the Trevi Fountain

'Dancing' With My Basketball Club

If you remember from my last blog, last week we played against Paok in Thessoloniki. We had a 7 hour bus ride back to Athens and my sister left immediately after we got back. Her flight was very early Sunday morning so she stayed at a hotel out by the airport. After she left, I went through what we could call 'family withdrawal.' It was so awesome having my sisters here for a week and sharing and doing everything with them. They helped me completely transform my apartment so it feels more home-y and it was really nice to have somebody to eat with! The good news for me is that my mom will be here on Friday for 10 days! I'm really looking forward to her visit!

This weekend we didn't have a game. It's been nice to not have a game so we could rest our bodies a little bit. We did however have 2 friendly scrimmages against Proteas Voulas and Panathinaikos. I can really tell that our team is getting better! I'm optimistic about how we will take on this next part of the season after our abysmal start. 

After our scrimmage against Panathinaikos on Saturday afternoon, our club was hosting a 'dance' at our gym Saturday night. We were all invited to come and we could bring whoever we wanted to. My whole team was going to be there and the younger teams were going as well. The men's team was going to be there too. They had a raffle for some prizes and we all ate and drank together. They tried to get me up to dance one of the traditional Greek dances, but since I'm not much of a dancer, I kindly passed on that invitation. It was really fun to sit around with my teammates and some of the men's team. Up to this point, I hadn't met any of the guys so it was cool to meet them and talk to them. They are even trying to teach me some Greek! 

One piece of advice I got from a friend that has played overseas for a few years is to travel whenever you have the weekend off, even when you don't feel like it. Since we had both Sunday and Monday off and we don't have practice until 8 PM on Tuesday, I decided that I would make the most of my 2 days off and travel to Rome! My sisters went to Rome for a few days before coming to Athens and from their stories and pictures, I knew this was a place I wanted to visit. So I got up early Sunday morning and made my way to the airport to catch a flight to Rome! I have a tour scheduled for the Vatican for Monday morning and am also planning on taking a tour of the Colosseum. I'm staying in the city center, very close to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps so I will definitely see those as well as the Roman Forum. I'm trying to pack as much sightseeing into my trip as possible! I'm really excited about my visit!

I'll blog again when I get back from Rome and include some pictures. Ciao! 

Reunited with my sisters!

I'm sorry it's been awhile since I've written, and there is a lot that has gone on but I'll try and fill you in on that quickly!

We are still looking for our first win as a team in the regular season. If you remember, we beat Athinikos in a Cup game, but that is different than the regular season. We have played 5 games but haven't won yet. When you come from a teams like Rock Bridge and DePaul where you expect to win all of your games, it's hard to adjust to not winning. Of course we lost games when playing for RB and DPU, but we never ever started out 0-5 or ever lost 5 games in a row in any season. I hate losing. I feel that we are so close to turning our season around so I am trying to be optimistic about this. 

I've mastered the Metro system! Every Monday and Thursday, I take the red train to Syntagma and then transfer to the blue train towards the airport in order to get to ACS (American Community School).  The train system is very similar to that of the el system in Chicago so it was pretty easy to pick up on. I don't want to be too adventurous just yet but I feel much more comfortable going places. 

For example, I went from my neighborhood to the Acropolis a few weeks ago by myself because I wanted to do something during the day. It costs $12 Euro (about $15 American dollars) to go up to the top. I carted along my camera and made the sweaty trek to the top. In order to get to the top, you have to walk up a very steep hillside. You walk past many very cool historic sites, such as Dionysus' Theatre and other smaller structures. While a lot of the walk up is ruins, you can still see and appreciate the beauty and hard work it took to construct the entire Acropolis. Depending on how long you stop to take pictures, it takes about 30 minutes to walk to the top but once you're up there, the views of Athens and the Parthenon itself are worth the 12 € and hike up the hill. To say that the views are breathtaking is an understatement. I never realized how large Athens was until I went to the top. I had one of those 'holy shit' moments. It hit me that I'm living in such a major part of history. I was walking amongst the things you see pictured and written about in books. Some people will never have the opportunity to see this with their own eyes. While its hard to be away from friends and family, my solo trip to the top of the Acropolis helped put things into perspective and was life-changing. I sat at the top over looking the city for probably an hour just reflecting on how blessed I am to have this incredible experience to live in a foreign country for 8 months and to live in a city so enriched with history. I realized how privileged of a life I have had leading up to this thanks to my parents and my family and I realized how truly amazing this experience is. It's a once in a lifetime kind of thing that I'm really glad I've been given the chance to capitalize on. 

On November 1st, my sisters arrived in Athens! They spent a few days in Rome visiting the Vatican before finally heading my way. The day that they arrived marked 6 weeks that I had been in Athens. They could not have come at a better time. They got in on Friday night very late, about 11 pm and I met them at their hotel. I was so happy to see them that I started crying in the hotel lobby when they walked in!! I couldn't believe that they were finally here in Athens and that I would be spending a whole week with them! They got to see me play a game on Saturday and on Sunday we took a day cruise to 3 islands, (Hydra, Poros, and Aegina). On the day cruise, we spent a couple of hours on each island where we took lots of pictures and shopped lots! We bought some great souvenirs for friends and family back home and of course for ourselves. 

Monday, we thought we would check out the Acropolis museum to get a background of the artifacts found there during excavation before heading up to the top. However, the museum had other plans. It's closed every Monday! So instead, we headed up to the top of the Acropolis! While going to the top by myself was great, it was really nice to be able to share that experience with my sisters, too. We spent a couple of hours walking up and at the top. After that, we went to lunch at a restaurant in the Plaka. This was about the time that my sister Liz discovered her love affair with tzadziki. For those of you that don't know, tzadziki is a kind of sauce that is made with yogurt and cucumber and some spices. It's commonly used when having souvlaki or gyros. However, Elizabeth would order entire plates full of it to eat with some pretzels and the rest of her lunch or dinner. 

Tuesday we did some shopping and then went back to the Acropolis museum and spent a couple of hours walking around and looking at everything they found during excavation. It was incredible to me to look at all of the statues and relics found. The detail in the statues and carvings and paintings is astounding. It took them years to build everything, and you can tell. There was a lot that I couldn't look at because there was so much there, but now I'll have other things to spend longer looking at and reading about when my mom comes in a few weeks! At the end of the museum tour, we stopped in the museum bookstore and I bought some books about Greek mythology and the Acropolis and the museum. I'm really interested in all of this and am excited to read about it. With all of my new reading and researching about the Acropolis, my sisters and I were joking that I could become a tour guide for anybody that comes to visit! So, if any of you come to Athens while I'm here, let me know and I will be your private tour guide!! :)

On Wednesday the weather was pretty crummy so we decided to shop our way through the Plaka. There were a lot of stores very close to our hotel so we just shopped up and down Ermou street. On Tuesday when I had to leave for practice, my sisters discovered a rug shop, called The Loom, and had made quick friends with its owner, Theo. They each bought rugs for their homes and thought that I should have one for my apartment here, that I could then take home with me in the spring and put in my future home/apartment. We visited Theo at the rug shop where I proceeded to buy two rugs and then had lunch at his Aunts restaurant in the Plaka. We also stopped at a home goods store to buy some things for my apartment.

With the help of my sisters, we have completely redecorated my apartment! I got rugs, a table cloth to cover up my Rubbermaid kitchen table, fabric for another piece of furniture, an accent pillow, new sheets and a new blanket, wall decorations, a couple of baskets, and more odds and ends. While I thought my apartment was fine before they got here, they have helped make it feel much homier. I didn't realize how much of a difference a few little things would make but I'm very glad they helped me fix it up! 

The weather on Thursday was much better so we decided that we would go to the Panathenaic Stadium, the only marble stadium in the world and home of the first modern Olympics in 1896. It was also used in the 2004 Olympics that were held in Athens. But before we could check that out, we had to camp out at my apartment for a few hours so they could finally come set up my Internet at my apartment!!!! After 7 long weeks without WiFi, I'm finally connected back to life in the States without having to frequent the VS Cafe and without going to practice 2 hours early! (I won't share on here the other measures I went to in order to check in back home!) Tears were also shed on Thursday when I finally connected to the Internet in my apartment. It was the first time I could FaceTime with my mom and show her my apartment so I really enjoyed that. I'm looking forward to sharing it with the rest of my family and my friends! 

When I moved to Athens, my sister Liz found this awesome website by a guy named Matt Barrett called the Athens Survival Guide. His site has been somewhat of a bible for me since I've moved here and I've used it to check out restaurants and places to visit. He has great suggestions of things to do and visit while you're here. One of the places on his site that he talks about a lot is called Melissinos Sandal Shop. I suggest that you guys Google the shop and check it out! It's a really neat shop that makes leather sandals custom fit to your feet. We went in on Tuesday afternoon after the museum and spent about an hour in there having sandals custom-made for us. And I'm not exaggerating when I say custom-made in my case. They didn't even have any sandals in my size to try on in any style so they had me step on a base and measured where the toe-piece should go. Then they nailed and glued the shoes together to make them perfect and constantly had me trying them on during the whole process to ensure a good fit. Mar and Liz both got 2 pairs of sandals and I'm sure I'll go back for another pair before I leave! I decided on the 'Jackie O' style while Mar and Liz each got the 'Cleopatra' and another pair. Mar got the 'Jackie O' as well and Liz opted for the 'Aristotle' as their second pairs. I've thought that these would be great gifts to get people, but part of the charm of the shoe is having it fit to your feet. It's an awesome experience! I'm looking forward to taking my mom there, as well! Melissinos sandals have been made for the Beatles, Barbara Streisand, and many other celebrities. Pantelis Melissino is the current member in a line of sandal makers from his family to run the shop. Seriously, google the guy. He writes poetry, paints beautiful art, and makes sandals. He's a pretty cool dude. And we had the pleasure and fortune of sitting with him while he and one of his assistants made our sandals. 

Friday morning came much too quick after a week long of fun with my sisters. Although my body,  sleep schedule and wallet will be glad to be getting back on their schedule, I'm really sad they left. We had a game this weekend in Thessaloniki, which is a 7 hour bus ride away from Athens. This meant that we had to leave on Friday for our Saturday game. Liz's flight was early Saturday morning so I had to say goodbye to her on Friday. I'm not exactly sure what she did on Friday afternoon and evening, but I'm sure it involved more tzadziki! Mar's flight wasn't until Sunday morning so she came on the trip with us. She rode the bus with the team and stayed in our hotel with us. I stayed in her room because I wanted to spend more time with her!

It's hard to have my sisters leave, but a shining light is that my mom is coming in less than 2 weeks! Considering that I used to see my mom 2 and sometimes 3 times a week during basketball season, it's crazy to think that it'll have been 9 weeks since having seen her. She'll be here for 10 days and then I'll be heading home for Christmas 3 weeks after that. I have a feeling that these weeks leading up to going home for Christmas are going to fly by! 

Hopefully, I've covered the major things that have been happening in my life since last updating everybody! For those of you that would like to see pictures of my time here, I have an album on Facebook with quite a few pictures in it. Add me on Facebook to check out the pics!! I just downloaded an app on my iPad for blogging so I'll try to start including some pics on here as well. Thanks for checking in and here are a taste of the pictures in my Facebook album! Go check it out!

This a picture of the Parthenon. They are working on restoring parts of it, which is why there is so much scaffolding up

Sitting on the Queen's Throne at the Panathenaic Stadium

One of our many 'sisters selfies' on the island of Poros. 

This is a picture from the Theatre of Dionysus. These figures are towards where the stage would be considered

basketball and other adventures!

Since I’ve last written to you guys, we’ve had two games. We lost both games, but perhaps more frustrating than losing, is that we could have and should have won them both. On Wednesday, we played Panathanaikos, arguably the best team in our league. We were only down two points going into the fourth quarter and then they just ran away with it. We had too many turnovers and gave up too many offensive rebounds. They had so many fans at the game! I was shocked at how well they traveled. The entire game, their fans were singing, cheering, and beating on a large drum. While it was really hard to hear the plays that my teammates were calling, it was a great atmosphere to play in, maybe even one of the craziest ones I’ve ever experienced.

After our game Wednesday, we had a quick turn around and had to play again on Saturday. On Saturday, we played Proteas Voulas, another really talented team. We got down early and started to come back, but they kept hitting shots and getting offensive rebounds. We ended up losing by 11. While I hate losing, I can see that our team is making huge improvements over the first couple of games we played when I first got here. We will also finally be getting our head coach this week. This will be the 3^rd/4^th coach since I’ve been here. We have a coach that has been practicing with us, and then one that has been coaching us in games. I’m excited to see how we will bounce back from these games and tackle the rest of the season and how we will respond to the new coach.

Still no internet at my apartment- I’m getting very friendly with the workers at the VS Café! However, I do know that the CARDS ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES!! And Mizzou Football is 7-0!! It is such an awesome time to be a sports fan in Missouri! I love keeping up with them and wish I were home to partake in the celebrations! I hope it can continue!

There is less than two weeks until my sisters come! They could not be coming at a better time! I cannot wait for their arrival and will probably cry when I see them. I think this is the longest I’ve ever gone without being with family and I must say that I don’t like it one bit! My mom is coming in a month and I’ll be home for Christmas in two months! Considering that I used to see my mom about 2 times a week when it was basketball season, it’s weird to look up and not see her in the stands.

The TV in my apartment gets about 6 channels and the only one in English is CNN… so I don’t watch much TV. Today (Monday) was my first day volunteering at the American school this week. I had really little boys today, 6 and 7 year olds and they are full of energy! I’ll go back on Thursday and help with boys that are a little bit older. I’m really excited about this opportunity!

That’s it for now!

Checking in!

I realize that I haven’t written in awhile so I will try and update everybody on what has been going on!

We played two weekends ago against Athinaikos, one of the best teams in the league. We had just played them the previous weekend and lost by 20 so I knew it was going to be a good game. We started out really strong and built a pretty good lead in the first quarter. At half time, we were up by 6 I think. They started coming back in the third and fourth quarters and we ended up going into overtime. We won! This was a big win for us and all of my teammates were so happy! This game was a ‘cup’ game. Since we won, we will play another cup game on December 22nd, the day before I come home for Christmas!

I still don’t have Internet at my apartment so I have been frequenting the VS Café quite a bit. They are a bar/club with darts, pool and billiards tables, ping-pong tables, and of course, Internet! I usually go there every day for a couple of hours and sip on a cappuccino. For 2 Euros, it’s worth it to walk the 20 minutes there and back everyday so I can talk to some people back home. I’m REALLY hoping that I’ll get my Internet at my apartment here in the next few days because all of the workers are starting to recognize me and don’t even have to ask what kind of coffee I want anymore!

Since I don’t have Internet, I’ve been reading a lot more. I started and finished 6 books in one week. I also play countless games of Solitaire and FreeCell on my phone or iPad. And I have some movies that I bought through iTunes, even though I’m pretty sure I know every line to just about all of the movies I have! Of the books that I have read, I would highly suggest reading The Fault in our Stars by John Green. I’ve also read Wild by Cheryl Strayed and Untouchable by Scott O’Connor. These books were so good that I would catch myself reading until 2 in the morning and then picking the book back up first thing when I woke up in the morning!

We were supposed to play this past weekend against Panathinaikos, the best team in our league. We played them a couple of weeks ago in a preseason game and lost by 15. There have been some issues with the gyms being sanctioned to play in so we couldn’t play our game on Saturday like we were supposed to because we couldn’t find a gym to play in. Now, we are scheduled to play against them tomorrow (Wednesday) at a different teams gym. I wish I could explain to you better what is wrong with the gyms but I don’t even know so I can’t exactly explain it to you guys!

I’m still learning some Greek words! I can now count to ten and I am picking up on some of the words that our coach uses frequently in practice. Right now, I’m working on perfecting ‘thank you.’ In conversations that my teammates have, I pick up on some words that sound familiar but they speak so quickly that I can’t understand a lot of it.

I’ve learned how to ride the Athens Metro! I know how to get from the metro station near my apartment to the Acropolis! I also know how to get to the American Community School of Athens! Coach Bruno knows the Athletic Director there and got me hooked up with a meeting with her. I went there on Monday morning and am going to start helping out after school with the high school girl’s basketball team when their season starts. Right now, I’m going to help out with little kids, like first through third grades. Every Monday and Thursday, I will go out there in the afternoon for a couple of hours and help teach the little ones how to play! I’m really excited about this because now I won’t be bored in my apartment every day. Also, hopefully I’ll be able to meet some more Americans, or at least English-speaking people living here!

My sisters are coming in 18 days!! I cannot wait for them to get here! I know we will have a lot of fun visiting all of the sights and shopping. And I can’t wait to speak unbroken English face to face with people!

This Friday will mark a month that I have lived here. After the first couple of days, I honestly didn’t think I would make it this long. Every day things get a little bit easier and I am becoming more comfortable in my surroundings and how to get around. The encouraging words and notes from back home do not go unnoticed, either. I’m sure when I get Internet in my apartment I will be the happiest person in this city! That will make it easier for me to get in contact with people back home. I always have to be conscious of the time change before texting somebody or calling them on FaceTime. My mom and I also figured out how to call my Greek cell phone from back home! She got a plan that allows her to call for like 30 cents a minute or something so it’s nice that she can call me even when I don’t have Internet. Today, I finally got the letter that she mailed me a couple of weeks ago! It was so awesome to walk downstairs and have mail! I’m hoping that there will be a care package or two (wink wink) sent my way during my stay here. :)

That’s all for now. Thanks for checking in!

Greek life, lately

What an eventful filled couple of days I have had since I last posted! We had another preseason tournament, our coach got fired, I’m starting to find my way around a little bit better, I figured out how to work the hot water in my apartment (!), and we all went together to dinner as a team! Let me break this down a little bit more.

This past weekend we had another preseason tournament. This time, the games were held at the gym of another team. On Saturday, we played the host team and lost by a lot. It was brutal. Nobody played well and we couldn’t hit a shot to save our lives. We played again on Sunday and personally I thought we played better. We still lost, but the margin wasn’t quite as large and our shooting and defense was a little better. After the game Sunday in the locker room, the general manager of our team told us that he and the president of the club would be taking us to dinner on Monday night instead of having training. I was really looking forward to this because I hadn’t gotten to spend much time with my teammates outside of practice and I thought this would be a good chance to get to know them a little better.

Usually during the day I watch a movie or a T.V. show that I have on my computer or iPad in the morning and then head out around noon for lunch. I walk to the main street, Agiou Dimitriou, and try to find a place where they speak a little bit of English. While I am VERY glad that a lot of people speak English, it also surprises me when so many people do. I am in their native country expecting them to speak my language. However, I’m NOT complaining about them speaking English J Anyways, on Monday I had lunch and then decided to head to one of the internet café’s around 6 so that I could use their internet to check my phone, but mainly to download the series finale of Breaking Bad (HOLY EFF). The coaches told us that dinner would be at 9:30 and I thought since the restaurant was right next door to the internet café, I would kick it for a few hours with my cappuccino and internet connection and then walk over to dinner.

9:25 rolls around and I decide that it’s a good time to head over to the restaurant where I’m sure some of my teammates are waiting. I walked next door to find nobody from my team. I tried to ask the owners of the restaurant what time they were coming but since they didn’t speak much English, they didn’t understand what I was trying to say. I waited and waited and waited for the team to show up. After about 30 minutes and 10 games of solitaire on my phone, I realized that I was not in the right spot. Since I don’t have any numbers yet in my Greek phone, I couldn’t call or text anybody to ask where I should go. One of the men affiliated with the team called the restaurant when they realized that I was temporarily missing and came to pick me up.

It took us awhile to finally find the restaurant because the streets are so confusing and there are lots of one-way streets here. When we finally got to the restaurant, the girls had already all eaten and were sipping on cocktails. They ordered me one immediately and I was served some large plates of various meats and a delicious salad. The restaurant was awesome! It was on the top of a hill overlooking all of Athens and a huge port for boats. I could see the Acropolis right in the middle of everything and the girls also pointed our some other notable places. The music was good and the environment was so live. Even though I’m really frustrated that I missed so much of dinner with my teammates, we still had a great time together. It was fun to laugh with them and be with them outside of basketball. There are some major goofballs on the team and it was fun to hang out with them. And they are all trying to teach me some Greek! I can successfully count to 5, I know how to say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ and I know how to say ‘goodbye.’ While it’s not much, I still feel pretty accomplished!

While at dinner, I was informed that our coach had been fired. This came as a pretty big shock to me seeing as that I had only been there one week and I have never had any real coaching changes in my life. I had the same head high school coach for 4 years and the same head college coach for 4 years. Some assistants came and went but for the most part, everything was very steady. This is a professional business and things like this do happen, but I never thought it would happen to us, or the week before our first regular season game. They are searching for a new coach for us and in the meantime, one of our assistants stepped up and ran our practice last night. I thought it was a really good practice, a lot more intense and focused than the couple of practices we had last week. I’ll be curious to learn who our new coach will be.

That should be all for now! My sisters have officially booked their flights to come visit (WOOHOO) and I think my mom is in the process of booking hers (DOUBLE WOOHOO). Since the government back home has shut down, if anybody wants to come visit Greece, I will welcome all guests with open arms! J Although you’ll probably need to bring an air mattress or stay in a hotel haha!

I also want to say thanks to everybody that has reached out and contacted me since I’ve been gone. I know it’s only been a week, but your kind thoughts and words manage to put a big smile on my face and remind me how blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life. I’m a really lucky girl.

Geia sas! (That’s goodbye in Greek! And it’s pronounced like yay-sas)

Greetings from Athens!

A big HELLO from Athens, Greece!

As I am writing this, I am sitting on the balcony at my apartment. Today is Wednesday September 25, 2013. I officially got to Athens on Friday September 20^th so I have had 4 full days in the city and one half day. I want to share my story of living in Greece for 6 months so where else should I start but the beginning.

On Thursday morning I woke up bright and early so that I could catch my flight out of St Louis to Chicago. My flight was delayed almost 3 hours. I was nervous I wouldn’t have much time in Chicago to get a last bite of American food before I left. In order to calm my nerves, I got a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks, haha. Needless to say, I did make it to Chicago with plenty of time to get some good food and even charge my phone and make a few calls before boarding my flight to Paris.

I was totally THAT girl in the airport, crying on my phone to my mom and one of my best friends before leaving. I could see everyone staring at me, but I didn’t care. I was about to embark on the biggest adventure and challenge of my life and I was scared shitless. I was moving to a country where I spoke none of the native language and had to figure out living on my own for the first time, navigating a foreign town and country, and managing to play professional basketball. That’s not a small task. Don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful for this experience, but it’s not all rainbows and butterflies when you’re here.

Now, back to the trip. The flight from Chicago to Paris is about 9 hours long so I had plenty of time to sleep and watch movies. Arriving in Paris, I only had about 40 minutes to make it to my gate before my flight to Athens took off. I had to exit security, find my gate on one of the big boards, go through a new batch of security, get my passport stamped, and run to my next gate. And I mean run! I was in a middle seat the entire way from Chicago to Paris and did not get up once. My bladder and my knees were not feeling so well at this point in the trip, but of course I made it to my gate with a few minutes to spare before boarding. This would be my final leg of the journey. Soon, I would be in my new city. The flight to Athens was only 2 hours. I slept most of the way and I woke up briefly to realize that we are on our descent into Athens. However, seeing as there is an 8-hour time difference, to my little body clock, I thought it was still 6 in the morning so I fell back asleep. I awoke with the jolt of touching down on the runway and finally I was ‘home.’ My agent, Vasilis, was at the airport to pick me up. I am so grateful that he was there and that I wasn’t completely on my own yet. After gathering all of my bags (cue the happy dance that they all made it) we piled everything into his car and set off towards my hotel.

The team would be giving me an apartment close to our gym, but it needed to be cleaned and fixed up, so for the mean time, I was going to be staying at a hotel called Marina Alimas, right by the Aegean Sea. We took my things to the hotel, I changed into some shorts and Vasilis took me to lunch. The restaurant had wifi so I could text home and tell my parents and siblings and friends that I had made it. I don’t have cell phone service here so the only time that I can talk to anybody is when I have wifi. It’s challenging but I try to plan my day around when people back home will be up and I go to a spot with wifi at that time. The time difference doesn’t help much either.

My team, Kronos Agiou Dimitrio, was hosting a tournament this past weekend for the teams in our division that are from Athens. There are four teams, including mine, that are located here so we played 3 games. On Friday night, I got to meet my coaches and my teammates and watch them play a game. It was nice to be able to watch them play a little bit before being thrown in. All of the girls speak some English so I can communicate with them pretty well. The two assistant coaches speak English too, so they can translate for me. Our head coach, however, does not speak much English at all. Although he doesn’t speak much English, I can sometimes understand what he wants and what he is yelling about. A lot of the things that he wants us to fix are the same things that Coach Bruno and his staff were preaching at DePaul. After the game on Friday, the head coach and another person affiliated with our program took me to dinner at the restaurant right next to my hotel. Here, one of the guys spoke very good English and I could order with no problem. After dinner, I went back to my hotel where I used Facetime to talk with my mom and one of my friends before going to bed.

On Saturday I woke up around 3 pm after sleeping for 13 hours and I headed next door for lunch and brought along my phone in hopes that I might be able to talk to some family and friends. I again used Facetime, but this time to talk to my sister Liz and her pup, Sam. As I was eating lunch, a stray cat came up to me and started walking in and out of my legs. I bent down to pet it (STUPID!) and it stayed around, begging for more attention my entire lunch. However, that was not the only interesting part about my lunch that day. I let the English speaking man at the restaurant talk me into trying one of their cooked meals for the day. It was chicken with potatoes and I thought it sounded harmless enough. I also ordered a Greek salad because I thought it was appropriate. As he brought out my plate of chicken and potatoes, I couldn’t help but staring at the chicken claw that was sitting on my plate! Yes, you read that right, A CLAW! A literal chicken foot was chilling on my lunch plate. I was shocked and somewhat disgusted but I needed to eat so I pushed the claw to the side and ate around it. What an experience.

After lunch, I wanted to walk along the marina and take pictures on my new camera. With some money I saved from graduation, I decided to buy a new camera to document my travels this year. I was eager to test out my new camera, my sense of direction, and my new surroundings. I headed down towards the marina to walk through and look at all the boats. I saw boats of all shapes and sizes, of all materials, and all uses. There was little fishing boats mixed in with beautiful sailboats, large yachts and catamarans, speedboats and then boats that must belong to some Grecian celebrities. After walking around for a couple of hours, I headed back to my hotel to get ready for our game that night. The coaches wanted me to play some minutes if I was up to it, and I thought that playing might get my mind in a better place. I played only a little bit and our team lost, but it was good to start playing with my teammates. They tried to teach me a few plays before we started but I was so nervous, I forgot most of them anyways. We played the best team in our league, Panathanikos and we lost. We will play them again in our first Cup Game on October 6^th.

The next day was more of the same. I got up and went for a walk. This time, I went towards the right where there were some more shops, a beach, and some restaurants. I again took along my camera and couldn’t help but looking like the ultimate tourist by wearing it around my neck and stopping to take pictures every couple hundred feet. It is absolutely beautiful here. If you’ve ever been to Chicago, then you should know about the Lakeshore Drive running and biking path. It pretty much takes you the length of the city. Here, there is something similar. Its path is along the sea and there are many restaurants, beaches, and shops along it. I walked along that path and went where it took me. It was fun to people watch and take in some of the sights. I was shocked at how many people were laying out on the beaches and actually in the water, but I guess the weather is getting ready to get cooler here so people want to get in their last bit of summer. I saw a group of old men playing chess like they do at Oak Street Beach, I saw a boy getting chased by a dog, I saw lots of bikers, and LOTS of Speedos. The Speedos were an interesting sight and it seemed like everywhere I turned I saw one. I didn’t spend much time looking at the beach but instead out over the water or at the shops and restaurants. After I had lunch, I again headed back to my hotel because we had another game that night. I played again, and we lost, again. It’s frustrating to lose, but our coach wasn’t so disappointed. He knows that we will be much better once we practice with each other and our point guard gets back from being hurt.

Monday morning I woke up kind of early and thought I would walk more towards the center of the city. I only stayed on one street because I was worried about getting lost and I cannot read the street signs to tell me how to get back to where I was coming from. That night, instead of practice, we watched film as a team. During film, our coach highlighted to us what we were doing wrong and what he wanted us to do instead.  The assistant coach sat next to me and was translating everything he was saying.

On my way back to the hotel after film, the assistant coach told me there was a TGI Fridays not too far from my hotel and dropped me off there for dinner. You have NO idea how happy I was to be eating American food and to be able to order in English. It didn’t matter that I was eating by myself and didn’t have any wifi. I was having a salad with ranch dressing and a cheeseburger with fries. It doesn’t sound like much to those of you back home, but after having chicken for every meal, I was in heaven. On my walk back to my hotel, I stopped at a mini mart and found Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, a magazine in English, Powerade, and beer! You can imagine my excitement at finding these things. It was the best 16 Euros I’ve spent yet. I went back to my hotel, found a bootleg movie site and started watching ‘The Butler’ while eating my ice cream and having a beer.

Tuesday morning I got a call saying that my apartment was ready so I packed up my bags. The general manager of the club picked me up and asked what I wanted to eat for lunch and I said chicken, so they took me to the mall to a KFC. Ha! The KFC here isn’t like the KFC at home, but the gesture that they wanted to make me feel comfortable is what matters the most. We spent quite a few hours at the mall before my apartment was finally ready. I got to my apartment about 5:45 and was able to start officially unpacking my bags! I got all of my stuff into the closet space, although I need some hangers for my dresses, skirts, jeans, and jackets. Unfortunately, my apartment does not have wifi yet so I have to either walk to the gym, which is only a 5-minute walk, or find a restaurant that has wifi. So far, I haven’t found any restaurants with wifi that are close, but the walk to the gym is worth it so that I can talk to friends and family.

Last night was my first official practice with the team. The coach tried to put in about 6 plays and I think I have them down for the most part in my head. Some of them are very similar so I really have to concentrate when running them. The girls usually call out the plays in Greek so they have to call them out in English for now as well.

This morning some workmen came to my apartment about 7:45 am to install what I think is a heater in my bathroom, although I’m really not sure. All I know is that there was a lot of loud banging and drilling going on but I refused to wake up. I had an individual practice with the coach this morning at 11 at our gym. I got up at 10, stopped by a mini mart for a Powerade and a croissant and then headed to the gym. I wanted to get there early enough to use the Internet and check my phone. I finally was able to check Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, my emails, and my iMessages after about 16 hours of being away from Internet. I had quite a few texts from family and friends, and even had some emails from my sisters with their itineraries of when they are coming to visit! That has made this day so much better. After my short individual practice with my coach, I walked back towards my apartment and stumbled upon a small farmers market. However, it wasn’t just home grown foods being sold, but also clothing and things for the house. I bought some grapes and a couple of apples. For lunch today, I had souvlaki, which is what most American’s think of as a gyro. It was chicken gyro meat with tomatoes and a mustard sauce wrapped in a pita. We have practice tonight at 8 so I will probably go over to the gym around 5:30 so that I can use the Internet.

Sorry that this post is so long, but I wanted to fill everybody in on what has been going on here. While it is extremely difficult to be so far away from friends and family, I have been blessed with this great opportunity to continue my dream of playing professional basketball. This is a dream come true for me and I am reminding myself of that every day. My family and friends have all been extremely supportive and I want to thank them so far for their words of encouragement and for waking up somewhat early just so we can Facetime or text before work.

Next time, I promise the post won’t be as long. Right now however, everything is so new to me. I’m sure I will get the hang of this lifestyle soon and I’m looking forward to sharing my adventures with all of you. Thanks for reading, and until next time: