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!