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