'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!