Wow, where to begin with the past two days. I suppose I will back up to Thursday. Thursday morning we had a recovery type of practice. We actually didn't even shoot a basketball. It was nice to be able to stretch and then we played this innovative game that was kind of like a combo between volleyball and tennis somewhat except we used our basketballs to hit another basketball across the net (aka gymnastic beams). I have to say my body was so tired and sore from the game on Wednesday...I was glad for a little reprieve. First off, I played 39 minutes which is quite a bit for one person to play and add to the fact that they were an extremely physical team and the refs were not calling hardly anything. I woke up on Thursday with a lot of bumps and bruises that is for sure. Ramla is a team that heavily scouts their opponent as well, so they knew who to key in on from our team. I give them a congrats because they were clearly the better team hands down this game!
Here is the box score from the game:
What is falafel you may ask?
"Falafel (/fəˈlɑːfəl/; Arabic: فلافل, [fæˈlæːfɪl] ( listen)) is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas, fava beans, or both. Falafel is a traditional Arab food, usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa; "falafel" also frequently refers to a wrapped sandwich that is prepared in this way. The falafel balls are topped with salads,pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces. Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as a snack or served as part of a meze." taken from Wikipedia
On Friday we woke up, ate breakfast, and then headed out with Sharon...Jacqui's relative. She was such a trooper and a big help in showing us where everything was. She first took us to Mt. Scopus which is basically an awesome viewpoint of the city...incredible views. I took a lot of neat pictures of the Dome of the Rock. Then from there we went to the Mt. of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. How neat to be able to see firsthand some of the places that you read about in the Bible. We also were able to see the "Church of All Nations" as well as Mt. Zion which was an incredible experience. For lunch we went into the city and we ate at an Iraqi restaurant that has some amazing food!! We sampled a couple different soups, a dish that had meat with eggplant, and then some beans and rice...oh and can't forget the fresh pita and hummus as well. We then walked around a little bit in one of the main markets and then through a neighborhood as well. By the time it was all said and done we walked a little over 5 miles on Thursday and a little over 6 miles on Friday.
All in all, my time in Jerusalem was amazing! What incredible hosts Simon and Sharon were. Last night we capped off the road trip with eating a Sabat (Sabbath) dinner with them. It is amazing the spread of food that they put out for those dinners. This was my first dinner I had been apart of. Every Friday night families get together for big meals and everything shuts down in Israel from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening. Sharon fixed quite the spread. We had soup, bread, salad, chicken schnitzel, turkey breast, brown rice, mashed potatoes, and to top it off she made an apple bread and a chocolate cake for dessert.
We packed in a lot of stuff in a day and a half, but I am thankful for the opportunity. The great thing is we don't have a game this upcoming week, so we will be able to catch up on our sleep. I got home late last night and crashed shortly after getting home. I was going to get up and workout this morning, but I decided I would sleep in, practice, and then get back to weightlifting and extra cardio tomorrow. I woke up this morning and did some cleaning, some laundry, and just took out some homemade banana and strawberry greek yogurt bread.
Here is the link to some pictures that I took:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101137055209598.1073741829.55710205&&l=b08f3e9bf6
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend :). We have practice later tonight. I plan on relaxing some until practice, then practicing, and then after practice I am going to come home and tune in to my boyfriend's football game as well as listen to Cedarville Women's Basketball Teams as they take on Ashland University to start out the season later tonight.
Last night the Liberty Women's Basketball Team came up on the short end with their season opener against Charlotte. They have a pretty young team this year, so I think it will take some time to get everyone clicking and on the same page. The Liberty Men's team won their season opener at home in front of over 7,000 fans...that is an incredible turnout!! I am excited to see what both teams do this year :) GO LU!!!
Have a blessed weekend,
Megan