To update from last night:
We won the game yesterday at 2:00. We played another team from Belgium who only played six players (we won by 6). I had a decent amount of down time after that, because supper was not until 6:30 p.m. I was able to talk to my sisters and parents, as well as Skype my brother and his wife Amy. It is always nice to be able to talk to family J.
After I got done talking to my family, I went upstairs and played Uno with some of my teammates which, was a lot of fun. I played for a decent amount of time before it was time to eat supper. For supper we had soup, rice, tomatoes (surprise on the rice and tomatoes? J), and meat that looked like hamburger. I also tried a little bit of pistachio baklava , which was pretty good.
After supper, I played a little bit more Uno. I let everyone know I was going to play one more game and guess what? I won the last game that I played J. After the game I talked with one of my teammates for a while and then I went to the “market” which is the grocery store. It was pretty neat to get to see the food and things in the store. In all honesty, the grocery store was similar to what you would see in the States. When I came back from the store, I went in my room and a lot of my teammates came in and we were talking about different things. My sisters skyped me again, and my teammates were able to see them. All of the girls were surprised and thought we all looked so much alike.
The words that I learned yesterday were: mayhaba – hello, tesekkur ederim – thank you, and su – water. I am going to try and learn a few words each day.
Today:
We had breakfast today that consisted of the same things as the day before. We watched a little bit of film and then had about an hour before we left for the game. We left at 12:00 and played at 1:00 (a lot different than in the states when you leave 2 hours before the game). Today we played Samsun and lost by a decent amount! The team is coming along, but we still have a lot of things to iron out. Our team is definitely a work in progress, but that is what pre-season games and tournaments are for right? J
I was able to get a few pictures of the Black Sea one is posted at the bottom). After the game we went out to eat at a Turkish Restaurant. I ordered some chicken, rice, and then also some bread with cheese and meat in it. They also gave us salad and tomato soup as appetizers, which was good! I actually felt full for once, which was good.
Right now I am sitting on the bus. I was informed that we drive everywhere around Turkey. I thought we would fly, but apparently we don’t. One of my teammates was telling me that the average road trip is seven hours...fun stuff :)
Tomorrow I will get my physical done and then fill out paperwork for my working Visa. A lot of the girls have tomorrow off because of the 3 day tournament, but I will practice with some of the girls who did not play a lot so that I can learn the plays and get those down. I am excited to get back to exercising again and playing!
Until tomorrow…
İyi geceler (goodnight)
*E gidular is how it sounds