I have finally unpacked

Hello Everyone,

In case you could not tell from the last entry I’m so glad camp is over, but we had to do one last activity to send it over the top. We were honorary members of the polish rowing team (sarcasm), but we did go rowing. I have a lot of respect for the people that do that as a sport. That is one tough sport, but it also did not help that we were rowing in the ship that the Vikings were using. Actually that is giving this boat far too much credit. We used oars that weighed 20 pounds and were cracked. We had to focus on keeping the oar in the boat and staying on pace (we were terrible). I felt like my left arm was Pop-Eyes after he ate the spinach. The right one did not get so much work as we stayed on one side and tried to row around this island. Drew decided to be He-man and break is oar, so he did not have to row anymore (it was a brilliant move). Let’s just say I will not be joining a rowing team anytime soon. We packed our bags up and headed to Lithuania about a four hour drive from where we were.

We had to exchange some polish money to Lits as the currency was called. I gave them 50 zlotys (polish currency) and got 50 Lits. I then attempted to buy some ice cream, but did not realize we had stopped like 20 feet from the border and was still in Poland. I could not figure out why the lady would not accept the money. Skip had to spot me the 3 zlotys. We stayed at a very nice 4-Star Best Western (I don’t think they have the same star system as the states). Hopefully, the tour I took on my camera works below so you can take a glimpse of the hotel. The food was also better, but they still were pretty skimpy on the portions. We were talking about how if someone wanted to get fat in Europe you really had to try. We stumbled upon a really cool pizza joint in Lithuania one of the nights we were still scrounging for food. They had a little stream with fish running through the middle with rock formations everywhere and the pizza was pretty good also. The two games we played were not in the same city as we stayed. We drove 45 minutes Thursday for the game and about hour in a half on Friday for the game.

We won both games, but they were not pretty. We were a little rough around the edges in the first game and it took us a little while to settle down. We took a lot of jump shots as we are still learning the system. I believe we shot 7-30 from three, and I was 3-6. The positive thing was we won both games differently offensively, but the defense was strong in both games.

Personally, I played very well the first game. I was able to get myself going with a couple threes and a couple break away lay-ups. I think I was like 6-11 shooting and 2-4 from the line for 17 or 19 points. I played very solid defense drawing a couple charges and some strips. I have to try and get used to these refs again as they are so inconsistent. Both teams we played were very physical, but nothing compared to the second game. I believe this teams plan was to use all 17 guys and all there fouls. I have never seen a game so physical before. It made some of our games with Wright State Detroit, and Milwaukee feel like high school games. We had our point guard with a huge gash above his eye, one big man with a big Charlie Horse, and drew looked like he had just fought a cat. I had a rather unlucky game 2. I did not even play 1 second before I was injured. I was boxing out on a free throw and went up for the rebound when the guy behind pushed me in the back and I landed straight on the hip and elbow. After I shook it off I went back in and drew a three point play, then drove for a lay-up. I scored it but in the process landed on there big guys foot and twisted my ankle pretty bad. I had already tweaked in practice and had it taped up, but that did not seem to matter. I guess if one was to look at the stat sheet I would look pretty good (2-2 fg, 1-1 ft, 2 minutes played). The ankle is swollen up pretty good. It looks like I’m out for about 4 days as we try to get the swelling down. I will miss two games in the process, Sunday and Tuesday. We have a tournament next weekend and I should be ready to go by then.

We drove through the night Friday night after our second game and arrived in kolberg around 8 AM. Luckily our apartments were ready. I have a very nice apartment that should suit me very well. It has a bedroom, but the beds our very small and I will just be using the couch as a bed. The kitchen is very modern with a nice stove and a big fridge. The apartment was not very functional when I first arrived, I had to move some things around. I like the setup and should be very nice. I really like the balcony as it has a nice view into the city. Also, the bathroom is the nicest I have seen out of all my apartments. It has an awesome shower and a nice big sink and faucet. I also took a little video tour which will hopefully work. With the long trip of carrying my luggage everywhere it seems my ps3 cord was broken. I will be trying to find that as well as getting internet set up for the apartment. The good news is the WII (Nintendo system) works. The apartment is very close to the gym like a 30 second walk. I can see it from my balcony. Also, downtown is rather close, but there is no grocery store close that is the one bad thing. It is very nice to have everything unpacked and I will be beginning to settle in my town for the next 8 months. I am posting this from a wireless hot spot downtown and it is food time!!

P.S. I guess you can’t use the word historically when describing a laugh, and finance is not the same as fiancé. Thanks to my little proof readers I am getting smarter with each post;)

Until next time!

This is BC gone for now



I am trouble uploading the videos should hopefully have them by the middle of the week!