First Scrimmage

Well last night was Pats first scrimmage with his new team! It went great! Pat knew all the plays, and looked great out there. He had 18 points, some rebounds and a few assists. I found a bunch of articles in the paper of him, which is exciting! I cant understand everything they were saying, but there were big pictures. A friend of Pats on the team, Xavi, had a brother in town, so I drove with him. It took about one and a half hours to get there. His brother spoke pretty good english, so it was a good ride. 

We still do not have internet, so both Pat and I are sitting in a cafe, drinking coffee and talking on skype. Its actually really nice and relaxing, cause no one comes out on Sundays, so we are really the only ones here. 

Tomorrow the team is going to take us to look at new apartments, so we are pretty excited about that! Ours isnt too bad right now, but it's always good to have options. 

Well thats about it for now!

Amanda

Seeing the City

Well last night was the first night we've gotten away from the hotel and been to the city. Let me first start by saying how amazing and beautiful this city is! One of Pat's team mates, Charles, drove us around and took us to a really nice italian restaurant. The restaurant was in a really old building, in the middle of the city. We sat upstairs, and there were huge windows that looked out to the center of the courtyard, where many people were sitting, eating and hanging out. It was really cool. Charles was on the team last year, so he was immediately spotted by the waitress, and from there on we had really good service. 

We walked around the city after enjoying a really good meal. The city is so old and beautiful. We just stood and looked at St. James Cathedral for a while. Its absolutely breathtaking. I cannot wait to go to church there. We continued to walk around after, where we saw many pilgrims. The pilgrims walk all throughout northern spain, and usually can be spotted with walking sticks.  We were lucky enough to catch 2 fun things while out at night. First there was this group of men signing mostly a cappella, but sometimes with a drum of guitar, with a huge audience just watching, laughing and listening. Apparently they sign funny songs, and make fun of other cultures, but we couldn't really understand much, so we just were laughing at how everyone else was cracking up hysterically.  Next we saw a huge concert, with many hippies with dreads smoking joints, right outside the cathedral. they were all dancing and swaying while smoking and listening to the music. It was hilarious. 

So thats about it. It was a great night and ill be sure to post some pictures from last night!

amanda

Arriving in Santiago

Well we arrived to Santiago around 4:00pm yesterday. It was a very long 2 flights. we first flew in to Dublin which took about five and a half hours, and neither of us could fall asleep. Then we had a 3 hour layover and flew into Santiago. The trainer picked us up, in a car that was too small, so we had to use a taxi for half our luggage. From what we have seen so far, Santiago is very beautiful. The weather and area is much different than southern spain.  It gets much colder and rains a lot in the winter, but it is so green and full of hills, very pretty!

When we arrived yesterday, they gave Pat about an hour to relax before they made him do a full practice. I felt so bad for him, because he was exhausted! I went with him, saw the gym and watched practice. The gym is really nice and a good size. Pat picked up the plays quickly, and shot well. I on the other hand was playing with the GM's eight year old daughter the whole time. She is very cute, loves music and was quizzing me on everyone from madonna to high school musical. She's funny, and speaks a little english, so we were teaching each other! Its probably better to just play with her all day, than pay for spanish lessons at the University of Santiago. Pat has one practice Friday so we are going to do a little exploring, and then sign up for spanish classes. Also at they have a "regular people" gym at the facility where Pats plays, so i am going to sign up there.

We are currently staying in a hotel, and are supposed to move to our apartment tomorrow, but nothing is ever on time, so i expect we will be in the hotel at least for a few more nights.  The hotel is in a great location. We are right in the center of the city, in the center of a bug shopping center. Awesome location, and we were told that our apartment is very close to the hotel, so my fingers are crossed. I went, by myself (wow) for a walk today around the shopping center. Its really nice, and has so many different kinds of stores. I also went to the grocery store to buy Pat bread and peanut butter, and they were all out of PB. I can't believe it. We brought a whole suitcase of food, but did not bring PB cause i knew they had it here. Hopefully they will stock up soon, and I'll just buy like 5 jars. 

Well thats about it for now, talk to everyone soon

amanda

oh the last thing Pats new team is called Beirasar Rosalia.  You can visit the teams website at cbirosalia.com. 

Visiting our nephew

Well we just got back last night from an awesome trip to Charlotte. We were able to see our new nephew Matthew Jr.. He is the cutest little baby, we didn't want to leave! We decided last minute to drive Thursday afternoon, and come back home Saturday. It was a quick trip, but worth every minute. We love holding him, and hugging him! We won't see him for a while, so we are really gonna miss the little guy!

On another note, we are leaving for Santiago, Spain, tomorrow night. We fly through Dublin, which is different, but it should be a good flight. Hopefully we will have internet right away, but most likely it will take some time for the team to get it connected. We may be in a hotel initially, and they are going to allow us to look at a few different apartments. Im really happy about that cause i will be scoping out the insect situation!

The Uncertainty

Well this is the life when you play basketball in Europe. I have realized that no matter what, nothing is ever going to go exactly as planned. Pat and I were supposed to leave Sat the 16th, for Santiago. As we were packing up the car with our luggage, Pat gets a call from his agent. Stop the packing, hold up, we don't have airline tickets, he says. All I was thinking was this has to be a joke. Well, it wasn't. The team only reserved the flights, never ordered or confirmed them. So now we are just hanging out, waiting for the team to let us know when we are actually going to be flying over to Spain.  Although its very nice to have a few extra days in the good old USA, its a little frustrating. You get in the mindset that you are leaving and won't be back, and now we have to do it all over again. 

Other than that, this weekend was great! We got to go to Justin and Stephanie's wedding, and it was so much fun. We got to spend time with great friends, eat, drink and dance a lot. It doesn't get too much better than that. Pat was the best man, and had a great speech prepared for the best man toast, it was so great. Everyone was coming up to him, saying what a great job he did. WE wish the night didnt have to end, but it did. But we have lots of pictures to remember the great night with!

Pat and I are just going to enjoy the next few days, and hopefully we will be off in no time!