We left on Thursday. Today is Saturday. I think the jet lag is JUST wearing off now. Isn't it odd that Venezuela is not 2 or 3 hours ahead but 2.5 hours ahead? I am curious to see who determined that one. Yesterday we got into Barquisimeto finally and we are in our nice hotel... and of course by nice, I mean it's way better than the Cenard in Argentina. At least we have a bed and the shower doesn't share a floor with the bathroom.
We got a taste of the court yesterday. It's not wood. It's not a gym floor. It's this plastic blue stuff that is bouncy and your stick just sticks to it when you drag it along the ground. It wrenches on your shoulders and it makes our ball speed so slow. Not to mention the boards look like 2x4's from some warped lumber shop! Okay, okay. I'm not complaining. Actually, the facility is quite nice. The stands are huge and it is air conditioned which is fantastic. It could be 90 degrees in there but its quite comfortable.
Today we played a test match against Venezuela and I am so thankful we are here early to get used to this floor. We had a really slow start. (for example the first pass back i miss trapped and it went off the endline). Anyway, we re-grouped and scored a goal in the first half and started generating more opportunities in the second half. I scored two on penalty corners and Angela, Nikki and Jess each pocketed a goal to make it 5-0. Following that ... our bus wasn't coming for another hour so we went to go watch the USA practice. Meanwhile, little did we know... our coaches had managed to pick up a game on a small court behind the stands. It was so random but that is what I LOVE about south american countries. Everyone wants to play and at anytime. Reminds me of the kids in Africa with their pick up games of hockey. I immediately grabbed a whistle to help take part and while I was umpiring i took a few video snap shots... The video won't upload again - and i'm not going to keep trying but here are some photos from today.
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| Group shot with some kids from the Lara Club |
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| Cheech and I |
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| Jenna, Jess, Angela, Amanda and Erin sporting the new Lulu tank tops |
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