Day 8 - Bad News!

So, today, we had individual meetings with Cory, the main agent running the August Firesale for BIP.  It was very sad news...  The first thing out of his mouth was the first thing that Tim said to me too, "You're thirty and you're married and I don't think we're going to be able to find you a team."  Oh man, I felt so crushed inside, but I contained my emotion and gracefully accepted his advice to start the next chapter of my life.  I love Cory!!!!!!!  This was hard to hear, but I felt that they let me down pretty easily.  I appreciate everything they've done for me here.  This entire experience with these girls was so inspiring and amazing - I've met some incredible women who I hope will be lifelong friends.  I start to plan my departure tomorrow night.  Back to Italy, then Amsterdam, Minneapolis, and finally SFO.  Tonight, the remaining group is hitting the bar and tomorrow we're off to Lake Bled for a recovery day...  :)

Day 5 - Incredibleness

Today, a coach who is tight with some Nordic team coaches arrived to check out the remaining players on tour.  HOPE!  We had no morning practice, so I was able to get over to the five star hotel right next door and do some yoga and jump in the pool...  That made me a very happy girl!!!!!!  The yoga class was in Italian - which really got my brain excited to learn a new language!  :)

We practiced at 3:30pm and then took the evening off.  The BIP staff decided that our group needed a break, so we loaded onto a bus at 5pm and drove about thirty minutes to Doppler Vineyards for a full-on catered dinner with wine pairings and everything...  It was absolutely incredible!!!  

The Dras Center staff greeted us with Sparkling Wine, currants, blueberries, and melon (mmmmmmm!).  We ate, and drank, and laughed atop the most beautiful vine-covered mountain with a 360 degree view of the surrounding valley and mountains.  The sunset was incredible.   Second course was Sauvignon Blanc served with homemade cheese, dried apricots and apples, and rustic bread.  The main course was a buffet with grilled vegetables, salad, and kabobs with a red pepper spread paired with their muscato (which was surprisingly dry)...  So, yeah - we ate well and got to forget about volleyball for a while (which made many of us very happy - a little too happy at some points - haha!).

Rasco (the main server at the Dras Center) gave us a tour of the winery and really just treated us like royalty all night.  Seriously, I felt like I was on the Bachelorette for a second.  It was just too good for words.

Another practice at 11am tomorrow and then we're off to a game versus a local pro team here in Maribor.  Our last setter was placed in Denmark and left this morning, so hopefully there is someone willing to take her spot in our match!  We'll find out soon no doubt.  

More later...

Day 4 - Road to Discovery

PS - I forgot to mention in my Day 3 post that when I wasn't thinking about Gordon Ramsay's encouraging words, I was actually belting out bars from Sound of Music's "Climb Every Mountain"...  (So funny how things come full circle because Heidi Bell taught me to play volleyball and if I recall correctly, she played Mother Superior in her high school play - ha!)

 

After yesterday's let down of not making the top 14, I woke up determined to play my best today...  I was so jazzed that at 6am I was lacing up my shoes to go for a jog through the hilly paths just south of Hotel Dras.  The forest here is dense, but the early morning light was cutting through the trees in fabulous shades of pink and gold.  I actually stopped and stared - no, not to catch my breath! wink wink - to admire many of the little details about this place...  The wildflowers are in full bloom.  I spotted two deer and whole duck family (they "kvak" here - ahah!)...

In addition to the ski runs here (which double as mountain biking paths in the summer time), there is a ropes course, a golf course, a slide down the mountainside, two gondolas, a soccer field, an outdoor bounce house, a resort with yoga, swimming pools, a spa, and bike rentals...  Oh my gosh - this town has so much to offer!  Blah blah blah - Maribor is great!

After doing some yoga on the edge of a little reservoir outside our hotel, I went into the hotel restaurant for an early breakfast.  (Have I mentioned how amazing the food is here??)   I knew this would be my first morning that required coffee because I was up SO LATE and then woke up SO EARLY last night - I think my brain just needed to process the reality of hanging out at the bottom of this incredibly impressive lineup of skillful players/leaders, and thinking about how I've got to be ready for my close up today!  :)

Right after breakfast, we said goodbye to two of our roomies - and five became three.  Such mixed feelings!!  I'm so excited for them and the adventures they are about to embark upon, I'm jealous of their success, I'm so so sad to see them go...  Ahhh!  It's so confusing...  One second we're picking a girl up off the floor and telling her she has the next ball - the next second you're fantasizing about breaking her legs - haha!

ANYWAY - got ready really really carefully just to be sure my pre-game routine was done to a tee.  It was.  Unfortunately, we arrived in the gym to some bad news - that is - no more coaches are coming here to watch us...  The bright side??
1.  We are going to get some much needed down time tomorrow
2.  We will receive more personalized attention from our agents/coaches at trainings
3.  While we continue to improve, we buy time for the agents to drum up the best jobs that are still out there
4.  We might be embarking on a little road trip of our own to visit them

Even with this disappointing news, I felt good as soon as I stepped on the court.  No joke - I played the best volleyball of my whole entire life for the next two hours!  I know the other girls noticed, and of course, ha! I could barely recognize myself, so I noticed, but it's really hard to say if anyone else noticed...  My mission over the next week is to just keep doing things that get attention for the right reasons, and to continue to forge bonds with this incredible group of women...  Oh man, I am impatient for the fulfillment of all of our dreams of making a team.

In the afternoon, we practiced again and after lunch, I rented a bike and ventured into Maribor on my own.  It felt so so great to be on the bike...  (More on this later - hehe!)

It's only the fourth day here and I already feel like I have truly experienced a lifetime range of emotions.   I have laughed till my face is sore...  I've shouted "let's go" more times than I can count...  Sang "Climb Every Mountain", sat quietly, meditated, sobbed like a baby, and screamed YAY! like, well, like a school girl - which is how young I feel to be playing the highest level volleyball I've ever played right now.  This experience is like a roller coaster off the tracks...

It's very late, so I must be going to bed now...  More tomorrow!  Good night!

Day 2 - Culture Clash

I feel at home here in Slovenia.  It's not that the Slovenian people are exceedingly welcoming, but I still just feel good - like I belong!  That said, there are definitely some differences here I've noticed that are fun and interesting...

1.  Here they keep the peanut butter next to the nacho cheese sauce in the junk food aisle!  Not next to the jam, honey, or nutella...  Nop.  It's next to the cheez whiz.  Ahahaha!

2.  Scrabble is green:

(Quit looking at my letters, cheaters!!)

3.  Ice ("led" in Slovene) is served on the side in a separate glass with it's own ice-cube-sized serving spoon.

4.  No Bikram   :(    .... yet!  Although I have met some other Bikram yoginis on the tour, and they are awesome!

Well, that's it for today!  The volleyball players here are really amazing...  I wish it could just stay like this and we could be paid to play with this group of ladies because they are a spectacular accumulation of both talent and personality.  I'm feeling the love and lovin' it here so far.

Tomorrow, here I come!  9AM practice and 6:30PM game, which will be live streamed here:
http://new.livestream.com/accounts/4789101/events/2307714

Catch Our Live Stream Match from Maribor!

The most exciting news of all time...  We're live streaming a match tomorrow from the DRAS Center, Saturday, August 10th at 6:30 PM (Central European Time).  California time that's 9:30 AM.  Tune in!
http://new.livestream.com/accounts/4789101/events/2307714

Day 1 - First Impressions

Welp!  After leaving SFO early yesterday morning and laying over in Atlanta (which was the bomb by the way - really really amazing terminal!), we finally touched down in Venice today.  The flight was empty (which explains why it cost an arm and a leg - haha!), so I snagged a whole row of seats to really get my money's worth outta the seating situation.  Unfortunately, that did not result in a copious amount of sleep, but anyways...  WAH!  Here's Louis on complaining about the plane situation...

 

Hahahaha!  Once we landed, Tim Kelly and I plus two other girls took off in a Meredes-Benz Mini Van for Maribor.  Here in Slovenia, the terrain is a lot like California.  On the way up we passed farms, vineyards, lots and lots of old growth HOPS, and many beautiful forests, mountains, and exposed limestone rock faces.  The countryside looked dry from my car window, but it was actually HOT and WET (my favorite!!). 

On the way up, we stopped to pick up snacks...  Mmmm... fresh cantaloupe, pineapple, and a mushy granny smith apple.  Everyone speaks English here!!  Haha...  I asked our driver who speaks Slovene fluently how to say "Hello.  Excuse me.  Where is your bathroom?"  He replied, "You just say, 'Hello.  Excuse me, where is your bathroom?'"  Ha!  

Once we got to the hotel, reality started to set it...  About half of the women who are trying out are here at the DRAS Center already.  We ate dinner together in the hotel restaurant (which has these two big wall-sized windows that look onto one of the indoor courts here).  The girls are all really nice, but it's clear what we're all here to do.  Everyone is still a little shocked from all the travel and getting used to things!  Can't wait for more!!

Well, it's lights out here.  Open gym tomorrow morning.  First meeting tomorrow evening, followed by a training session.  I'm very excited to be here...  More tomorrow.

Lahko noč!