Media Day... Photo Shoot... Basketball?

Well not much has changed other than I'm a few kg lighter. Pre-season practices have been long and intense with a little conditioning mixed in there too. Since my last post we've had several practices and a couple of media plugs. Last week we took a bus, a really really small bus to Gdansk where our President set up a live interview with the sports network there that covers our region and our games during the season. It was a fun and interesting trip. Fun form the standpoint, we got to be on TV and tour around old town Gdansk which is where I plan to take my visitors from the states (Lele, Bobby & Carp here is a sneak peek). The interesting part was the beginning of the TV interview. We were asked to put on make up before we went on and I've done a few interviews before and have never had to do it but I figure why not might as well do it, it's all part of the experience anyway. After the interview we headed home.

This past week I had a full schedule. Monday morning we found out we were going to be shooting pictures for a calendar I believe with a gangsta theme. This was an experience all in itself. Something I've never done before but had a good time doing it. We shot in several locations around the village, each of us wearing and doing different poses. Lets just say modeling is not second nature to me and I'll stick to my day job. Mom I hope you enjoy the pictures.

On another note, we made friends with the owner of a cafe across the way from our apartment and he offered to bring us back KFC once a week because he picks up pies/cakes for his cafe and brings them back. The coach and the president told me when I arrived the community really backs the team and I think I am starting to get a feel for it. As the season nears I am becoming more and more excited to play a game. Next month we have a few tournaments so it will be nice to play up and down against some other competition. My body has been really sore as of late, especially my hamstrings but I can also feel that I am starting to get back into playing shape.

Well, that's all I got for you for now. I hope all is well back in the states. My nephew has his first high school football scrimmage today and I can't wait to here about it. Man I sure wish I could be there. Good Luck Baboon. Play Hard and have fun!

Love

Bud

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud

Let the Journey Begin...

Well, its been a while since my last blog so I have a lot to catch you up on but I won't get into to much detail. I had a great summer. I had the chance to see a lot of family and friends which I was extremely happy about. That's one of the greatest perks in my line of work is getting the summers off. The first month and a half I was back in the states I spent most of the time in Redding, but traveled to Arizona 2 times to visit family and attend Carp's graduation. The second month I spent in Santa Clara. I tried to begin training again but wasn't real consistent with that attempt. Had some teammates from Switzerland visit during this time and it was nice to show them everything I had told them about while we were playing. The third month I moved back to Redding to spend some more time with my family because during the middle of June I flew to Starogard Gdaski, Poland for a week long tryout. I later found out this would be my destination for the upcoming season so I wanted to get as much time in with them as possible. Which leads me to where I currently reside. I arrived here on August 4th to play for SKS Polpharma Pakmet-Starogard Gdanski (http://www.sportowa.com.pl/). When I arrived here I was greeted by the President of the club and the website operator/ Translator. We stopped at the Polpharma factory and the town square to take pictures for the team website. After that they showed me my new home away from home. A nice modern looking 1 bedroom flat. We then proceeded to the gym where the team was practicing. Luckily I had the night off, it's pretty tough after a 15 hour trip and the time change to jump right on the court. I was interviewed by a Polish Journalist at the gym and after that they took me back to my new home. I didn't have a chance o eat dinner the first night because the restaurant's slash pub below my apartment complex kitchen was closed. Bummer I was starving the next morning. Anyway, the first practices have gone decently well. They're introducing a lot to me right away. I have to be a good visual learner because everything is explained in Polish. I am one of two Americans on the team so I think this will be a challenge all season. Fortunately, broken or not, there is a few people who speak enough English to comprehend what is being said.

As for the town, it is a smaller town with a population around 50,000. I haven't had much of an opportunity to site see yet. I am still trying to get adjusted to the time change so I I've been sleeping during the day. But what I have seen so far of Starogard seems to be a little bit older and not as current as the towns of other countries I have visited. Not that I m disappointed because I open for anything to experience. It is all part of the journey. I am anxious to learn about the history of Poland and hopefully get a better idea of what eastern Europe is like. This situation seems a little more time consuming than what I was used to last year. I don't believe I will have the freedom I had last year to travel and some of that can attribute to my location last year and Switzerland being central Europe. Regardless, I am excited to be here playing a sport I love. I already miss my family, friends and America a ton. Hello to everyone back home and I look forward to skyping, emailing, facebooking, etc... with all of you soon. Please keep me updated on your lives. I love hearing about everything that's going on back there. Even though I might not ask I am always wondering. Until next time. LOVE

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud

Roma, Firenze & Venezia

When in Roma......................................

It's weird to think my season is over. I kind of wish I was still playing but at the same time I am really excited to come home. Because basketball took up so much of my time I was really limited on my travels especially when it comes to distance. All season Chris and I had talked about taking a trip to Roma. The key word was talked, we had several research parties but never got anything done other than knowing who won NBA games that week or Facebook stalked friends/colleagues. Anyway, the last of my travels overseas had nothing to do with basketball or a 10 hour bus ride. Me, Chris and Dustin went on what they like to call holiday aka vacation or a trip. We caught an early train to Roma that put us there around 13:30. As I mentioned earlier, Chris and I did little to plan this trip so we kind of just winged it. We met a nice oriental lady when we got off the train who took us to her house/hostel about a block or two form the train station and a ten minute walk to the Colosseum. Funny thing was when her husband, who helped us get settled in, was showing us on the map how far and which routes to take on the visitor map that everything seemed to be a 10 minute walk. A little strange but funny non the less. The first day we spent walking around. First the Colosseum, then the Forum of Roma Palatino, followed by the Trajan Forum, the Capitoline Hill, St. Ignazio Church, the Trevi Fountain, a gelateria and the Pantheon. We covered a lot of ground in that first day. To end the night we grab a bite to eat and went back to the Trevi Fountain to relax.

Day 2 took place mostly in Vatican City. We caught an early train there bought some audio tour guides and roamed the sites. St. Peters Cathedral and the Vatican Museums are everything your history teachers hype them up to be. I only wish I took one of those trips they offer you back in High school so I felt a little more inclination to want to learn about the history that is here. It truly is incredible. Probably the most remarkable thing I witnessed was the painting by Raphael portraying Constantine's reign of Rome. After Vatican City we caught a train back into central Rome. We walked through Piazza del Popolo on our way to the Spanish steps where we spent most the evening. Later in the night we grabbed a bite to eat and joined a pub crawl group that met back at the Spanish steps according to a flyer that was handed out to us. This is where things started to get little blurry, just kidding mom we drank responsibly. The pub crawl began at a English bar. We were given tickets and T-shirts and were told once our beer was finished we could get a new one. It was all you can drink for an hour before we moved on to the next bar. With around 10 minutes left in the hour they held a chugging contest which we all participated in. Forty coming out victorious and winning a T-shirt. The bars to follow were a lot of fun too but like most movie sequels it's hard to beat the first. The second bar was a typical pub, the third had a little more club and modernism to it and the last bar was a cave. Who am I kidding the the second day was full of so many festivities we had to get our checkout moved back a half hour to 10:30am.

Day 3 we took the train to Firenze for a couple of hours to see the Duomo and a few of the piazzas before we caught an evening train to Venezia. Once we got to Venezia we stop at an Internet cafe so the engaged folks could check in with their better halves. While we were there we looked up some hostels found one near the Realto Bridge but the hard part was getting there. If you've never been to Venezia then you might not know that there are a ton of side streets and ally ways which makes it very easy to get lost especially at night. Luckily for us a kind Italian women notice our predicament and put us in the right direction. At the the hostel we shared a room with a couple of German Grad students. Later that night we grabbed some dinner near the Realto Bridge and then went to San Marco Square when it was lite up which I think much better to gaze at. The next morning we retracked our steps and saw everything in the day. Venice is a beautiful place and had my vote for best city.

I took 576 photos on this trip so I think that is more than enough evidence to show how amazing the trip was.

See you tomorrow Mom. Love

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud

Last Game

I'm not going to lie to ya and I'm not going to play this one down. Going out with a W on a 4-16 team is a hell of a way to end the beginning of my overseas career. We had the lead pretty much the whole game until the last 5 minutes of the game when they tied. After a few possession changes and a few calls go our way and a double technical foul ejection of the coach we had built a 9 point cushion with 2 minutes to play. We ended up winning the game by 7. On Sunday night we completed the season with an end of the year dinner at non other than ABC. The restaurant I've eating at twice a day for the past 7months. I've made a lot of speeches in my day but this one was rather different, I've never given a speech to an audience that could not understand a word I said so I kept it short and sweet. I've built great professional relationships and friendships in the 7 months I was here. All in all, it was a great first experience and I look forward to the years to come.

Next up, Rome! Florence! And Venice! Until next time............................... Love

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud

More Adventures

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm..... This past weekend was great because I had 4 visitors. My Uncle Erasmo and Aunt Susie and BJ & Nora Rodriguez. My Aunt and Uncle were traveling around around Italy for there 40th Anniversary and altered their plans a little bit to spend some time with me. Granted most the time we were together we were in the car, we were still able to get a lot of site seeing and catching up done. Mostly, as a result of my co-piloting and my Uncle's adventurous mentality. Instead of taking the same route we took from Lugano to Geneva we decided to take the road a little less traveled. But that wasn't before we filled the first rental car up with unleaded when it required diesel. In addition to that we arrived at out hotel an hour late and they cancelled our registration. Did I mention we lost by 2 points on Saturday, which for some reason my coach was extremely happy about and gave us 2 days off because were not gonna finish last in league. Through out all this chaos, we managed to make it to every destination we set out for. It may have taken a little longer than expected but like my Uncle kept saying, "We're on vacation, it's an adventure". Thanks for coming guys it was really good to see you. I look forward to the next time our paths cross.

Yesterday was the second of the two days off. It really wasn't a day off, I shot in the morning, worked out in the evening and then shot again later that night. During the afternoon because it was such a resplendent day, Noah, Noah's friend John and I spent the afternoon downtown by the lake using the city's WiFi. The great day put us in such a good mood while we were downtown we bought a few cigars for later that night. Following shooting we lit those stogies, sipped on some wine and chowed on some good ol' Swiss cheese. Now it was beginning to feel a little more like an off day. We spent the rest of the night hanging out on the balcony. It's tough to beat days like this. I miss you Mom. Carp, I'm hoping we get to skype soon. Until then. Love

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud

Oasis Concert & Germany

Another eventful weekend on my end. Friday night after practice Chris and I drove to Ulm, Germany where one of his Groom's men plays basketball. The drive was about 3 and half hours and probably would have been shorter if we knew how the Autobahn worked in Germany. Dan, Chris' friend, visited Lugano a while back but I was unable to meet him then because my sister was in town visiting and we were doing some sight seeing ourselves. I had heard a lot of stories about Dan through Chris and it was nice to finally put a face to the name. Dan lives in a small house with his longtime girlfriend Dominika and the two of them together made great hosts. Our first night we got in around 1am and spent the night catching up on old times. I was more of a listener but got a lot of laughs because it was funny to hear someone else's side of the stories Chris has shared with us about his Marquette days. The next day we got up to a great breakfast compliments of Dom and walked around downtown Ulm. We went to the tallest church in the world but did not climb to the top because Chris has a pulled hamstring. After our tour of Ulm we decided to go to Munich which was about a hour away. I had a great time just people watching and taking everything in. We walked around Olympia Park, which was the sight of the 1972 Olympics when the Israeli Athletes were taken hostage by the Terrorist organization Black September. When we arrived downtown all the squares were packed with people. We walked around for a bit before we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. It seems like every time we find an American related restaurant, person, game, etc... we would rather do that then try something else. After we ate we went next door to the Hofbrahaus, home of Oktoberfest. I had heard some stories and seen some pictures from friends that have experienced this historic event so I had to take a look for myself to see what it was all about. Although the atmosphere wasn't nearly the same as it is when Oktoberfest is going on I had a great time and purchased a few souvenirs.

The next morning we went to a nice restaurant for breakfast. I have hard enough time ordering in Italian but German is another story. It was funny because when the waitress asked what we wanted all 4 of us just pointed and didn't say anything. We didn't try to speak German and we didn't even ask if she spoke English. It was an extremely awkward but funny interaction. After breakfast we said our goodbyes until the wedding in June and we were on our way to Zurich for the Oasis concert.

The whole trip our navigation was on point. If you haven't been to Europe then you wouldn't understand that driving here is almost as difficult as trying to learn the language. Maybe not that tough but definitely an adventure.

The concert was incredible! This is only the second concert I have ever been to Justin Timberlake's concert being the first. To be honest I really only know 2 songs really well by Oasis but I thought it would be a lot fun and cool to say I saw Oasis in concert, in Europe. And I was 100% correct.

All in all it was another great experience. I miss you mom. Uncle Erasmo and Aunt Susie see you in a couple of days. Here's to enjoying the journey. LOVE

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud

Outta Gas!

The weekend was full of fun and we made many memories. Life is full of surprises as was this weekend. Having good friends to share my experience with is a meaningful thing. But what is a great experience without a little adversity. As the blog posted before mentioned, the weekend was full of good times and great memories. But the one memory that will probably prevail over all the others will be the trip to the airport Tuesday morning. After a low key night of drinks and cards at the Irish pub. Matty P & I had to wake up at 4:30am to make a 6:45am flight after a failed attempt to get him a shuttle ride that would put him at the airport on time. Malpensa International Airport, our destination in Italy, was an hour drive. We crossed the border successfully without any problems because all borders to Switzerland are open at this time. Close to 35 minutes into the drive I realize we did not gas up before we left and were now close to empty. I really didn't know how many kilometers we would get until we ran out of gas, so we crossed our fingers to reach the next gas station. 2 minutes and 13 seconds later we were out of gas and stranded at an exit turnoff and only 25 km from the airport. We decided to trek on foot for the nearest gas station but there were none in sight. We probably walk/jogged a good 3 miles in 20 degree weather with a wind chill of about 15 degrees, before we were able to get off the highway and try to find a gas station. We had no luck, both of us tried our cells, I couldn't get through on my iphone and my Swiss phone didn't have any credit. Matt was able to get through on an emergency line but lost coverage. We then proceeded to try the SOS on the side of the highway and after about 10 min of chatting in broken Italian we were able to get an English speaking operator to get us a tow truck. 20 minutes later we were picked up and driven to the nearest gas station. Let's just say it was a good thing we stopped at the 3mile point because we had a about 10 more km before we would of reached the next gas station. We gassed up but only had 60 euro on us and the cost of the tow was 100 euro. He drove us back to his office facilities and began putting the car in a garage. He had my keys and I didn't feel real comfortable with that so when he tried to roll down my window I told him NO and again in broken Italian I asked him if he would take us to a nearby ATM. We were already spectacle of what was going on because we were in an environment we've never been before and had no control of what was going on. Not to mention the language barrier. Somewhere in the conversation we missed the part about him saying his main office would not be open until 8am and we should get a cafe and wait for it to open so we can pay via credit card. This was not something we were interested in because Matty P had to get back to Spain to take a test for his Sports and Culture class. the tow truck guy drove us to a ATM and we paid him and were on our way. We arrived at Malpensa around 8:30am and Matty asked the receptionist when the next earliest flight would be. The kind lady responded with an answer that would put us back in a position of fright where we had been for the past 3 hrs and were just starting to feel some assurance Matty would make it on time. When then checked flights by other airlines and there happened to be one (Lufthansa) that had a flight at 12:20pm. We just had to drive to the next terminal and hope that it was a non-stop. 300 euros later we had a flight that would get him there on time. We said our goodbyes and relished in our recent experience.

Moral of the story. Gas up before you go on a trip and don't let the first time you run out of gas be in a foreign country. Here's to enjoying the journey. Love

"Enjoy the Journey"
Love
Bud