Getting Adjusted

Well we have officially gotten settled in here in Voronezh.  I have a room to myself on the base and an apartment that I share with two other girls from my team that is a few blocks away.  We will be able to move into the apartment on Monday so I will be sure to post some pictures of it when I get the chance.  In the mean time we have been living on the base and it has been great.

We have pretty much everything we need here... a sauna (as you found out), a kitchen and dining room (where chefs cook our food and we eat as a big group), a living room with a big TV (soccer is the only thing ever on), a gym, a laundry room and our rooms.  Every morning we wake up for breakfast at 9 and a schedule is posted with our practice time(s) for the day.

Our practices have been an extension of our training in Turkey with long but very simple practices.  We work on technique most of the time and usually finish with some sort of game.  I have been filling our down time by exploring the surrounding areas, studying any one of four languages I am attempting to learn (Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and French), playing my guitar or drawing, and hanging out with the girls, of course.

I will say coming from America where everything is state of the art, it was difficult to adjust to the living style here.  Below, as I describe where I live, I dont want anyone to think that I am complaining nor am I even talking negatively about Voronezh, I am simply speaking the truth...

The base is completely fenced in by cement walls with only one entrance that is guarded by a watch man 24/7.  I understand why it is fenced in and why there is a guard because out of the doors is what looks like a very poor area... but from the little bit I have traveled outside of our area, everything looks similar to this.... so I think it is just how the city is. There are several little stores around that sell EVERYTHING you need, I mean everything, it is such a random assortment of things found in these tiny shops.  The section of stores (which are called Magazines in Russian) closest by look more like farmers market or pop-up shops than stores.  They sell food, jewelry, household needs, appliances, etc.  Then there is no walking across streets here because people drive like maniacs, so you walk down some stairs and under the road to get to the other side of the street where there is a mini-mart and a few other stores.  There is not really any (what we would classify as) grocery stores, only convenience stores. It is fun to explore and see their culture in full throttle because to me it seems so foreign, but this is how they live!

The night we got here after that long bus ride it was snowing hard and freezing outside.  I was awake (because, of course, Nana's feet were taking up my seat and I couldn't get comfortable) and was looking at the area as we were driving in.  I felt uncomfortable and, I am not going to lie, pretty scared.  Being in Russia is a scary thing.  As I said, everything is just so foreign and the unknown is scary. So, as we were coming through the big gates and into our parking lot I felt almost sick with nerves and fear.... but when I got my bags and was going inside there was some people standing outside of the building holding the door open and welcoming me in.  When I got inside I could smell the food the kitchen had cooked and it smelled exactly like what I remember my Great Grandma Nana's house smelled like (and also like Uncle Matt's kitchen when he cooks certain foods)... I think it was the cooked cabbage or something... but as I was being welcomed in, smelling a familiar smell, and feeling the warmth from the building, all of my nerves and fear went out the window.  I felt strangely at home and I knew I would be ok!

I think many people will look at these pictures and think things look broken, dank, cold or sketch, but it is their way of life.  It all has so much history, so many stories and so much life.  To me, that erases all of the broken-ness and makes it cozy and homey.  I dont know how else to explain what makes this place special, and I couldn't live here forever... but it is perfect right now.

This is the club house

 When you walk in this is what you see... 

 The kitchen, dining room and living room are in there

My room

I tried to make it homey

 The dorm hallway

 The gates to get in

 The entrance to the bank

 The random assortment shops...

I got in trouble taking this one... but thats ALL vodka

 Walking under the street

 The walkway

 I'm in Russia!!!

 The surrounding area

 The campus from the outside

 Some houses...

 Thats all I have for you now! But I will hopefully have some funny stories for you soon!!

Cheers!!

Dani

Another Sauna Story

If you haven't picked up on my humor yet then let me explain that I find life to be hilarious.  Even throughout the hardest times in my life, when at that moment I was broken and crying, I look back now and think that most of the time I was being ridiculous and probably overreacting.  Well, things that I have been exposed to here in Russia that are very tough and testing right now are already hilarious to me.

Let me share with you another ridiculous story...

I dont know what it is about saunas but I should not go in them. Until I played for this team I think I maybe went into a grand total of 2 saunas... I just dont like them.  They make me feel like I cant breath, that I am breathing in other people's sweat and everyone is literally dripping with sweat... I mean, really, when else would people voluntarily choose to sit in 120+ degrees sweating profusely??.... and when else do people like to sit in that sweltering heat that close to a stranger and not exchange any words?? I just dont understand the point of them.  Anyways, sorry for that tangent, but we did another sauna sess, and I realized how much I really dont like them.  We call the club house "the base" and it has all of our facilities.  Our dorm rooms, three fields (1 turf and 2 grass), a gym, the sauna, the kitchen and dining hall.  The pictures are below (again, a tangent, sorry!!) But we were in the sauna at the base and two of the gentle men who work here help with our sauna time.  They must have been in there for a long time prior to when we got there because when I walked in he said "Amerikankee??" and I said "da!" as he grabbed my hand and pulled me in for a cheek kiss that was drenched with sweat.  

K, so to the story... we went into the sauna and he was talking and flinging his sweat everywhere and I was sitting on the floor again because it is the furthest from the heat and the most likely place not to get hit with sweat.  And I heard him say "Amerikankee??" somewhere in his words, so I again said "da?!"... this was a mistake.  He grabbed my hand and my towel and moved me up to the top bench where he laid out my towel and slapped it as if to say hop on up!  I said "neite, neite" and everyone said "da, da" so I laid down not knowing what was going on.  He left the sauna and brought back two bundles of leaf branches tied together to make large fans. I was on my stomach at this point (o and mind you, we are required to wear beanie hats in the sauna as well)...and all of a sudden he started slapping/beating me with the branches....this sounds funny and honestly it was.  I am not exaggerating one bit when I say he just slapped/beat my entire body with the leaf branches.  My legs, my feet, my back, everything.  It fanned all of the hot air onto my body and I seriously felt like I was burning up and getting no air.  Then after about 2 minutes of slapping he flipped me over.  By this I mean that HE actually flipped me...one second I was looking at the ground, the next I was looking at the ceiling.  I didnt know what was going on, I was still trying to breathe and figure out why I was getting hit with leaves, then all of a suddent I was on my back and he was again slapping the front side of my body.  He even slapped my face. It knocked my hat off and so someone put it back on and it was covering my eyes, not like they were open anyways (I was getting slapped int he face, after all).  Then when my hat was over my eyes, he apparently got a bucket of snow and dumped it all over my body.  It completely took my breath away, not like I had any air in my lungs anyways.  

He grabbed my hand showed me out of the sauna and into a shower stall that looked more like a sink on the ground and he hosed me off with freezing cold water.  I seriously thought my heart was stopping.  My body was bright red.  He dragged me back into the sauna and set my towel on a bench and sat me down on it... then he said "normal??" which means "are you ok??" I had just barely enough time to push my hat out of my eyes and looked so frazzled.  I literally had no idea what had just happened, but I felt like passing out again.  I responded "si, yes and da" That made him uncomfortable so he told me I could leave the sauna.  But he was laughing at me... I decided I really liked him. hahaha... I felt like it was the epitome of my experiences so far.  I have been slapped by a lot of branches and experienced things I never knew existed, almost (and actually have) passed out several times, had my eyes covered, asked to do things I have never been asked before... but I have come away from all of them smiling and laughing at what just happened! 

That was a long story, but I have no one to laugh about it with so I hope you guys got as good of a chuckle from it as I did.  Anyways, here are some pictures of where I am living... Let me start off by saying that everything you picture when you think about Russia is pretty much exactly how it is.  I dont think this place has changed since it was built.  

Just joking, I just spent an hour trying to upload these pictures, but the internet is so slow that I am going to have to take a rain check on this blog and I will get the pictures up as soon as possible!!!

Cheers!!

Dani

Home Sweet Home

I have to laugh a little bit about my life right now.  We have made it to Voronezh, Russia finally... the travel to get here was like I was trying to get to Turkey all over again.  We got on a bus to depart to the Antalya Airport at 10 AM and got into Voronezh at 330AM.  Prior to our departure there was rumors that the flight was about 2 hours and then we had a 4 to 5 hour drive to get to Voronezh... I want to know who translated those rumors because they were either saving me from the truth or they were dead wrong.  The flight was 3 hours and the drive after was about 8 hours.  Needless to say I was very unprepared for a ROAD TRIP.  I think anything over 6 hours is called a road trip, so this was definitely a road trip.  

However, this travel experience taught me a few very important lessons:

1) Be Prepared for Anything...

          Well we left beautiful Antalya (as you saw in all of my pictures) in our shorts and t-shirts with our mandatory sweat suit in our bags in case it was cold when we got here (mostly when I say "we" I mean "I").  I bought "The Hunger Games" so I would have something to preoccupy myself during the travels and I was so engrossed in the story I started reading just after we took off and I didnt pick my eyes up until we hit the ground in Moscow.  Thats when I looked out the window to see what I thought was someone holding a sheet over our window.... as my eyes adjusted I realized that sheet was not linens, it was endless miles and miles of snow.  Welcome to Russia!

2) Establish yourself...

       I learned this lesson the hard way 3 different times.

    a) When we got the Antalya Airport, because I had all of the bags I moved from home with (2 rollie bags, 1 backpack and my guitar), while everyone else just had their one bag and maybe a backpack.  This made me a bit slower and a lot more discombobulated than everyone else.  But I finally got myself situated enough to make it to the check in line with everyone else.  I was in the back of the line of our team just before the line of muggles started (for everyone who doesnt know, "muggles" is the term in Harry Potter for those who are not Wizards...we have since applied that term to people who are not with an athletic team).  Anyways, I was standing just before the muggles when the first achilles tendon chop happened by one of those stupid bag carts people who have a purse and a tiny bag use to carry their "heavy" bags. I turned my head to look backwards (like Ellen DeGeneres' "universal sign of 'Thats Annoying'") when I see the crowd who is pushing to get to the front of this baggage line.  They were encroaching from every direction and I was going to have to step up my line game tactics.

    Everything went fine after I checked my bags in because as we all know, we are all going to the same place and there is no need to encroach on the heels of the person in front of you, but we do anyways... What ever... after we landed I was much more successful at gathering my things and getting quickly to the bus, but I was still one of the last on the bus.  Thats when I saw the havoc on the bus.  

b)  I felt like I was walking into a log cabin getting onto the bus.  There was pillows and blankets everywhere and everyone was scrambling to get their seats and their blankets (as I told you, Russians like designated spots) Its probably a good thing I was last because I would have taken someone's spot. 

    

 I got an open seat though, right across from one of our oldest players, Nana.  This is when I learned my second lesson... she established ground first by putting her feet out across the gap on to the back of my seat. Not a big deal... but that let her know that I was ok with her feet in my space.  Again, with the encroaching, her feet moved their way down my seat until they were literally taking up one of my seats and I was left to 1.25 seats, and she has 2.75.  The picture below is her feet completely on my seat.  I kept trying to push back but her ground was already established.  Every time I would move her feet off of one part she would find some other part of the seat to take over... By 330 AM I was exhausted and I think she had the entire seat for her feet. I dont know how it happened. 

     c) I am still slightly shaken by the third story... let me just say that if you are in Russia on a road trip make sure your bathroom breaks are at a McDonalds where they pride themselves on clean and orderly bathrooms.  

3) You are in Europe...

    Everything is so different here, not in a bad way but different for sure.  Getting onto the plane there was a few things that struck me as very odd. The plane was very wide and tall, but not that long. There was 3 rows of 3 seats each.  

What amused me about this was that when they went through the typical protocol for the safety procedures of their planes they just had a woman talking into a speaker that was barely audible in the plane.  Even if there was an accident, there was absolutely no way anyone would know what to do because they cant hear what the instructions are.  Seriously it was as though someone was talking just 1 volume notch above the average conversation level... whereas in America, I have been yelled at several times for whispering during a safety demonstration and I could probably recite it to you backwards and forwards.  

Lastly, it is obvious that the fashions around the world are very different and it is no secret that Europe prides themselves on being fashion forward. When I looked in the seat back pocket at the assortment of magazines they had I found this magazine, which should look familiar to most of us. Sky Mall Magazine, which is usually filled with random and useless inventions that we could buy as a joke to someone, but they are so expensive that we would never actually purchase anything (unless your Halley Kreminski who actually purchased the frozen yogurt maker)... 

When I opened it and saw this was what their Sky Mall was selling, I knew I was officially out of the US and in Europe....

We slept until late into the day because we got in so late last night... so I will show you where I am later! 

Cheers from Russia!

Dani

Last days in Turkey

Well it is officially our last day in Turkey... this means the tan tint that my skin has will again fade to a the color of a plucked bird.  YEAY! It's unfortunate though, because just as we are getting ready to leave, the life here at our hotel has picked up.  It is the beginning of tourist season in Belek, so anyone who comes here in the next couple months will enjoy a 24 hour fun on the beach with drinks, games, warm water, etc experience, while we got a dirty empty pool and hurricane weather for some days.  Not like we could have participated in the festivities anyways... I guess it was better we came before prime tourist season so we wouldn't be tempted to forget that we are here for soccer.

The weather when we first got here....

The weather as we are leaving...!!

Nevertheless we had our own fun in our own way in the stories I have shared with you... yesterday was nothing short of another fun filled day for us though!  As I told you we were going to, we went fishing.  If you haven't seen in the pictures of Belek, there is the perfect beach on the Mediterranean but then in the background there are huge snow-capped mountains.  It is beautiful and flabergasting because I never actually thought the mountains and the beach could be seen together.  Californians say that it is the only place in America where you can surf and board in the same day.... not like here you cant! In Turkey you can look out over the Mediterranean and without looking in a different direction see the mountains you could ski on in an hour. I bring up the scenery because we got the opportunity to drive into those mountains yesterday for our fishing trip.

We drove about an hour to a little turnoff that looks like the entry into a farm in Wyoming or something. We drove down a little road and parked next to a damned river where there was a tiny, sketch, handmade, wooden bridge leading us to our final destination.   Simone kept telling me that it was like a bridge in a horror film and that scared me so one of our nice coaches carried me...

 This camp/farm had a lot of cool things to explore....

 They told us they had hammerhead sharks in the river and I was determined to catch one so I was picking out the strongest pole!

 Davis, my roommate to my left really loves the outdoors... as you can tell by the expression on her face

 This nice drunk got us all fixed up to catch some hammer heads!

 There was ducks and sheep and goats... which I found out we ate later :-/

 These were all the hammer heads I caught!

 Njoya likes to pretend that she caught this one... but really her, Augustine, myself and Davis didnt catch a single fish. I didnt even get a bite. But someone else on our team caught 9! haha I was slightly embarrassed with my fishing performance, to say the least.

This is the washing station to get cleaned up before eating lunch

 Pointing us to lunch

The lunch room

 We were served a 4 course meal... soup and salad.  This soup was fish soup, basically just a chunk of fish in broth.

 The 2nd course was BBQ sheep and goat with potatoes and rice.  This was my favorite dish, although I will say none of it was delicious.

These were some of the hammerheads that we caught.  They were just steamed basically.  Pretty tasty, a bit fishy for my liking but it was not bad by any means!

On the way back while everyone was sleeping I took some photos of where we had just been... we were back towards those mountains.

Come dinner that night we were all famished and tired. I am not sure if it was because no one really ate much of their meal or because we were out in the sun all day but it sure was a fun way to end our time in Turkey.  Tomorrow we take off to Russia and I will be able to get settled into where I will spend the next couple of months!

For the last time...

şerefe!!


cheers from Turkey!!

Dani