USA Youth Team Update from Serbia, Day 8
Wednesday, January 3, 2006
By, Bojana Todorovic
           
After traveling for about 5 hours from Zagreb, Croatia to Belgrade, Serbia on our team bus we were delighted to devour a delicious dinner at the Rex hotel and get a good night sleep so we could play our best the next day in the VolleyStar Tournament.

I was actually born here in Belgrade and lived here until I was 8 years old. I literarily jumped off the moving bus when I realized that my aunts, uncles, and cousins were waiting for me to arrive. It has been more than 2 years since I had seen any of them. They surprisingly greeted me flowers, some of my favorite Serbian candy, and lots and lots and lots of hugs and kisses. I have to admit that it never felt better wiping off all my aunts’ lipsticks off my cheeks than it did now. 

The next day, after breakfast, we left with the bus for the arena to play the Serbian club team Red Star. We used the small hall space in the gym to warm up as best as we could and I quite enjoyed singing along to some of the familiar Serbian songs the arena played during our warm up. Although we won the Red Star match fairly easily in 2 games, the whole team felt that our performance as a whole could definitely improve.

 I was lucky enough to be allowed the team sight-seeing hours to spend with my family while the rest of the team left after the game to tour a very famous castle here in Belgrade and do a little shopping. I went to one of my aunt’s houses where about 13 of us spent several hours chatting about what has been happened here in Belgrade and over in the USA. It was a very nostalgic experience for me. I did not realize how much I miss all my relatives and how much I miss this carefree city. I definitely hope to return here for a nice long vacation where I’ll get a chance to spend some more time with my loving family. I would’ve been glad to talk more if I had not fallen asleep. I did not realize that I was so tired and wondered how the rest of the girls were holding up touring.

I returned to the hotel at 5 and got ready to leave for the bus while the rest of the team filled me in on their excursion through the Kalemegdan park and castle. They said it was very beautiful but they were freezing the whole time. Since it isn’t snowing here, neither them nor I expected it to be so cold. We left for our match at 5:30 very enthusiastic and ready to prove ourselves once again.

We played the Croatian club team Pula and won in 2. This match was a very strong match for us because we had not let down at any moment and took care of business. I felt some exciting pressure since I had about 30 or 40 of my family members (most of which I knew, but some which I was embarrassed not to remember) cheering the USA Team and me on.

After a tiring and exciting day we returned to the hotel, ate dinner and now are getting ready for bed as the coaches prepare to leave and have some Serbian fun in this wonderful town. 

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