USA Select Team Journal
Day 9, January 4, 2007
Belgrade, Serbia
By, Stephanie Bethune

Day nine was our second day in the city of Belgrade. We had our first match at 9:45, which meant that we had to be down for breakfast at 8:15, and leave the hotel at 8:45. This was our last pool match, so in order for us to not get fourth in our pool of four, we had to win. Our opponent was the team OK Radnicki Jugopetrol. We had watched a little bit of their game from the day before, and believed we had a good chance of beating them. In our first game we started off a bit slow, but after a couple of points we were all awake and ready to play hard. We finished the close game with a win at 25-20. Our second game was lost with a score of 22-25, but we fought hard and won the third game at 15-7. It was exciting to have won our first match, and we happily returned to the hotel.
           
After some relaxation time and lunch, we walked to the American Embassy, where we got a chance to learn more about what goes on there. Our first impression of the Embassy was that it had high security. As Dave, Sarah, and Amber found out, you cannot take a picture of the Embassy and get away with it. Right after you take a picture, you are apprehended by a security guard who takes your passport so they can check that you are not trying to spy on the Embassy. They also give you a lecture, and check your camera to make sure that you deleted all the pictures. After going through a metal detector, and turning in all electronics as well as passports, we were deemed safe, and allowed to enter the Embassy.

Many different people came to talk to us about the different jobs within an Embassy, and what exactly the Embassy does for Serbia. Unfortunately, before our visit was over, we had to leave in order to get to our next match on time.

Our second match began around five. It was a non-pool game, so we weren’t sure ahead of time who we were going to play. When we arrived at the arena, we discovered that we were playing team OK Postar Beograd, the club team from Belgrade (“OK” in team names signifies that they are a volleyball club, and “Beograd” is how Serbians spell Belgrade). We played hard and won the first game 25-22. In the second game the other team put up a fight and we lost a close game at 21-25. In the third game we played hard, but lost with a score of 10-15.

After all our games were over, we went to a party for players, coaches, and parents. There, we danced to hits that our parents knew all the words to, and even learned a few new dances that were similar to the Electric Slide. The party was a blast, and overall, the day was one of the best.

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