Recounting the Trip
By Cayley Thurlby
Is it too cheesy to start off by saying that I had the time of my life in Argentina? Well I did, or should I say we did, not only did each and every girl make friends that we will remember for our lifetime but we will also share memories that will be very hard to forget. I¹m not sure how many of us will continue traveling the world, or at least return to argentina, these memories or a little more than special. As I got on the plane I realized that I had not said goodbye to everyone, at this point in my life I have come to hate goodbyes, and at the same time I feel strongly that amongst the
small volleyball world there is strong probability that our paths will cross again. Allow me to tell you about our last few days in Argentina, but for the fun of it I am going to tell you in rewind. Our last meal together was perfectly located in the outskirts of La Boca, yes quite literally the Mouth; a neighborhood that consisted of houses and buildings painted several different colors, a few of the girls liked to refer to it as ³clown town.² In reality the neighborhood was anything but silly, it is a representation of the heart of Argentina and cultures coming together to form a bond in a whole new world. The buildings were painted several different colors by their owners who found work painting ships in Buenos Aires¹s harbors. With the leftover paint from the ship they would paint walls of their homes, restaurants and stores. Our lunch was a plentiful amount of red meat, chicken and salad, served by a
very radiant woman who treated us with great friendliness and curiosity. She constantly asked me how to say certain Spanish words in English and whether or not we had enough food, some Argentineans take being hospitable to the next level.
Our last night together started off with a spin as a group of us headed to Viejo Almacen, one of the oldest (has been open since the 1960¹s) and most authentic Tango Shows in the city. We were pleased to see a performance
unlike anything we have ever witnessed as we were taken through the history of the Tango as well as the evolution of the music that makes it so mesmerizing to watch. Later that night we headed out to a club called Safari
Continental and danced the night away with a group of Americans a few of the girls had bumped into on the street. It¹s not every day that you are in Argentina and end up meeting the Harlem Globe Trotters, let alone bumping into them on the street. To make things even better, I knew one of the players through a fellow American whom I played with in Cordoba Spain for the last three months. My current motto is that the more you travel, the bigger your network of friends becomes, and before you know it the world really is too small!
During the day most of the girls took the free time to shop, picking up souvenirs and a lifetime supply of our favorite candy treat in Argentina ³Bon O Bon¹s.² I was the nerdy tourist with a book of ³Things to do in Argentina² and a lengthy list of sights that I could not wait to see. A group of us headed to a famous graveyard holding large burial sites for families and ³anybody who is (or was) somebody² in Argentina is buried here, including Eva Peron ("Evita") and other well known political figures. I had the opportunity to share this day and reunite with an Argentinean teammate of mine; Veronica Castelli, whom was my roommate and fellow setter on my former team in Cordoba, Spain. The group was really excited to see that we could experience on our own as we said our goodbye¹s to the Argentinean national team that morning, a lot of us were sad to leave our big bus and to see the girls go.
Just picture 24 girls sharing a bus with and competing against one another for five days, it took time but despite the language barriers there were countless experiences that can be retold from numerous points of view and in different languages. The smiles were endless and the memories are countless! Thank you to everyone that made this trip possible, the ladies for being great teammates, the coaches for being so passionate about what they do, and our faithful leaders Dave and Pichu for organizing and keeping us well fed. And who knows we might just meet again on the other side of the world.
Link to Official Argentinean FEVA Page
