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Day 6, March 25, 2005
By Cayla Schroeder (will attend Augustana College, Sioux Falls SD)
Today was our first day of practice in Pordenone and it went much better than our previous two. We are starting to get used to the different balls and altitude and have really been playing well together. We did a lot of scrimmage type drills and continued to push each other to the limit. Chad breathed a sigh of relief as we finished, saying, "This is the team I'm used to seeing back in Minnesota!"
Thanks for arranging the palestra Mauro!
After practice was completed we came back to the hotel to shower, and headed off to lunch at the “warehouse”. We ate yummy noodles and indulged in "hamburger," which we thought was chicken! It tasted fine (to me), but some of the other girls weren't too impressed without the ketchup.
When we returned to the hotel we had time to shop, lounge and get ready for the Opening Ceremony at 5:00pm. We had no idea what to expect. When we arrived at the warehouse it was crazy. There were hundreds of people from different volleyball teams and soccer teams. We were given a sign that read in huge writing: "NORTHERN LIGHTS: USA"
Team Northern Lights marching through Pordenone
We stared wide-eyed at all the different men and women from around the world. We sat at our normal table, not knowing what to do as other teams started to filter out of the warehouse. We eventually followed and discovered that we were to walk in a parade of athletes throughout the whole town of Pordenone! We were followed by a rowdy Belgian men's volleyball team who entertained us with interesting, happy songs. We walked through the town and there were quite a few Americans there to cheer us on along with the townspeople.
Teams from 20+ countries marching through the streets of Northern Italy.
We came to a huge square where all the teams had convened and the madness began. Apparently many of the boy's teams have never seen American girls before and they all wanted to get their picture taken with us. We were literally celebrities. Every team walked across a huge stage and when our name was called a massive roar of whistles and cheers went up through the crowd.
On our way back through the crowd, different teams from around the world insisted on getting their picture taken with us. The Algerians, Argentineans, Italians, and more! The Algerians were my favorite because they were so polite and kind and tried to speak English to us, saying we were beautiful and thanking us. Everyone that played volleyball was so tall, so you could tell the soccer boys and volleyball boys apart.
USA meets Algeria.
We finally got done with our "photo shoot" and proceeded back to the warehouse quite quickly because some young 14-year-olds decided to follow us from a soccer team. Finally Lynn intervened and saved the day by giving them her famous "look." Well it worked instantly and they scurried off.
Back at the warehouse we had dinner and I was sitting at our table because I wasn't hungry. We heard a cheer start to build throughout the warehouse. We looked around expecting that someone important had come in. But no! Our team had gotten through the food line and all the boys were cheering for them! It was nuts!
All in all the day has been exhausting, with practice, pictures, and autographs; no just kidding about that last part, but we are enjoying this "fame" immensely. We have promised to sing the Belgian team a song, and are looking forward to playing in our first international tournament early tomorrow morning!
Opening Ceremonies in Pordenone’s main piazza
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