Today we took our 3rd trip to the beach but unlike the other sunny days, today there was a little change in weather.   We were used to roasting in the unbearably hot sun and needing to cool off in the beautiful, blue, salty ocean water, but today was all hiding under the umbrella’s trying to stay dry.  It was a little humid and warm but the rain gave us a great excuse to pig out on food in the nearby shelter.  After 20 minutes of waiting for the sun to join us again, we gave up and decided to go crash the nearest mall.  We’ll have to admit, we didn’t see ourselves ever visiting a mall while in Italy, but the food court was definitely worth it!  It was extremely neat to see how the malls differ from American malls as well.  They have grocery stores and mini marts along with clothing stores for extremely great prices! 

We took our daily nap and woke up to have a delicious meal at an authentic Italian restaurant up the hill from where we’re staying.  We had to wait around after dinner to find out where we would have to play since the nonstop rain restricted our outdoor playing.  This was a shame because the outdoor courts here are beautiful!  I look forward to a match everyday not just to compete with my great teammates from across America but to see the amazing other part of the world.   

We ended up playing in a cramped gym that was really hot and humid with very little room to serve.   We played against Olomouc, a team from the Czech Republic, and lost in miserable 3 games…not even close.  They were fast, we should’ve been faster but they kept getting important leads and very good runs.  We made error after error.  I would like to blame it on the horrible playing conditions, or the unnecessarily long car ride, but all we can blame is ourselves for not showing up. 

This trip has truly been an experience of a lifetime, I love being in a different country seeing how different cultures inter mingle.  Sometimes it gets a little hard because people will discriminate against us due to the fact we’re from America. For example…on the bus I made friends with a girl from the Serbian team…the first thing she said to me (in English) was “you’re country bombed my country” I was in shock and wasn’t sure if I heard her correctly…but in fact, I did.  She made sure to write out on a piece of paper “1999” because she didn’t know how to say it.  “1999, you’re country bombed us…many children died”.  To work backwards, I started the conversation off with asking her “do you ever want to com to America?” and her response was “no, I’m not welcome.”  This confused me, so I asked her what she meant, and that is when she told me about the US bombing them.  To be totally honest, I had absolutely no idea of this ever occurring.  I tried to explain to her that I was sorry, and that if she ever came to America she would be welcome. 

For more information, and some great photos, please see the past years journals: