]]> Wed, 13 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=603303 0 40.8333333 14.25 Then tuesday maria took me for a little tour of her area, taranto and the sea! The color of the ocean was sooo pretty, a very clear blue! We proceeded to walk around taranto center check out the castle on the water and ate lunch before she dropped me at the train station. It was awesome to be apart of their very close bonded family, fit right in. Once i got back to Agnano I quickly packed and was picked up to go to the american base. Was gonna be my farewell day/night with them.
Woke up wednesday at 6am to go workout so that by 8am we could go to the market! This outdoor market was not only huge but a little stressful, people everywhere things in piles...but it was cool I got a few good things super cheap! After we were at the market for about 3 hrs we headed for lunch then picked up a few things at the mall for her daughter. I then barely made it to the post office to mail off a box of my stuff. Caught the train back to Agnano where i ate din with my housemates at we went to our teammates 18th bday party.
Thursday I woke up and went for a quick run then headed to Ricigliano, the town of my mothers heritage! I was a little nervous to go and meet these family members because they only speak Italian and was worried if my italian would be good enough. But needless to say i am soooo glad i went. After 2.5hrs, getting lost a few times, i found my way to a cute little town. Also after winding on small back roads up and down mountain sides and through vineyards! Immediately upon arriving they embraced me with a big hug and lots of kisses, saying how tall i was and how amazing this was that we were able to meet! Thankfully i made it just in time for lunch and it was delicious. We had pasta with sauce and asparagus, a lil spicy, had salami, fresh cheese(ricotta and mozzarella), bread, wine, tomatoes in oil and herbs, then a digestive drink and limoncello(both of which were homemade). The other cool thing is that they have their own vineyard and make their own oil so the wine and olive oil were theirs and it was delicious!!! We just talked the whole lunch about how i was in italy how i liked it how we were related a little about my family and a little about theirs. Also the grandma was there who was 91, and while maria(the daughter) was preparing lunch the gma and i were talking and she just kept kissing me and crying a little because she was so excited, saying how amazing this was. It truly was an amazing experience, I have been wanting to go meet them for a very long time, has been a dream, so I am really glad i was able to make it happen, and that my italian was good enough. The area was beautiful basically between two mountains, green all around, great panorama! They had a pretty big house and a little garden in the back where they also grow a lot of other stuff, just to eat at the house. sadly after lunch and coffee i had to head back to napoli for practice, we decided i for sure need to come back and stay longer so they can show me other parts of the area. So I can't wait to return and learn more :)
After practice we went out with our president for dinner and had mainly a lot of antipasta things, of the sea, and pasta zucchini and shrimp and gnocchi with mussels. It was delicious of course so was tiramisu we ate! After our 3 hour dinner the president kinda drug us to a club, most of us wanted to go home but felt bad so we went. It was of course very exclusive had to be on a list, but we walked right in. Was an outdoor club so thankfully it was warm out. Ended up being pretty fun, he ordered table service and we all just danced and made a fool of ourselves. At about 3:30 people were crashing so he paid the tab and we headed home!
Friday myself and two housemates went to this cute spot on the ocean where we just swam and layed out enjoying the view and company! Now I am getting ready to go to dinner with my teacher from school, a last hoorah! Then I think we may be going out! Needless to say this a week of minimal sleep, which i figure i can catch up on on the plane :)
pictures to follow]]> Fri, 08 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=602679 0 40.8333333 14.25
the finaloh the emotion...well I will start by saying we lost in the finals 3-2 in double over time! Now lets recap
thursday night was fun pretty quick, we showed up their was food on the table, all homemade specialties including meatballs!! We hung around for 1.5hrs before returning home to prepare everything for departure.
Friday morning we loaded on the bus and headed towards Rome to Ostia. After arriving at our hotel we quickly had lunch and headed to the practice field. The field was brutal, artificial turf lots of bad spots and it was windy. We were by the water. It was cool to watch in the background trick planes were practicing for the next days events, the republican holiday(kinda like the 4th). The rest of Friday was chill had din watched the mens national team lose to Russia then hit the hay.
Sat the normal pregame routine then to the field in our new kit that said coppa finale on it. As we arrived buses of our fans were arriving as well, walking onto the field they were chanting with flares and flags flying! All the emotion standing in line with the cup standing between you and the other team, you could feel the tension and everybody wanting the battle to begin. And oh what a battle they would score then we would quickly rebuttle. There must have been ten yellow cards between the two teams along with two reds in the over time period. Fouls were being called constantly because everyone wanted to win so bad.
Needless to say they won and we were destroyed. Emotionally physically the girls just collapsed where they were, tears streaming out of so many's eyes. We all came together hugging trying to keep it together, because in reality what we accomplished was huge, a serie a2 team in the final first beating the best team in Italy and coming close to winning. But when your so close you can taste it those words don't mean much. I held it together think mainly because i was in shock trying to wrap my head around the fact that this was my last professional game(unless some great offer appears ;) ). I can't deny, what a way to go out, but still, losing is never easy. It was also cool that even though we lost our fans were still cheering and chanting for us, trying to help lift the heads, let us know they were still proud!
Today i couldn't sleep so I jogged over to my favorite spot for a cappuccino and choc croissant then to my fruit stand where i got 6 peaches 5 oranges 4 bananas and a kilo of cherry tomatoes for 5 euro!!! by the time I got back everyone was up so we split up and headed out on the town. my group went towards downtown where we got fruit and walked along the water. Then we met the other group for lunch, i had grilled octopus and it was delicious! We were waiting around because maria was heading back to her home so they wanted to say their goodbyes! At 5pm we dropped her off and headed back home. It was a beautiful day out on the town very very hot tho.
]]> Sun, 03 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=602073 0 40.8333333 14.25 its been a pretty good week. Monday to celebrate memorial day I went to the base because they were having a big feast, also to celebrate a friends bday, and I ate wayyy to much. Ate lots bufula caprese salad cateloupe and prosciutto then phillipeano dishes and three kinds of dessert!! We just watched some movies and hung out since it was raining.
Tuesday John, the dad, and I went to the gym and worked out. After they took me back home where I quickly had to go to the grocery store because there was nothing in the house. Went to my fav fruit stand got an amazing cateloupe, super sweet and juicy, along with delicious strawberries and bananas. Oh and really flavorful cherry tomatoes, gotta say i love my lil stand. Then we kinda hung until practice, Maria arrived back at the house. So after practice we had a dinner consisting of 8, they all ate pasta roby and i had chicken and salad.
Wednesday was super chill worked out a little in the morning we all hung out talked had a late lunch, I reheated/recreated left over pasta which i thought was better than the night before. Then after prac the magic happened. Our vice president decided to take 11 of us out to dinner and boy was it nice! You arrive and there are 3 people to great you then you get in an elevator going down where there are 3 more girls to great and seat you. This restaurant was in Possillipo which is a very nice richy area so you get out the elevator there are gorgeous view and grass which big umbrellas white lounge seating for the bar area and tables in the back..all outside. We sat down and quickly we had two waiters waiting on us hand and foot, if we wanted something we got it. Water sparkling and not arrived first, then a red Bordeaux and white wine don't remember which but delicious. All of us chose the fish menu which consisted of...appetizer squid lightly seasoned with maybe a vinegar lemon parsley, delicious, then mini shrimps also lemon maybe balsamic, very light very delicious, and something in kind of a zucchine purre with thin strips of zucchin kinda flash fried. FIrst course was risotto with shrimp and lemon, oh so very very good...but my fav was the second some sort of white fish, im guessing halibut or halibut family, quinoia withcarrots and celery. but they bring out the whole fish and serve it up on each plate, this fish was huge. Oh also was so fancy that you have a big bottom plate and they just keep changing the top plate. got two diff plates for appetizers then removed brought first so on and so on. then dessert was some nasty white thing so I asked for strawberries. Pretty sure someone said it was about 50 euro a head. Quite the experience because everyone knew him and would come up say hi, as we all sit in casual clothes at this fancy reserved table. Then returned home by 1am a 2.5 hr dinner, although on the way home the moon was beautiful kind of a yellow glow with the shaded spots very visual.
Today, thursday, I had my last day at school which I am relieved and a lil sad because it really means this magical time is coming to an end. Had lunch with Roby and lisa shot the shit now resting for prac. Tonight about 12 of us are supposed to go to Profs(our fitness coach) house for dinner. So I am sure it will be another magical night filled with good memories.]]> Thu, 31 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=601759 0 40.8333333 14.25
celebrationOk so haven't really had internet so haven't been able to update. But what an exciting week this has been.
First went to my favorite lil fruit truck got apples strawberries and really good cherry tomatoes oh and cherries all for 3.5 euros.
Tuesday our housemate re-arrived(since shes been at home since her mom passed) and since maria was back we were planning a good dinner for her. After practice we made pasta with clams and oysters it was soo freaking good! We had about 8 people at our house all this week, so its been a little hectic with food. We ate a good dinner then made a little strawberry banana salad with lemon and sugar for dessert then of course talked.
Wednesday after we had a tough practice we had a pretty light dinner because we needed to go grocery shopping(and with 8 its tough to feed) but then we went out to a popular spot in Naples to have a little dessert. I got tronky gelato which is a candy bar turned into gelato. Its a hazelnut chocolate crunchy bar and turned into gelato is to die for!!! Others got gelato fruit and one got a brioches with gelato...kinda strange.
Thursday on our way back from prac found a little little puppy outside our house all by itself. So being a dog lover i took it to our house. My housemate thought its maybe 4 weeks old and it had insect things on it that i had to remove. After about 40 min or using alcohol to remove these things the girls let me bring her in the house. She was so cute but so scared, so we made a little bed for her to lay in and tried to feed her some milk or water. She drank a little bit of milk which was good and then I took her to bed with me. SLept most the night just woke up 3 times to pee and cuz it was lonely probably.

meeting the mayor

Think thats all for now, in my last few weeks here I will try to write once or twice a week so I can share the last precious days in my dream with all of you.

much love]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=599734 0 40.8333333 14.25 The said, now the fun part of the last week. After the game we went out dancing because we won and also because it was one girls birthday. Met up with a teammate and her "uncle" at a club. So don't wanna make anyone worried but that uncle was def mafia. Found out a little later in the night from one of my housemates. He was really cool though we got everything for free of course, entrance drinks, basically anything we wanted. Had a sick BMW Mike would love, super fast. We were supposed to all go to Capri with them yesterday but decided one mafia experience was enough.
These past two weeks really bonded with my of my housemates we talked a lot more and learned more about eachother, so that has been nice feeling a connection. So monday her, Roby, and I went with our asst. coach to her little girls game then to her house where she made us a delicious meal. Was linguine with whole shrimps, and it was soo delicious! We got home late which was a bummer because both Roby and I had school the next day and both of us were late getting out the door. Wednesday Roby, silvia and our friend VIve all went out in the morning and some bfast and betted on some soccer games. Then silvia roby and I went to our coaches for lunch. Had pasta pieces of pizza bruschetta type of steak then strawberries, oh man were we stuffed. He has a lil boy who is 3 so I played with him a bunch and then we watched some soccer games and played playstation. Then the three of us had to go to an event, kind of promo for the team. TO a water polo match then to a theater where they were doing a tv broadcast. The night didn't end till 11:30...then since no one had had dinner one of our presidents took us out to a restaurant, where we were there till 2:30. Thursday was chill just ran and went to class then we hung out at the basketball girls house.
oh and friday we had to go to another promo event. It was for a cruise line which I think could be a possible sponsor for next year. Was some conference but basically we were there for 30 min ate some cake took some pics then went home. All of us laid out after since spring has come back after two weeks of storms. All in all a good week, today is just a low key day as tomorrow we travel for a game.
hope all is well back home ]]> Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=597497 0 40.8333333 14.25 Had the best time with the family these past couple weeks. Was able to meet each of them at the airport when they arrived. First came mom and we quickly went out on the town walking around trying pizza and gelato. Then we went to Capri for the day which was absolutely beautiful! We had so much fun that day even though we were unable to rent the scooters we wanted we still got around to everything. We also found the cutest restaurant for lunch off the beaten path which was very good, lil family run place.
Then in time for easter arrived mike, we quickly hoped a train up to Siena where we spent easter evening and dinner with out friend Chiara. The next day we walked around Siena went up in the Duomo and Chiara was giving us lots of History lessons about the city. Had lunch with her mom which was of course delicious, then headed out to San Gargano which is a really cool open church, also got to see the true sword in the stone!! Came back had another nice meal with Chiaras mom then returned home for our early train the next day.
I had practice that night so mike and my mom slaved away in the kitchen making chickens flattened and stuffed with cheese and mushroom rolled in prosciutto along with side salads and bread. My housemates and some friends that came over loved it! Oh they also made zucchini patties which are my fav!
Next day arrived my dad, and again we were quickly back out to do some walking around. Took the whole family to my favorite pizzeria for lunch, and they all seemed to enjoy it. Although we had rain most of the time we still got out and saw the sights. The biggest sight seeing days were sat and sun and mon. Sat we went and saw herrcaleum in the rain but it was still really cool. Sunday after my game we headed down to sorrento and positano. Thankfully once we got to positano the rain stopped and it ended up being beautiful for us. Monday we got no rain in the morning as we walked around in Sorrento then just as we were leaving the rain started. Then sadly the fun had to end and they left tuesday morning back for the states.
All in all it was a great time having its ups and downs, as most family dynamics do, but really just a good trip!

ill keep posting more pics too]]> Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=595657 0 40.8166667 14.1166667
teammates at barSince last we had a game in Bari and won 2-0, we played crappy first half 0-0 then second picked it up after coach yelled at em. Think everyone was tired from travel and the hour time change, prob didn't go to sleep earlier. Monday I took the train out to Aversa where chad, the dad, picked me up and brought me to base. I had a really good workout in there gym then subway :p then went and helped coach the high school team. Afterwards caught the train home and made a delicious dinner. That week I worked out really hard cuz we don't have a real game till after easter. Ran in the morning before classes worked out at the field and had practice. So ran a few triple days and the rest double days. Friday we headed to Sperlonga and stayed in a really nice hotel. The next morning we played this mens team for a fundraiser for them. I had a hard collision and got the worst dead leg I have ever had. I could barely walk or kick, Tried to finish the half but after two goals, cuz of lack of ability to move, my coach finally let me exit. Still super knotted today hoping its better by tomorrow cuz I am already going through workout withdrawls. ANyway after the game we went to the beach where we had an apertiv(?) THen to a restaurant where we got lunch at about 3.

Hope your all staying dry]]> Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=593753 0 40.8333333 14.25 Next morning we all felt like crap so had bfast cleaned the house then went for lunch and walked around. It was a lot of fun being around people who live the same type of crazy lifestyle an understand your thoughts and worries. What it's like to be away from people all the time. Think that's why her and I have always been such good friends. Anyway I caught a train back to genoa got a hotel for the night and returned to Naples Monday.
One of the American dads picked me up and we went to the base. Basically hung out and I went to the gym but then I went an helped coach the high school team. I told them I would try to come twice a week and coach their goalkeepers. They are both really nice and very quick learned my favorites to teach.
The rest of the week worked out went to class and that's about it. Oh and of course still working on my training certificate.
And it has been beautiful all week spring is here. In the 70s then cooling by night or afternoon with clouds

Hope all is well in the states]]> Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=592673 0 40.8333333 14.25 Sunday a bunch of us went to Sorrento for lunch which was really nice and a lot of fun but also pricey meal...but soooo good! Then went to a teammates shop near by and had graffe (which is like a bigger donut) those were also very good. After that we all headed back to Agnano, Oh and let me just say we started lunch at 2 left the restaurant at 5 then left the graffe place at 6:30 so needless to say I didn't have dinner ha.
Oh they had a womans and sports day meeting/confrence that we all had to go too. Every woman get mimosas which is a type of flower.
Lets see another than that we just been working hard now we'll start preparing for our big coppa italia game in may. Oh went with one of my housemates and teammate to watch a Napoli game close to vesuvious then went and played fuseball after was fun night out. One of my housemates and I have been connecting a little more which has been nice. We have very similar tastes and were both in school so we tend to eat lunch together and talk about our days etc. Have gone out a few times with some teammates for dinner which was fun.
Oh I am going to meet up with my friend liz in france this weekend, super stoked about that.
Well I will work harder on keeping this thing up to date, think thats all for now hope all is well!]]> Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=591806 0 40.8333333 14.25 Actually had him drop me off at the military base where I hung out with one of the families we went cosmic bowling had some beers, good night. Next day went and played soccer tennis with two of the girls in the rain was lots of fun. One of the primavera girls had her first ever seizure and although things are coming back clear she of course has been on house arrest and parent watch. So I came by to say hi and took her out to the tennis courts with me. After tennis courts got cleaned up cuz we were off to the movies to watch mission impossible. Was cool to be in a movie theater have popcorn etc. Oh and before every movie on base you stand for the playing of the national anthem. After the movie They returned me home with a few treats of american cereal.
Monday was my bday and very chill, went to montesanto for the day walked around had lunch then had practice in the pouring rain!! I mean it was dumping but it was actually a lot of fun we ran a bit in the begining then my coach shot on my and I was sliding everywhere, lots of fun. Then a few teammates went out to get pizzas and beer with me at a local place was very good and fun.
Rest of the week didn't do much went to school workedout watched Napoli games had practice. Oh started my personal trainer program so that has been fun and exciting. Then saturday we played at home and won! Got a package from my parents which I had been expecting since before xmas and it finally arrive after my bday!!
Yesterday hiked over to pozzuoli had a chocolate croissant and cappucino walked along the strip went to the port had a nice day out on the town. Getting excited to show my parents around.
Today worked out went and got my official id for Italy so now I am an official resident if the police stop me haha.
Think that does it for now hope all are well!]]> Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=589572 0 40.8333333 14.25 Monday mornning I got up early and trekked it out to Pompeii, it was awesome! With the walk to train then train to the right line prob took me about 2.5 hrs to get there then spent about 2.5 hrs there. Sat in the middle of some ruins and ate lunch with a view of Vesuvious on my right and some others on my left. The city was a lot bigger than I had imagined I kept getting lost getting overwhelmed with not knowing which direction to go because there were so many streets, but overall it was really cool. I returned went for a run then to the store to buy some things for a nice dinner. Oh forgot to mention all my other housemates went home cuz we had monday and tuesday off. I made some cod poached in a tomato sauce, used a zucchini as pasta, which I totally recommend because it was delicious!! Also made a caprese salad with some bread broccoli and proseco. Tuesday I went to school learned a lot then came home ran and worked out at the field then relaxed until my coach came and got me. I went to his house for dinner with his family, his wife made big sandwiches with hot dog cheese and crispy potatoes was very good. Then a dessert that reminded me of pylo dough type pastry with nutella inside, also very good.
Wednesday I went for a run studied a lil read and made a lunch with boiled chicken then add lil lemon juice garlic powder pepper spice and salt. Added to the zucchini pasta with a calabrese type sauce and bread it was very good!! Then chicken and broccoli for dinner after a very hard training(but very fun). Oh ya last night I got my package in the mail!! I have enrolled in a PES (performance enhancement specialist) certification class, once I pass I will be certified to physically train any level from amateur to professional. I got very excited looking at the material.
Today went for a run then went to class for a long hard day, then on my way home stopped at the grocery store for the whole house, returned at 5. . They have kept letting me go by myself to the store because when I do we get the most out of our money haha. ALthough it gets a little tough to bring back all the groceries by myself but its worth it to get veggies and fruit! So I also made friends with this barista at a cafe accross the street from the school every day before class I get a cappuccino and we talk about what we have done when were playing soccer next etc. Its a lot of fun because I get to practice my Italian and he helps correct me when im wrong after practice I guess our president is taking the team out to a nice dinner and apparently were getting some sort of gift again. I'll keep ya posted and post some pompeii pics soon :)]]> Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=588054 0 40.8333333 14.25 Talent show ate popcorn then we had pizza and wine for dinner and chocolate chip cookes!!! NExt day we went to the outlet malls had some chix quesaidllas with quac and margaritas!! oh so good, how I miss the simple things of America. Around 11pm one of the dads and I headed to the pub to watch the game, it was cool they put out a free little buffet with hot dogs chili popcorn and fried treats. We stayed till half time before heading home. Had a great time once again hanging at the base the families are super duper nice here. besides that I haven't been out much been chained to the House due to my knee and needing it to recover. Needless to say that makes me a lil down in the dumps but trying to stay positive and soon be back out to double days and exploring the city. Oh it has also been super cold here the past week has been between 36-42. Even hailed here once, some tried to claim it snowed but im betting it was just hail on the ground. Although Rome got dumps of snow, if you have seen any mens games you have probably seen some teams playing in lots of snow.
Lets see this weekend we go back to Sicily for a game so im going to buy canollis and save so]]> Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=586330 0 40.8166667 14.1166667 Yes I did start school!! Its really funny, basically I go to a high school sit next to the teacher she gives me an exercise to work on and she goes on teaching her class. She will then look over my work when im done and give me another assignment. I stay for about 2.5 hours then go home and she gives me homework. I think I will go every tuesday and thursday.
Last weekend I went out to dinner with my housemates and four basketball girls that live behind us...because they have the cars. We went to dinner in Pozzuoli which was really good and continued to walk down the strip stopping a bar for drinks. Its really cool this part of Pozzuoli reminds me of venice or miami because there is a big long boardwalk along the water with basketball courts and on the other side it is lined with restaurants and bars, for maybe a mile. The bar we stopped at was an outside bar which is odd considering its winter and freaking freezing but the shots helped warm us up :) We then went to anther bar that was by the port, very small but cute. We pretty much closed down the place finally leaving around 5! The best part of staying so late is that we kinda became friends with the bar tenders owners and the dj. Some of us were mixing music some were behind the bar mixing drinks, all in all it was a fun night.
Last week one night we came home from practice to find the power out in one of our houses, which was the cooking house!! So we all went out to the local pizzeria for dinner. I had the fried pizza which was bombb!!! We also had some good conversations mainly of them making fun of words that I say.
Oh last night after prac we went to have pizza with prof, who is our fitness coach, and then dessert. It was really good pizza I had one with mozz prosciutto crudo and rucola...veryyy good! We talked about the game and the penalties and how someone was pissed they werent on the list to take a pk. Talked about next year and how we'll play games in Ischia. Was a really good night.
Oh last thing there has been a bunch of strikes down here lately...there is little gas, so lines are crazy at gas stations, there is NO and I mean NO fruit or vegtables in the grocery stores, and now they are starting to run out of flour products!! It is quite a sad state we used up the last of our veggies two days ago so now were all back to a strictly complex carb diet. Hoping the strike ends soon but one of the ]]> Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=584891 0 40.8166667 14.1166667 oh man tonight was super cold at practice 28-30 degrees! Although for you guys probably normal considering all the snow your getting...Anywho super cold but was actually a good practice I am feeling much healthier and faster which is great my lil athlete program is working splendidly.
Oh So Timbah came and we had so much fun showed him around downtown Naples, took him on the hike to see Pozzuoli think he had a good time. I also found out just how good my Italian has gotten. My roommates would try to speak with him but when they wouldn't understand they would ask me and I was able to convey in pretty good Italian what they wanted to know.
I went to the American base on saturday, and holy moly that was a weird experience. I felt like I was dropped on some planet or something. Was super excited about everything American I saw and the people would just look at me like I was crazy. For example, I walked into the food court and they were selling girl scout cookies!!! I just about jumped into their laps with excitement saying I'll take two boxes!! Then continued to taco bell, ya i know bad but oh man soo good!! After being submerged in this Italian culture for so long it was like culture shock to be able to understand everyone around me. The reason I went to base is the American families that are on the Primavera team have also created this American League Soccer which is for all americans in Italy so twice a month they meet up for the weekend and train then participate in tournies and such around europe. So I was there to help them coach, think mainly they just wanted to show me off. Met some cool people and possibly good contacts for other areas in Italy for me to visit. Overall great experience and hope to be going back to visit soon. Oh when I returned to the house everyone said how much they missed me all day but how glad they were I finally had a phone so they could text me. I felt the same way :)
We had a game in SIcily again but this time I didn't get to go due to funds I think...but Roby brought me back 2 cannollis soooo good!!
Other than that just been walking aorund a lot, oh and im starting to try out a lot of different wines. Yesterday I brought home a vino rosso frizzante, which is a slightly sparkling red wine, and Roby told me that this is a famous well known wine in Italy and that it is very good. After tasting I would have to concur, very delicious . Other than that have not been up to too much drawing, reading(thats right dad reading) and doing some work for the paps.

Gonna hit the hay hope you are all enjoying the snow back home, be safe!]]> Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=583654 0 40.8166667 14.1166667 Next was the seafood linguini...had lobster and shrimp with some tomatos it was veryyyyy good!! The shrimp and lobster were a little difficult to get out of there shells but I managed.
Next was sausage and steak...I opted out of the steak cuz I was already getting full. Oh and of course salad with the meat. Finally it was on to dessert which consisted of Fragolino wine and mandarins! Started eating at 9:20ish finished around 11:30. Oh man what a good meal though, oh and Marcella gave Roby and I the rest of the bread last bufala ball and ricotta!
Ok now I'll back up a little, we had a game this weekend which we won 6-0, no I didn't not play, we are hoping for this weekend maybe. Oh didn't go to sorrento either some mix up and lucca never showed. I been keeping semi busy trying to do a workout in the morning go on some walk then training. I convinced the house to buy less water bottles that I would take our waterbottles to the local fountain to fill them up, save a lil plastic and money! Also since we got food money and no car I offered to go to the store by foot and get things. Im just like the houses mule ha. Its about a 45 min treck to the cheaper grocery store so I walk there with a backpack and a bag fill up and head on home.
Oh a friend of Johanna's is arriving today to stay with me for two days, I am quite excited to try and show him around! See how good my tour guide skills and italian skills are!
Oh cut my hair off I posted pics, im not the biggest fan but getting used to it. Although I have to admit I love the practicality of it for soccer and the simplicity of it. For soccer its super light and doesn't get in my face...I use a lot less shampoo and conditioner so I save A LOT!! ;)
Think thats all for now
ciao ]]> Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=582349 0 40.8 14.0833333 a little catch up, the day after xmas I went to downtown verona with two friends in the early evening. We saw the castel vecchia then just walked around looking at the lights and window looking since most shops were closed. There were a ton of people down town which I can understand because it was beautiful!!
I returned to Napoli and everything as usual. Oh we played against a mens pro team, serie D, they have the same sponsors as us so it was kind of a big deal men vs woman type thing. I got to play too in the first half, got scored 3 times but two were 1v1s and the third was a cross to header. Did make some pretty big saves so for first game in months I was feeling ok. We traveled to Ischia for the game a little island of the coast of Napoli very beautiful and tropical reminds me of greece. After that just been training a little extra and doing practice. For the new years eve I went to Italos house, president or something, where there was a lot of people all family members so that was fun. Two of his older daughters speak pretty good english so that was nice. After a good dinner and some dessert it was time for the ocuntdown, once the new year hit the sky was crazy with fireworks I mean we looked out over the skyline and they were everywhere it was really cool to see. after about an hour the fireworks died down and I got taken home. since all my housemates are gone I prepared nice lunches and dinners for myself. especially on the 1st I made a nice dinner with a nice bottle of wine and chocolate pandoro for dessert which is bombbb!!! I been working a little bit on a health schedule to help get to to peak fitness also writing a little in my book. Today officially worked for my dad doing data entery basically, super slow but helps pass my time.
Oh I forgot to mention one time I was hanging with the bulgarians and I think its the first time I ever got upset about how someone was talking about the USA and so I started defending it and they quickly shut up. Damn proud to be an American!!
Oh and new years eve Italo was talking to me about next year when we are in seria a1 and the people he wants to bring in etc....feel bad cuz their planning on me being here but I still don't know what I want to do. But im not worrying too much when the time comes to decide ill figure it out.
well i gotta get going to practice
ciao]]> Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=581306 0 43.7333333 10.4833333 House. Tuesday had a lot of fun went with 3 teammates to morning therapy then to montesanto walked around looking at shops and wandered to downtown Napoli! Saw a castle and vesuvius and had a nice lunch finally made it back to the House around 5:30 got ready for prac and left. Winter has finally arrived here was 38 at practice but thankfully no rain. Had a few teammates stay the night cuz we had a game Wednesday.
The police were supposed to check my place of residence Wednesday morning so I went to italos at 8(where I'm supposed to live) but they never came so I was stuck there till 5:30 when I got picked up.
Since today we started our vacation the team had a party at a hotel restaurant. So much food, antipasti, chopped up squid Salmon lentils and zucchini bruschetta some thing served on a big clam shell. Then we had a pasta with a broccoli pesto and tomato and risotto with shrimp very good!! Then there was lots of chanting and singing before dessert was served. Of course there was wine prosecco and water also at dessert we had fragilino oh sooo good recommend trying it sometime!! Lasted about 3 hours got home round 12! Went to sleep since this morning I had to wake up at 5! I caught a flight to Verona and am spending the next 5 days with my manager and her family. I will wish you all a happy and safe holiday now as I prob won't write till after the holidays in all honesty I'm acting as tho Xmas doesn't exist since I'm so sad. I know seems silly considering where I am but if you had a family as awesome as mine you'd understand! Peace and love all]]> Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=185588 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=579933 0 43.7333333 10.4833333