Sevilla, Espana

Hola. Ahora estoy en Sevilla con my mejor amiga de muchos anos, Acacia. Fuimos a la escuela el junto en Kentucky para seis anos a Lexington Christian Academy.
Hi. Now I'm in Sevilla with one of my best friends, Acacia. We went to school together en Kentucky for six years at Lexington Christian Academy. Although I have not seen her or kept up with her consistently for about a year and a half, we were able to pick up right where we left off. I arrived on Wednesday by bus and headed up to the ticket office. I could see her in the distance after a few minutes of turning my head in circles to find her and her first reaction when she saw me was to throw her head back and laugh really loud. Don't ask me why, (well, I know why, I'm a rookie at traveling internationally) but I brought my huge A&M travel bag which is stuffed, stuffed, stuffed with stuff. Needless to say, it is probably close to 60 lbs or something, and the airlines have put "Heavy-assisted lifting may be required, bend your knees" stickers on it that have a picture of a stick figure doing a squat with a huge suitcase. So, up the three flights of narrow twisted stairs to her apartment we go. She kept saying, "Sarah are you sure you don't want me to lift the back of it?" I felt convicted to carry it myself since I had the stupidity of taking everything with me for 2 days and 2 nights. Somehow I got it up the to the third floor with a few rest breaks on the way. We wasted no time in going to her work where she helps promote and organize trips to Gibraltar, Morocco, and Lagos, Portugal . Then we walked about another 30 min. to the train station to go babysit two little girls who she tutors in English. I love how much people walk here. I could really get used to it! The girls were so cute in little sweaters and plaid school skirts with tights and little leather shoes! (I'm a huge advocate for school uniforms. I've experienced both sides and strict uniforms work best.) During the walk and train ride we really started talking and catching up. I loved having a day where I just followed her around and got to go through a day in her life. Thursday was another great day where I woke up to the sound of children laughing, screaming, playing = recess. She lives close to a school and it was in the background all morning as she went to work and I rested, read and made a few phone calls. When she got back from work we headed out again for the rest of the night. We first stopped at a little market where several vendors wanted to sell us earrings, pashmias (thin wide scarves), leather wallets and other other authentic very cool stuff. She took me through what seemed to be confusing skinny streets where we had to get on the foot wide sidewalk to let cars go by. After browsing through several stores where I bought hundreds of dollars of stuff in my mind, we landed at a busy and unique cafe. We both ordered a big chocolate covered heart shaped croissant and either coffee or hot chocolate. We planted ourselves there and after our waiter brought our goodies, he never bothered us again until over two hours later when we asked for la cuenta, the check. We had talked, laughed, pondered, reminisced and jibber jabbered for over two hours without even looking at our watches. Our next mission was to see the sites around town, and I loved to see the city at night with all the lights. There is a beautiful river with several bridges and restaurants running along the side. Private kayaks and dining boat expeditions are very popular here. We passed a nice park and continued through downtown where two dancers were suspended from a harness and dancing "on the wall" of a store equivalent to our Best Buy. Apparently they were promoting a new Harry Potter movie which is already out in the U.S. They dancers flew, jumped and did flips all perpendicular to the wall and created a large audience on the street. For dinner we met up with one of her friends and ate an authentic Spanish dish, paella, at a restaurant we trusted, Paellador. With my tinto verano, 1/2 red wine and 1/2 orange Fanta, my paella consisted of chicken, veggie and rice. It was sooo good! We finished dinner at about 10:30 b/c people eat incredibly late here and headed to this local bar. From an outsider's view, one would never know there was a bar through this random door on the street, but it proved to be a huge two rooms with a fireplace, two bars, rows and rows of wooden benches and a little dance floor that was the focal point of the night. At 11:00 and 12:00, a flamenco dancer performs to the rhythmic sounds of the band behind her as they clap, snap, stomp their feet, sing and play the flute and guitars furiously. The female dancer claps off beat and makes a sound that is new and different to my ear and one that I think takes more talent to create than may be heard. This passionate and creative dance is unlike anything I have ever seen and I couldn't take my eyes off the stage. The lady uses her arms and hands expressively as she seems pretty free to twist and maneuver them sort of like a ballet dancer. There are clear foot steps, almost like a tap dance, and it includes a lot of stomping and aggressive quick jumps or long strides. The female dancers wear really tight colorful dresses that poof out at about the knees to create a dramatic twirling affect. After watching both perfomances I was so impressed and wanted to try my luck at it, but that can wait 'til I get home when I explain it to others. :) Oh boy! Acacia said it was by far the best two shows she has seen here even though the same girl performs. At the second show a man that the band knew went up to the stage in regular leather shoes and tested his skills that were a little spastic but brought the house down. We had a wonderful time and there is no other place I would rather visit than a relatively low key flamenco exhibition. The tourist stuff is only a portion of the real thing. After a wonderful and exhausting afternoon I crashed on her couch again and have woken up to inform you of my few days in Spain. I go back to Portimao, Portugal tonight and will depart from Faro on Monday, spend the afternoon and night in London and be on my way back to the U.S. on Tuesday. Yay! Anna has won her first two rounds in the main draw of doubles! :) Hopefully they'll pull through today so I can cheer them on tomorrow. Abrazos y besos!

Raining on Sunday

A few days ago I let my iPod roam free without any playlist or album selected. I'm always surprised at how many random songs I have on that thing! A song by Keith Urban, "Rainin' on Sunday" came on and I remember thinking how sweet it was. It turned out to be a foreshadow of today's *gray*, rainy, cold, windy, damp, drizzly Sunday. Anna and I were planning on playing our second round matches (yes, I FINALLY won a round) today but all tennis was cancelled by midafternoon. We're staying at a very nice and new hotel which is about a 15 minute walk to the host hotel. Today we trudged down the long cobblestone sidewalk against the wind with our little thin cotton hoods, stopped for a picture, then stepped down the 100 twisted stone stairs of this old fortress that has been here a couple hundred years that we must go through in order to get to the road of the host hotel. It's a nice walk and about midway through the stairs when I tend to stop for a little brake, you can look out to the ocean. Today I was in awe of the huge crashing waves that blasted (is that a word? don't think so...) into rocks and dams. The ocean was more furious today with the exceedingly howling wind and the waves made a cool postcard glimpse as they hit a red and white striped lighthouse at the end of a long pier. After finally ending at the host hotel, we decided to not even take the bus since it was so wet. We started talking to some girls from England and Scotland and they helped pass the time with stories and mutual contacts between us, including my sister! The tennis world is a small world. Anyway, we hung out there all day, using their computer, sneaking into their free breakfast place in which nothing we ate was good (maybe it was punishment for not actually staying there) and using their work-out room. At about 2:30 or so Anna and I trudged back down the street, up the fortress steps and back down the sidewalk with our tennis bags that we try to make as light as possible but still seem too heavy. I finished one of my books today, "Three Cups of Tea," and now will borrow Anna's "Three Weeks With My Brother" by Nicholas Sparks. I didn't realize he wrote "The Notebook" and "A Walk to Remember." I looooved those movies, esp. "A W T R"!

So tonight I went to dinner by myself b/c Anna was talking to her mom on Skype and I would use it after her. I decided to try a local tiny place very close to our hotel. I ran into a Portuguese girl who is staying at our hotel and talked with her a little bit. Get this: She actually knows several players who play for Texas A&M Corpus Christi! Um yeah, that's where I'll be training in a few weeks! Once again, the tennis world is a small world. I took full advantage of her and her native language and pointed to several desserts, saying, "What's that?" to way too many. She was so nice and truly didn't mind at all. She helped talk to the nice young waitress lady for me and made my night easier. After she went back to the hotel, the waitress brought my big hunky piece of chocolate cake with walnuts. I just had to have some chocolate. It wasn't one of those, "I might die if I don't get some chocolate NOW!" but more like, "This will make my night and help me sleep better and make me happier" kind of thing. ( I know, I know, chocolate cake before a match???? Well, there is a "time for everything" and it actually will probably rain all week!) So she brought it on this adorable multicolored plate with tons of Portuguese words and a few animals on it. Well, I just loved it! Portugal has the absolute most beautiful pottery and hand painted ceramics that I have fallen in love with. Although this wasn't handpainted, I just had to have it. So when she came back I pointed to myself and said, "I" and then made the gesture that I am crazy by motioning my pointer finger in circular motion by my ear to prepare her for my next request. I said, "Bonita" which means "pretty" in Spanish, which is very similar to Portuguese and pointed to the plate. She understood that I liked it, and I said, "Euros" motioning that I'd giver her $ for it. She immediately said, "No, no" and shook her head. But then all of a sudden either she completely realized what I wanted or something, but she said, "Aw, for you..." and went behind the little kitchen, wrapped a plate in a grocery bag and told me not to tell by putting her finger against her mouth. So sweet! I couldn't believe it and almost felt awkward, kinda like a criminal. Needless to say I gave her a heck of a tip and hopefully made her night. Tips aren't a big deal here, usually just give the leftover change, so I was happy to help her out as she helped me out giving me the coolest souvenir I've picked up so far and a great story to go with it!

Like I said, there is a bad weather forecast. They will cancel the tournament when they find they are so behind that the tourney cannot end by Sunday. I am hoping to get the show on the road, do my thing and head to Sevilla, Spain for the remainder of the trip. One of my best friends, Acacia, lives there now! I sorta have a notion that it's going to be rainy. I hope they make a decision quick so we don't end up spending our last days here wasting away in a hotel room when we could be in Spain.

This trip has been nothing short of an eye opening experience. I have CNN on right now, which I thing is live from Hong Kong or something. I enjoy hearing the international news and talking to people from around the world. I also just finished that book I wrote about which tells of an American man who failed at his attempt to climb K2 (I wouldn't even say he failed, but that is what everyone says) and got lost on the way back down and ended in a random village. He ended up starting a school back there after coming back to get funds in the U.S. I think he has now established 55 schools. He has quite a story to tell and it was a great book to learn about the Muslim culture and religion, remote villages in Pakistan, the Taliban and Asia in general. A little controversial at times, but I still enjoyed it.

Tomorrow we are trying for the same sked., Anna is at 10:00 and I'm first on after that.

Question for you: 1. Do I use too many commas when I write? I feel like I do.
2. Is there anything in particular you want to hear about or want me to write about?

Have an awesome day!

Who let the dogºs out????? Good thing Noone did!

So Iºm in this internet cafe, frantically trying to take care of any internet use within my 59 minutes of time. We do get free access at the courts, but among 128 girls and their coaches, I find myself getting too annoyed with the 16 and 17 year girls who check their facebook maybe 5 times a day. They know Iºm right behind them, breathing down their necks, and they just take their time with reading messages, writing on others walls and looking at pictures! Anyways, I wanted to fill you in with a little incident last week back in Loule...

I was feeling rather independent, confident and wanted some time to myself so I decided to take off from Casa Belmont where our hosts lived, and go for a run with the beautiful scenary around me. I laced up my shoes, put the headphones in, did a little stretch that was too short for any purpose and took off. The day before, Anna and I had gone on a run together, going along the dirt road from their house and turning left onto a paved road down a very steep hill. Well, this day I decided to let my free spirit soar and turn right onto the paved road. Oh boy! Go Sarah Go! I saw a rather big red field that served as my landmark where I would need to turn back on their dirt road, so I knew Iºd be fine. Earlier I had told Elizabeth not to worry about me because I like to run and be out for a while after she had volunteered theyºd come out and search for me if I wasnºt back in an hour. I reassured her Iºd be back in plenty of time to get changed and go to dinner. (They were treating us that night to this delicious stew thing that is served in a huge witches pot, tamburlin...consisted of broth, rice, prawn, monk fish and monk fish liver...Anna and I did try the liver but it still haunts me) So off I go on my little adventure. There was a pretty consistent incline so I stopped for a moment to enjoy the scene. I stood on a stone ledge, they call them walls, weºd probably call them fences, and overlooked a green grassy terrain with stone fences built sturdily and randomly all around. Old homes, some of which now are decaying and deserted, stood in the bright sunlight glow that the sun posseses about an hour or so before sunset. In the distance I saw an old church with a small cross on top. I told myself Iºd try to go in it on my way down if it didnºt look too risky. I stood there for a moment allowing all my senses to heed the beauty and ran on, my iPod and me. My run seemed to lose some of itºs charm when I started to pass more homes. Many people here have dogs but donºt take good care of them. They may be a little underfed and donºt seem to be trained at all...Well, they may be trained to protect the home, but thatºs it! Throughout my trip here when Jim-Elizabeth would drive us up to their home, dogs would jump on the fences and bascially try to scare us even though we didnºt pay them any attention and cars pass several times a day. Anna and I had passed several home with the crazy canines the day before. But something seemed a little more real and frantic to me when I was all alone and knew that no matter how many, "Best Sweet Love Songs" I could jam on my my iPod, the fact that I was completely alone and no one, literally no one would hear to help me except for the next car driving up if something did in fact happen. So here I was, Josh Groban pounding into my ears, this coyote-wolf-dog thing screaming, I mean screaming and maliciously licking his chops for me on my right as he tried to jump his fence and running alongside the fence with me, and some other scary mongrole joining into the fun taunting of the left side, once again running along his fence with me. Their sharp and shiny teeth and fangs looked worse than mine did before I had braces, but they were proud of theirs! I didnºt want to stop and I tried not to acknowledge them. Once I got past this scene that reminded me of when Belle gets attacked by the coyotes and the Beast saves her, (but there was no Beast for me) I realized Iºd have to go back down and face them again...Great! Well, I kept trudging up this darn hill and came to the end where another beastly untamed creature came charging for me at ramming speed only to get jerked back by the collar and leash that was attached to his house. Ouch! That mustºve hurt. I took a detour on a dirt path to get away from him, looked back, and saw this old little 5 foot lady shuffling along the outside of the house. Somehow this elderly lady all bundled up from head to toe has a reign on him. I stayed on the detour and got back onto the road telling myself Iºd probably run into a snake if I didnºt get back. Later on when I went back down I picked up a stick that I was sure would ward any 100 pound hungry dog away from me. Right....at least it made me feel better. I passed them without passing out and kept my jog up... I was feeling good now, probably had on Jim Brickman or some sappy Country love song and of course was thinking about Kent. How fitting, country music, Kent, love songs! So a while later I hear music coming from downtown, "Oh, thatºs carnaval music." (a big citywide celebration of lent that Iºll talk about later) I kept going and realized that I didnºt know where I was. I had lost all my bearings. I looked around and saw downtown buildings, the same countryside that looks the same all over the Algarve to a foreigner and could hear music. I began to panic. The sun would be setting pretty soon, and what was I going to do? Where am I? Whose phone do I use? What number do I call, I donºt know Jim-Elizabethºs number and is their number even in the phonebook since they also live in Scotland? Where would I tell Jim that I was anyway? Didnºt I get back on the right road after my little detours? Elizabeth wonºt worrying about me b-c I told her Iºd be gone a while... I stopped three Portuguese woman walking leisurely along and said, "Iºm lost" with the most worried face I could give incase they didnºt speak English. Well, they didnºt speak English, and once I told them that they all three started talking to me at once in Portuguese! Ahhh! My brain racked the shelves of landmarks I could give them and I said, "Cape Apolo" which is this cafe on the street leads up (way up) to Casa Belmont. They said, "Ahhhh..." and pointed me further to the right which would take me more downtown. I said thanks, went down, realized there were way to many back roads, turned around and started booking it back from the direction I orginally came. I ran and ran and hit a slope that turned into a huge hill. Let me tell you, this hill is a workout. But after sprinting it as hard as I could for a minute or so, I realized that this was the hill I had run with Anna the day before...or was it? It had to be, surely there werenºt two this steep so close together. Then when these certain two dogs started on their barking rampage and tried to jump up from their side of the thick white plaster walls, I remembered that Anna and I had passed that exact house earlier! I never thought Iºd be so happy to see the bobbing heads over the walls of these crazy and wild dogs! Victory! So all I had done "wrong" was run was to far down that road as I got carried in my own little world of love songs. Finally I reached the big read field, where I took a right and headed back. I was still running when this shorter dog came right behind my heels and was barking his head off at me! I could just see him taking a chunk out of my heel, but I kept going b-c I thought if I stopped heºd get defensive and attack. I got past the few houses that he chased me down and saw it. Yay! Casa Belmont. Home at last. I made it home in time to change and go to dinner where we had a wonderful time. Needless to say, I wonºt be going out alone (well, actually I am now but Iºm fine, really) and donºt trust me with directions! Ever!
Gotta run now! (but not on country roads...)

Scottish Hospitality: Bom Dia!

Hello! I have risen from my silent cave! Sorry I took so long to write a new entry but honestly, you can't blame me for not wanting to get the word out, 'Yeah, I lost first round.' But with that being said, yes, I did lose first round. I played really bad. The girl had a good forehand and took advantage of my way too many double faults. I think it was more mental than anything. I mean I fly overseas for the first time to play tennis tournaments, no pressure, I've just spent all this money and time and energy and planning and wondering and calling and entering and...well, yeah, so I get out on the court knowing that a lot of effort has gone into getting me to this exact court at this exact time. Anyways, I came up with an analogy to think of every point as it's own chain link. Each point/link has a clear beginning and end. Sometimes I ride emotional waves (good and bad emotions) throughout the match and do not play with a clear head. I play a point thinking about the last one, or thinking about what the score will be if a win the current point. Not good! But with this approach each point is a link and at the end of the match they all add up to make a chain. With this in mind I've had a much more calm and efficient practice over the past two days. You may think this is cheesey, but hey, it's working for me right now. No negative comments without trying it first! :)
For us southern folk, there may be a new standard for having guests at our home! If all Scottish people are as inviting, easy going and fun as our new friends here are, we may need to rethink that term, 'Southern Hospitality' and trade it for 'Scottish Hospitality.' Let me bring you up to speed with one of the most remarkable weeks of my life. Our retired Scottish hosts, Jim and Elizabeth, make us feel right at home and have shown us an unforgettable time. Not only has this been wonderful as far as playing a tournament and seeing the Algarve, but just to learn about their Scottish culture and heritage has been extremely interesting. Typically when a player gets housing, they go to the grocery store first thing to get essentials: bread, milk, cereal, peanut butter (if they didn't bring their own on the plane like I did) and apples. I offered to go to the store and Jim looked at me with a puzzled expression and in his distinct accent politely said, 'For what?' With that being said, we wake up every morning and breakfast foods are on the nicely set table with the quiet and sunny outside shining through their backdoor. They both are like chirping little birds and I try to greet them with, 'Bom dia!' (Good morning) every day. (They actually had fresh squeezed orange juice from the oranges in their back yard and it was the bomb! They don't prefer them b/c they think it is too tart. Fruit down here is sweet, similar to about 10 shocktarts or 15 sweettarts in your mouth at once but your taste buds reamin intact: awesome!) Sometimes we eat b-fast with them, other times we wake up a little later than they do. Lunch is usually cooked by Elizabeth or I make my peanut butter/honey/banana sandwich and then she cooks dinner or we go out. I know, you're thinking, 'You better be helping her!' The truth is she is so quick and really doesn't want or need any help, BUT Anna and I do the dishes and clean up the kitchen every night and empty the dishwasher when it's full.
Today Anna and I practiced at their tennis club which is near the host site and when they came over to get us they had their coffee (we always tease Jim about his coffee breaks several times throughout the day...like 4 or 5!) and Jim said, 'What do you want to do now?' They've already taken us to several surrounding cities so we can 'get the most out of the trip' as Elizabeth said. Wow, What a great thought! I claim I've been throughout most of the U.S. becuase of tennis, but how much have I actually seen besides cemented fenced in courts and hotels? Yesterday we went to Faro and walked around the beautifully designed cobblestone streets amidst stores and coffee shops with Portuguese music playing in the background (I really miss my dancing partner!!!). We stopped for tea, coffee and hot chocolate (me) and these cream pastry things that are a Portuguese favorite. I looked in little shops at their well-known handpainted pottery but didn't buy anything, it's all so beautiful and hopefully I can take some back to America in one piece. We've seen the downtown where they live, Loule, as well as Faro, Albufiera (next tourney town), Almancil, and one more but I can't remember the name. Needless to say, without their help, our trip to the Algarve would have been entirely different and not nearly as fun.
Jim and Elizabeth have shown us all around, taken us to great restaurants and been excellent hosts. However even if they hadn't done all that they have, I would still love to spend time with them. They are around each other pretty much all day every day and the atmosphere is always light. Neither one has said anything at all negatively directed at or behind the back of the other. Sometimes they don't agree on something, like directions, but then one will say, 'Oh yeah, you can go that way' and the conversation is dropped. Jim has added his engineering touches to the exterior of the house by building this awning thing over the sidewalk for ivy to grow over in the summer, a pond full of fish, and several stone fences. He also made a wooden ball picker upper contraption that you push around the court. He is a very intelligent man and actually retired about 10 years after selling his engineering company in Scotland. His story is quite impressive and he seems to live with the same energy and creativity he must have had when he owned his own company. Being the kind of man he is, he said he enjoyed working when his company was smaller because he knew the workers. He said when it got bigger he would walk around and could tell that people got nervous. He is an extremely personable man and always looking out for other's interests, whether it is his wife's, Anna's or mine or people at the church. Elizabeth is such a dear to us. We played Scrabble last night with her and she cleaned our clocks! I love how she notices nature and flowers in particular. She said this the other day as we were driving and came to a stop, 'Look at those two lilacs beginning to bud behind that wall, you can barely see them, actually you won't be able to...' Then as we started again I had given up looking for them, but she got my attention again to make sure I saw them. She is so easy going and I'm not sure if she could ever raise her voice or get upset for more than a few minutes. Anna and I have had a lot of fun talking and particularly laughing with her. 'Gran', as her 4 grandsons call her, is a Dear.
Last thing: I really wasn't a tea drinker before I came here, but now I thoroughly enjoy a hot cup of tea with milk and sugar in it. Usually after dinner Elizabeth brings in a tray (she makes tea probably 3 times a day) with tea and cookies, 'biscuits' on it! I've told them I'm living a tea party. They just laugh at my ignorant mind. I laugh with them.