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!