Happy Canada Day!

So I think it's about time for an update...Turns out that Reese and Fabris finally made it to Belgrade just incase you were not informed.
Our first day here all together we drove to a venue about an hour away for our first Serbia practice. We must admit, jet lag was going strong at this point and so was the sun as it shined straight into our eyes. One side of the gym is all windows so let's cross our fingers and hope it isn't sunny on game day at 3pm! Half of us were feeling dizzy while the other half were having issues from the lamb served up in the caf. From practice, we boarded the bus and headed back to Athlete's Village and the caf. Our bus has to get stopped a few 100 metres back from Athlete's Village to check for bombs.. no big deal. We feel like quite the celebrities since our bus is escorted by police through t he city. Police with rifles are just lining the streets and are all around us, feel very protected, that's for sure. So the caf.... it's in a warehouse and let me tell you, going at rush hour is a horrible idea. We have caught ourselves in that place with what seemed to be a thousand other starving athletes from around the world... good for people watching- don't get me wrong- but not so great if your stomach is aching. We all crashed pretty early that night, trying to get onto this time zone.
The Athlete's Village is just something else. 5,000 athletes from around the world living within feet of each other is pretty cool. Our building is all Canadian athletes and our neighbours are Australia, South Africa and USA. You can walk around the place and j ust chit chat, get your picture taken, play pick up soccer or dance and sing with them all. Most of us walk around with our jaws open at the men we sight each day- gotta love this place.
Tuesday... our days all seem to scrabble into one...we drov e back to the same venue on a bus with Sweden to play a quick two sets against them. We only had one hour with an actual net so we had to warm up in what we like to call the "sauna." It was a gym at the top of this glass building that was SO hot we all sweat like crazy. While sweden took the full hour to hone their volleyball skills, the Serbian volunteers got a good kick out of our teams' athletic abilities in soccer and basketball..and my face being a BALL MAGNET (thank you fabreezy and harp). The scrimmage was alright for our first game like experience in belgrade and against a different country...MP put it well when she s aid we played "shy"- gave up a few big leads, and split with them in the end. No big deal. That night we were invited to a reception at the Canadian Embassy in Belgrade with a bunch of Serbian VIP's and other important people we weren't too aware of. I guess we were slightly underdressed at the event but how can you not be classy in a black polo and lulus with sneaks? :| Needless to say we had a enjoyable time... most of it spent at the chocolate fondue fountain...however it was an experience we'll probably never have again! You can check out all the action at http://www.youtube.com/CANFISUGAMES2009 you'll fi nd a lovely interview of joc and dayna, and spenny making an appearance at our favorite fountain!!

I guess that brings us to today!? We had another scrimmage at the same venue, this time against Great Britain. We played a lot better than we did against sweden and basically dominated them in the first set, and sort of again in the second. Woop woop! We rushed back for dinner and then had to get ready for the opening ceremonies! We de

finitely looked like a bunch of babes in our red polo shirts, black basketball shorts, white running shoes, and BASEBALL hats. Yes, we looked good. And did i mention we did not have time to shower after our practice. hahaha. The procession was actually really cool, we had to walk a few km's to the Beograd Arena where the opening ceremonies were held. Apparently its like the biggest indoor sports stadium in Europe? don't quote me on that, but it was a really cool place. All these Serbians lined the streets as we marched to the stadium and a bunch of people were waving little canadian flags and even the gypsies were cheering for us from behind the fences!! We kept taking so many photos that the volunteers had to make us run for part of the walk because we were falling so behind haha. They also had these huge speakers th at were playing classic music that suddenly turned into wicked beats. So awesome. When we got into the stadium we had to wait for a few hours before all of the countries finally arrived. Some of us had to take off for therapy but the rest of us that stuck around only stayed for the introduction of all 130 some countries and their flag barers to do a lap around the stadium. We were quite bagged and apparently missed the best part of the ceremony. Oh well right? We need to rest up for China tomorrow! Ok that's all I got for now. Good night!