iDaft

Kanye West has the best blog ever on EARTH and for reasons like this:

http://www.najle.com/idaft/

I promise, I spent at least an hour on this page laughing while I watched myself dancing to my own song in the mirror, ha!!! Go there and laugh

French Fans

Soooooooo, on Saturday the impossible happen. We won, not impossible that we won, but the fact that we beat Istres, who on a scale from 1 to 14 is a 4 and we are a good 10 or 11. No one expected that we would win, but thank goodness they played really terrible in the first two games and we got 2 points, sounds bad but hey, at this point this is what we need while playing the top ranked teams.

After the match we headed to the VIP room as we usually do to stand in the corner and pick over the yummy pasteries (we, Regan and I). Usually we stand at the table in the back cause no one speaks English and our French is limited with strangers:

French Stranger:"Bonsoir"
Me: "Bonsoir"
French Stranger: "Bon match!" or "La prochaine!"
Me: " Merci!" or "Oui, merci"

But there is one man who insist on have a full conversation with us, despite the language barrier. Now granted his cheeks are always BRIGHT red and his cologne could be called "Budwiser" I try to give him the benefit of the doubt. But he's drunk, he's always drunk and uncomfortably close when he talks to us. Usually it's about steriods (i think) or "boom" (apparently the sound we make when we hit the ball) but last night I was standing alone and I gues he thought it was appropriate to have a French conversation with me about Viagra...um sir? Ok I usually laugh at him cause it's something like him pointing at the red and blue image of Barak Obama on my shirt and saying something stupid like "Obama black! hahahaha" and I laugh cause I'm..ok I don't know why I laugh at him but I do. But last night I had no idea what he was talking about, so I walked over to a group of my teammates and Alice (the translator/setter) and asked her what he was saying and she goes "He's talking to you about VIAGRA!" Ewwww, why drunk man why? So I got freaked out and got away from him.

The later when Regan and I were in our Range Rover Clio in the parking lot he came over to our car and I immediately locked the door and he tried to open it, so I cracked the window about 2 inched and he tried to put his hand in so I rolled it a little more and he put his face in and gave my cheeks two overly moist kisses and blow 2 to Regan...so needless to say, I have a new boyfriend!

Paris

This past week we had a few days off, so Karen and I met up in Paris. The weather was really nice while we were there which helped while we walked around to site see and wait in hours of lines outside (which was all very worth it). We got a chance to see an Andy Warhol Exhibit which was awesome, walked the Champs-Elysees, saw a protest at Notre Dame, met a few American guys at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and got offered two bottles of champagne out in the Latin Quarter. Paris is AMAZING, if you've never been go...NOW, with one of your best friends, or with the one you love, heck I'd go back alone. I plan on going again at least once more before I leave France, it's only an hour and 50 minute train ride away...here's a few photos



Notre Dame

Champs-Elysees

the sweetest thing EVER!

today Regan and I were watching Oprah and this man and lady these two guys were on telling Christian's story, pretty much the cutest thing ever:

yea buddy

don't you worry about me, I'm in PARIS

So our coach doesn't always say things and not follow through on them...he finally came through this time. We played in Clamart (about a 20 minute drive fro Paris' center) this past Saturday and before the match while we were having lunch and I was looking at a city guide for Paris. I was checking out the map and Dorel says to me "If you finish quickly, the match tonight we go.." and he traced his fingers along the Sien (the river that runs through Paris, past the Eiffel Tower and along all the major attractions). I said "REALLY?" Not believing at all that he could keep this promise. And he did his usual shoulder shrug and said "I dunno..maybe, you have 2...3 point, we go" referring to the amount of points we get in the French Federation for winning a match in 3, 4, or 5 sets.

We headed to the gym on a street that winded upward and had a pretty amazing view of the city and as we turned a corner almost at the gym there is was, sparkling with lights the Tour Eiffel, so pretty. I immediately got butterflies in my stomach, thinking about all the times in my life I'd imagined seeing it not on a tv screen or in a picture. So we won in three and after the match I came out of the locker room to see Dorel chugging beers, one after another (...just kidding I only saw him drink one but I was still worried) and I immediately went to ask him "are we going?". "Uhhh, i don't know..it is the decision of everyone" so with child-like excitement I went around asking everyone if they wanted to go and everyone said yes!

So we went. I was expected to drive by, see it and leave, but we actually parked our mini vans got out and got to walk to it. Luck have it, NO ONE had a camera, thank goodness Tereza had a camera phone and took a few picture for us. But it was everything I'd imagine it would be. Just the feeling of being there, for me it is hard to put into words. Like you dream of something your whole life and then finally it happens, it's kind of crazy. There were tons of people walking around selling things, lot of couples, families, and tourist, taking pictures walking around and just enjoying the site, as were we. It was so amazing, I couldn't stop smiling.


As we headed out of town we drove along the Sien and Dorel pointed out tons of famous museums, architecture, and buildings. I cannot wait to go back and see it all and take tons of pictures! After being there and standing underneath the Eiffel Tower I totally understand what people mean when they talk about the romance of Paris and hope someday to share that experience with someone I really love...until then Karen will have to do, haha.