My New Home

Good morning. It is about 930 here in Murcia which means it is 230 in the morning back in Iowa.  I thought it would be a good time to get another post in as we have the day off today. The last week or so has just been filled with practices and lifting sessions at our home arena here in Murcia. They have been going well. The practices aren’t as long as what I am used to with Coach McCaffery at Iowa so for me they aren’t a killer. They usually last around 2 hours.  I like them though as we do a lot of drills broken down in 2 on 2 or 3 on 4 sprinkled in with some kind of shooting drill between each one.  The last few days we have started to do more 5 on 5 and put in about 10 plays to start running and get used to.  On Friday we played 3 quarters of a scrimmage against each other and I played well scoring 14 points and defending the ball well.  It has been a bit of an adjustment playing out here as the players have a different style to them and the communication factor while on the court, especially defense, is still difficult to get past but most of the guys speak pretty good english and I’m still growing my spanish. The guys are all good guys and compete hard so it is fun to be around on a daily basis. We do a ton of stretching before and after practice, which is something I really like. I am doing YOGA every day on my own at my house with the help of a DVD I got while training in LA over the summer. It’s a quick 40 minute workout that I strongly believe will be beneficial to my game and help prevent future injuries (cue knock on wood).  We have our first pre season game Tuesday night in the same gym we had training camp in by the mountains.  I believe we play Valencia which is a real solid team in the ACB League, so it will be a tough first test for us right out of the gates.

One of the mornings last week we drove about 40 minutes down to the beach for a workout on the sand. It was fun to do something different than the court or weight room for a workout. We ran and did different stability exercises as people watched us. I was quickly reminded I wasn’t in America because as we ran down the beach we encountered a few topless sunbathers along the shore, but believe me none of the guys or myself looked…

We moved into our homes this past week and I really like mine. I am right on the golf course and can look out of my bedroom window and see a green and flag about 30 yards away. It is a 3 bedroom and 3 bath duplex in Altorreal, Murcia so it is great for visitors! Altorreal is about 5 minutes north of the city and about 12 minutes from our gym.  I like it because it is more quiet up here than in the city and we have a supermarket right across the street that has just about anything we could need. There are 4 malls within 10 minutes of where we live and they are all very modern and clean. I was impressed by all of them and found an American restaurant in one of them yesterday called Hollywood Fosters. It will be a good place to go get a burger and fries fix in once in a while(the closest thing to Shorts anyway). We also have a community pool right across from where we live. It took a while to get the wifi installed but I got it in on Friday which made things a lot more easier for communication and keeping myself busy. I was able to stay up and watch the Iowa game last night. I was pretty nervous and yelling at the television by myself but was extremely happy and relieved they were able to pull it out and get the win over NIU. I was going to try to stay up and catch some of the Michigan game but i fell asleep on the couch (glad I didn’t, ouch big blue). Excited for the NFL to start up this week now!

Ive been trying to cook all my meals at my place but my cooking range is pretty limited presently. In the morning i always have some cereal with some fruit ( which is really good out here). I really need my fiancee, Erin, to get here so we can try out some different things and expand my cooking knowledge! I miss her a lot and she gets here September 18th, so a couple weeks from now.  Excited for her to get here and experience this journey with her.

I have been watching a lot of TV series in my spare time.  Think it is a good way to make time go by faster when your alone and it is entertaining.  I have started the series LOST and  am going to start a new one called Homeland I heard is really good. Of course I sprinkle in some Family Guy once in a while. Things like this and the Iowa game help me feel more at home. I do miss home though  all my friends, family and dogs. Hope they are doing well!