Streatball

This weekend I got to play in a 3 on 3 tournament in the Plaza Del Castillo called "Streetball." They had half of the plaza blocked up and 3 short courts with 6 hoops set up. It was so fun! A ton of folks from the club in Zizur were there, but I played with Irene's team. We actually went 2-3, but ended up getting 4th place. I guess you can win money and fabulous prizes if you finish in the top 3 spots and we almost had 3rd place. Next year.

I took a tumble in our second game. I was cutting across the key and got pushed, I guess. I didn't really feel it but everyone keeps telling me I should have fought the girl. Mostly I was just embarrassed and laughing. I have a sweet battle wound though. We won that game, heh heh heh. Some action shots... This was our 3rd/4th place game and here, I was cutting outside to hit a 3 I guess. I'm not sure why.

Here I'm posting up against Anna, from the regionales in Zizur. She promised me beforehand that she'd be hitting me the whole time. What do you think... a foul? Not in Spain it's not.

In this one, our little guard from my team in Zizur, Patri, is carrying the ball. What a rip off! I know she's only tiny, but I think I'll push her on Monday at the scrimmage.

So, we finished 4th, but still got trophies. Here I am going up to receive mine and kiss the president of Navarra's basketball federation. I was cold, so I needed the hat. This is actually my orphan look. When Iñaki saw it, he said, "oh look, a little orphan going up to kiss the president." Ha ha ha! Really though, it's a big orphan, not a little one.

As we inspected our trophies after receiving them, we noticed something strange... "streetball" was spelled "streatball." It just makes the trophy that much cooler in my opinion. Here's me with my team after the big finish... Me in the upper left then Maria, then Laura, Irene in the red sweatshirt and Christina to the left of her. Christina played with us in the morning, but felt pretty sick, so her twin sister, Maria played with us in the afternoon. Double trouble.

Irene and Laura and I went out after to celebrate. Irene brought her trophy, which resulted in at least 2 shots being bought for us.

But, don't worry, the shots here are more often just sweet liqueurs than hard A. We poured some of our drinks into the cup and took sips too. It was a fun time. I didn't want to stya out too late though, because Alexis had his communion on Sunday, so I headed home early. I met up with the ringer team that won the whole tourney on my walk out of the bar and chatted for a second. Nice girls, just too tall : ) Hugs hugs hugs! I'm going to see you all in less than a month, ahhhhhhhhhhh!

A series

I finally have all the pictures from my trip, yay! Now I just have to adjust all the ones I want to show you... but first, here's a funny series of pics I found of me and Whit just before diving into the surf in Conil (I think that's where we were)...

We discover the Yucca plant and can't quite decide what to do with it. It looks like I've decided to poke it and Whitney is bracing me in case something poisonous shoots out...

Next, I've actually touched it and Whit moves in to inspect it a bit more closely...

Here, I think I've actually extracted some type of liquid from the spine and am doing various tests like smelling, tasting, etc. Whitney is still fascinated as am I...

Fianlly, we discover we are being watched...

A few more pictures that I think would go nicely in this blog... This is a picture of the beach in Conil. The one sunny afternoon we had and Whit and I took advantage by jumping in the waves for a while.

This is a picture of me that Whit and I both liked, but I think Iñaki was a bit grossed out by it. I put my clothes on over my swimming suit and it looked like I peed my pants. If Steph is reading this, I hope she knows this is an ode to peebutt.

This is a snail we met on the way home from the beach. I ended up picking him up, but realized that probably bothered him, so I put him back down. He just sort of rolled over and laid there for a while, poor fella.

Not much more to blog on I spose. Alexis' communion is this weekend, so we're having a big bash on Sunday. Oh, on Saturday I'm playing in a "streetball" 3 on 3 tourney in the Plaza del Castillo. I looooooove 3 on 3, so I'm really pumped. Plus, I find it hilarious that it's in the Plaza because it's such a touristy spot and all "old Pamplona" and I sort of feel like streetball is not what it was meant for. I mean, it has a gazebo. But, it's gonna be really fun. Last night I ate some really awesome food that GPJ would be proud of. Two fried eggs (which I will have to learn the technique for because they are different from home and delicious), two sausages, 3 slices of pork, tomatoe sauce and fries. Mmmmmmmmm. It's still sticking to my ribs as I write.

The actual dinner conversation was a little rough on me though. There are times when I understand and times when I don't. I understood enough last night, but I kept saying what, or huh and felt like an idiot. I dunno, writing about it now makes it seem like I was all twisted up for no reason. After all, I should just tell people to slow down a tad, but dumb old pride gets in the way and before I know it, I'm on autopilot and nodding and smiling when I don't know what to ask. I started thinking about dinner at Shari's or Red Robin with college buddies and how everything just flowed and I could talk and be funny and laugh at jokes and the fact that I was speaking in English never even crossed my mind.

But, I know I can speak and communicate and get the important parts when I need to. I wish I'd push myself a little harder though. It's my experience and I'll only get out what I put in. I'm putting in, but maybe I want to put more in. I want to be able to chat, not just speak.

Sorry, I guess that was a bit of a downer, but don't worry, I still feel happy. I'm starting to work on getting a visa for next year and find out if I can teach english here so send me good vibes as it's a lengthy process! Love you!

Tided over

This entry is really mostly for aunt dona, but I thought it was funny, so I'm posting.

Last night I realized I still have the need to be tided over... I had plans to go get kebabs with Iñaki after work but we were having sidra sausage for dinner so I had some of that and some salad and an apple sauce. Catherine asked me why I wasn't eating very much and I said that I was going to eat later and she sort of laughed nervously like, "you´re having two dinners big girl?"

Just two hours later I had a full kebab to myself. Without that little "snack" beforehand, I'm sure I couldn't have held out until the kebab and may have fainted or passed out.

So, aunt Dona, Kelly and whoever else is concerned about how I'm eating, don't worry, as always, I'm well fed.

Giving the Sur a once over

Over Semana Santa, basically spring break here, I headed south to find the sun, a tan and a few mojitos. Alas, all I found was a drizzle and a lot of walking. Though I wasn´t prepared for a huge site seeing vacation, it was good to see things and places in other parts of Spain.

I had some company on this trip...

Kim "The Real" McCoy and Whit "The Weige" Cave

Iñaki "Shiny happy person" Mayo

Iñigo "I don´t know your last name, sorry buddy"

Darby "Colleen" Cave

Because, of course, I am always good company when I'm with myself.

Kim and I began our journey from Pamplona during the wee hours of the morning on April 5th. We drove 11 hours, I think, to meet Iñaki and Iñigo in Gibralter that evening. We got settled in and hit the town. After some dinner, etc., part of the town´s easter week "celebration" began. These celebrations aren´t really celebrations at all, but long slow parades that trudge through the streets carrying large statues of Jesus on the cross that really creep me out. They are most famous in Seville and there is a lot of crying involved and sadness. Sort of a downer.

Whit was supposed to meet up with us, but there were complications with trains and she didn't get south until two days into the trip. During this time we checked out a really cool castle, that I still don't have pictures of because my email was too full to receive them and a town that I forget the name of but is perched on the top of a canyon and is quite gorgeous. Pictures to come.

We picked up Whitty at the train station on day 3 and started perusing various beach towns in search of sun. No such luck. We finished up in Cadiz or Conil on Whit's first night, I can't remember which one and it was actually a pretty nice day out. Whit and I dragged Iñaki down to the beach to jump in the waves for a few, even though it was pretty cold. We had to test it out, plus we're from Oregon, and if you couldn't handle the cold water, you'd never have gotten to swim when you were little. Those pictures are also to come. And possibly some video.

In the morning we drove to Seville. When we arrived, I realized I'd have to go back. It was purdy. Every building looks like a palace and from a different country. They've got an awesome cathedral and the river runs right through the center. The bull ring is a neat site to see as well. We met up with Whitney's old teammate, Lauren Surber, and her sister for lunch, found a hostel and just wandered around for the rest of the evening. We got sort of lost trying to pick up Whit's bag at Surbs' hotel, so that took up a big chunk of the evening, but, we got to walk around and see a lot in doing so! (positive spin)

Kim, Iñigo and Iñaki headed off or to do their own things the next day and Whit and I took a 9 hour bus ride to Valencia. Yikes stripes. We wanted a girly vacation with beach sitting, shopping and relaxing. But, more rain and clouds. When we got in, Whitney's current teammate, Segrin's, fiancee picked us up at the bus station and deposited us at a chinese restaurant with Segrin and Tina, another of Whit's teammates. Israel, the fiancee, is from Valencia and they were in town making wedding plans. Tina goes to school there. Israel looked into our hostel situation as we ate. Come to find out, our hostel was like an hour outside of the city! The website had a miss-print, so we didn't have to pay and cancelled. Israel found us a really cheap place with a private bathroom right downtown, so we booked it. We just got up when we pleased, wandered around each day, and came home when we wanted. Here are some pics (finally)...

This is the market we went to every morning to get dried fruit and nuts and fresh fruit and magdelenas (lemon muffins) to keep us full until dinner. It was right across from our hostel and so cheap.
The cathedral and views from the top...

This is a shot of the old city gate on one side... or maybe just a cool arch. Whit and I were just sort of our own tour guides...

Our second night in Valencia their soccer team was playing a huge match at home so we walked down to the stadium. All the bars were packed and they all had flatscreens outside broadcasting the game and people were sitting in the streets watching. Everytime something good happened we could hear the stadium erupt with shrieks and then the street dwellers would follow. Whit and I meant to find Tina and hang with her this night, but we couldn't find her. We were supposed to meet her at the burger king, but were at the wrong one. Weird. So, we parked it at a table outside, had a beer and watched the match. It was so fun!

Me being a tree... can you tell which one is the tree?

Valencia used to have a river running through the middle of it, just like all big cities. Now, they just have a river bed they dug out to create a park that runs the length of the city. It's quite a neat thing. They have soccer fields, baseball fields, playgrounds, fountains, green areas, all throughout. Whit and I walked through it one day...

This sign made us think of Mindy and perhaps J. Scott. They actually put projectile poop on there...The park ends at the City of Arts and Sciences which is a cool group of 3 or 4 buildings that are sort of a glorified OMSI. There's the oceanographic, an IMAX, the city of sciences and the opera house. The oceanographic was cool because they had belugas and a neato dolphin show but the city of sciences was a little lame. As I said to Whitney way too many times because I thought I was funnier than I am, "ok, enough of this diarama crap."

The buildings were actually quite interesting to see, very star wars helmet...

Here's a shot of Whitney inside the City of Science in this weird skeleton area we found behind a curtain that lights up when you enter. Of course, I was a little scared and didn't want to stand by it...

On our last day in V-town we headed over to the beach and The America's Cup, which turned out to be less than active, but it was nice to see the boats I spose...

I love that they have the little blue and white tents on the beach in Valencia like in a Goofy cartoon. I've never seen that in real life.

I had such fun with Whitty just hanging out for 4 days and it was interesting being on vacay before that with 5 people who know eachother at various levels. What a lucky girl I am. Whit finally got her girly vacation on her birthday, which I believe she spent in Nice, France. I'll leave you with this picture she took on her big day, I just love it...

I wish you all pink toes, rocky beaches and crystal blue seas!

Surprise, surprise

Grandma Billie has a book that we loved to read when we were little called "Surprise, Surprise." That has nothing to do with this blog, but I just remembered it as I typed it.

Anyhow, on Thursday afternoon we were all outside playing PIG: Alexis, Louise and I. Alexis was kicking butt as usual and Louise was struggling to keep up. She has one great shot from the middle of the yard straight on that she always makes, so she uses it often. Usually she just gets frustrated and starts trash talking to Alexis after he gets the hang of her one and only shot. But on Thursday, she asked me if we could do an hour basketball lesson a day because she wanted to improve. I said sure, in a bit of shock that she'd actually take that initiative and disbelief that she would follow through.

But, today on our ride home in the car, she said, "wanna do the basketball thing today." Once again, I said sure. I was so excited that she was actually still thinking about it and pumped to do it. We only had a few minutes, but I taught her bounce passes, chest passes and the BEEF formation. Her shot's not actually that bad. With some work, I think she'll be fine. She kept messing up a little and saying, "oh, see, I'm terrible." I just answered, "Louise, we don't have to do this, it's up to you." So, we continued to play. It was amazing how she lit up when I told her good job and nice work. I've never seen her actually want to practice something before, it's great.

Still, she ruined it a bit... in the car on the way home from picking ip Alexis, she told him how her shot is now better than his. I've gotta get that part of her personality to go away! But, she's 12, what can you do?

My Mamá

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

I don't know about all of you out there, but I think my mom's pretty cool. Actually, I do know what you all think, because I am told often how cool my mom is.

She's one of the smartest ladies I know. Whenever I have a question, I go to her first and she always gives me 10,000 options on how to answer it or how to solve a problem. Then, I'll get an email or a call later saying, "well, I was thinking more about what we talked about earlier..." and I'll get a few more tips. I love it.

I love that she knows so much about plants and horticulture and is always changing things around in our yard and making it prettier or more peaceful. She's always doing the same for the house. We went from having carpet in the kitchen to hardwood floors in almost every room, hand done by Miss Laurette Ardel Fullerton Cave.

I love how active she is and all the little projects she always has going on or things to do. She does Yoga and bike rides with dad, she always has some party to go to with the ladies in the office, she took a Spanish class before coming to visit me in Spain... I dunno, she's just always living, not waiting around for something to happen and it's wonderful and pushes me to do the same. As I like to say, she's a doer.

I think some of my favorite moments with my family are from during the summers when I was in college. Whit and I would be home all day doing nothing and then mom would come home from work. She'd swoop in the backdoor and sing in an operetic voice, "hellllloooooooo!" Then she'd shimmy all around making a snack or hanging her things up and I'd sing back, "hiiiii moooooooom!" and come into the kitchen and just chat about her day or my day. Then Whit would mosey in at some point and then dad would get home and everyone would constantly be freaking out a little or doing some weird little dance and we'd all be cracking up just acting stupid and glad to be together I think. And it all started with the little mom opera that walked through the door an hour earlier.

Sometimes I'm in a terrible mood or being a little brat, but she doesn't care, she talks to me anyway. She takes any snide remark I make and doesn't say a word about it and continues to be my mom the next day. She used to put little notes in our lunches from time to time just to say she loved us. In fact, she made my lunch all the way through high school! Now that's love.

She loves to hear all about Spain and is always so supportive and thinks everything I'm doing is neat and cool and encourages me to continue on days when I can't understand Spanish at all.

I think a real testament to her is that often, more so in conversations at home than here because people understand more of what I say, someone would tell me a story and my first response would be, "one time, my mom..." and whatever they had said made me think of something she had done or said. And the response I almost always get is a laugh or a "really?" Not to laugh at her or to question her, more so to chuckle at the amount of joy she's getting out of whatever she's done or said or to note that what she's done is quite interesting or that it's something no one would have guessed.

Not many people can really say this, I think (and I know it sounds cheesy), but my mom really is my friend. She's my mom first, but she's a person that I choose to spend time with and enjoy spending time with more than others. Sitting in a lawn chair in my backyard with my mom and dad in the summer just chatting has got to be one of my favorite things to do in the whole world.

I love you Mamá!

No sé

I dunno... I haven't blogged in a long time. Let's see how many times I can start a blog entry with that phrase using various terms... Anyhow, not much has happened that is oh so exciting. I'm working on a blog from my vacation last month. We lost another game last weekend but it was followed by a kick ass cena and a night out. Kakun told me before knocking a few back that she speaks english when she's drinking. As we walked over to The Cugar after dinner, the bar we always go to in Zizur, all 3 times I've been there, Kakun busted out some of her best english...

K: "Darby, I am a small person, yes, I am small."
D: "Yes, Kakun, that's true."
K: "And you... you are a big girl."
D: "Thanks Kakun."

And that was about it. But, I was called a big girl by a spanish person who does not speak english much, so this is a huge deal. The big girl title has just passed into a bilingual, bicultural, and international state. With the few words Kakun had, she chose to tell me about my size. I love it!

Not much else has happened lately. We have our last game this weekend which I'm excited about because I'm a little sore these days and there's a bunch of stupid drama on the team right now. After that, I can run run run with the butterflies again!

Oh, yesterday Kim and I went to San Sebastain. She has a friend who works there and drives in every morning at 9. So, we can hitch a ride with her anytime and the bus back only costs 6 euros! So, beach here we come... maybe it'll be an every Thursday thing, weather permiting.

Hmm, has anything else funny happened to me lately...? I don't remember. I'm sort of in a holding state for many aspects of my life right now. I just don't know quite which way to turn or what to do. Then again, I might just be acting a bit lazily. I hope all is well back home and I'll see you all so soon, I can't believe it. Things are going too fast! Muxu bat.