Checking In From Prague!

Ahoy from Praha!

The last week and a half has been quite a whirlwind! We started our journey in Baltimore with 5 great days of Training Camp. During camp we had a nice send-off banquet at US Lacrosse, where Sue Stahl (previous US World Cup team coach) gave us some wise words and we also helped celebrate the 20th reunion of the '89 World Cup Team. It was a blast hearing about their experiences and funny stories from their adventures during the World Cup in Australia.

We finished Training Camp on June 8th and headed down to Annapolis to stay with Jess Adam for a couple of days before departing, which was a great Dukie reunion! On June 10th, we all met at the Dulles airport to begin our trip to Prague! We flew to Paris and then got on a connection on to Prague, where we landed feeling incredibly sleep deprived and a bit delirious, plus we had kankles from sitting on the plane for so long. We then drove about 45 minutes from the airport out to our hotel. The place we're staying, although it is not in the heart of Old Prague which is the really beautiful part, is pretty cool because it is literally adjacent to the fields where we practice and will play all of our games!! It is also attached to the stadium of the Slavia Praha Futbol team which is a big hit around here.

So the past few days have literally been eat, sleep, and play lacrosse-- It's been a blast! We have even survived some wild weather... lax in the hail, down-pours, hot sun, and some pretty blue skies! We have been working hard to get better each session and just having some fun out there.

Instead of describing all of our experiences so far, we thought it would be fun to include some realities about Prague that document everything pretty well...

1. We thought that smiling was a universal social norm... not so much.
2. Ice is a rare commodity here... imagine a frappucino minus the ice.
3. They like to take advantage of tourists (especially a giant group of dashingly beautiful American girls) and charge for rolls at dinner... the equivalent of $5 per roll (multiple bread baskets). Not to mention you are charged for water, ketchup, and butter. It's hurting our budget--thank you donors.
4. Cryer mistook the scrambled eggs for macaroni & cheese at the breakfast bar as they were sitting next to the hot dogs and salad bar... just a little insight into the local cuisine.
5. Goats roam freely by our practice fields.
6. There is A LOT of graffiti here. Interesting fact about that-Czech people use graffiti as a way to express their displeasure or disagreement for buildings that are put up "without thought." For example, it would be normal to see an older man doing graffiti on a subsidized housing building.
7. There is no such thing as an SUV here!

In all seriousness, we are getting SO excited for the World Cup to finally begin! Opening Ceremonies are on the 17th and we play our first game on the 18th against Canada. All of the teams are starting to arrive at our hotel, which has started to create the international feel. We have been practicing against each other for what feels like forever, and everyone is so ready to finally see some true opponents!

Thanks for all of the support; we will be sure to keep sending updates as the games begin!

---Sarah Bullard and Caroline Cryer