Monday, October 29, 2007
Baseball Update
I haven`t been reporting about Brian`s outings lately because there haven`t been any. Ten days ago they placed him on the ¨inactive list.¨ The team is only allowed to have a certain number of foreign players on the roster. Since they weren`t hitting well, they wanted to add a foreign hitter to the line-up. Therefore, Brian was temporarily put on the inactive list. He still gets paid, and he didn`t have to go on the last road trip which was nice! The coaches originally said he would be reactivated and pitch tomorrow, but now they`ve decided to delay it even longer. They are thinking about either releasing him, or reactivating him so he can be the starting pitcher this Saturday. They´ll be making that decision between now and then. I`m not sure what they are basing their decision on, but Brian is itching to pitch so I hope they give him another shot. We´ll just have to wait and see what happens!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Things you might like to know . . .
1. Culiacan has a population of 1.5 million people. And believe me, if you could see the dirt and smell the pollution down here, you´d think there were 3.5 million.
2. Liver does not taste good. One day we went to the restaurant located in the lobby of our not-so-great hotel (more on that later). Of course the menu is in Spanish and Brian bravely ordered something he could not read. Unfortunately, it was liver. Poor thing choked down as much of it as he could, but it was awful.
3. The bus systems are actually very nice. Of course, there are different levels and some are nicer than others. But for the most part you can travel in comfort. I will probably try to buy a ride on one of these bus lines so I can go to some of the out of town games.
4. At our hotel the maid(s) come in our room, sometimes without knocking, between 2 and 4 times a day! Once to make up your bed, take your dirty towels and bring you bottled water, another time to bring you clean towels, and the rest of the time I have no idea why they barge in. It´s quite puzzling and a little disturbing because as I said before, they don´t always knock. The other day a maid decided to come in while Brian was using the restroom.
5. I get to catch up on all the old episodes of Grey´s Anatomy, What About Brian, ER, Seinfeld, Friends, Cold Case, etc. And actually it helps me improve my Spanish because they speak in English, but have Spanish subtitles.
6. I was told before we came down here that I would get a lot of stares. In fact, one friend, who studied abroad in Mexico, told me that the Mexican people would love my blond hair and fair skin and would want to have a picture taken with me. However, I have not found that to be the case. I do get A LOT of stares, but they are suspicious stares. Like, ¨What are you doing here,¨ kind of stares. When I smile at strangers they rarely smile back. Every time I go somewhere I feel like all eyes are on me, and not in a good way. Hopefully I´ll get used to it, but for now I really just want to blend in!
7. My main concern coming down here was getting sick. But we haven´t gotten sick at all! Purified water and ice are everywhere down here. We´ve even eaten lettuce, tomato, etc. (things they tell you not to eat unless they´re cooked because they rinse them off with unpurified tap water). I am so thankful that we haven´t gotten ¨Montezuma´s Revenge!¨
2. Liver does not taste good. One day we went to the restaurant located in the lobby of our not-so-great hotel (more on that later). Of course the menu is in Spanish and Brian bravely ordered something he could not read. Unfortunately, it was liver. Poor thing choked down as much of it as he could, but it was awful.
3. The bus systems are actually very nice. Of course, there are different levels and some are nicer than others. But for the most part you can travel in comfort. I will probably try to buy a ride on one of these bus lines so I can go to some of the out of town games.
4. At our hotel the maid(s) come in our room, sometimes without knocking, between 2 and 4 times a day! Once to make up your bed, take your dirty towels and bring you bottled water, another time to bring you clean towels, and the rest of the time I have no idea why they barge in. It´s quite puzzling and a little disturbing because as I said before, they don´t always knock. The other day a maid decided to come in while Brian was using the restroom.
5. I get to catch up on all the old episodes of Grey´s Anatomy, What About Brian, ER, Seinfeld, Friends, Cold Case, etc. And actually it helps me improve my Spanish because they speak in English, but have Spanish subtitles.
6. I was told before we came down here that I would get a lot of stares. In fact, one friend, who studied abroad in Mexico, told me that the Mexican people would love my blond hair and fair skin and would want to have a picture taken with me. However, I have not found that to be the case. I do get A LOT of stares, but they are suspicious stares. Like, ¨What are you doing here,¨ kind of stares. When I smile at strangers they rarely smile back. Every time I go somewhere I feel like all eyes are on me, and not in a good way. Hopefully I´ll get used to it, but for now I really just want to blend in!
7. My main concern coming down here was getting sick. But we haven´t gotten sick at all! Purified water and ice are everywhere down here. We´ve even eaten lettuce, tomato, etc. (things they tell you not to eat unless they´re cooked because they rinse them off with unpurified tap water). I am so thankful that we haven´t gotten ¨Montezuma´s Revenge!¨
Saturday, October 13, 2007
My First Few Days in Mexico
Well, my first few days in Mexico have been quite overwhelming. I foolishly assumed more people would speak English, so it has been difficult to communicate given my limited Spanish vocabulary. One of the coaches wives is down here. She is from Texas, but speaks Spanish so I have been learning a lot from her. She has taught me how to catch a taxi, which is extremely helpful because that is the only way to get to the baseball field unless I walk. I am not sure how safe it is to walk there yet, but I think I might try it tomorrow since the game is early (5 pm) and it will still be daylight. It is definitely very hot here, so I guess I need to be prepared to break a sweat if I end up walking!
We had quite a rude awakening two days ago when we got back to our hotel room after the game and realized that our laptop and some money had been stolen! The hotel records show that someone entered our room 4 times while we were gone. That has upset me a little, and made me feel less safe, but the team and the hotel are trying to figure out who did it. In the meantime, I will not be able to post any pictures since I cannot download them onto our computer. I hope it is returned to us, or that we are reimbursed.
Brian also got sick yesterday, which was the day he was scheduled to pitch. I think he has a sinus infection. Thankfully we brought antibiotics with us in case something like this happened. He pitched last night despite his illness and did a pretty good job. The first 5 innings he only allowed 2 hits, and no runs. However, during the 6th inning they got 3 hits and a run off of him and the coach took him out.
Friday night was the first game here in Culiacan, and the opening ceremonies were magnificent. It was like the big show they have for the opening ceremonies at the Olympics or the Super Bowl! It must have lasted and hour and a half, because they did not start the game until about 9:00 pm! I am guessing there were about 15,000 people there too. Obviously, baseball is a big deal down here. Some guy stopped Brian on the street today and said, hey you are the pitcher from the other night . . . good job! I was shocked he spoke English, but it was music to my ears.
We had quite a rude awakening two days ago when we got back to our hotel room after the game and realized that our laptop and some money had been stolen! The hotel records show that someone entered our room 4 times while we were gone. That has upset me a little, and made me feel less safe, but the team and the hotel are trying to figure out who did it. In the meantime, I will not be able to post any pictures since I cannot download them onto our computer. I hope it is returned to us, or that we are reimbursed.
Brian also got sick yesterday, which was the day he was scheduled to pitch. I think he has a sinus infection. Thankfully we brought antibiotics with us in case something like this happened. He pitched last night despite his illness and did a pretty good job. The first 5 innings he only allowed 2 hits, and no runs. However, during the 6th inning they got 3 hits and a run off of him and the coach took him out.
Friday night was the first game here in Culiacan, and the opening ceremonies were magnificent. It was like the big show they have for the opening ceremonies at the Olympics or the Super Bowl! It must have lasted and hour and a half, because they did not start the game until about 9:00 pm! I am guessing there were about 15,000 people there too. Obviously, baseball is a big deal down here. Some guy stopped Brian on the street today and said, hey you are the pitcher from the other night . . . good job! I was shocked he spoke English, but it was music to my ears.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
What's Been Going On . . .
Well, it's been too long since I updated the blog. Sorry about that! As most of you know, Brian and I have been busy traveling for the past week and a half. We tried to squeeze in as much time with family as we could before Brian left for Mexico last Wednesday. We also celebrated his 30th birthday, which was on October 2nd. I can't believe Brian is 30! Here are a few pictures from the different parties we had for him.
At my parents' house the whole family gathered for a Mexican theme party
My family likes to take a "crazy hat" picture every year and decided to do so at Brian's party
The birthday boys. (They don't look very happy to be 30 do they?) We celebrated with the Adams family at Maggiano's.
Now that Brian is in Culiacan, he's working with the team officials to get me down there. It's in his contract that they will fly me down, but we've heard that you really have to stay on them or they won't get it done. We're hoping I will be there by the end of next week so I can see Brian's first start! In the meantime, I'm hanging out with Mom and Dad in Columbia trying to help them organize their house before they put it on the market. (For those of you that don't know, they are building a house on Spring Island, SC and will probably move down there permanantly in a few years).
At my parents' house the whole family gathered for a Mexican theme party
My family likes to take a "crazy hat" picture every year and decided to do so at Brian's party
The birthday boys. (They don't look very happy to be 30 do they?) We celebrated with the Adams family at Maggiano's.
Now that Brian is in Culiacan, he's working with the team officials to get me down there. It's in his contract that they will fly me down, but we've heard that you really have to stay on them or they won't get it done. We're hoping I will be there by the end of next week so I can see Brian's first start! In the meantime, I'm hanging out with Mom and Dad in Columbia trying to help them organize their house before they put it on the market. (For those of you that don't know, they are building a house on Spring Island, SC and will probably move down there permanantly in a few years).
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