VASILOPITA, A.K.A. "New Year Cake"

Hello everyone,
some time has passed since my last entry, and I sincerely apologize for that, but as my mom always says "if I don't see you online all day, Linda, I know you are doing well".

In the past couple of days/weeks I've been quite busy with getting settled here in Glyfada, but I can now happily announce that I have finally arrived :)
I:

• moved into my apartment
• got my car
• have 3 games under my belt as a member of the Proteas family (2 wins and 1 loss)
• practiced
• lifted weights
• explored a wellness bath with my teammate Pepe (sooooo relaxing!)
• been to the movies and watched "The Tourist" (Johnny Depp is cute!) 
• met up with Ruth Riley at Starbucks
• tested quesadillas at different restaurants around town with Emily and Ashley (I've been fasting from meats and sweets for 3 weeks so that was the only thing I could really eat on the menus)
• tried to avoid picking up "bad words" from my Greek teammates (hahahaha, just kidding)
• tried to avoid extra line sprints in practice due to "misdemeanors"
• learned a Greek Christian song today, but after a couple of hours already forgot most of it. It was something about agape, eirine, theo (before I leave here I will memorize it though and then sing, or rather rap it (to spare you from my lovely voice) on video.
• successfully finished my fast today... I think I am suffering an overdose of sugar now!!!

So as you can see, everything is well.... everything except the weather... (this is NOT what I had signed up for, Mr. President...hahahaha!!!!!!). It's been "cold" and very windy these last couple of days... but when I look at the big picture: last year around this time I was posting pictures from snow storm and -22 degree Celsius temperatures.... so I guess, I shouldn't complain about +10 degrees Celsius in January.

So as I said earlier, today I ended my fast, which I had started back home with the couples class at my church who had joined in with the Jentezen Franklin Media Ministries.

What great timing when I found out that today we would celebrate "Cake Cutting Day" for PROTEAS VOULAS, where all the teams from the club got together to participate..

I called it "CAKE CUTTING DAY", but the Greeks call this ritual the cutting of the "vasilopita", which is one of the few primordial customs still surviving from the "Kronia" (a celebration of the Greek god Kronos) and the Roman equivalent "Saturnalia of Rome" (a festival held in honor of Saturn). FYI: Kronos and Saturn are "the same"
Today the Orthodox tradition combined this custom with the New Year cake.
On New Year's Eve everyone gathers around waiting for the vasilopita to be cut as the new year rolls in. When the time comes the father, in a solemn ceremony, starts to cut the cake. The first piece is for Christ, the second for the house, and then pieces for everyone present. The one who gets the piece with the coin will be the lucky one of the year!

So here are a couple of photos I took at this event,  enjoy and I will talk to you soon.
LINDA

Ashley, Rumba, Mati and Pepe getting ready for the ceremony

5 of us are missing, but the nice guy on the right makes sure to lend us an extra smile :)

the stands were filled with parents, family and friends :)

and on the court were all the Proteas Ballers... from really little to reaaaaally tall

anxiously waiting for the cake

at the same time medals and trophys were handed out to teams that had accomplished something special in the previous season... and of cours I PROUDLY ACCEPTED the cup that the Proteas women's team had received for winning the A2 championship and moving into the 1st division... I graciously received a handshake... for absolutely doing nothing :))))) You are welcome Proteas.... hihihihihihih :)

Here our president Christos Vassiliades was getting ready to sing a song.... just kidding! THE CUTTING OF THE "VASILOPITA"

PROTEAS ADULT TEAMS.... us ladies taking a snapshot with our mens team.... GO PROTEAS!!!!

leaving the festivities... families zipping up their jackets, putting on their hats to stay warm in the "cold" Greek weather

Mati- a 3 point machine... and also "quite" the talented translator...
she promised me to teach me good Greek words.... I TRUST YOU MATI!!!!

OOOOOOO HOW "O"SOME :)

When I was younger Sesame Street and the "Sandman" were our "good night" shows... after that we had to head to bed. Good ol' times!!!

It's so awesome to see that the WNBA has also been represented in the Sesame Street... that's BIG TIME!!!
I'd love to do that, too... hang out with Big Bird & Co, and do the ABCs with little kids.

GOOD JOB LADIES!

People call it "hump day": it's the middle of the work week... And yeah boy, we got OVER that hump today.
Today at practice people were dropping like flies, but we showed character and toughened it out till the end--standing tall with some extra bruises and sore and tired muscles. I'm really proud of my teammates, and I love being around each one of them.

We have taken the challenge to get better each and every day, and it works... Gotta look at it day by day. Sometimes you gotta step back before you move forward, but as long as you are moving, you're alright... And we are!!!

Kalinihta- καληνύχτα!!!
Good night everyone. Abuela is tired!

Linda
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

MAY I INTRODUCE... THE PROTEAS CRAZY BUNCH

waiting for practice to get started

one of our pointguards...
I need to make sure to be on her good side, if you know what I mean ;)

Well, these two girls thought they pulled a fast one ON ME,
but they don't know who they are messing with.
The German usually gets the last laugh ;)

FROM and ESPECIALLY FOR THE "LIL ONE"

This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember her name :)

She doesn't need her name up in lights
She just wants to be heard whether it's the beat or the mic

It's not about the salary.
It's all about reality and making some noise, makin the story ;)

Never concerned with status but still leavin them star struck
Put it together herself, now the picture connects
Never askin for someone's help, to get some respect!!
She's only focused on what she "wrote", her will is beyond reach
And now when it all unfolds, the skill of an artist.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES...

At this time last week I was sitting at church in Southern California, and today I am sitting in a hotel lobby in Glyfada, Greece. It's strange how unpredictable life (as a basketball player) can be at times.

Looking back, I've had a lovely week so far. The team has really tried very hard to welcoming to their country and their "club's family".

Yesterday we had our first game, it was on the road in Volos... it took us 5 hours on the bus to get there, and I am happy to announce that WE WON!!! It was nice to compete again after having resting for over a month now. The score ended up being 59-70. For boxscore click HERE.

Alright, off course I have been taking pictures like crazy... BUUUT I left my camera upstairs... aaaaand I am way to lazy to get up out of this chair now... lol... so I promise that next time I will post some pictures.

Now I am going back upstairs to my room and turning on some episodes of
this show has filled my last couple of days with laughter and enjoyment... I love it!
Alright everyone, have a nice Sunday and I will be back soon.
Lots of love,
LINDA

DAY ONE IS OVER WITH...

... and I was NOT disappointed... except by the rim in the gym.. hahaha... it seemed to closed up every time I attempted to shoot on it.. hahahaha!!!

This evening at practice I met my team for the first time, the coaches, president and some people from the management. Everyone here is really nice here.

FUNNY STORY about how I got to meet one of my teammates today: this morning after breakfast I decided to step out of the hotel and check out the beachside a little bit, when a girl in running shoes and an ipod all of a sudden stood next to me at the crosswalk... we looked at each other, and she said "Liiiiinda?"... and I said "Eeeemily?" That's how I met Emily Fox... she was on her to way to get her morning jog on.
Well actually inofficially we have "met" before, because when I was doing my research on Proteas I had looked up Emily and Ashley on Facebook to ask them a couple of questions about the club, etc. And obviously they said the right things to convince me to come here :)

The names of my other teammates is going to be a little bit more difficult... I'm just not yet used to Greek names and their pronounciation...  in Turkey it took me 2 weeks to understand and remember the names of my teammates.... but now I can name them all from Nalan, Nevriye, Murat, Serhan, Mustafa, Nilay, Saziye, etc.... and it's going to be the same with my Greek teammates... as a matter of fact, I just wrote all of their names down, and I am going to go to my room now and study!!

On that note, I wish everyone a good night.
LINDA

BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT

Because my contract was so "spontaneous", when I arrived yesterday, I was put up into a hotel here in Glyfada... It's a normal procedure as the team has to look for an apartment for me now.

So when I came to the hotel, I had to make a choice: either get a room with direct WIFI-access or one with ocean view... Guess which one I picked?!

Needless to say, the doubt that I had last night while I had to sit in the lobby during the late night hours to be online was erased!

And just as my decision to come here was based on faith, I pray that my stay here will be as beautiful as this view!!

MADE IT TO ATHENS

If you haven't heard it yet, I decided to come to Greece to play for the remainder of this season.

A.E.O. Proteas Voulas that's the name of my new team, and we are going to strictly compete in the Greek league... no EuroCup, no Euroleague, which will definitely be a change for me.Our first game is going to be this Saturday...but hey: first things first.

Tomorrow I am going to see the city (I arrived at midnight, so I it was dark), meet the team, and have my first practice.

I am very excited about it... the teammanager Elias picked me up today, and he set a good and friendly tone!! I don't expect anything less from the other people in this club now: NO PRESSURE!!! ;)

Alright everyone, I got to go to sleep... and as I've learned in Greek today... "Kali Nickta"... well I learned how to pronounce it, not spell... hahahaha.

Sweet dreams from Greece!!
LINDA

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!