Volleyball Recap

So we're living out here in Greece, hanging out, traveling, and oh yeah, there's volleyball too...

I recently realized I hardly ever post about volleyball, which is why we are out here in the first place haha. I have soo many volleyball pics, so I went through them and picked some out to post...

The team has been doing well. I was happy that their past two games were at home and they won both of them! The first was against Alexandropolis, who was in first or second place, and the second was against Paok, who was in seventh place. I know I've said this before, but I feel so lucky that I was able to travel with Rusty to away games for the first part of the season. Not only have I not had to be home alone very much while out here, but I have also been able to see more of Greece.

There are only three more games left in the regular season and only one more home game! Tomorrow is the first and only weekend Rusty doesn't have a game. We are debating about going somewhere, but are also trying to save money to travel around after the season is over. I am hoping it works out so that the season will finish and Rusty can travel around with Kirsten and I. I am counting down the days til she gets here! Only 22 more!...

I love that they use a shopping cart to transport their stuff after each set haha

Lamia dominated 

Rusty's assistant coach laughing at us taking pics

There is always a ring leader of the fans

My vip seat, next to Vicky!

For big games, they have 40 police come...luckily nothing too crazy has happened

Vicky doin her thing!

Alexandropolis

Lately I have been getting to travel to away games with Rusty, which has been great! The one downside to Rusty playing volleyball- traveling- has been eliminated!... Well not completely, but at least for now. A couple weeks ago the team played in Alexandropolis, which is right near the border of Turkey. It's about 8 hours from us and we took a bus there, so needless to say, we got good use out of our iPads. We got caught up on some of our TV shows- Modern Family, The Mindy Project, and followed that by watching a couple movies. We arrived at the Thraki Palace Hotel late at night, but they had prepared salad, pasta, and chicken for us, which was set up in a large dining room. I wasn't planning to eat meals with the team because it would cost 70 euro, but luckily for me, the meals at the hotel were included. After we finished dinner, Rusty and I walked down to the beach. It was chilly and I forgot to pack a coat, but that didn't stop me from enjoying being by the beach!

I'm pretty sure Rusty doesn't love it when I travel with him to games
and I'm not sure why...

I roomed with Vicki, the team statistician. I'm glad I got to know Vickie better on this trip. I now consider her my best girl friend here in Greece. Not that I have very many haha. We stayed up chatting then woke up to go eat breakfast. We went to the same dining room we had dinner in the previous night, but it wasn't until I walked in for breakfast that I noticed windows made up the entire left side of the room, providing a great view of the ocean. After breakfast, I met up with Rusty. He had just come from practice and he had a few hours off, so we walked around outside. The hotel had an infinity pool, which overlooked the ocean...if only it was warm out! I would have spent my entire day lounging by the pool! Although it was too cold out for swimming, we did have the place to ourselves- not one person was outside or down at the beach. Rusty had to go watch video, so I decided to spend my time wisely by doing some Pinteresting and painting my nails ;) When Rusty was done we ate lunch and then went back to my room. We chatted with Vickie and watched Top Gear, Rusty's latest show addiction...I actually like it too. If you haven't heard of it, it's a British show about cars. I think I just like it for their accents. If they didn't have English accents, it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. 

Soon it was game time! We packed up, and hopped on the bus. The gym was really small, like the size of a high school gym. The stands slowly filled up. I noticed that people would yell specifically at Rebo, Lamia's outside hitter. A few fans would stand up, lean over the railing in front of the stands, point and yell cuss words right at him. Vickie told me they were yelling at him because he played for Alexandropolis five years ago and the team wasn't paying him, so he left in the middle of the season. I can't believe the fans would yell at him about that, especially after five years! But at the same time, it doesn't surprise me with the crazy fans here. Alexandropolis is ranked number one and unfortunately we weren't able to beat them...maybe next time, when we play them at home! We did however, beat them in appearance...they had ads placed across the backside and the front side of their shorts, awkward!

When Rusty asked his coach, George, if I could come on this trip, he not only said yes, but he told us on our way back, the bus would stop in Thessaloniki (since George, Vickie and about half of the guys on the team are from there) and we could stay at his apartment because he would be staying with his girlfriend. He also told us that Vickie could be our tour guide the following day. How nice is that?! I feel so lucky that Rusty ended up on a team that is so accommodating. I get excited about any chance we get to visit new places and Thessaloniki is a big city, so there would be lots to do! Plus one of the two LDS churches in Greece is in Thessaloniki, so we would finally be able to attend church!

The bus finally made it to Thessaloniki. We got off at the second stop with George and Nikitas, the libero. Nikitas' dad picked us all up and dropped George, Rusty and I off at George's car, which was parked about 10 minutes away from his home. George brought us to his apartment, showed us around, gave us the key, and left to his girlfriends. It was about 3am by the time we got  there, so we got ready for bed and prepared for church, which was at 11am the next morning!...

First Home Game

Rusty had his first home game, which meant the first game I was able to go to! I was super excited to see how his team played, how many fans would come, and how crazy the fans would be. I have heard some crazy stories about fans throwing things at players, but supposedly only a couple of teams have had that problem and they are trying to crack down on it by fining people. I got there and Costas and Panos, Dimitrius' friends, were checking people into the game. I said hi and walked in. There were three policemen who were patting down a guy who walked in before me. Panos said something to them, so I just smiled and walked through. I ran into Vickie, the team's stats girl. She asked where I was sitting and then invited me to go sit down on the court with her. 

There were police all over- there were probably about 10 there. I didn't know if I should feel worried or safe, but I felt safer having them there than not there. There were more people there than I expected. The stands were definitely not full, but I would guess there were around 300 people there. The game started with a bang- literally. Right before the start of the game the rowdy section of the stands, which consisted of about 50 guys between the ages of 16-25, let off some type of firework that made a huge bang; I almost jumped out of my seat. I wasn't expecting that, but apparently it was not a surprise to others, as all the people around me starred at the court as if nothing had happened. People had made and hung signs for Lamia, which was exciting to see. It was weird not hanging any of my own signs, considering I would hang anywhere between 5-10 huge posters at the BYU games...looking back it may have bee a little overkill, but what can I say, I was (or should I say am) a dedicated cougar fan. 

Lamia's avid fans wore matching scarves. Throughout the game they weren't too crazy, but they did have a big drum they would bang on and they would randomly throw receipt paper rolls down onto the opponent's side of the court, which created huge streamers.  The two 10-year-old ball girls would run around and clean it up, so the game could begin again.  One thing that threw me off was that the fans cheer while Lamia serves the ball and go silent while the other team serves. I am use to getting quiet for our team and then loud for the other team during serves, so I'll have to work on this. The game went well; Lamia won in 4 sets! We celebrated by going out for dinner and then headed home.

Coach George- or as I like to call him "Shorge"
(If you've seen Father of the Bride, think Martin Short saying "Shorge Bonks")

Lamia's biggest fan...although after seeing some of the fans crazy antics, that may be debatable