Pan Am Games!

So I've been on a blogging sabbatical (much to the dismay of my brother and Aunt Serri), and its been almost two months so it's about time I got back on the horse. So I guess I'll just pick up where I left off. And yes, in case you haven't guessed, this is going to be a ridiculously long blog post.

So October 11th, I was headed to Guadalajara to play in the Pan American Games with Team USA Volleyball. The Pan Am Games was quite literally, a mini-Olympics. Any summer sport that was an event in the Olympics was competing in these games. And from what I understand for the city of Guadalajara, it was basically a test to see whether or not they were capable of hosting an Olympics (which they are trying to do in the future). Anyways, we got there about 5 days before the volleyball part of the games started. And we got about and hour and a half of training time every day. We lifted a few days during this time and had access to a really nice weight room. I guess I should explain the living arrangements first. All the athletes from all sports stayed in what was called "The Village". In the village was an apartment complex that housed all of us, a weight room/workout facility, a makeshift dining hall, and the "International Zone". In the "International Zone was a stage where they had various artists and performers come in, a Starbucks, a Burger King, a Blue Bell ice cream booth, and a hang out area with chairs and couches we could relax. So we went and lifted in the weight room a couple times. And in the weight room there were spin bikes! YAY! For those of you who don't know I got really into spinning the last two or three months I was in Cali. So I was happy to be able to spin while I was in Mexico for a couple weeks. We had access to the weight room whenever we wanted to use it. The food we ate in the dining hall was...a challenge...to say the least. Basically, I lived on refried beans, rice, and tortilla chips while I was there. But, they had PEPSI! Coolers full of Pepsi! Thank the good Lord above. I would've died, literally died from a headache if I couldn't have Pepsi while I was there.

And since we were there for the beginning of all of the Games, we got to go to the opening ceremonies! This was AMAZING! It was just like the opening ceremonies for the Olympics. They were held in a soccer stadium and it was sold out with 50,000 Mexicans screaming. I have a video but the sound is terrible. Okay, the sound is non-existent. And if you want to watch it you're going to have to turn your head to the side because I can't figure out how to turn it. But, this is the American athletes about to take part in the Parade of Champions during the ceremonies.We are waiting in the tunnel about to be introduced. It takes a minute to get out of the tunnel but once we do the stadium is amazing! And it was so loud! Completely surreal experience.

I wrote this the night of opening ceremonies after got back to the village. I wanted it to be fresh in my mind.

"Pan American Games Opening Ceremonies:

Oh. My. God. I am mind blowed.

Tonight was the opening ceremonies for the 2011 Pan American Games.  I can confidently say that this was the biggest/coolest/most significant thing I have ever experienced in my entire life. I have never felt more inspired, happy, excited, proud, American, overwhelmed, or amazed. Period. Ever. This was the most amazing thing I have ever been a part of.

I have been training with USA since January 17^th, 2011. I have done nothing but train for close to 10 months. It has been a very rough journey, so far. I have smiled. I have cried. I have loved it. I have hated it. I have seen myself as a future Olympian. I have wanted to quit. It was never easy.

So far, it has been 270 days of this crazy life I have chosen. And tonight, at this amazing opening ceremonies, it all became worth it." 

So yeah it was pretty cool! 

We started competing, like I said, about 5 days after we got there. We started off playing Puerto Rico. I got in as a serving sub, and I'm pretty sure this is the match that I got an ace in! Yay! Pretty good for not serving in a match since December! Next we played Peru, and the next day we played Mexico. I got in as a serving sub in all these matches. We won all three to go undefeated in pool play, which meant we had a bye the first round of tournament play. We played Cuba in the semifinals. We lost in four :( but we still had a chance at medaling (which was our ultimate goal for the games). And the next night we played Domincan Republic for the bronze. WE WON! So, we got to go home with a sweet bronze medal!

It was kind of funny because EVERYONE cheered against the USA. Like, no matter who we played the crowd was cheering for them. Basically, the Latin American countries vs. USA. They didn't like us very much. But, then after the match, they would always ask for pictures and autographs. Two-timers! And because we weren't very liked down in Mexico we had two body guards from the State Department with us any time we left the village. They were super cool and fun to be around. I kept giving them a hard time about their job. I mean all they did really was hang out with us all day. Pretty sweet job huh? Anyways, they gave us all code names, and my name was "Taken". This was because one of the first things I asked them was "So, you two are kind like the guy from "Taken" huh? Like you could pretty much take someone down?" They got a kick out of it and from then on I was known as "Taken". 

So, overall, it was a great trip for me and I'm so glad I got to go!

Kayla