Argentina

On the road again, and it's time for another update. After coming home from China and visiting our favourite respective islands (Victoria and Maui), Jamie and I had 6 days to train and prepare for the next stop on the world tour: Argentina! Specifically, the city of Corrientes. This is a place that neither of us had competed in before. On doing some (light) research, I was delighted to see that there was only a mere hour time zone difference from Toronto. MUCH better than the 6 hours to Europe and 12 hours to China. Despite the time zone being in our favour, I didn't quite realize how far south our destination was.
After enduring a 24 hour travel day to get to Corrientes from Toronto we finally made it.... to find that (to borrow from the Game of Thrones) Winter was coming. Upon stepping off the plane to a frigid gust of cold wind, our thought process went something like this: Man that was a long trip. We are so far down south!... Southern hemisphere.... Our spring is their fall. Riiiiiight... Cold weather... Why did I pack shorts?

Flying over the Andes should have given me a clue.....

Anyway, we made it in one piece and got a couple of training days in before our qualification match. Unfortunately that match did not go our way and we lost to England in 3 sets. That was a tough loss. I'm sure I would have enjoyed being in Argentina more if I had a win or two under my belt. But it was not to be this time, so we changed our flights to come home early and leave winter behind.

A cool shot of the venue at night. www.fivb.org

We met with our coach and mapped out the 10 days we had in Toronto to maximize training before leaving for the next competition.

Springtime at Ashbridges Bay

It was also nice to be home because it was my birthday! I am so lucky to have such fabulous friends and it was such a treat to spend time with them while I was in town. I love you ALL!!
Not to mention my awesome family! They managed to surprise me by flying Len in for my birthday dinner :) The timing worked out perfectly and I couldn't have been happier (actually, it would have been nice if my youngest brother Austin was there. Apparently he needs to "study" for exams. Trust me, we're all shocked.) Although I think some of the motivation is my fault.. if he does well in school this year I owe him a very lavishly expensive dinner.... yikes.

One last bit of exciting news: We are pumped to be partnering up with Canuck Stuff as our team apparel sponsor! We are proud to wear the Overkill brand and are so happy to have their support!

And so, I've packed my suitcase once more... this time for a longer trip than usual. Jamie and I are heading to Europe for 5 weeks! I'll be sure to update our adventures. First stop: Lille, France! An exhibition tournament to get us warmed up for the four FIVBs in the weeks that follow. Huzzah!!