4-3. That's our record. Four wins, three losses. We can't lose if we want to make the playoffs. Things are different now. It's like we ARE in the playoffs. In that can lose mentality. 3 games left. We win them all, we knock out the Templiers and the Spartiates.
All week we are ready. Everyone shows up to practice...I mean everyone and that's huge for us. We get some good quality work in having all the guys there. We are prepared. The stage is set, the gladiators are ready, and it would prove to be one of the most amazing shows I've been apart of.
We traveled to the Templiers home field. The last time I was there it was frozen solid and looked like a pond at winter in Michigan. The turf was horrible. Think astrodome astro turf of a lesser quality. How were we going to be able to run and dive on this. The spots where the turf was laid next to each other, about every 15 yards or so, was covered in a paint mixture to try and seal it up. This was like throwing sandpaper on the ground and telling us to slide on it. Also, I didn't have shoes. I mean I had my cleats with screw ins and my tennis shoes, but no turf shoes. Crap. What am I going to play in? The cleats are too tall and I want be able to cut, but my tennis shoes are the Asics that are almost the same material as water shoes little kids wear in public water parks. This is going to be good.
I tighten the shoe strings on my sneakers. The shoes that have taken my all across the streets of Paris, Barcelona, Dublin, Dortmund, Athens and up mountains in Meteora, will now let me hit Templier players. Toe meets leather and the game is on. We kick off and the Templiers get the ball. It's the back and forth. Drive the ball, stall, punt. This goes on back and forth until the close of the First Quarter. The Templier, led by Perez Matison, hit a huge 31 yard pass for a touchdown. Concluding a 90+ yard drive. 7-0.
The Templier offense is similar to Texas Tech spread, quick short passing routes with excellent precision and timing. It's clock work and they look like they've spent a lot of time working pass routes. Our defensive strategy for the game was to only rush 3 lineman and let the 8 remaining guys cover. With double teams across the line, it was hard to get any pressure on the quarterback. Even when we finally did he would just scramble up in the pocket and out to the side. This bought his recievers some of the extra time needed to find the holes in the zone.
The second quarter is a little bit more active. Pakat steals an interception on the sideline. Unfortunately we could not convert. The defensive tackle, an american from UMass and former tight end, had an a pretty good game. He was a good athlete and our guards had some trouble at times against him. They walked the middle linebacker directly over me, so I had to block him most plays and isolated the American guy on our guards. This freed him up on one on one situations and allowed him to make plays.
The Templiers scored again making it 14-0 on a 77 yard drive. And by drive I mean a 77 yard pass that took about 10 seconds for the QB to scramble and throw. I also have to mention that their offensive line coach had suited up for the game. He came in around the 2nd quarter mark. I guess he felt his guys weren't doing a good job. It was hilarious though as I was on the line, his lineman would ask him, "coach what do we do", "should we double team" and the coach would tell him yes or no. It was fun getting to play against him. Sometimes they'd hold me and I'd get their team so upset since they just completed a big gain. Now it was 14-0, we get the ball back and need to score now to cut the lead in half, so when we recieve the ball in the 3rd quarter, we can tie the game up.
We need to rally, to get life back in the Cougars. We can't let the guys shut down. Then you realize... we are Cougars. This team doesn't quit, regardless of what events have just taken place. We drive trying to beat the clock into the endzone. And do just what we needed to Dino scores on a 6 yard run and we've cut the lead. Unfortunately the extra point get's blocked. 14-6. Halftime.
We started what we needed to. Getting the train on the tracks and headed in the right direction. Now we needed to believe that we would win this game. We decide to stay on the field and rest instead of heading to the locker rooms. Partially because the visitors lockerrooms are right below the Templiers and we needed to come together without distractions. We recieve the ball in the start of the 2nd half and muster a brilliant 87 yard drive. Matt scores on a 1 yard QB sneak. 14-12. We still need a 2 point conversion to be tied and even the playing field. We run a pass play that fails, but thankfully their is a penalty. Next play from the 1.5 yard line. We throw a fade to Michel and tie the game. Were back baby. The Templiers, who had purred at us (yes I mean pur, like a little kitty sound.... to which I kindly reminded them that they lost the last time they played us!) before the game started as we ran onto the field, weren't purring anymore.
The following drive the Templier went 3 and out and the Cougars take the field. This is the pivotal starting point where some of our recievers really step up. Jean Michel catches a 62 yard pass and scurries into the endzone. 21-0. The game now would start to take shape of a tennis match more so then a football game. An epic back and forth battle that Agassi and Sampras would be jaw dropped at. We kick off the ball and the Templiers return it to our 30 yard line.
The Templiers score 3 plays later with a 10 yard pass. 21-20. On the extra point I move Ludo next to me and Nyda across. We drive the guard back and I am sure we blocked the extra point. But no, they faked the kick and threw the ball to the wide open up back. 22-21. Ah. My emotions are starting to spin. The roller coaster ride of emotions from this game has just begun. We have been down 14-0, fought back, tied the game, took the lead, and now we have lost the lead. Time to get back to work.
4th Quarter. It takes me back to high school. To the extra work we put in sweating our buts off in a locked down, taped up gym. The windows were fogged from the amount of sweat and heat we put off during the strenuous conditioning drills. Pushing ourselves to the limits, so that when the 4th quarter comes, you are not as tired as the man in front of you. You can push forward, while he tries to hold on. Then I'm at Tech. We hold our hands high in the 4th Quarter because this is where you finish the drill and get the job done. It doesn't matter how you start, it matter's how you finish. I've been through Spring ball, summer agilities, 5am team drills, Camp, 2 a days....they all add up for these moments. The forth quarter. Let's go Cougars.
The crowd is pumping, it's intense. If we were in America, 55,000 fans would be on their feet. Yelling and screaming, losing their beers and their voice. We drive. Thomas makes a huge conversion on 3rd down and gains 61 yards. Another one of the recievers that has stepped up in this game. Our drive stalls out in redzone and we settle with a huge kick by Michel Donati for 33 yards. 24-22. Our sideline is going nuts. We've taken the lead! Yes I say to myself. We've got this. I'm riding high.
The defense takes the field. With cougar pride they stop the Templiers and bring them to a 4th and 1 situation. Of course they are going for it. We crank it up and the defense stops the conversion. Cougars ball. We then drive the ball to the 11 yard line. Now faced with our own 4th down situation we turn the ball over. The Templiers seizing the moment drive the ball 89 yards and score on a 33 yard pass to a reciever finding the open hole. The life drains out of me. I'm exahusted. I can not take this. But we still have time. The clock ticks. the score 28-24. They try the extra point. This time we do push the guard back into the kick and block the extra point. The brief ounce of hope will be all I need to push on.
We return the ball and it's 1st and 10 on the 34 with just under 2 minutes left. Then the roller coaster takes a huge turn from the previous drop and pulls us back to another mountain top. Matt hits Jean Michel for a 66 yard touchdown pass. His second in the game. We go nuts. The celebration is spectacular. We are losing our minds. YES! YES! We are up 31 to 28 after the extra point. AMAZING!
The Templier will have to run a two minute offense to try and touch us. I feel confident. Perez felt more confident. He drives the Templier 78 yards down the field. With the help of 30 yards in penalties from the Cougars. One of which being a late hit by myself on the QB. I had spun in and saw him letting it fly. All I could think of was what a bull see's when the matador flashes the red flag in front of him. I didn't stop. AHHHhhhhhhhhh! What did I just do? Composure Matt. Stay composed. I think of the personal fouls I've had at Tech and Coach Gailey pulling me out on one particular occasion, one that cost Choice a 100yard rushing game.
They end up scoring with 20 seconds left. 35-31. We have no time left. This knockout punch would prove to be the straw....or more like a Mike Tyson right hook.... that broke the camels back. The air was knocked out of me. I lied on the field for an extra 30 seconds to the sounds of the home fans celebrating the Templier touchdown. It would be the final score with the failed hail mary's.
I watched my team fight for everything they had. They laid it on the line. Nyda shed a tear or a few after the game. I knew how much this means to all of us. To fight and lose. In an epic game, and epic battle. Someone has to be the loser. That's sports, that's competition. We all felt the same. DRAINED. Giving all you have and having it come up just a little bit short. It's heartbreaking. No playoff shot. It was finished. Our season would only have 2 games left. Thomas, Jean Michel and Florian have stepped up. They have made huge strides during this season. Their hard work, consistent attendance at practice and work ethic have helped take them so far this season. I look at them and our proud. They all had huge plays this game and stepped up big. Matt ended up breaking the record for passing yards in a game for the Cougars record books. 384yards passing. But records mean nothing unless they are in the win coloumn.
Our team had suffered some serious injuries. On one drive Nico had an amazing catch. Somehow managed to keep his feet and run forward without balance. At the precise time 3 Templiers hit him. Hurting his back and causing it to be his last play for the Cougars, more then likely forever. He laid it on the line. Fabian hurt his shoulder making tackles and is done for the season. Ben Simon hurt his MCL during the game. These guys laid it all out for each other, for me, for the team. "TEAM FIRST" I am impressed and proud to be a Cougar. Fighters.
After the game we had a planned party/ BBQ at Fabians. The entire team showed up and it was a lot of fun. I will just show you pictures which speak the loudest. I'll post them after this. We are a team. A group of friends, who lay it out for one another. A unit. Gung-ho baby. GUNG- HO....... Who are you? Cougars!!!
April 27, 2009
Cougars vs Molosses
Last Sunday the 19th the Cougars played the Molosses at home. It was a sloppy game. We started out sluggish. This easily being seen in the 0-0 half time score. The Molosses are the weakest team in our division. Their Americans seemed to have changed their attitudes a little bit about playing in France. The runningback now was the play caller. He'd run to the huddle and tell them what they were going to do. Their other import who was playing center now moved to guard and helped lead their running attack. They tried to follow him and utilize his talent, but he was really just a bad holder and a squatty body which didn't really prove to be that usefull. It was a slow game, not a ton of action in the first half.
Some of our players who have worked their butt's off at practice and made big improvements got an opportunity to display their talent on the field. Danny Mendes, Florent Hirel, Alexis Dorard got to start. Danny had a huge catch for a 20 yard gain, which was huge because I think it was his first reception in a game. However he had a chance at a wide open touchdown pass, that eventually fell to the ground because of his over excitement. We were all so upset because we wanted it so bad for him. Florent made some good receptions 3 for 18 yards and is doing a great job catching the ball. We still have to work on his moves after the catch, but he is doing a great job pulling them in. Jean Michel also had a big touchdown reception. His first of the season. Nico caught a touchdown pass as well. Both first for those guys this season. I was proud because they have worked hard and deserved that. Alexis made 2 solo tackles and it's so good getting to see the guys that pour into the team, get something back for their hard work.
Coach later told me that Alexis was nervous going in and getting to play in the game. But he did well. Bago grabbed a screen pass out of the air on defense and scored a touchdown on the play. Matty, playing safety at the time, had told them to look out for the screen. As soon as he did, the RB's eyes lit up as if saying, OH CRAP. Bago jumped the passed and scored. Rounding out our 21-6 victory. I had a statistically decent game, 7 tackles, 3 solo.
You can find other pics of the game here... click me
Some of our players who have worked their butt's off at practice and made big improvements got an opportunity to display their talent on the field. Danny Mendes, Florent Hirel, Alexis Dorard got to start. Danny had a huge catch for a 20 yard gain, which was huge because I think it was his first reception in a game. However he had a chance at a wide open touchdown pass, that eventually fell to the ground because of his over excitement. We were all so upset because we wanted it so bad for him. Florent made some good receptions 3 for 18 yards and is doing a great job catching the ball. We still have to work on his moves after the catch, but he is doing a great job pulling them in. Jean Michel also had a big touchdown reception. His first of the season. Nico caught a touchdown pass as well. Both first for those guys this season. I was proud because they have worked hard and deserved that. Alexis made 2 solo tackles and it's so good getting to see the guys that pour into the team, get something back for their hard work.
Coach later told me that Alexis was nervous going in and getting to play in the game. But he did well. Bago grabbed a screen pass out of the air on defense and scored a touchdown on the play. Matty, playing safety at the time, had told them to look out for the screen. As soon as he did, the RB's eyes lit up as if saying, OH CRAP. Bago jumped the passed and scored. Rounding out our 21-6 victory. I had a statistically decent game, 7 tackles, 3 solo.
You can find other pics of the game here... click me
April 24, 2009
April 23, 2009
A little taste of India
The other day Apputhurai Sinthujan .... aka Pakat... one of our safety's for the cougars, took us out to eat Indian food in Paris. Pakat is actually from Sri Lanka and I had been bugging him to try the traditional food. It was an experience. Matt, Will, Loic S., Pakat, his girlfriend Caroline and myself went to Chettinadu, a traditional Indian resturant.
We walked in and dominated the space. Being 3 offensive lineman, it was funny watching all the people look up to us and stare at our size. We sat down and Pakat started to speak in Hindi (i'm guessing that's the language I'm not quite sure) It sounded like a fast mumbler ripping off word after word. Kind of like a motorcycle engine reving up. It was so fast, I have no clue how he could understand.
Anyways I told Pakat to just order for me... give me the traditional experience. It was great. We started with some appetizers. Samossa Viande, Somossa Legume... small triangle shaped pastrys filled with meat or veggies. Medu Vadi and Masal Vadai.... small packed veggies or bread fried, think hush puppy like but with more ingredients. My favorite the rolls packed with spicy meat, eggroll style fried and dusted with maybe cinnamon or sugar or something sweet. Amazing these where so good. Of course we had different sauces to put on all of these. A white sauce that was not as spicy and a green sauce resembling guacamole that was spicier.
Then we got my favorite part of the entire meal. Nan au fromage. This Indian type of bread, delicious on it's own, filled with creamy fondu like cheese. It comes to you in a huge puff ball shape and you push down the top layer of Nan onto the cheese and bottom layer. It is amazing. We had about 2 of these per person, or more. SOOOOOOOo good. Oh and the sauce we put on top of it. AHhhh seriously amazing. They also brought out a Poulet Tandoori....some very tender rottiserrie barbecue style chicken.
Along the appetizer Pakat introduced us to Necto, a drink. The bottle has a huge elephant on it, so I didn't know what to expect. It was a framboise flavored drink, meaning raspberry. I usually dislike raspberry flavored stuff. Just not a fan of artificial raspberry syrup, but this was the real deal. It was so sweet and helped the little bit of spice from the appetizers. We then sat around talking and waiting for the food to come. I tried to work on my french and understand why sometime you have to use "pas" after for instance "Je ne sais pas" Je= I, sais= know, ne + pas = the negative, like don't. So you use ne pas for the negative of a noun. Anyways there was some case about me trying to say I can not take any more food. Where you do not use pas, because the next word includes it or what not. This being said, I in my Texan ways, got a little louder in trying to figure it out. Apparently they thought I was yelling and getting upset... not the case, just my style of intensity and passion. All was good but it was a little funny.
After they brought out the main courses, we had 4 Kothu Parotta, a neat dish eaten with the hands...mostly made up of the diced nan bread, some form of meat, and some veggies. It was really neat you basically balled up a bite to eat on the dish and then grabbed it like you would an egg. Then with your thumb you pushed the food into your mouth. It was so funny, Matt was like "all my life I've been told not to eat with your hands and now that I'm older I get to do the opposite." I ate a huge crepe like thing filled with a potatoey paste with 4 different dipping sauces. Really good and crispy. Willie had a nan filled plate too. It was such a great dinner.
Afterwards we went to a different restaurant for dessert. My belly was completely full by this time and I told Pakat, I don't know if I can do this... he assured me it would be alright since dessert was just a drink. Oh and it was worth it. A strawberry milkshake type drink, with pieces of jelly like candy floating in the drink and small hard sugar things in it as well. It went down quick.
All in all I had a great time learning the Indian cuisine and it is definetly a lot easier having a native speaker order for you. I don't know how I would've been able to go on my own. Actually I probably wouldn't have. Thanks Pakat.... Indian food was delicious.
April 21, 2009
Coming to a house in Cergy-Pontoise.
So we had this ridiculous photoshoot thing about a 3 weeks back or so. Well the other day we opened up our mailbox and viola...sitting there is the magazine that was delivered to every house in Cergy-Pontoise. If you can translate it, let me know. 
HAHAHA 
HAHAHA April 18, 2009
Normandy
Thursday Coach Mas drove Matt and I out to Normandy. It would be an adventure that was a lot too take in. I must have said that 50 times since I've arrived back from the shore. The sites, the sounds, the events unfolding in the background of your mind, survival, death, politics, economics, radical leaders, strong speakers, the importance of the entire situation.....it's all too much to absorb without somewhat being changed.
We arrived first at the Caen museum. It is about 20 miles inland and is dedicated to the preservation of the events that occured during the war. It was incredible. The first thing was saw was a 40 minute film with nothing but film from the war. It was breathtaking, jaw dropping, and fear striking. It starts with two split screens. One side showing the Axis powers, the other the Allies. Let my try and take you there. Intertwined you see the events of D-Day playing out live on screen. Footage of young men, most mere boys suiting up and getting onto boats along the British coast. Fixing their jackets, cleaning their guns, going over strategies. While at the same time the Nazi's are working on their defense. Young guys setting up barracades, working on machine guns, loading the ammunition rooms.
Then to the water, the troops cross the sea's as airplanes more numerous then a hoard of locusts devouring a field from it's crops. Men jumped from planes behind enemy lines, Nazi's raced to their battle stations. Alarms sounding, guns loading, battles beginning. Men running for their lives onto the beach taking massive quantities of casualties. At a moment I stop and think about the cameraman. How brave and scared do you have to be to charge into a nightmare with a weapon that only shoot's film and light. No source of defense. Men's faces a pale, painted with fear. I breath in, thinking how different the time was. The only draft we know now is coming in 2 weeks, where 21 year olds will become millionaires. There draft was different.
You see inside the bunkers, one of which we actually visited. This of course would bring chills down your spine as your standing in the exact spot that soilders where killing Americans. The war is playing out in front of me in two simulatneous screens. Two different perspectives, both sides mortal. Then a plane flies across the beach showing the battle from above. Covered in obstacles, barb wire, vehicles, bodies, firing of weapons back and forth, it seemed to go on forever. Then it switched it showed the beach today, the tranquil silence. Almost as if a destination for summer vacations rather then a battlefield. Again it would switch back to the fighting.
Scenes of boats coming up to the cliffs, shooting rope ladders for men to climb. Victory coming and Nazi's surrendering, raising white flags. Then shots from the overall war. The strategy. The push. The Red Army covering Europe being pushed back and back. Devestation surrounding towns. Battle after battle. Strategy unfolded and the plan was unveiled. Soilders marching in French cities. French citizens celebrating with glee. Freedom had for all. Thousands died for this one idea, this one concept, FREEDOM.
I took a minute to take it all in and re-live what happened here. I walked along the beach and stood on a blockade remains that ran into the water. Built to break the easy sands from the cliffs ahead. The base was all that was left.
We walked to some of the old bunkers housing the large guns used for taking out ships and massive numbers of troops. They were quite a distance away from the shore and high in elevation in comparison to the coast. It took an entire day to capture the bunker. The sheer size of the guns where impressive and 3 of the 4 where actually in recognizable shape. I climbed on one of the barrels and took a photo showing the perspective towards the sea. It doesn't do it justice because I have climbed halfway down the shaft.
We then drove down to the beginning of Omaha beach and parked on the sands nearly 20 yards from the high tide. It was a pleasure seeing the children play on the beach. This site helps take away the horrible memory of the tragic events and reminds you that the price of freedom is never forgotten. To have this ability to see kids run and laugh freely is priceless. We climbed up to the bunkers and saw the memorial for the 5th engineer brigade. There job was to clear the beach of obstacles and they paid dearly for their actions. The said 94 percent of their company died. We also saw one of the main bunkers that the 1st infantry took out. It took 19 hits to the side of the bunker with a tank to render the defense ineffective.
The standing room in the top of the bunker was just head level for me. I had to squat down to see through the windows. The bottom floor was pitch dark. Walking through coach led the way and actually stepped in a puddle. He was moving out of the way for a British girl and fell in the hole, which was actually uncovered by the planks. The girl laughed at him and he was covered in water about a foot or so down. The bottom bunker was so dark. I imagined the boredom soilders had to face during the war. Countless months sitting, waiting. I thought about them playing cards to pass the time, practicing their marksmanship, drinking beer. And then all of a sudden the most intense fight of your life happens. How do you plan for that? How do you deal with that? How did they react?
I stared off in the distance almost in a haze from all that I was taking in. This is the beach. This is the place where US soilders stormed the beaches fighting for another country, fighting for freedom. At first I wondered why they didn't want high tide to get as close as possible, but then it was explained to me that they needed the low tide in order to clear the obstacles for their vehicles. Picture that just right behind me on the beach.
We walked into the American cemetery at the top of the hill and words can not describe it. A place for reverence, for rememberence, and pride. This our my countrymen. These are my people. Americans. Being in Europe it has been hard for me to grasp who America is. What our pulse is, Who we really are....being so much younger then the foreign countries and made up from these different countries. I see buildings daily that our older then our history. Seeing the cemetery reminded me of our character, of our strength, of my patriotism. And I pray that as Americans we all remember this. That we all take history a bit more seriously. Learning what others did for us, where we as a country have come from. And taking pride in it. I am an American.
We arrived first at the Caen museum. It is about 20 miles inland and is dedicated to the preservation of the events that occured during the war. It was incredible. The first thing was saw was a 40 minute film with nothing but film from the war. It was breathtaking, jaw dropping, and fear striking. It starts with two split screens. One side showing the Axis powers, the other the Allies. Let my try and take you there. Intertwined you see the events of D-Day playing out live on screen. Footage of young men, most mere boys suiting up and getting onto boats along the British coast. Fixing their jackets, cleaning their guns, going over strategies. While at the same time the Nazi's are working on their defense. Young guys setting up barracades, working on machine guns, loading the ammunition rooms.
Then to the water, the troops cross the sea's as airplanes more numerous then a hoard of locusts devouring a field from it's crops. Men jumped from planes behind enemy lines, Nazi's raced to their battle stations. Alarms sounding, guns loading, battles beginning. Men running for their lives onto the beach taking massive quantities of casualties. At a moment I stop and think about the cameraman. How brave and scared do you have to be to charge into a nightmare with a weapon that only shoot's film and light. No source of defense. Men's faces a pale, painted with fear. I breath in, thinking how different the time was. The only draft we know now is coming in 2 weeks, where 21 year olds will become millionaires. There draft was different.
You see inside the bunkers, one of which we actually visited. This of course would bring chills down your spine as your standing in the exact spot that soilders where killing Americans. The war is playing out in front of me in two simulatneous screens. Two different perspectives, both sides mortal. Then a plane flies across the beach showing the battle from above. Covered in obstacles, barb wire, vehicles, bodies, firing of weapons back and forth, it seemed to go on forever. Then it switched it showed the beach today, the tranquil silence. Almost as if a destination for summer vacations rather then a battlefield. Again it would switch back to the fighting.
Scenes of boats coming up to the cliffs, shooting rope ladders for men to climb. Victory coming and Nazi's surrendering, raising white flags. Then shots from the overall war. The strategy. The push. The Red Army covering Europe being pushed back and back. Devestation surrounding towns. Battle after battle. Strategy unfolded and the plan was unveiled. Soilders marching in French cities. French citizens celebrating with glee. Freedom had for all. Thousands died for this one idea, this one concept, FREEDOM.
The movie was incredible. I was there. I was lost in this world of horror and celebration. The museum had plenty of relics. Parachutes used as decoys to throw off the German troops, a soldiers parachute used as a wedding dress for his bride, vehicles and planes. Photographs galour and explanations of the events. The men who died are honored with pride. There is enough material here to learn and go on forever.
I took a minute to take it all in and re-live what happened here. I walked along the beach and stood on a blockade remains that ran into the water. Built to break the easy sands from the cliffs ahead. The base was all that was left.
We walked to some of the old bunkers housing the large guns used for taking out ships and massive numbers of troops. They were quite a distance away from the shore and high in elevation in comparison to the coast. It took an entire day to capture the bunker. The sheer size of the guns where impressive and 3 of the 4 where actually in recognizable shape. I climbed on one of the barrels and took a photo showing the perspective towards the sea. It doesn't do it justice because I have climbed halfway down the shaft.
We then drove down to the beginning of Omaha beach and parked on the sands nearly 20 yards from the high tide. It was a pleasure seeing the children play on the beach. This site helps take away the horrible memory of the tragic events and reminds you that the price of freedom is never forgotten. To have this ability to see kids run and laugh freely is priceless. We climbed up to the bunkers and saw the memorial for the 5th engineer brigade. There job was to clear the beach of obstacles and they paid dearly for their actions. The said 94 percent of their company died. We also saw one of the main bunkers that the 1st infantry took out. It took 19 hits to the side of the bunker with a tank to render the defense ineffective.
The standing room in the top of the bunker was just head level for me. I had to squat down to see through the windows. The bottom floor was pitch dark. Walking through coach led the way and actually stepped in a puddle. He was moving out of the way for a British girl and fell in the hole, which was actually uncovered by the planks. The girl laughed at him and he was covered in water about a foot or so down. The bottom bunker was so dark. I imagined the boredom soilders had to face during the war. Countless months sitting, waiting. I thought about them playing cards to pass the time, practicing their marksmanship, drinking beer. And then all of a sudden the most intense fight of your life happens. How do you plan for that? How do you deal with that? How did they react?
I stared off in the distance almost in a haze from all that I was taking in. This is the beach. This is the place where US soilders stormed the beaches fighting for another country, fighting for freedom. At first I wondered why they didn't want high tide to get as close as possible, but then it was explained to me that they needed the low tide in order to clear the obstacles for their vehicles. Picture that just right behind me on the beach.We walked into the American cemetery at the top of the hill and words can not describe it. A place for reverence, for rememberence, and pride. This our my countrymen. These are my people. Americans. Being in Europe it has been hard for me to grasp who America is. What our pulse is, Who we really are....being so much younger then the foreign countries and made up from these different countries. I see buildings daily that our older then our history. Seeing the cemetery reminded me of our character, of our strength, of my patriotism. And I pray that as Americans we all remember this. That we all take history a bit more seriously. Learning what others did for us, where we as a country have come from. And taking pride in it. I am an American. After my moment in the cemetery, I went to the visitors center and found a registry. I searched my name and found 4 Rhodes buried in the cemetery. One was Carl E. Rhodes from Alabama (originally where my Rhodes family name is from) I found his grave in Plot B row 1 grave 25. First row. He was a member of the 67 bomb squadron and recieved a purple heart. I can only wonder if he is a family memeber or not. All in all it was a great trip, one I think every American should make. I feel changed from it, and I can only hope it is not just emotions that I am feeling, but a deeper understanding of who I am as an American. That I would have had the courage to do what these men did in paying the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.
Find more pictures from the trip here....
photos |
| Normandy |
April 17, 2009
Barcelona
Last weekend Matt and myself ventured to Espana. We went to Barcelona for our off weekend and let me just say it is a beautiful city. Very clean and neat. The metro stations are not dirty, it's close to the water, they had amazing parks, good cheap food, and a very fun atmosphere. When we first arrived we tried to locate our hostel and drop off our bags, but instead found our first Gaudi building. Gaudi is the famous architect who has several projects in Barcelona. For me some of his stuff looks like fantasy land, or that he was on drugs when he started building this crazy stuff. A lot of the mosaic tiles are customary for his work, some of it is straight up weird, and some of it really breathtaking.
After arriving at our hostel, which by the way was a party hostel, we were greeted by Eduardo a very helpful staff member. He showed us where everything on the map was and where we had to go and what not. So after the advice we decided to head to the main tourist attraction in Barcelona. The Sagrada Familia, the church built by Gaudi. It is still not finished. It was really neat looking at it. Everywhere you look had a different feel. The 4 towers intertwined with intricate details. One side of the entrance had block looking scene of the birth of christ and the crucifixcion. Really cool, but then on another part it looked like the background from the Willy Wonka scene in the chocolate river area. Crazy.
We stayed here for a while and took in the good weather and the architecture.
Next through our walk in the Spanish city we found the stadium for the bullfights. It was neat and we just missed a bull fight scheduled for the next weekend. It's crazy to think about that.
Afterwards the early flight had helped build up an appetite so we headed to a local restaurant. We stopped in and ate a meal, but ordering in Spanish was much more difficult then in French in Paris. In Paris, they pretty much all know English. This was not the case in Barcelona. I also found it difficult because I constantly tried to go back to speaking French. Tough. We managed to get our order in. I will say though that Matt had to go up to the counter and point out what appetizer we really wanted. We had red peppers stuffed with this little meat mix in a red picante sauce. It was incredible. Next I had Paella, and sangria. The Paella was mixed so I had prawns, mussels, chicken, beef and squid. Really hit the spot, but would make it a little heavy on the stomach later. We also had sangria partially due to coach david's insistence that we have a glass. But it was really good.
After arriving at our hostel, which by the way was a party hostel, we were greeted by Eduardo a very helpful staff member. He showed us where everything on the map was and where we had to go and what not. So after the advice we decided to head to the main tourist attraction in Barcelona. The Sagrada Familia, the church built by Gaudi. It is still not finished. It was really neat looking at it. Everywhere you look had a different feel. The 4 towers intertwined with intricate details. One side of the entrance had block looking scene of the birth of christ and the crucifixcion. Really cool, but then on another part it looked like the background from the Willy Wonka scene in the chocolate river area. Crazy.
We stayed here for a while and took in the good weather and the architecture. 
Next through our walk in the Spanish city we found the stadium for the bullfights. It was neat and we just missed a bull fight scheduled for the next weekend. It's crazy to think about that.
Afterwards the early flight had helped build up an appetite so we headed to a local restaurant. We stopped in and ate a meal, but ordering in Spanish was much more difficult then in French in Paris. In Paris, they pretty much all know English. This was not the case in Barcelona. I also found it difficult because I constantly tried to go back to speaking French. Tough. We managed to get our order in. I will say though that Matt had to go up to the counter and point out what appetizer we really wanted. We had red peppers stuffed with this little meat mix in a red picante sauce. It was incredible. Next I had Paella, and sangria. The Paella was mixed so I had prawns, mussels, chicken, beef and squid. Really hit the spot, but would make it a little heavy on the stomach later. We also had sangria partially due to coach david's insistence that we have a glass. But it was really good.We then tried to find the Guell Park. Another one of Gaudi's masterpieces, however we missed the turn somehow and ended up watching skaters trying to ride a ledge with a stadium seating crowd in attendence. However we did wander down some pretty cool streets. As we were walking up the hills though Matt and I couldn't help but thinking of the hills in Greece. I stopped to take this picture, you can see down to the city center and the sea. Really cool city.
Finally we arrived at the park which was just a masterpiece. It was crazy, like a fantasy land again. The structures looked like a kid had just dropped wet sand on the ground and it stuck. It was spectacular. Some of the twists and turns were amazing. Of course like the cathedral, everywhere you looked had something different. Other parts had beautiful mosaic tiles, or columns, some an open space with palm trees and archways, and even hansel and grettles gingerbread house was there. 
Finally we arrived at the park which was just a masterpiece. It was crazy, like a fantasy land again. The structures looked like a kid had just dropped wet sand on the ground and it stuck. It was spectacular. Some of the twists and turns were amazing. Of course like the cathedral, everywhere you looked had something different. Other parts had beautiful mosaic tiles, or columns, some an open space with palm trees and archways, and even hansel and grettles gingerbread house was there. I also happened to meet one of the local Spanish girls here. There's a picture of her below. Just your typical Barcelonian. She was a lot of fun to hang out with.
Ok so not really, there was a modeling shoot going on and it was so funny because atleast 20 different people were snapping shots of her posing with Barcelona in the background. She got a kick out of it and was a bit shy. Not being able to understand all the attention. Really funny, the guy model though was dressed in this 80's pure shinny gold sweatsuit which made me laugh. We then took off to the hotel before the FC Barcelona match we had tickets for.
Ok so not really, there was a modeling shoot going on and it was so funny because atleast 20 different people were snapping shots of her posing with Barcelona in the background. She got a kick out of it and was a bit shy. Not being able to understand all the attention. Really funny, the guy model though was dressed in this 80's pure shinny gold sweatsuit which made me laugh. We then took off to the hotel before the FC Barcelona match we had tickets for.The game was really good, the stadium incredible. Except for the lack of size in between rows. My knees touched the railing and it was quite difficult to get comfortable. The game was great FC Barca won easily 2-0....should have been 4-0 but an offsides call on a goal made by Thierry Henry and a missed penalty kick by Messi cost the score. It was still a great game, the atmosphere played foghorns and would chant "BAR-SSSSSSS-A" over and over. This is the accepted pronunciation. I will have to say though it was not as intense as the Dortmund game. Definitely not up to the Gilberwand standards. However it was a tremendously massive stadium. Holding over 110,000 fans.
Later that night we met up with the hostel mates and got to know each other. There was an Australian group living in London, a couple from Chigago, and some Irish guys who ended up going out to Razzmatazz. We walked up to the club and 3 of us jumped the rail to get into the Que line (which had no people in it) and meet up with friends. After we walked down the 50 yard line we were turned back because of jumping it and literally had to walk back 50 yards and down again. Not that it was a matter of skipping people in line, but moreso a matter of security guards wanting to excercise some form of power. It wasn't necessary and pretty annoying.
Later that night we met up with the hostel mates and got to know each other. There was an Australian group living in London, a couple from Chigago, and some Irish guys who ended up going out to Razzmatazz. We walked up to the club and 3 of us jumped the rail to get into the Que line (which had no people in it) and meet up with friends. After we walked down the 50 yard line we were turned back because of jumping it and literally had to walk back 50 yards and down again. Not that it was a matter of skipping people in line, but moreso a matter of security guards wanting to excercise some form of power. It wasn't necessary and pretty annoying. We finally got into the club at around 1:15AM. Let me just tell you this thing was as empty as main street in an old western films shootout scene. There was NO ONE, here and we thought maybe we just came on a bad day. However around 2am people started showing up. Brings a whole new meaning to the term nightlife. This club was literally the biggest thing I've been in. It had atleast 7 different rooms with different styles of music. Including the live performance stage in the picture. The light show behind the singer was amazing and masked his semi decent performance with the classic "smoke and lights." 
There were some interesting people though in the club. Check out this guys hair!
The next day Eduardo had a bit of a problem. I was sitting in the common area when he started telling someone to get out of the storage room and open the door. After many attempts at trying to push the door open, I decided to see what the commotion was all about. He thought someone had locked themselves in with the luggage. Thankfully though there was an old airvent about 8 feet from the ground, so he grabbed a step ladder and tried to peer through. I took a look and realized the bedframe was pried against the door making it not budge. Somehow we came up with the bright idea of me pushing him through the hole in the wall. This is a picture after we succeded in getting the door unjammed. A funny story.
We then took off down La Ramblla. The famous street in Barcelona with street performers galore. My favorite was Edward Scissorhands. He had the face and the actions down to a T. Very impressive. There was also a group of street performers playing bells on their back by walking with their heads bobbing up and down. A very unusual site. They were dressed in this old ox skin suits and paraded the whole time. We got a bit hungry and ate at McDonalds. I couldn't believe it but at all the fastfood joints apparently you can have a beer with your meal. It took me a back. I settled for sprite.
After walking through the streets we ended up at the port and took some pictures on the lions. Feeling a little fatigued from the late Spanish nites we sat on a bench in the port and watched the sailboats, fish, and seagulls. After relaxing a while we then walked through the old town with small narrow streets. Easy to jump from rooftop to rooftop, infact you might even be able to lay across the street below. We tried to see Picasso's museum, but the line was really long at about the same time the rain started to pour. We opted to head back to the hostel and relax.
There were some interesting people though in the club. Check out this guys hair!The next day Eduardo had a bit of a problem. I was sitting in the common area when he started telling someone to get out of the storage room and open the door. After many attempts at trying to push the door open, I decided to see what the commotion was all about. He thought someone had locked themselves in with the luggage. Thankfully though there was an old airvent about 8 feet from the ground, so he grabbed a step ladder and tried to peer through. I took a look and realized the bedframe was pried against the door making it not budge. Somehow we came up with the bright idea of me pushing him through the hole in the wall. This is a picture after we succeded in getting the door unjammed. A funny story.
We then took off down La Ramblla. The famous street in Barcelona with street performers galore. My favorite was Edward Scissorhands. He had the face and the actions down to a T. Very impressive. There was also a group of street performers playing bells on their back by walking with their heads bobbing up and down. A very unusual site. They were dressed in this old ox skin suits and paraded the whole time. We got a bit hungry and ate at McDonalds. I couldn't believe it but at all the fastfood joints apparently you can have a beer with your meal. It took me a back. I settled for sprite.After walking through the streets we ended up at the port and took some pictures on the lions. Feeling a little fatigued from the late Spanish nites we sat on a bench in the port and watched the sailboats, fish, and seagulls. After relaxing a while we then walked through the old town with small narrow streets. Easy to jump from rooftop to rooftop, infact you might even be able to lay across the street below. We tried to see Picasso's museum, but the line was really long at about the same time the rain started to pour. We opted to head back to the hostel and relax.That night we went to an Irish pub and sang karaoke with the entire group staying at the hostel. The people there were very friendly and organized all this for the travelers staying at Saint Jordi Hostel. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed hanging and meeting new people. After the night ended we headed back to catch some sleep before our 8am departure from the hostel in the morning. All in all Barcelona was a very fun time and cool city. I'm learning that wherever we go we meet new people and make new friends. I think I'm ready for a traditional getaway maybe to Italy with Will's family for a real Italian experience!
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