8/31/09Had a really good meeting with the President of the club a few days ago, talked about everything, made sure I felt comfortable, liked the team, the coach, the apartment, etc. He told me that we are going to Lithuania to play 7 or 8 preseason games at the beginning of September. Sasha translated the whole thing for us and it was funny not being able to directly speak with him about things, however, it was nice to know that my boss really cares a lot about me and the team.
Jerel and I went to pizza place, close to our houses, probably like a 5 minute walk from my house for lunch and six drop dead gorgeous girls work there so we will be swinging in the pizza place and eating a lot of pizza the next couple of months. I even walked into a few stores that are across the street from my place to find a market that sells all kinds of meat except steak, bummer. A movie rental store that has no American movies and a small food store that sells the essentials like fruits, vegetables, juices, ice cream, beer and candy!
My other lifesaver here in Ukraine is what is called a Slingbox. I am able to watch my home television in Orange County on my computer here in Ukraine. The picture is pretty clear and its amazing because I am able to stay up to date with Sportscenter, That 70’s Show, Monday Night Football, SC Basketball, CMT, Fantasy Factory, Lost, and all my shows that I love. Somehow its streams the video through the internet and I just control my television at home and DVR all of my favorite shows and watch them a day later. I am pissed at how bad my Broncos looked last night and how we let Jay Cutler go! But other than that, Slingbox has been huge for me staying connected back home as well. I also had satellite T.V. put in this weekend and I have all kinds of crazy Ukrainian channels and Eastern Europe channels and a few American channels that play old movies which is pretty cool. However, I just can’t wait for my PS3 to come out with Jake so I can play some new football and basketball games.
Friday night I went out to my first Ukrainian club and I was blown away. The amount of beautiful girls in this club hands down was the best place I have ever seen. Around 40 to 50 of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. Age range was 21-30 and they were all dancing to pretty bad music, but still the sheer gorgeousness didn’t even let my mind focus on the terrible music. The other amazing thing about this club is that drinks are extremely cheap and there were only about 10 guys in there. I don’t know if it was ladies night or what, but the odds 5 to 1 girls to guys is a dream.
Saturday we had our first scrimmage. We played out second team and ended up blowing them out 103 to 35. Our style of play is very fun though because we press the entire game and then we fast break a lot. The opens it up for lots of three’s and open driving lanes for me. The competition level was not fair playing our second team, because Kevin and Jerel were able to pressure the younger guards and get steals all game long and lock up so the team had trouble even getting into offense, but to be able to execute plays and learn other players games a nice warm up before we go to Lithuania to play. We played 5 quarters of 6 minutes and I started and played the 4th quarter and finished the game with 8 points, 3 or 4 boards, and 2 assists. I was able to hit a 3, almost dunk on someone, I got fouled and went to the line and almost had it, then get a nice left hand layup finish and a right handed finish at the whole. I am still amazed at how easy it is to get to the rack here and get a high percentage shot. The one extreme change from playing in the states however though is that every single person is wet. Open jumper for even 7 footers and its going down. 1-5 can all shoot and if they get an open jumper, it is going down with great consistency.
Later that night we went out to another club, club element. It is a younger crowd compared to Tropics, but it was much bigger, around 300 to 400 people. The club set up is awesome, they have a dance floor, and booths all around the floor with a bar in the back, then 4 hallways that lead to different places inside the club. For example, one hallway leads to a hookah lounge and bar, the other is a jazz bar, the other is an upscale bar and lounge area, and the last one is a dark room with tons of couches and couples together. It is fun because you are able to get into a club and experience all kinds off different things all throughout the night and it stays open until 5 am so you have plenty of time to do so. Then there is an upstairs with another bar and chairs to lounge in and look down on the dance floor below. At about 1 am though something happened that made my jaw drop to the ground all night long. The music stopped the dance floor was then completely cleared and then (ear muffs for young kids), such a sexy woman came out and started dancing on some guy and then started ripping his clothes off and all of a sudden he was ripping her clothes off and all of a sudden they were both in tiny thongs dancing on each other. He then put her on the ground, started putting oil all over her basically naked body, (thong so small I could floss my teeth with it haha) and started emulating all kinds of crazy sex positions. It was the craziest 10 minutes of anything I have ever seen in a normal dance club, then it got even wilder. The DJ of the club called out 3 girls from the crowd to come participate in a contest too win money, mind you I am sitting just watching because I can not understand anything they are saying. 3 girls come out to the middle of the dance floor and then they get to choose 1 guy from the crowd for their partner. 3 guys and 3 girls are now standing out in the middle of the dance floor and the DJ brings out 3 bottles of whip cream. The guys then begin to undress the girls and put whip cream all over their body. So the girls are standing their completely naked with only whip cream covering them. The DJ then plays a song and the guys begin liking the whip cream off the girls and in about 45 seconds, there are 3 girls standing completely naked on the dance floor, and mean completely naked, showing all! The funniest part about it is they are not even covering themselves up; they are just standing their laughing and posing. People begin to run out on the dance floor and drop money in front of each couple and then they DJ ask for the crowd to make noise for their favorite and the middle couple who won got 500 Ukrainian dollars and tips that people threw in front of them, which equals about 75 dollars. It was unbelievable though because after the girls cleaned up they came back out and were dancing and drinking at the bar like nothing had happened. I was just laughing to myself so much because at how open Eastern Europeans are. Unbelievable!
Finally, Sunday we were able to have a full day off. It was so nice because after 2 practices everyday having one day off a week is so nice. But I still have no complaints because the 2 practices combined are easier than 1 practice at SC. My jump shot is looking so good too because I am putting up about 500 shots a day easy. Having a full day off was crucial to learning my surroundings a little more as well because I was able to find a place called City Pub where I am amble to have soup, salad, chicken, and fries for 5 dollars and its very tasty. Also, I was able to find my favorite, an Asian place that has teriyaki chicken, steak, and tempura shrimp. I was so stoked to be able to find that place because I now know 4 places, pizza, close to American, Asian, and an Italian place to eat at that are all walking distance and so cheap for what you get. I can eat out 2 full course meals a day for under 15 dollars, such a steal.
It’s August 31st and I have almost been away for a full month, definitely the longest I have ever gone from my family. It’s been surprisingly easier than I thought; again I contribute most to Skype because I am able to see my parents, dog, and friends almost everyday. I am sorry I was not able to get pictures in the club because you are not allowed to have a camera in there, so bear with me for the photo shoot. I had grown my beard out for a full month, all of August, and finally shaved, but rocked a dirty mustache for a night! Enjoy the disgustingness.
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41583656@N03/sets/72157622200436508/
Jerel and I went to pizza place, close to our houses, probably like a 5 minute walk from my house for lunch and six drop dead gorgeous girls work there so we will be swinging in the pizza place and eating a lot of pizza the next couple of months. I even walked into a few stores that are across the street from my place to find a market that sells all kinds of meat except steak, bummer. A movie rental store that has no American movies and a small food store that sells the essentials like fruits, vegetables, juices, ice cream, beer and candy!
My other lifesaver here in Ukraine is what is called a Slingbox. I am able to watch my home television in Orange County on my computer here in Ukraine. The picture is pretty clear and its amazing because I am able to stay up to date with Sportscenter, That 70’s Show, Monday Night Football, SC Basketball, CMT, Fantasy Factory, Lost, and all my shows that I love. Somehow its streams the video through the internet and I just control my television at home and DVR all of my favorite shows and watch them a day later. I am pissed at how bad my Broncos looked last night and how we let Jay Cutler go! But other than that, Slingbox has been huge for me staying connected back home as well. I also had satellite T.V. put in this weekend and I have all kinds of crazy Ukrainian channels and Eastern Europe channels and a few American channels that play old movies which is pretty cool. However, I just can’t wait for my PS3 to come out with Jake so I can play some new football and basketball games.
Friday night I went out to my first Ukrainian club and I was blown away. The amount of beautiful girls in this club hands down was the best place I have ever seen. Around 40 to 50 of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. Age range was 21-30 and they were all dancing to pretty bad music, but still the sheer gorgeousness didn’t even let my mind focus on the terrible music. The other amazing thing about this club is that drinks are extremely cheap and there were only about 10 guys in there. I don’t know if it was ladies night or what, but the odds 5 to 1 girls to guys is a dream.
Saturday we had our first scrimmage. We played out second team and ended up blowing them out 103 to 35. Our style of play is very fun though because we press the entire game and then we fast break a lot. The opens it up for lots of three’s and open driving lanes for me. The competition level was not fair playing our second team, because Kevin and Jerel were able to pressure the younger guards and get steals all game long and lock up so the team had trouble even getting into offense, but to be able to execute plays and learn other players games a nice warm up before we go to Lithuania to play. We played 5 quarters of 6 minutes and I started and played the 4th quarter and finished the game with 8 points, 3 or 4 boards, and 2 assists. I was able to hit a 3, almost dunk on someone, I got fouled and went to the line and almost had it, then get a nice left hand layup finish and a right handed finish at the whole. I am still amazed at how easy it is to get to the rack here and get a high percentage shot. The one extreme change from playing in the states however though is that every single person is wet. Open jumper for even 7 footers and its going down. 1-5 can all shoot and if they get an open jumper, it is going down with great consistency.
Later that night we went out to another club, club element. It is a younger crowd compared to Tropics, but it was much bigger, around 300 to 400 people. The club set up is awesome, they have a dance floor, and booths all around the floor with a bar in the back, then 4 hallways that lead to different places inside the club. For example, one hallway leads to a hookah lounge and bar, the other is a jazz bar, the other is an upscale bar and lounge area, and the last one is a dark room with tons of couches and couples together. It is fun because you are able to get into a club and experience all kinds off different things all throughout the night and it stays open until 5 am so you have plenty of time to do so. Then there is an upstairs with another bar and chairs to lounge in and look down on the dance floor below. At about 1 am though something happened that made my jaw drop to the ground all night long. The music stopped the dance floor was then completely cleared and then (ear muffs for young kids), such a sexy woman came out and started dancing on some guy and then started ripping his clothes off and all of a sudden he was ripping her clothes off and all of a sudden they were both in tiny thongs dancing on each other. He then put her on the ground, started putting oil all over her basically naked body, (thong so small I could floss my teeth with it haha) and started emulating all kinds of crazy sex positions. It was the craziest 10 minutes of anything I have ever seen in a normal dance club, then it got even wilder. The DJ of the club called out 3 girls from the crowd to come participate in a contest too win money, mind you I am sitting just watching because I can not understand anything they are saying. 3 girls come out to the middle of the dance floor and then they get to choose 1 guy from the crowd for their partner. 3 guys and 3 girls are now standing out in the middle of the dance floor and the DJ brings out 3 bottles of whip cream. The guys then begin to undress the girls and put whip cream all over their body. So the girls are standing their completely naked with only whip cream covering them. The DJ then plays a song and the guys begin liking the whip cream off the girls and in about 45 seconds, there are 3 girls standing completely naked on the dance floor, and mean completely naked, showing all! The funniest part about it is they are not even covering themselves up; they are just standing their laughing and posing. People begin to run out on the dance floor and drop money in front of each couple and then they DJ ask for the crowd to make noise for their favorite and the middle couple who won got 500 Ukrainian dollars and tips that people threw in front of them, which equals about 75 dollars. It was unbelievable though because after the girls cleaned up they came back out and were dancing and drinking at the bar like nothing had happened. I was just laughing to myself so much because at how open Eastern Europeans are. Unbelievable!
Finally, Sunday we were able to have a full day off. It was so nice because after 2 practices everyday having one day off a week is so nice. But I still have no complaints because the 2 practices combined are easier than 1 practice at SC. My jump shot is looking so good too because I am putting up about 500 shots a day easy. Having a full day off was crucial to learning my surroundings a little more as well because I was able to find a place called City Pub where I am amble to have soup, salad, chicken, and fries for 5 dollars and its very tasty. Also, I was able to find my favorite, an Asian place that has teriyaki chicken, steak, and tempura shrimp. I was so stoked to be able to find that place because I now know 4 places, pizza, close to American, Asian, and an Italian place to eat at that are all walking distance and so cheap for what you get. I can eat out 2 full course meals a day for under 15 dollars, such a steal.
It’s August 31st and I have almost been away for a full month, definitely the longest I have ever gone from my family. It’s been surprisingly easier than I thought; again I contribute most to Skype because I am able to see my parents, dog, and friends almost everyday. I am sorry I was not able to get pictures in the club because you are not allowed to have a camera in there, so bear with me for the photo shoot. I had grown my beard out for a full month, all of August, and finally shaved, but rocked a dirty mustache for a night! Enjoy the disgustingness.
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41583656@N03/sets/72157622200436508/
naked dirty girls.......sounds like my kinda party! haha
ReplyDeletemiss you brotha. keep up the blog, its awesome!
-mike mac