Hey everyone,
well I feel like I have so much to tell so hope you've got some time set aside for this essay you're in for.
We just finished school a couple of weeks ago, we did pretty well at our conference finals - we beat USC 9-10 to make the championship game and we ended up coming second so that was huge. Mich could hardly believe it. It was a pretty fun weekend - we were in Irvine and it was just a fun time I think. I didn't really play - I got majored in a couple of games so that was a bummer but it was fun anyway. The girls did really well.
Then we got home with a week to do finals, get out of the dorms and sort everything else out that we needed to do before leaving for nationals at UC Davis in Northern California. So that was a sleepless and slightly stressful week but managed to get on the plane to Sacremento having finished all my work and exams so it was awesome to just be able to think about polo and not have to worry about school or anything. The day we left was such a mess, Meike and myself had spent the whole night before packing so we'd had about 4 hrs sleep and then we got up, went for a swim, got a car from the athletic dept, packed the car and then Meike checked us out while I went to the chiropractor and then we got back to the pool just as the bus pulled up so we just managed to put all our gear (and trust me there was a LOT) in the storage room at the pool before jumping on the bus.
Davis was really special. We started out with 3 seniors at the beginning of the year and we finished with only one, Mari, and Ief was leaving us for national team commitments back in the Netherlands, and our assistant coaches Coralie and Margie were leaving us as well. So it was just a really good time of enjoying eachother and having fun playing together and I duno I just had a really good time. We ended up coming 4th but honestly, it didn't bother me. The last night we had a team dinner which was a lot of fun, everyone ended up giving a little speech about something they enjoyed about the team and saying thanks to eachother and the coaches - even Mich's friend who none of us had ever met before! so funny! and it was just so cool. We're going to miss them so incredibly much next year but I know wherever they all end up they're going to tear it up and keep being their awesome selves.
And then we came home and I spent a couple of days at Coralie and Margie's with Kelly (another Kiwi) and we went sea swimming and hiking and even did a short pool swim - it was a good time just relaxing. Me and Coralie went on this awesome hike around these rocks at a beach and there were all these deep rock pools you could swim in so we went for a dip and then kept going, and there were blow holes - that was cool. And the colours of the sea were so intense and so beautiful it was just rocking this world.
Now I am in Wyoming with my friend Emily from the UH soccer team for a couple of days before going to an Athletes in Action camp in Colorado tomorrow. It's been so nice. She has the coolest "American" house - has a basement and an attic! (never been in a house with either of those before) and from the outside it really looks like a doll house. So fun! Today we went on this little hike at a national park near here and it was so awesome driving out. just a road in the middle of these endless plains with the Rocky Mountains on the horizon. And the sky was so cool, we could see storms on the horizon and you could see lightening and stuff it was so cool. Also this afternoon when we got back, there was an afternoon thunder storm (quite a common summer occurrence) and the thunder was seriously right after the lightning. And you could see the lightning bolts. It was awesome. We were making guacamole and Emily's mum was like "I smell smoke!" and started running around all crazy like to make sure the house hadn't caught on fire or something. It was awesome.
And tomorrow I'm off to Fort Collins. Can't wait. This week is going to rock this world!
K, hope everyone is well - you should totally email me or something
much love
A xxox
