On the road to Santa Cruz

If we´re staying at the Copacabana in Santa Cruz again I´d imagine I´ll be able to upload more photos today. Or even call you guys on Skype, mom!! :)

Love you all. Had a great time here but really looking forward to being back and having Thanksgiving with my Panama family in the USA!!

Last night we went to a basketball game Panama versus Venezuela and we lost horribly. The team that was sent was very young though with guys as young as 16. Kind of zombied my way through the day yesterday anyways, was exaughsted from the previous night cause I couldn´t sleep in. Got to pick up some regalitos.

Big hugs and see some of you soon,

Eileen

hey everyone!! I just thought i´d let you know I´m going to see some folkloric dancing tonight, and then going out dancing with all the fencers. Here´s a picture of me after my individual silver hounded by venezuelan press.

The whole Olympic Committee website is full of articles and pictures of me and my teammates as well, including our BRONZE in womens foil today!

www.conpanama.org

Hello from SUCRE again

As I sit in this internet cafe, I am SO HAPPY Panama got a silver medal in the Bolivarian Games in Womens Saber Team. I think its awesome and am pondering a forced conversion to sable for Kerima. Its been a great experience here so far and I´m having a lot of fun even though I keep losing earings (I never change!) My spanish is maybe not improving but I can definitely understand fast Panamanian spanish better now and they have been teaching me slang, quizzing me on the pledge of allegiance (which I now know) and himno. It cracks me up, they, especially the coach Moran, have been really sweet and helpful and supportive in everything. I´ve invited them to come train with me in the states for whenever they can in the future cause I can´t think of another way to help out so far, but I will!! Me and Barbara Higgins will cook something up I´m sure. My teammates are awesome and tomorrow again we face Bolivia in foil team HAHAHA

I know this is short but I should probably go up and play a game with the peepz who I should hang out with more now that im not in bed dead from being dehydrated and having a bad case of indigestion.

I love you all and just wanted you to know I´m doing well and this has been a really good experience so far.

Mil besos,

Eileen

Competencia

Yesterday I finished my event! I'm actually really proud of how I fenced considering my training. I lost in the final but there was so much cheating by the ref that the ENTIRE STADIUM gave me a standing ovation afterwards! :) Although it was frustrating I'm happy with how I did, and Panama and the olympic committee are all very happy with me and were all there to see it happen.

I love you guys and I can't wait to fence sabre team (AND FOIL!! :) ) and get back. I may have to change my plane ticket though to one day later because there isnt any room on the flights that we were going to take. I'll let you guys know.

http://www.laestrella.com.pa/mensual/2009/11/17/contenido/170420.asp

Love,

Eileen

Hola from BOLIVIA!!

HEY everyone!!

I´m in Bolivia and doing well. Our trip here was the most taxing thing EVER. Bottom line, we flew to Santa Cruz and got to the hotel around 330 am, went to bed at 4, and got back up for breakfast around 830. We then at the breakfast at the hotel (bread.) walked around Santa Cruz a little in the morning and waited an extra horu til our cars came to take us to the airport at 1 pm. We then waited in the aiport for like three hours locked in the departures room without lunch (we managed to get one small empanada each!!) We got to Sucre so late, they rushed us out to just change and head straight to the opening ceremonies. The first two to three hours were kind of boring and drawn out honestly, but the last two hour part with the marching and fireworks was a lot of fun. As a specific highlight after all this was the fact that I freaking MET EVO MORALES (hated by the people of sucre by the way, according to our volunteer and judging by all the negative whistling.) And I got an amazing picture to prove it even though I dont have the cable to upload it and show you. His handshake is hand-crushing its unbelievable. I think the only reason all this was at all bothersome was because we had eaten a peace of bread and an empanada all day. We then got hanburgers brought to us by our volunteer who follows us around and hits on Edgar Crespo ;) but is nice... but I pulled all the veggies out (no getting sick for me!) so i got a sad bun and tiny patty. That night we tried to get more food hahaha but the only place who had food left was one who had 10 hamburgers left (!!!) and 10 salchipapas, which I soon found out are cut up hotdogs on top of french fries buried in ketchup and mustard (my stomach saw it and turned.)

But, I survived!! And even though I hardly slept last night due to extreme street noise I had a small yet comforting normal breakfast this morning of some scrambled eggs, bread, and coffee (STRONG!), a nice big lunch of meat and soup, and will eat some pizza I think with my team when they get back from watching the swimmers compete (I opted to hang out around the hotel or this internet cafe and relax a little with a movie before I compete tomorrow since I´m wiped.)

I guess what strikes me about bolivia is how BEAUTIFUL it is in this totally stark and clay-colored way. I really enjoyed the drive in from the airport, and seeing all the people waiting to meet Morales and people in their houses. Its very arid and everthing is made from some the earth because its all some different shade of brown or white. Theres sticky trees but not much else foliage-wise. I dont know but the Andes have always been very beautiful to me and they just make me happy.

Well, theres lots more to tell, but I compete tomorrow, and Im going to go relax in my hotel room (VERY sketchy...my bed is tilted and has a gigantic hole in it.. and our mirror is broken and much more hahaha... the lamps are there but not plugged in because there arent any plugs in that wll...), because we aren´t going to be able to stay in the Villa.

We are planning at some point to go to a really cool dinosaur bone museum they have here. Many dinosaur bones have been found around Sucre and in Bolivia. I´m also getting along very well with my coach and teammates who are all younger than me but all very cool and sweet, who made this trip awesome so far even though that one day was slightly trying. I have UN MONTON of pictures so far... I hope I don´t run out of room. Oh, and I might go back to panama on the 19th... more on this later.


LOVE!

Eileen

Flight

On my way to the airport soon to get to Istanbul for the night; gonna watch the end of epee. Much love!!

Eileen

Actually...

This article isn't that bad and is positive:

http://www.pa-digital.com.pa/periodico/edicion-actual/deportes-interna.php?story_id=837036

Here's a pic I took of womens foil (I'll try to add more interesting photography today)

Yesterday

Well, ran into a bit of troble in the 64, and lost. I was extremely disappointed about the result yesterday but slowly realized I'd be fine and am moving on in things anyways. I was proud of how I prepared myself for the bout and although I lost tactical and mental priority felt that I prepared myself the best I could under the current circumstances. I lost mental refocus in the second half, and that was my mistake, which frustrated me afterwards. I kind of made the opposite mistakes that I made in the pools... felt good physically but not patient enough in my actions because of my lack of mental control.

I'm trying to move forward, been talking to multiple people about possibilities for the future, and am feeling like I have more solid options. In other news; I sprained something in my knee again (I think because of lack of consistent training before the championship and lack of rehab.) Today I've been watching mens epee, which I always enjoy. I just plain enjoying being around this level fo fencing. Its very cool to see, and I'm trying to soak it in and be confident in my next venture.

Its been a little hard to explain to panama what happened, (my favorite press question the one time I decided to pick up the phone was "what was your failure yesterday?) I did, though, send an email last night which explained everything to the federation, and I tried to put it in a positive light. the world championships are triple points, so actually I gained 6 points in the world ranking which helped stabilize my ranking for the coming season even though I didn't get what I had hoped (After the championships my world ranking is 24...only dropped one spot!)

Next Goal: My FUTURE, which I know I can make work and feel very positive about.

Love,

Eileen

PS. I'll add some pictures on here of the championships!!

Rest Days in Antalya

Today I headed out to the beach (AKA the other hotels...which are all beach resorts.) and hung out a little. I still haven't found cheap batteries (I refuse to pay 10 lyra/5 euro), so I'm using Lucas' photos. YouTube is CENSORED!! GRR haha. The last pic is of the freaking Mosque speakers near our window. The calls to prayer can be peaceful but at 6 am NO!

I've been really bad at this blogging thing!

Anyways! Today I competed in the poules through the round of 64. I won all my bouts in my pool (6-0) so I had a bye to the 64 and didn't have to fence a DE. The top 16 didn't fence, but I came out ranked 2nd out of the other 84ish fencers. So overall now for the DE rounds I'm ranked 18th. On Saturday I fence Benko from Hungary at 9:15 am (turkey time...+7 from Eastern.)

I'll let you know my exploits in the next two days before I fence as well since I have internet.

Turkey's an interesting place, and there's a mosque tower with loudspeakers RIGHT NEXT TO MY WINDOW, so you can imagine the call to prayer is definitely quite a wake up call every few hours. (6am always as well) But when I'm not sleeping the call is actually kind of relaxing!

I haven't taken any pictures in Turkey yet, I've been so busy running around, but I will make sure to snap some shots today or tomorrow to put up on the blog. Our hotel is actually the only one NOT on the beach, which is sad. All the other hotels have nice private beaches etc on the Mediterranean. I must go visit now that I have time!!

Love,

Eileen

Some Fun Quotes

"No es facil..."

-Julio Gonzalez Tirador (Cuban coach for Panama's national team...said completely dead-pan in any iffy life situation)

"Raaaas MAN! Mi ca-sa ke-man-do"

-A random Jamaican citizen of Panama who was all over the 'tele'

"Confusio es uno de los que invento la confusion. Fue uno de los chino japoneses mas antwigwos."

-An aspiring Miss Panama in response the the question 'Who was Confucius?'

Watch it in Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdgMrYhdCzw

"Comiiida! Mi plato favorito!"

-Argentine man? Friend of my hosts... I like this one.

By the way..

I love my travel luck sometimes:

Dear Ms.Eileen Grench,  Greating from Istanbul!  We kindly inform you that for the time being we will have no  possibility to accomadate you between 04.10 05.10,due to the flooding  and destruction in Istanbul for the savety and well-being of our  guests remains a top priority.We will be re -opening the hotel by 10.10.2009.  We will re locate your reservations with the same conditions to  Radisson Blue Hotel (tel:0090 212 411 38 38)  or Polat Renaissance  Hotel (Tel:0090 212 414 18 00 )close to the airport.  Please let me know for further questions.  Thank you for  your understanding.   Best Regards 

So I haven't blogged in a while...

I've been a bit lazy. There have been may going-ons. In recent news, I woke up sick yesterday, but Nila gave me her caldo de pollo and actually it made me feel better. I started taking some antibiotics as well. Today I feel a lot better and am going to practice tonight in Leganes. This past weekend I went to the Rastro, and enjoyed La Noche en Blanco in Madrid. I also went out to a bar with some fencers. Other than that I've been practicing a lot! This week though, I'm only sticking to one practice a day, and deciding as I go which club is best that night. Lucas Saucedo and Belen are finally here which is fun.

Oh, Fuenlabrada.

This is taken from my window on Tuesday... I was waiting so I could pass and not get impaled by bull horns. There are clubs of people who drink all night, then taunt the bulls. They're the ones in white and red and such. Below I'll also post a picture of me trying to avoid the bulls as I go to fencing... Nilda took them from the dining room window unbeknown to me. If you click on it and enlarges, I'm the one wearing white sweat pants, and a black/yellow long-sleeved shirt trying to stuff the bag through the barrier and run across before the freaking toro came (see: the crowd slightly up the street waiting for the toro...)

All of a sudden it has turned from summer in Madrid to fall in Madrid. Its super chilly and I don't have a jacket good enough. I think THAT is a good enough excuse to go to the local MANGO clothing store... don't you?

I bought a book from the book vending machine a couple days ago in the metro, and now I'm absolutely hooked on a book I was actually supposed to read for a spanish class I dropped last year. Its called "The brief and Marvellous Life of Oscar Wao" or something like that in english. Its excellent, and as I'm riding an hour and a half either way to BLUME (national sports center), it comes in handy.


Love,

Eileen

Photos of Toledo

Toledo

Well, I'm uploading my pictures from toledo. Nilda woke me up at 11 today and I thought it was like 6 am I was sleeping like the dead. I'm going to bed after I make this post. We got going to toledo at about noon but went to the wrong station and took our time so we actually got to toledo around 2:30. Me and Nilda walked through the residential part very leisurely before catching the museums at the last minute. I love walking through neighborhoods rather than touristy parts. Toledo is AMAZING, you're just walking into the past there. Everything is so medieval. We went to a fun little gladiator special at a museum that was actually set up in the old toledo prison, which was fun, and stopped at a couple other open museums like the synagogue, which was AMAZING and had similar architecture to the Alhambra in Granada, and of Machado a really famous sculptor. We caught the 9 pm bus back and were at home around 11 for dinner, talked some more and drank some tea, and now its bed time! I'll put up some toledo photos when I get them all uploaded but here's one that I've already taken from Nilda's camera of me in the gladiator exhibit.

Love,

Eileen

Spain at 3 am

Dear family and friends....

We went to dinner at midnight. I think Spain is bad for a person with jetlag, it just confuses them more... hahahaha.

Here are some pictures of me nilda and ezequiel.



Us at the patron saint festival outside our door... they're still partying hard out there. The next pic is of me and ezequiel toasting you mom and dad... and various yummy things I saw. And weird things. Evidently this weekend there will be bulls runing by this apartment... life is very exciting for the locals in fuenlabrada right now. We ate octopus and chorizo for dinner and of course, there were no vegetables! I would like you to note the picture of HAM BINGO... WHO ELSE BUT SPAIN WOULD HAVE HAM BINGO?

My grammer and typing is very bad right now because its 3 am grandma. Don't kill me! :)

Love,

Eileen

First Training

Well, I was off to my first training with the national team in madrid this morning! Theres two metro changes and a bus involved, and to get there on mass transport takes me about an hour and 15 minutes! But anyways, no biggie and this morning I fenced for about an hour with the girls. It seems like they really don't actually fence a lot! hahaha. So, I'm still kind of figuring out what my schedule will be. Evidently they fence more in the afternoons on tuesday and thursday, and I will see how it goes in Jose Luis' club and then kind of make my schedule. Everyone here has been amazingly nice to me, and Jose Luis is being very helpful in offering me anything as well. The first picture is of me at the national sport institute in spain...withthe saber girls..and all the coachs and Ezequiel who are helping me.

Eileen

Made It

Well I'm in Fuenlabrada, a suburb of Madrid. Ezequiel and Nilda have been very nice to a very sleepy me...was able to give them the wine, cheese, and popcorn. More to come when more happens! Tonight I'll be going to visit the local club I'm gonig to in the afternoons, but I'm pondering the idea of just training with the national team... we'll see how I feel and hope that no one feels slighted.

Eileen

Off to Spain

Testing, testing, 123...

In Chicago, and on my way to Spain!

ADELANTE!

Eileen

End of Stay in Panama City

Sorry for not having kept updates quite as well in teh city. Life has been crazy and I really have been running around a lot! Had a lot of meetings about support with the olympic commitee, talked to the fencing comission, had a bunch of interviews. There's actually about three articles in different papers about me on newsstands righ tnow. La Prensa just ran an article abou tme as well and I'm gonna try and go pick up a copy of that. The El Siglo article was actually full page and really nice-- but doesnt look quite as snazzy on the internet version. Both of the titles are more or less "olympic dreams" or "olympic hope". Last night I ate dinner with MArtha Purmalis and some of her friends before seeing a modern dance performance in the national theater. It was beautiful and amazing! I always thought I hated modern dance...



Today I go to Las Gias to the Finca, and I wont have internet.

Long Afternoon

All in spanish. Lots of politics. Lots of concentrating. A really cool gift that made me happy but made me wonder whether I'll get support next season. An interview. Where they asked me my sign and my best virtue. (Leo! I fight for what I want!)

HA

Eileen

Hitting the newstands on the COP Website...

http://conpanama.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=110&Itemid=0

Eileen GRETCHEN gets bronze... will these immigrations stop messing with our name!!!!??? LOL

Damn.

Panama with a stomach bug

Not to bad, but annoying!

Went to eat at Niko's Cafe for lunch, was tasty. Brought home baklava. Sounds like I'm meeting with the federatino tomorrow and the COP Wednesday. Still havent heard from Martha Purmalis and I'm going to call Yesika again. Got in contact with Julio. Looks like they might come say hi and we can hang out somewhere.

My plan for right now is to take a shower, turn on the AC and relax in front of the tv a little. I'm hoping I an find a dinner date, but in any case I'll try to make a run down to the chino and the YMCA to look for mom/grandma stuff.

I'm write next to Balboa Union Church, betty!

Love,

Eileen

Hello from the airport

Well, everything yesterday was a rough ride but I made it to my goal-- final four. I was angry I didn't beat Schneider but what can you do. I wasn't feeling perfect and I fought my way through, which hey-- i can't be too upset with. It was hard to fence in 85 degree heat anf 100 percent humidity without AC hahaha. I won all my pool bouts, and won my first bout against a Dominican friend of mine 15-5 or so, then beat a girl from San Salvador 15-14 (EEK!) and afterwards, beat Benitez from Venezuela in a much contested bout 15-11. I had three or four touches turned over by video and she went crazy because the ref was american (but the one assisting with video was latino..sooo?). After she went to the bout comittee and they had refs all changed around and much anger was had I pulled ahead 15-11. It was close until the 10th (at the 8 touch break she was leading 8-4) touch where I had my last turnover and she went crazy--- well-- I think she got so riled up her fencing got worse for the last part of the bout. Lesson of the day; keep your cool.

Hung out at the mall last night, ate at a salvadorian Benihana (habachi chain), and went to sleep because I had to get a bus in the morning at 4(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) had a lot of fun with a big group of latinas. I guess im the person to make fun of but now a semi-official latina fencer lol. I had a lot of fun, and theres lots of fun pictures to go along with the good times. The whole tournament, the dominican team was cheering for me and supporting me, they really took me under their (very young) wings and hung out with me etc even though i could never understand a thing they said. hahahaha...

So anyways, I'll put up some pics if I have time before my flight.

Love,

Aylin, Ailin, eh-lee-een?

PS. Using my Panama passport today, and confusin gpeople with my name again lol

Hello everyone!

Checking in from El Salvador. Yesterday jesika lost to make top 4 by one point (15-14). I'm watching mens epee right now but gonna go say by to jesica.. here are a fw more pics of us and argentina etc.