Finding Our Way In Mexico

Greetings from the PanAmerican Village in Guadalajara, Mexico! We have now called this place our home for almost a week and although we’ve had to make a few adaptations, everything is running quite smoothly. Despite having almost the same meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we have found a way to mix the foods up a bit and have created a snack room back in the dorms for back-up. We have also had to make some adjustments with regards to the internet. We must go outside or down in the athlete center to pick up any kind of signal, which may still be questionable at times, but we’ll do just about anything to keep in touch with all our friends and family back home!!

Although our biggest task so far has been finding different ways to deal with all the down time! (I know what a terrible problem to have!) We are so used to having packed schedules, constantly practicing, having meetings, etc. that we aren’t used to quite this much down time in between games and practices. This is one of the most spread out tournaments we’ve played in. Don’t worry though, we are very creative and have found lots of fun games to play. We have completed two 1,000 piece puzzles, played a fair bit of cards, and definitely have had our books out and movies on throughout our week here. But the game that has become everyone’s favorite (ok it’s my favorite at least) is Pictionary!! We have played every night since we’ve gotten here, and the men’s team joins in the fun as well. It gets pretty crazy, but it’s really entertaining to see what people come up with.

Although we are having a great time off the pitch, we know when it is time to focus and that this is a very important tournament. As most of you probably already know, we played Mexico yesterday and won 5-0. It was a good start for us, with a very loud and rowdy Mexican crowd supporting the home team. We did a lot of things well and it was a good first game to build towards our ultimate goal: winning the PanAms. We have to continue to take it one game at a time and keep progressing forward. There is still a lot of tournament left to play!

Keep following our journey and supporting us along the way! We appreciate all the cheers we got from back home, keep ‘em coming!!

As always, GO USA!!!