October 10th

The past week has been exciting/different for me for a few reasons.  First, the holiday of Yom Kippur.  In Israel, nobody drives from 6pm in the evening til 6pm the next evening.  This was very different for me to have a "curfew" during the day.  I thought to myself,  if I'm not jewish or Israeli, why do I have to not drive?  After talking with some of my teammates about it though I decided not to drive and respect the holiday.  It almost seemed like a ghost town with NO cars on the road.  Quite an odd sight to see these days.  Anyways, this week was also the first time I got paid!  I have been here for a little over a month now and it was a good feeling to get paid.  This will allow me to better show some special visitors around this week. 

2 people who are very close to me are coming to Israel for the first time.  First, my longtime teammate and great friend Caleb Kimbrough will be coming to Israel while on tour with the world famous Harlem Globetrotters.  He plays with the Washington Generals (the team they play and always beat... sorry Caleb).  I know how competitive he is and I'm sure he doesn't like losing but he's getting paid to lose.  Not a bad job at all.  Last(but surely not least), my girlfriend Kelly will be coming Tomorrow!  I'm very excited about this :) We have been talking on video chat while here but it's just not the same as being with the person.  I will definitely show her a good time on her fall break.  I am extremely excited about my visitors this week.  I can't wait to show them around my new country and take them to the spots that I have learned. As for the basketball..  We are still practicing and getting ready for our first game.  We have another scrimmage this Sunday and it will be another chance for me to show the coaches what I've got.  I'm just starting to get more comfortable on the court even though I have to go against the two "bulls" (the other two big guys on our team) every day in practice.  I find new bruises and sores on me everyday.  It will only help me get better though.  Ido beats me up in the lane every day but when he's done, he tells me its all out of love. 

 Can't wait for this week..  should be a good one.