Toros

Some pics of Seville.....note the left and right side of bull-ring pic!!!!

Aw yeah there is two of us, folks....look out!!!









SF took this photo....I love it! There were beautiful orange trees everywhere! GO ORANGE!!!

Love-Fest in Spain

Seville

Things went really great on the Boat Club Spring Break trip to Seville a few weekends ago. The men's Capt. was super organized and everything ran like clock work...there was nothing to be stressed about. My super buddy ARAG is fluent in Spanish so she was a great person to have around besides having her always cheery, always wanted company.

We stayed in this elite training facility and there were lots of Olympic national teams from all over there training. They would walk around like Gods/Adonis’s....and then there was us. A bunch of rag-tag party "athletes" that may or may not end up rowing while we are there. It was funny and I think our men's team was starting to get a complex by the end of it....but I reminded them that those Olympians were there together...at least our guys were there with lots of ladies!!!

I was so chill the whole weekend. I got to go off and site see and hang out with some of the guys that I didn't really know. It was nice and we have left Spain in a Love fest for each other. We are all really close now and try to hang out more! It is really sweet! It could have gone so wrong, ~30 people (more guys than girls)..

Highlights:

*Sangria
*Cute factor ---throughout trip --Men Capt being called Dad and me (ladies Capt.) being
Mum! -----bless our 25 kids and bless them for the numerous times of them sided with Mum!
*Flamenco Ole!!!
* Didn’t think of brining or putting on sunscreen while out and rowing thus getting too much color and a RIDICULOUS tan line……What am I a British tourist?
* Rowing on really big water and not some tiny stream or babbling brook as is the Cam.
* SUN SUN SUN
* Some of our guys shocked that I worked for numerous years before coming to Cam because they thought I was 21!!!!!!!!!!! Bless them!!!!!


I love Seville and want and need to go back as soon as I can!

Bumpy Week....Craziest thing in a boat I have ever done!

This Place is nuts.....
I have been doing bumps-racing which only exists in Cambridge and Oxford. It is bizarre and stressful. When you lose it feels horrible and when you win it feels great. All and All it is still hard days of racing and trying to collide into another boat or facing being collided into.

It is filled with tradition and since the moments I knew I was coming here I have heard about Bumps.

I have been scared leading up to them but now I know what to expect.
1. There is a CANNON used for 4min pre-race warning, 1min. pre-race warning and Start! (Luckily we were not positioned too close to the Cannon but I was still jumpy!)

2. If you “bump” you pull over and wear Greenery (grass, leaves, ivy, etc) on your head for the row home…..so that everyone knows you won the race. I must say that on day 1 I was looking at the other crews rowing back and thinking that is so stupid and I don’t want to put crap in my hair…..but when we lost and I had to watch the winning crew put the stuff in there hair…..my heart sunk!

3. Your coach has a whistle. One whistle means you moved up a boat length. Two means your closer. Continuous whistles…means you are going to “bump” and collide into boat. All I could hear was whistles and I was soooooo confused!

4. You have to do these Races 4 day a week and it is hard to get yourself geared up to continue on the next day!

5. Last day of Races and we bumped a Boat. I had great Bump Hair and I apparently make great Ivy Wreaths in 2 seconds…. Everyone was very jealous as to how my hair and wreath looked. I looked very Goddess-like. Yeah Me!

Below are some explanations from various websites.

About the Bumps

Side-by-side racing is not possible over a long distance on the narrow and winding River Cam, so the bumps format was introduced in the early 19th century as an exciting alternative. In bumping races, crews line up along the river with one and a half boat lengths of clear water between them. On the start signal (the firing of a cannon) they chase each other up the river. When a bump occurs (when one crew is hit by it's chasing crew), they pull over to allow the other crews to continue racing. The next day all crews involved in a bump swap places and the race is run again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumps_race