Hey I just wanted to thank everyone who has been thinking of and praying for me. I am so lucky to have so many people that suport me here in Europe and at home. You will be glad to know I am in very little actual pain. The most it hurt was when they reset it I wont go into details but lets just say the doctor was not to happy that she had to come in on her day off to help some random water polo player. At the moment however it hurts very little sleeping is hard but during the day it is just very anoying and uncomfortable because I have pugs in my nose, these plugs are the devil. They make it very difficult to eat, drink, laugh, talk, and do many other daily thing that otherwise would not be a hassle. These plugs come out tomorrow morning and I can not wait its a little like christmas. This experience though helping me with the ladies because I can play the sympathy card has not helped my physical apperence. I look like a mix between shrek, my dad and frankienstien its not pretty. One of my favorite past times is to grawl at people when they stare and see there reaction its pretty funny, also I have become quite used to young children running when they see me (Whit the wedding pictures should be fun). Though it is very uncomfortable and I am dying to be playing polo here, something I have looked forward to for a while, I am trying to stay positive and make the best out of my situation. What happened happened and there is nothing I can do to change it except make the best out of it and do everything I can to learn from the experience. Also I have forgiven the Canadian guy for doing it, though its fun to joke about him like I hate him, he just got a little carried away like we all can get so please do not hold any grudges against Canada or Canadians. Thanks so much for all the love and support I hope everyone is doing well. Eger was really cool and Split is one of my favorite places on earth. Thanks.
Parker Peterson
Santa Barbara High School Varsity Boys Water Polo team and their training and adventures in Europe, 8/04 - 8/20, 2008.
Contributors
Photos in Europe
CROATIA
Split Night View
CROATIA
Sunset from the Pool Deck
CROATIA
View & Pools at Hotel Jadran
CROATIA
First Dinner
AQUA HOTEL
'HOTEL MEAT' IN HUNGARIAN
POOL IN HUNGARY
WITH HUNGARIAN COACH
TEAM AFTER FIRST GAME
HURRY UP MR. PLOCH!
DAY 2
TYPICAL HUNGARIAN POWER PLAY
First Game vs. Canada
First Game vs. Canada
A day against the Canadians...
Look out Owen Wilson!!!
Texas Hold Em!
Hotel in Hungary
Hotels in Croatia
Blog Archive
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2008
(39)
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August
(38)
- Last Night Awards
- Dave not here but the hotel doesn't know it...
- You Go Hunter
- Photo of Poker
- 19 August 2008, Hotel Jadran
- Diocletian Palace
- Boys' Posting
- Eastern European Crud
- Photos of Brac
- Evening, August 15, Split
- daves post
- Feast of Assumption
- Gelato
- Relaxing before 2nd Scrimmage
- August 14, 2008
- A Request from Julie
- Scrimmage,14 August
- August 14, Split, Croatia
- Training
- Views of the Pool from the Park
- Dino From Split
- When they are not playing polo....
- Early Morning Split, 13 August 2008
- Watching the Olympics....
- From Parker
- Posting and Reading Posts on the Blog
- Traveling from Eger to Croatia
- Leaving Eger
- Last Games in Eger
- hello parents well yesterday was a bit of a downer...
- Early Sunday morning and the Olympics
- The reason we had you fill out emergency medical f...
- Thermal Baths at Night by Ian
- Waking to the sound of Thunder on August 9
- Playing with the Canadian Junior National Team
- A way to view all the photos....
- Pauls Post
- Trying to speak Hungarian...
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August
(38)
Second Day in Eger
Well, as you might imagine, we are here behind the former Iron Curtain, and even though Hungary has made great strides since the late 1980's, they don't have the Internet thing down completely. So yesterday Evelyn and I walked all over Eger looking for an internet cafe. We even asked at the local tourist office and were sent on a wild goose chase across town, only to find.....nothing! Later we did find a cafe (where they charge by the half-hour) and were able to make an entry. So all of you----look at the blog! Tom has internet access at the hotel--so far we don't, but we found a nearby internet cafe with unlimited free wi-fi, so we will post messages every day.
Now, I spoke to Mark just now and he wants to pass along the following: he really appreciates all of you parents for allowing your sons to come with him and experience Europe and European water polo with him. He's having a blast and so are the boys.
Now, onto waterpolo. It is now Thursday night in Eger, after dinner. So you will read this around noon SB time. Yesterday, I left you with news of the first scrimmage. The boys played against the Eger 16U team and demolished them. This was apparently a type of audition, for based on their performance, our boys were elevated to play against the 18U team. The Eger 18U's are a very competent team with an ungodly left-handed shooter. They scrimmaged for two hours, and at the conclusion the score was Eger 21-11 (more or less). The boys were not unhappy about their performance and felt they benefited from the experience.
At dinner they joked about how the Eger players knew tricks of the trade far beyond what you see from California high school players. And the scrimmage was reffed international style, so lots of physical play took place. After dinner most of the boys went out briefly to walk around town, but they were too tired to do much. Everyone was in bed before curfew and slept like logs.
This morning (Thursday) after another Eger breakfast (no eggs today, and French toast you needed a chain saw to cut), they returned to scrimmage with the same 18 U team. This time our boys had learned from the previous night. This time we had shot clocks and a scoreboard (both missing from previous games in Eger). The play was much faster and even more intense. The boys stepped up their games. The lefty was a little off and our boys figured out how to defend better and after 90 minutes of titanic struggle, the score was Eger 7, SB 6. After this scrimmage the boys felt really good. Their jet lag was over, they were adjusted to Euro play and were starting to get into a groove.
After lunch Evelyn, Tom and I took the boys on an excursion to Eger Castle. They really liked it. We walked the walls, looked at the antique cannons, saw an exhibition of Greek and Etruscan ceramics, went through the main exhibit of armor and weapons of the Middle Ages, and generally exhausted themselves in the heat (yes, it is actually hot here during the middle of the day). Ice cream was consumed on the return to the hotel, and then rest before the evening scrimmage.
Tonight the boys again scrimmage the 18U team. This time the boys weren't quite as sharp as the morning, but the 90 minute scrimmage seemed to flow. Sometimes our guys scored a lot of goals, sometimes the Hungarians did. At the end the score was Eger 15-10.
At one point Jeff was guarding the Eger set. The Eger set has an interesting move where he tries to shed the defender by diving deep underwater and coming up in front of the defender. Jeff wouldn't allow the Eger play to "play" him this way, but as a result Jeff was vaulted into the air a la Shamu at Sea World. Tom thinks he got it on video-let's hope so, it was great image!
Exciting news at the end of the game. Tomorrow morning the boys will scrimmage the Canadian National Junior Team. If it is the same team, its the same guys who just played in Brazil and only lost to the US by one point! It will be quite a challenge, but the boys are looking forward to it.
When not playing waterpolo, eating, sleeping, reading summer assignments, they boys have been spending time in the Turbo store. Get ready for new and unusual swimsuits!
We parents have watched every minute of every scrimmage, so if any of you have any questions, please post them as comments on the blog.
The boys, Mark, Dave and Tom are off in search of pizza. Dinner tonight saw the first evidence of vegetables in the Hungarian diet--the only problem was there was no protein! Just brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, peas and rice. Quite tasty, but not up to the boys' standard of well-roundedness.
Now, I spoke to Mark just now and he wants to pass along the following: he really appreciates all of you parents for allowing your sons to come with him and experience Europe and European water polo with him. He's having a blast and so are the boys.
Now, onto waterpolo. It is now Thursday night in Eger, after dinner. So you will read this around noon SB time. Yesterday, I left you with news of the first scrimmage. The boys played against the Eger 16U team and demolished them. This was apparently a type of audition, for based on their performance, our boys were elevated to play against the 18U team. The Eger 18U's are a very competent team with an ungodly left-handed shooter. They scrimmaged for two hours, and at the conclusion the score was Eger 21-11 (more or less). The boys were not unhappy about their performance and felt they benefited from the experience.
At dinner they joked about how the Eger players knew tricks of the trade far beyond what you see from California high school players. And the scrimmage was reffed international style, so lots of physical play took place. After dinner most of the boys went out briefly to walk around town, but they were too tired to do much. Everyone was in bed before curfew and slept like logs.
This morning (Thursday) after another Eger breakfast (no eggs today, and French toast you needed a chain saw to cut), they returned to scrimmage with the same 18 U team. This time our boys had learned from the previous night. This time we had shot clocks and a scoreboard (both missing from previous games in Eger). The play was much faster and even more intense. The boys stepped up their games. The lefty was a little off and our boys figured out how to defend better and after 90 minutes of titanic struggle, the score was Eger 7, SB 6. After this scrimmage the boys felt really good. Their jet lag was over, they were adjusted to Euro play and were starting to get into a groove.
After lunch Evelyn, Tom and I took the boys on an excursion to Eger Castle. They really liked it. We walked the walls, looked at the antique cannons, saw an exhibition of Greek and Etruscan ceramics, went through the main exhibit of armor and weapons of the Middle Ages, and generally exhausted themselves in the heat (yes, it is actually hot here during the middle of the day). Ice cream was consumed on the return to the hotel, and then rest before the evening scrimmage.
Tonight the boys again scrimmage the 18U team. This time the boys weren't quite as sharp as the morning, but the 90 minute scrimmage seemed to flow. Sometimes our guys scored a lot of goals, sometimes the Hungarians did. At the end the score was Eger 15-10.
At one point Jeff was guarding the Eger set. The Eger set has an interesting move where he tries to shed the defender by diving deep underwater and coming up in front of the defender. Jeff wouldn't allow the Eger play to "play" him this way, but as a result Jeff was vaulted into the air a la Shamu at Sea World. Tom thinks he got it on video-let's hope so, it was great image!
Exciting news at the end of the game. Tomorrow morning the boys will scrimmage the Canadian National Junior Team. If it is the same team, its the same guys who just played in Brazil and only lost to the US by one point! It will be quite a challenge, but the boys are looking forward to it.
When not playing waterpolo, eating, sleeping, reading summer assignments, they boys have been spending time in the Turbo store. Get ready for new and unusual swimsuits!
We parents have watched every minute of every scrimmage, so if any of you have any questions, please post them as comments on the blog.
The boys, Mark, Dave and Tom are off in search of pizza. Dinner tonight saw the first evidence of vegetables in the Hungarian diet--the only problem was there was no protein! Just brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, peas and rice. Quite tasty, but not up to the boys' standard of well-roundedness.
First Day in Eger!
Hey folks, Lawrence and Evelyn here. It's late afternoon on Wednesday, August 6 and we've been very busy since we said hasta la vista at the flagpole on Monday.
The ride to LAX was much faster than expected. That was good and bad, the good is obvious, the bad is that we had a long wait in the International Terminal waiting for our airplane. Dave Peterson did provide comic relief on the drive down, however. He started a betting pool (grand prize a $50 McDonald's gift certificate) with such items as "first to be injured," "first to score a goal," "first to lose something valuable," etc. The boys really got into it. Dave can reveal the consensus winners in all of these categories when he gets a chance. The boys also created a pool of how many points they would score over the entire trip and how many goals would be scored against them. It was pretty funny-someone (unnamed) felt that over 200 goals would be scored against the boys! Talk about a lack of optimism!
Lufthansa is a very comfortable airline. We flew on an Airbus, very new and clean. The food was good, everyone had their own DVD monitors at their seats, and almost everyone slept as much as they could. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Paul just before we touched down in Munich. The other passengers (mostly Germans) got into it and applauded when we were finished.
Munich has a beautiful new airport. They have a BMW racing car on display and I think all of the boys would love to get behind the wheel of that car. The food at the airport was excellent (much better than anything I've had at a US airport). Again, a very long wait, from 5 PM (what they call here 1700) to 9 PM (2100). The boys kept themselves amused with backgammon, reading, card games and sleeping. At 9 we boarded another Lufthansa plane for a one hour flight to Budapest. Much shorter and much more enjoyable!
We got our bags and were through Hungarian customs in the batting of an eye. Our guide, Miki, was there to meet us. We piled on a bus and embarked on a two hour journey to Eger.
We arrived around 1:00 AM (that's 1:00 here) and checked into the Hotel Aqua (we are not staying at Hotel Eger or Hotel Park). Aqua is small (20 rooms), intimate, clean and the staff is very friendly and helpful. Enough of them speak enough English so we are communicating okay. The boys said breakfast today was good. They were less thrilled about lunch. More about that later.
Some of the boys slept in, some got up early and took a nap later in the morning, and most got out in the morning and walked around town a bit. Eger is very small, very cute and quaint. Very old Europe (except the bathrooms are modern!).
The boys have already had their first training session with a local Eger club team. The Eger boys were approximately fourteen or fifteen years old. How did our boys do? Great. The final score was 24 to 5. Having made a statement in this first scrimmage, I'm sure the boys will be seeing older players soon.
After the training, we had lunch on the outdoor patio. First course--peach yoghurt soup, which I loved, but it wasn't universally popular with the boys. Main course--rice with sliced hot dog like sausage in a mild red pepper and tomato sauce. The consensus-the hot dog dish was delicious. Only problem-we haven't seen anything green yet in either of the two meals. The adults are going to put our heads together tonight and try to figure out how to supplement. I mean, no green vegetables at all!
A second training session tonight from 6 to 8 (that's 9 am to 11 am your time). Dinner to follow and then I imagine the boys will collapse into bed. Everyone is still tired and a bit jet-lagged and playing so many hours is probably going to knock them out.
The boys are loving this experience. They are all smiling all the time. Thanks, parents!
The ride to LAX was much faster than expected. That was good and bad, the good is obvious, the bad is that we had a long wait in the International Terminal waiting for our airplane. Dave Peterson did provide comic relief on the drive down, however. He started a betting pool (grand prize a $50 McDonald's gift certificate) with such items as "first to be injured," "first to score a goal," "first to lose something valuable," etc. The boys really got into it. Dave can reveal the consensus winners in all of these categories when he gets a chance. The boys also created a pool of how many points they would score over the entire trip and how many goals would be scored against them. It was pretty funny-someone (unnamed) felt that over 200 goals would be scored against the boys! Talk about a lack of optimism!
Lufthansa is a very comfortable airline. We flew on an Airbus, very new and clean. The food was good, everyone had their own DVD monitors at their seats, and almost everyone slept as much as they could. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Paul just before we touched down in Munich. The other passengers (mostly Germans) got into it and applauded when we were finished.
Munich has a beautiful new airport. They have a BMW racing car on display and I think all of the boys would love to get behind the wheel of that car. The food at the airport was excellent (much better than anything I've had at a US airport). Again, a very long wait, from 5 PM (what they call here 1700) to 9 PM (2100). The boys kept themselves amused with backgammon, reading, card games and sleeping. At 9 we boarded another Lufthansa plane for a one hour flight to Budapest. Much shorter and much more enjoyable!
We got our bags and were through Hungarian customs in the batting of an eye. Our guide, Miki, was there to meet us. We piled on a bus and embarked on a two hour journey to Eger.
We arrived around 1:00 AM (that's 1:00 here) and checked into the Hotel Aqua (we are not staying at Hotel Eger or Hotel Park). Aqua is small (20 rooms), intimate, clean and the staff is very friendly and helpful. Enough of them speak enough English so we are communicating okay. The boys said breakfast today was good. They were less thrilled about lunch. More about that later.
Some of the boys slept in, some got up early and took a nap later in the morning, and most got out in the morning and walked around town a bit. Eger is very small, very cute and quaint. Very old Europe (except the bathrooms are modern!).
The boys have already had their first training session with a local Eger club team. The Eger boys were approximately fourteen or fifteen years old. How did our boys do? Great. The final score was 24 to 5. Having made a statement in this first scrimmage, I'm sure the boys will be seeing older players soon.
After the training, we had lunch on the outdoor patio. First course--peach yoghurt soup, which I loved, but it wasn't universally popular with the boys. Main course--rice with sliced hot dog like sausage in a mild red pepper and tomato sauce. The consensus-the hot dog dish was delicious. Only problem-we haven't seen anything green yet in either of the two meals. The adults are going to put our heads together tonight and try to figure out how to supplement. I mean, no green vegetables at all!
A second training session tonight from 6 to 8 (that's 9 am to 11 am your time). Dinner to follow and then I imagine the boys will collapse into bed. Everyone is still tired and a bit jet-lagged and playing so many hours is probably going to knock them out.
The boys are loving this experience. They are all smiling all the time. Thanks, parents!
6 comments:
Parker - You have shown your team mates such amazing character and your sense of humor during this setback should be applauded. Just remember, this is a good story and you will get great mileage from this experience. Give yourself a big pat on the back and... go give Homer a BIG "HUGGIE BEAR HUG & KISS" from his MOM.
Enjoy yourselves!
Deb Ploch
We haven't had the internet during the move and vacation so we are just emerging from a communication delay. We were so disappointed to hear about your experience, Parker. It is apparent that you handled yourself with class and grace. We are so proud of all of you and we couldn't have a better group of young men representing Santa Barbara, our school and our country. Savor this experience and have a wonderful time. Bren, we miss you and love you very much! By the way, Darcy is enjoying your new room!
brendan
i broke dads laptop
duffy
Parker, your spirit is amazing. It shines brightest during these difficult times. We could all learn a lot from you...
Hearing how wonderful Split is, I bet some of you are rethinking this college thing and are trying to figure out how to work out a return trip to this paradise! So happy all of you are sharing this experience together.
Jason, we all miss you! Well, maybe not Amber...she's enjoying your bed! Looking forward to hearing all of your stories.
P.S. Remember your uncle...
Love, Mom
Parker, your spirit is amazing. It shines brightest during these difficult times. We could all learn a lot from you... I hope tomorrow (with the plugs out) is a much better day.
Split sounds incredible. I bet some of you are rethinking this college thing and instead thinking how you can fit in another trip to this paradise! So glad you're getting to experience this together.
Jason, we all miss you. Can't wait to see you and hear all your stories.
P.S. Don't forget your uncle..
Love, Mom
Good morning Parker
You've been in my thoughts. Your are a remarkable man. I love your spirit and your understanding of the value of forgiveness. It isn't a simple concept especially when you have been intentionally wronged, but I have found that forgiveness is very powerful when it comes to healing.
I can't wait to fill you in on Kukio. Neil and I will be there (thanks to your dad) next Sunday.
Ask Ken to give you a gentle hug from me. Love, Leigh
Parker, You are so studly dude. Not only are you courageous, strong and an amazing physical specimen, you're nice!!!!! Does all that ever come in one package? Loved your blog commentary, thanks for the inspiring words. Its good to know you arent in that much pain. I will find you a face mask for when you get home. In the mean time, soak it all in and continue to turn this delicate situation into one of the best for everyone, as you so obviously have done! Again, you are my hero and every mom should be so fortunate to have a Parker! I know on that team, many do! You all together make a really strong intity, maybe this is exactly what you all needed to make this senior year all it can be.Love, laugh and pray...be good. I love you!!!!!mom
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