We arrived in Poland on the 12th and despite being a long trip it was exponentially less stressful than last time. The first time is definitely the hardest. There are so many initial expectations that are broken and a steep learning curve. Time two has been much less of a shock and much more of an adventure. We arrived mid-afternoon on Sunday and, after successfully getting all our bags, took a two hour bus ride from Gdansk to Slupsk (pronounced sw-oop-sk). We had the chance to meet on of Levi's teammate and his wife and kids on the way over as they were on the same flight. It will be a huge blessing to have them around, particularly when the team travels. Our apartment is small but very modern and nice. The area around us is residential and very safe. A huge plus, for me especially, is there are grocery stores within 100 yards of our apartment! Slupsk is a much bigger town than what we're used to (100,000 people vs. 50,000 in Huesca). There is a mall, a movie theater with American movies in English, and tons of other stores and restaurants.
Since we arrived, Levi has had several physicals/medical tests as well as starting training with the team. He will have several exhibition games throughout August and September including some tournaments. They are still unsure of what the schedule will be for this season as a few teams are trying to scrape up enough money to be in the league. As soon as the schedule is posted we will let you all know so you can start planning your trips to come visit ;) You can always check the team website for any information also. Just click the team icon below. They have already uploaded some pictures of their conditioning so it's worth a look.
As with any of our moving processes, our first order of business is to clean. The typical apartment they give players is the same from year to year and incidentally no one is as clean as Levi and I. So before we unpack we have a whole house deep clean. We are also in the process of rearranging the furniture (to optimize our space and make it look better) so our bags have yet to fully be unpacked. Today is a holiday (feast day of the assumption of Mary - Polish people are very catholic) so Levi has the morning off and we will be able to finish setting up.
So far the food situation is going ok. It's definitely not as easy to read labels and thus a lot of things we buy and translate later. We are really missing our Spanish grocery store that clearly labeled things "sin gluten". We have found a few things that I was relieved to discover including gluten free soy sauce, oatmeal, and pasta. I have found an address for a specialty store online so we will be going there as soon as stores open back up tomorrow. Luckily I brought some of my own flour to hold us over, but that will be the most important thing to find. We are also still collecting all the staple ingredients so meals won't be too exciting the next couple days. I'm hoping to post a lot more about my recipes this year so stay tuned if you're interested.
We hope all is well at home! We have internet here so we will be on Facebook and Skype. We have not gotten phone service yet, but as soon as we do we'll have Skype on 24/7. Talk to you all soon!
Maura & Levi
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