Lancaster

This photo is the such-and-such hotel in Edinburgh. It is completely unrelated to this post, but it's good, I think. Fun fact: Because of the hotel's proximity to Waverly Train Station, its clock is always set 3 minutes fast (except on new year's eve) so that people make their trains.

Very briefly...

It takes three hours to get to Lancaster from Edinburgh. About two hours in, one of our cars broke down on the highway in the middle of nowhere. So, we all convened on the side of the road to decide how to proceed. Since we didn't have the space to take everybody the rest of the way, we had to leave 2 players, including our only goalie, on the highway in the freezing, windy Scotland (almost certainly England by this point) weather.

We won the game by a score of about 14-1. I was able to contribute offensively and defensively, but the highlight was the opportunity to play goalkeeper for the 2nd half. I allowed zero goals in my University of Edinburgh goaltender debut, and of that I am very proud. The other team had a strategy and they executed it efficiently and consistently. Apparently, their offensive plan was to hold the ball on the perimeter, look to the side of the pool pointedly (so as to deceive the goalie into ignoring them), and then throw it at medium speed right at the keeper's face. They were very good at this, and it took some serious self-defense to keep the ball out of the cage.

Alright, forget the "very briefly" thing from earlier. I can't stop now.

Water polo here is very physical. The referees have no idea what water polo is, apparently, so they call it like you might call a pro wrestling match. as in, not at all really. This surprised me at first. But, once I got put into my third consecutive headlock at 2-meters without the referee taking noticed, I began to catch on. So, I made good use of the patented Joel McKown "double foot blast" on many occasions (every possession change) to the apparent dismay of the crowd.

The Lancaster pool is 25 m long, 6 lanes wide, and 1m deep at the shallow end. I'm not used to playing in a shallow end. The water literally did not reach the top of my suit when i stood up. You're not supposed to stand on the bottom, but it can't be avoided, so refs are apparently fairly relaxed about it. Except for 2 times. The first time, I was still playing in the field, and I turned a guy from the low wing standing up. I didn't mean for it to be an effective offensive play. I just wanted to embarrass him because he kept pulling my suit WAY up. So that was called an offensive. The second time, I went for an assist from the goal. Antonio, a big italian man from malawi, had swum his way all the way in front of their goal, so I hit him with a pass. Unfortunately, he went for the emphatic finish by leaping off the bottom to catch the pass and slam it home. He ended up looking a tad like free willy and was called for his offense.


Well, thanks for all the advice about getting out there and making the best of doing things by myself. Jennie, my aunt Amy actually gave me a book propper-upper and page holder-opener for my b-day or x-mas a couple of years back. At the time, she made it seem as though it was meant for studying purposes. Now, I realize that it was intended to allow me to eat all the ribs I want when I'm out by myself in Edinburgh. Amy really does think ahead, I guess. Hello! so do YOU. Al paca socks!

Robbie