Viva Espana!

The offseason is always an extremely stressful time and this year was no different. When our season ended in early May, we headed to Lithuania for about a month to visit family and renovate an investment property we purchased. From there, we headed to the states for the remainder of the summer, which turned out to be much longer than we expected.

Every Summer, D communicates back and forth with his agent who is speaking with various teams on his behalf. There is never a perfect situation, with each offer comes multiple compromises. We always sit down and prioritize which aspects of a contract are most important to us: the basketball situation, team financial stability, the city, money, the league, etc, and always have to give up at least one, often more, of these elements. Each year the market changes and the economic status of countries all over Europe trickle down to their basketball teams as well. In the past, we've been lucky enough to typically sign our contracts very early in the Summer, which allows us to relax and prepare for our new team while enjoying time with family. Unfortunately this year, we were far from prepared for how long we would have to wait. D's agent came to us with a few different options, but each lacked in some major areas in which we felt were priorities. We continued to reject offers and pray that new ones would transpire.

In addition to weighing out the normal components of different teams and their pros and cons, the current state of security in the world adds so much more depth to this process. After spending last season in Turkey, making so many phone calls to my mom to assure her I was safe amongst all the terrorist plots, and feeling the horror over the Summer when the Istanbul Airport, a place that was practically my second home last season,  was the victim of an ISIS attack, safety and security was a new layer to add to the already extensive list of things to consider. To be honest, I felt very safe in our city in Turkey last year, and can't tell you how frustrating it was to constantly hear from friends, family, and often strangers, alike about how I shouldn't, and couldn't possibly go back. I was open to returning to Turkey this season, if it was in a city where I felt comfortable, but it's hard to reassure people who haven't been there and don't know anything about the situation, that I would be okay. 

Safety did play a factor in our negotiations, however, and I did have limits to where I would feel comfortable living, and D respected that. The weeks kept passing and with each deal that would pass, my anxiety and fear would only multiply. Every time I would feel sorry for myself and the fact that  we didn't have a job yet,  I would re-read the blog of my friend Kelly who is undergoing a bone marrow transplant for her leukemia (you should really read it here), and immediately want to punch myself in the face for failing to realize how trivial my problems were. We needed to stay positive, control the things we could and surrender to God the things we couldn't. Towards the end of September, we made the tough decision to switch agents, a move that was really hard for D, as he has been loyal to his first and only agent since beginning his professional career. 

Fast forward to two weeks ago, we were prepping for Hurricane Matthew to hit my mom's house in South Florida when we got a call from D's new agent that there was an offer in for Turkey that we would be happy with. They would want D there soon so we would need to pack immediately. Adding "pack your life up into two suitcases" to hurricane prep is less than ideal, believe it or not, but we welcomed the thought of a new opportunity. After stressing back and forth about the move, but feeling relieved that we would finally be heading back to Europe, the deal ended up falling through at the last minute. 

A few days later, D's agent contacted us about a potential offer in Spain. Spain has always been tip top on our bucket list of places to play, but it can be really difficult to break into the Spanish ACB League as it's full of European super-stars and guys that have already made names for themselves in the country. To make the situation even more desirable, one of D's best Lithuanian friends (who's wife is one of my absolute favorite people alive), was on the team and she had already told me great things about the management and the city. Honestly, I blew off the idea of going there, thinking it would ultimately be too good to be true, and just leave us disappointed in the end. After several days of back and forth, we were beginning to lose hope that it would happen until last Thursday where we were surprised with a signed contract in our inbox, followed by a phone call from D's agent telling us to prepare to leave that evening. In the past five seasons, this was definitely our quickest turnaround time, with just 6 hours separating our contract signing and our flight takeoff in Miami.

After telling friends and family about our new opportunity, and hearing so many respond with how much they had been praying for us and for something to happen, it was so clear to me that all of the support and love we are surrounded with directly influenced God's plan for us this season. I can't tell you how much it means to us to have the support of so many people, even when we know you have so many bigger, and more significant, issues to focus on.

We arrived in Santiago de Compostela, Spain last Friday, and it's been a whirlwind ever since. D left the day after we arrived, to travel with the team to an away game in Barcelona. Normally, I'd be a bit apprehensive about being alone in a new city, but I was so lucky that my close friend, Indre, was here to make me feel at home and introduce me to my new city. We had a fabulous weekend exploring the city, it's Old Town and local markets, shopping malls and parks. I am so grateful to have her here and so excited to keep getting to know the other wives here, who have been so much fun already. 

Santiago is such an amazing city, and after exploring, I was frankly surprised I had never heard of it. Located in Northwest Spain, just above Portugal, it is most famous for their massive Cathedral that is the central core of the city. The Cathedral is the burial place of St. James, the apostle, and the end point of a long pilgrimage done by hundreds of thousands of people each year, from the Middle ages until the present. On any given day, you can walk into the Old Town and see Christian Pilgrims, from all over, ending their several hundred mile journey, on foot, and arriving here to their final destination, to pay homage to St. James. 

I've spent the past week getting our apartment together, meeting new friends, beginning my Spanish lessons, and drinking more 2 euro a bottle wine and eating more jamon than I am proud to admit. I'm so excited for what this season has in store, and just so thankful that we have another year on this journey! 

Mercado de Abastos de Santiago

Old Town, Santiago