http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Nils14/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Nils14 en-us Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:55:44 +0000 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:55:44 +0000 Yesterday as I pulled into my new home an iguana the size of a small dog wiggled its way across the driveway. Today a gecko enjoyed the view with me as I ate breakfast on the balcony. The two sweat shirts and four pairs of jeans I packed have not even made it out of their bags and I've gained a new appreciation for tank tops or shirts with cut off sleeves. The weather is warmer my room is big http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Puerto-Rico/San-Juan/blog-447322.html A pile of Christmas lights lie lazily in the corner reminding me of where my festive tree once stood. All around the city lights and decorations have disappeared. Only the occasional forgotten Santa or star still hang from balconies acting as a similar cruel reminder that the nice part about having cold whether is over. Christmas time has always held some of my favorite memories. From the ant http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Central-Macedonia/Thessaloniki/blog-364737.html One of the few days we had off in the past few weeks was due to a national holiday. The holiday consists of..... well I'm not 100 sure but it has to do with Greece's eventual defeat of Spain when the Spanish tried to invade and take over. The closest equivalent in an American holiday would probably be the Fourth of July. Rather than shoot off fire works and get drunk this Greek holiday is cele http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Central-Macedonia/Thessaloniki/blog-344176.html So its been just about two weeks and things are finally starting to come together here in Greece. it was tough for the first week or so because i did not really have internet or a car or money for that matter but all that is now in the past and I have been exploring and trying to figure everything out here. Like so many other places the culture and daily life here is quite different than what im http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Central-Macedonia/Thessaloniki/blog-335052.html So..... since i have been here i have not been publishing to many blogs. Despite the great responses i normally enjoy and repeated requests to write WritE WRITE i have not been able to sit down and type about my experience here. I could not figure out why this was such a problem until i had a conversation with my father. I realized after our talk that there are two things holding me bac http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Bahrain/Manama/blog-275569.html This one will be short and quick but i thought everyone should know whats going on. We played Friday night for a chance to go to the finals. Our opponent was the only team that we had not beaten and the guys had a bad history of falling apart against them. Diego and I had talked before the match and came to the conclusion that it was going to be up to us if we were to win. The first set went t http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Bahrain/Manama/blog-274834.html So i see its been 23 days since my last blog. I wish i could say that i've been out experiencing new things and thus to busy to write. Alas the opposite has been true. Since my last blog the days have been vanishing in mundane daily habits with only a few hiccups to break the monotony. This has not been completely unhelpful though as i have been able to focus on my rehab and physical shape. S http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Bahrain/Manama/blog-264369.html First let me start with a quick note to everyone out there. Thank you all for your positive comments and notes on some of my stories. While i may not get the chance to reply to all of them I want you all to know what a joy it is when I log on and see that my blogs are well received. So thank you all and please keep the comments coming. Now without further ado.Many people have been asking me wha http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Bahrain/Manama/blog-255763.html When coming to Bahrain I thought that I was going to be exposed to mainly middle east and muslim culture. I was wong There are many other cultures here in Bahrain and I had my first encounter with a traditional south Indian experience today. Just a word of warning this story does contain nudity so please if there are children present they may need to leave the room. It all started when I to http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Bahrain/Manama/blog-251606.html I have been adjusting slowly and steadily for the past few weeks. After some disputes about my contract I am officially part of the Busiateen Volleyball Club. I received my first payment and a car a few days ago and have been enjoying both as much as i can. I have also been learning alot about the culture here and am realizing how different it really is from what im used to. There are little c http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Bahrain/Manama/blog-244807.html Who ever said Nothing in life is certain must have been a professional volleyball player. This perspective could not be more true for me. Since November I thought i was going to play in places like Greece or Poland at one point I was considering a job in Iran I was even hours away from getting on a plane to Italy and soon after had a chance to go to the Canary Islands. Of all these places a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Bahrain/Manama/blog-239292.html With little time to digest the full experience of the rainforest it was on to our next adventure. In my life I have very few memories of horses. I remember going with Mom to pick up Birka from riding lessons but at that time I was more interested in making the fences my playground. I also remember being extremely uncomfortable behind my father as the whole family went for a trail ride on the beach http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Puerto-Rico/San-Juan/blog-67441.html With only a week left here in Puerto Rico i have been trying to do as much as possible. Being limited by day trips because of practices and games both Gusatvo and i have been surprised at the number of things there are to do around the island. one of the more interesting things we found was the only rainforest in the US national park system. We were told that El Yunque rainforest is a must for http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Puerto-Rico/San-Juan/blog-66555.html As if coming to Puerto Rico was not enough a little over a week ago I decided to head to one of the biggest tournaments of the year USA Volleyball Nationals. I had never been to this tournament before but I had heard many times about how great it is and how much fun it is to participate in. Most of my information came from one of my roommates in Switzerland a one Ty Tramblie. Ty has been a p http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-66314.html WARNING TO THE READERThe following blog contains some material unsuitable for all persons. It is strongly advised that children read this blog first and use discretion before allowing their mothers or other persons prone to worry to read this material. About two weeks ago Gustavo Meyer the other foreigner and my roommate and I received a car so that no one else on the team would have us as http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Puerto-Rico/San-Juan/blog-64828.html Puerto Rico has been amaizing When i got here three weeks ago it was on a contract that guaranteed my stay for seven games. pretty much since day one i have been trying to figure out a way to prolong my stay. i finished up my contract last thursday and since im writting this on Monday you can all see that i have found a way to stay. I was unable to play in a game we had last Saturday becau http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Puerto-Rico/San-Juan/blog-61084.html Ok so due to things beyond my control i have been unable to post anything for some time. maybe if i find the time i will go back through my pictures and post some from my last few months in Switzerland but until then i will have to start the next chapter in my travels. As most of you know i am now in Puerto Rico. for those of you who dont know the full story of how i got here here it is I h http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Puerto-Rico/San-Juan/blog-59403.html So unfourtunatly the day Birka and i returned to Lugano i had to leave for a friendly game. this gave Birka about a day and a half on her own to relax and recuperate. She tried to make my roomies and me brownies for when we got back but the directions we not in english and Betty Crocker was no where to be found. it was a nice thought and sometimes thats the most important thing. One of the coo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/North-East/Z-rich/blog-34715.html As if three days in Florence and two day trips to Venice and Siena were not enough Birka and i wanted to see the leaning tower of Pisa. I had been there once before and i knew it could be done with full satisfaction in a few hours time. The plan was to check out the tower and be on our way back home in time to catch the last train from Milan. Catching that final train had been on my mind from http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Pisa/blog-34256.html So Birka is on her way home and I pretty much slept all day today and I figure i better post the rest of the blogs from our trip before Joes friends arrive. When they get here we are going to head south and spend our final days of 2005 Roaming around Romeno pun intended. As you have all seen so far Florence was our home base and we took a few day trips durring our stay. She went a little out o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Siena/blog-33315.html