Hola Mexico

Our arrival to Mexico was somewhat eventful, as we lost a fellow athlete to the US Customs interrogation unit and we flew into Guadalajara where a hurricane recently touched down along the coast. The resolve of both of these issues happened overnight in successful format, an we now have a full team and the hurricane blew/rained itself out by the time it hit us inland.

The first night we stayed in the international Athlete's Village in Guadalajara or "Guad" as the locals call it. What a crazy and amazing place. Huge flag's draped all over the buildings on respective countries buildings, Brazil and Dominica Republic had 2 story flags hung to display glory (and catch the storming wind though the night). There were the regular amenities; huge food tent, shopping in the village complete with grocery, banks, starbucks, and even burger-king! On the first night, which was also my birthday, we went to the "Sports-Bar lounge" and watch a fierce battle of Mexico vs. Brazil futbol Soccer. Huge groups of Brazil athletes on one side of the room at one TV, and even bigger Mexican group of athletes on the other side. The game was tied 1-1 heading into the 75th minute and all the Mexicans were cheering loudly. The game ended with Brazil blasting a goal on a break-away, and the Brazil side of the room erupted. What a cool experience.

The next day we all piled onto the bus and headed south to Cuidad Guzman, 90min to the south of Guad. A medium sized city, within farm land and large mountains lining the valley. An "old-town" perches on the side of one hill with large old church and city hall towers looking over the streets. Our hotel is brand new with decent sized rooms, large dinning hall, and reception hall to use the internet and meet other international athletes.

The rowing site is also new, a big boathouse and patio/deck (tarmac) for the boat racks. The racing lanes are on the side of the lake, exactly 2km long, with yellow/red buoys every 5-10m covering 6 lanes. At the 1000m mark on the course there is a Bar complete with tables and chairs right on water level! That would be the best place to watch the race with cerveza in hand!

Two more days to go - a bit of a waiting game now. We will have training rows at 9am and 4pm Thursday and Friday, then racing starts on Saturday! I'm getting amped and also a tiny bit nervous. The only thing we have to focus on as lightweights is to be ON-WEIGHT (70km avg). I was 70.7kg this am. It is hard to sweat out any weight without hot showers other than layers of clothing.