Day 5 May 21s, 22nd, and 23rd

Uneventful night and morning, Ate the usual breakfast, lunch (didn't have a morning practice), and rested before practice. Practice was the same as usual but my team got stomped in the one game we played. No excuses and earned it. We also had it at 6pm instead of 7pm because we were leaving at 11pm to go to a city called Mendoza to play a friendly game against a team that was put together there. So I headed back to the hotel to eat and get packed up. Before I left the gym the coached asked me if I wanted them to take my basketball shoes. I told him no that it was ok and I’ll take them myself. I guess that's one thing I’m' trying to get used to; a professional team that take care of washing you practice and game gear. I kind of like it. Fabri told me they would take my shoes and give them to me at the game and that they do it for the whole team. I’ll take advantage of that next time. It makes it easier to pack. So I get back the hotel back and pack and eat and head for the bus. The bus is really nice. It’s got about 5 really comfortable seats in the front with little table in between some them. The back is full of bunks. With 2 on the floor we slept 11 back there. They were all made with pillows and sheets. The trip was supposed to take about 10 hours but it took 12 because we were behind slow trucks and couldn’t pass. half of the team including the coaches sat more in the front and 5 of us (fabri, Juan, Andres, emi, and I) sat in the back playing Uno till we got tired and then slept the rest of the way there. I woke up before most of them and started a book I brought. when fabri wakes up he informs me that the city of Mendoza is at the base of the Andes mountains (makes me think about the movie "alive") and that it's not far from the highest peak in Argentina (he said about 7,000 kilometers). Unfortunately when we got there it was cloudy so we missed out on the view but it was nice to see a big city again. We get to the hotel about 1pm and grab lunch/pregame which consisted of 2 big slices of quiche (one spinach in crème sauce and one ham and egg) and spaghetti with tomato sauce and a white cheese grated on top. That’s when they dropped a surprise on us. They told us to go rest for about an hour and a half and be back down to the lobby at 4 because we were going to go tour a famous winery nearby. I thought it was kind of weird being on a game day but I didn't question. I think it was out president’s idea. So I go to my room and flip through some the channels and on every other channel they have this parade going on. Come to find out on this next Tuesday Argentina will 200 years old and they are celebrating for the whole week before. I don't know what it will be like in Sunchales but BA (Buenos Aires) was parting. I ended up watching watch an episode of friends, two and a half men, and the big bang theory. I head down to the lobby and meet one of the other Americans who had just flew in. His name is Tyler field and he's from a small city about 1 hour north of San Francisco. He has been playing and down in Argentina for 8 years. He married an Argentinean girl about 3 years ago and got his citizenship last year. They a young girl and one on the way and they live in Buenos Aires where he flew in from. So we jump in a van and head to the winery. It took about 30 minutes to get to the exit for the winery. It was 7 kilometers off the highway and all 7 kilometers for as far as you could see were filled with grape plants and olive trees. Really beautiful. We arrived at the compound called bodega familia zuccardi. We walked in the gate and took a right went to the where the tour starts. We had about 5 minutes so we walked around the store they have. The whole building were in was made of wood. Lighter than cherry and beat up a little. Very rustic and dimly lit. So are tour guide shows up and she takes us through the whole process starting where the grapes get dumped after they are picked. She walked us through the process till they were barreled for aging. I’m glad Tyler shower up because he speaks both English and Spanish fluent so he was able to fill in a lot of what I wasn't understand (which was quite a bit). She then walked up into the tasting room which was attached to shop were in before we left. Everybody was a little on edge about tasting in front of the president before a game. He didn't care at all and urged us all. The served 3 wines (white, red, and a sweet dessert wine). I only tasted the dessert wine because that is what my wife likes on occasion. I was going to get some but trying to keep it safe through china would be almost impossible and Tyler said they sell most of their stuff in trader Joes. After tasting a bunch of the guys bought some wine and we headed back to the hotel to change and leave for the game. We only had about 15 minutes before we had to leave. We get to the game and everybody is tired. But we get ready and go take care of business. The team wasn't that good but they've been playing together a lot longer that we have. We had a lot more talent and we got stronger as the game went on. We ended up winning 92-77. I started off shooting bad but came back in the second half. I ended up 13 points, 5 reb, 5 assists, and 3 steals in about 25 minutes. The website said I had 9 but everybody points were off. The coach was happy with the win but knew we had to get a lot more intense and crisp if we were going to compete in the tournament in china. After the game we showered up at the hotel and went to a restaurant were the other team was at as well. It was a BBQ place like I ate at the other day but nicer. We all got full but we didn't leave the place till 3 in the morning! That was the presidents doing. It looked like we couldn't leave till he was ready and he was having a good time and he was also drinking a little. Come to find out Argentinean like wine like Mexicans like their beer. I couldn't believe how many bottles of wine these people went through but nobody got out of control at all. Right before we left it started to hail and rain really hard and everybody ran to their car to try and move them under something. I guess they get pretty bad hail storms out here. This one didn't end up being one of them. Just a lot of rain. We finally left at 3am like I said. We played a couple games of Uno and hit the bed. I again woke up earlier than most and earlier than I expected, 10am. We still had 5 hours left in the trip so I grabbed my book and read. While I was readying my coach asked me if I wanted some ma-te which is tea. They serve it quite differently. They have a little cup in which they pour the tea mixture (what you would probably find if you ripped open a tea bag) and pack it to the brim. Then they pour a couple ounces in the cup. They have a special straw and it is pinched on both sides so you don’t get the tea and not the tea mixture. It reminded me of passing a peace pipe around. After one person finished their couple ounces then more would be put in the tea pot and it would be passed to the next person. I asked if there was a special purpose to the tea (is it supposed to relax you or give you energy?) and they told me that there was nothing special about it and that it was just tea. Kind of cool experience though, and good for bonding. After my tea and went back to my book and until my Uno opponents woke up and we played till we got back, which was 4 Sunday afternoon. So here I sit after taking a shower waiting for the restaurant to open so I can eat and come back and get caught on some much needed sleep. Love you family and miss you all!!