Monday Update

After walking aimlessly, I shamed myself into asking for directions to the internet cafe. Unfortunately, not one of the 4 people that assisted me spoke English so it took a bit of effort to find this place - but, I'm here! In all of my travels, I've only felt this lost once before - in China. I believe its because all other places I've been to besides China and Belarus use English letters in their writing so you can fake your way by recognizing some root words. Here, everything is written in Cryllic so it's much tougher.

Half of group flew from Minneapolis to Chicago and the other half flew from St. Louis to Chicago. We had quite a lot of baggage considering all the camp gear that was checked, too. Everyone was excited and so the long 9 hr flight from Chicago to Warsaw went very fast. The energy levels began to drop once we got off the airplane in Warsaw, however, and we had 4 hours to kill. The boys were tired so Todd decided to teach them a new prank. He tied a $20 bill to a fishing line and placed it on the floor about 10 ft away. When some unsuspecting soul decided to pick it up, he'd yank the string. The boys then gave it a try and they thought it was pretty funny. I'm not sure the folks that bent over to pick it up found the humor in it, though.
After the boys changed into track suits and the instructors changed into their polos and chinos, Todd held a team meeting with final instructions on what to expect during the trip. The flight to Minsk was a little over an hour. Even though the boys were instructed not to sleep (so they would be able to sleep that night), many succumbed to the sleep fairy.

Once in Minsk, we waited around at the airport for a few minutes until we got our entry Visas. We stuffed the bus with all of our gear and went directly to the rink where our host families were waiting for us. They gave our boys a very warm reception and we spent a few minutes meeting and greeting each other. Then they were off to various restaurants with their hosts.

Everyone was able to sleep in on Sunday since the city tour was not until the afternoon. The tour went well and boys really enjoyed themselves.

We went to the rink bright and early Monday morning to greet the campers as they came in. As you can see, we had a little help from Ronald McDonald. He is a very popular character here in Belarus - they love him! The facilities are excellent and the locals are really working hard to make this a great experience for all. Tonight, we will leave the rink and go directly to McDonalds for a press conference.

I am having some difficulties with uploading the photos - primarily because all web pages are in Cryllic so I'm not sure what I'm selecting!! I will figure this out and hopefully be able to upload an entire album for you to view from a separate link.

Do not have any concerns - Northern Edge and the Belarusian Hockey Federation are doing a top notch job of taking care of the boys! I have to go! I've got to find my way back to the rink!

Cheers!