June 12, 2000

Hallo from Germany!!! We have been in Munich for 3 days and have competed twice. We lost the first match and won the second. The team we played was pretty good; I think they were a lot older than us. Munich is a beautiful city. We had one day to split into groups and look around the city. I was with Sarah Gustin and Maren Witzel. We went shopping for all kinds of things. It was a great time. For lunch we stopped at a small café that had outdoor seating. Maren ordered a smoked salmon sandwich. When it came it looked like it hadn't been cooked at all. I think she was pretty grossed out, but she ate most of it. Sarah and I took some funny pictures.

Last night we all went to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner. It is the place where Hitler ate often, and a lot of tourists go there. They have live German music and some people dance. Erin Hartley and I took turns doing the polka with Chuck!!!!! I think there are a LOT of pictures of us, everyone was pretty shocked.

Now we are on our way to another town in Germany, Baden-Baden. It is a four hour ride. Riding in the bus isn't too bad, we each have our own seat and the countryside is beautiful. Tonight we are staying at a spa where we can get massages, facials and sit in the sauna. We are all so excited! From this point on, we have no more volleyball. We are spending one night in Germany, and then the next three in Paris. We are going to do a lot of sightseeing and hopefully a lot of shopping, as I still haven't bought any gifts!!

This has been one of the most interesting experiences of my life, and it has brought our team a lot closer together. We played, in my opinion, our best volleyball ever during some of our competitions. I can't wait for the fall! Ciao!

Jessica #5

PS. Hi mom and dad!! I love you and will see you in 4 days!