May 25, 2006

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The Yale men's basketball team is taking a 10-day trip to Spain. The team arrived at Madrid International Airport on Thursday morning and immediately headed out to do some sightseeing. Periodically during the trip, the players will file updates. Today, 2005-06 captain Josh Greenberg writes about a long day of travel.

Our trip to Spain got off to somewhat of an inauspicious start; the air conditioner on the bus broke, making the ride from New Haven to Newark Airport unbearably hot, our departing gate was moved and the flight was delayed for two hours. Once we were in flight things turned around. Young C (Chris Andrews) and I sat next to a man making his yearly trip to his homeland in Andalucia. He helped us practice our very remedial Spanish and offered some helpful advice. He recommended that we eat the special of the day "el plato del dia" and to pay around 12 "doce dolares" for the meal. He also informed us to stay away from tipping as well as the tap water.

I struck up a conversation with another man on the plane. I informed him that I was part of the Yale Basketball team and that we were traveling around Spain to play professional teams. The man's wife was a native Spanish speaker, but he had a very limited knowledge of the language. He told me that being in a foreign country unable to speak the language, will make you feel dumber than anything in the world and that my Yale degree would be no use to me in attempting to speak the language.

The pace of life here is truly unbelievable. The people walk slowly without a care in the world. Madrid has six million people, but unlike New York, there is no semblance of hustle or bustle. We just had the afternoon lunch and are now getting ready for the midday siesta. The streets are empty around this time.

I think Coach Jones may be regretting his decision to bring us to Spain. On our way to the restaurant, we walked by call girls on the street at 2:00 in the afternoon.

Best wishes,

Josh