January 18, 2003
| --Senior softball player Selena Collins will share her thoughts on the season, and other things, with us each week in AggieAthletics.com's player diary segment. January 18, 2003 Well, the first week of practice is over and I think it went really well, considering the first few days back from Italy were rather tiring. I mean there was a 7-hour time difference, but coming back to the states was well worth it. The trip itself was awesome! We were fortunate enough to visit all different kinds of historical sites like the Sistine Chapel, The Terranean sea (not Mediterranean but Terranean), the Coliseum where "Gladiator" was derived from, and many, many other cathedrals. I know one thing, and that is that Italians take pride in their churches. I swear they have a church on every street corner. First we went to Rome, where we spent two days touring and things like that. I learned that Italians in Italy drive like maniacs, they have no lanes in the road so they just bogart their way through people, honking every chance they get. They ride in cars that would not even fit in a batter's box they are so small. They ride on little scooter bikes that have no fear. They cut people off and then honk at the people they cut off, how weird is that? I thought the culture in itself was an experience. Here in America we know that "excuse me" is kind of a social norm. Not in Italy...if someone bumps into you it's probably your fault. Other than the culture being different, the experience was awesome. When we got to Palermo we arrived at the all-dirt field where they dragged the field with a car. Now picture that, it was hilarious. The girls on the Sicily team were great. After the game they wanted so badly to take pictures with us, not just one but many. It was such a good feeling to be idolized like that. They were so fascinated with us that it was humbling to a degree. It made me wonder what we did so well to get all this attention. It was a great feeling. The girls on that team were wonderful. When we finally reached the states after basically a 24-hour day of traveling we were glad to be home. You don't learn to appreciate your country until you have been somewhere else. Coach was gracious enough to give us Monday off, and Tuesday we hit it hard. We practiced straight through the week, and although cold, our team did a real good job of staying focused on what we had to do. Going through last week's practice raised my level of excitement even more than it already is. I love our team and I love the level of commitment we show. I feel that this season will hold great things for us and look forward to being a part of that. Our pitchers are working hard, our defense and offense are looking good. I can't wait 'til game time. That's when all hard work pays off. It's funny because we spent 10 days in Italy and our team still loves each other...now if that doesn't say something I don't know what does. Here's to a great season ladies!
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