Stud Enjoying Cordoba!

Sarah has been studying for the Spring Semester in Cordoba, Argentina .  She reports that she's having a great time there, and has shared a couple of her thoughts about her experience.  She traveled to Buenos Aires for "semana santa," or the equivalent of our Spring Break, and said this about that trip: , "It was a really fun place to visit, with lots of things to see and tango shows to go to at night, but BA is a ridiculously big city and it made me quite glad that I'm studying abroad somewhere a little more manageable."

She also had this to say about her living arrangements over there:

"My host family is wonderful, and their two year old daughter is the cutest thing ever.  We color together a lot in my free time, which is a nice counterbalance to the logistical stresses of Argentine living."

After quite an extensive effort to get "cleared" medically to be able to participate in even recreational athletics over there, she's happy that finally she's going to get to play some volleyball, so hopefully we'll get an update on how that's going pretty soon.  

Stud, we miss you, but it sounds like you're having an amazing experience in Argentina!  Before too long, we'll all be back together again for preseason!  Happy Spring everyone!!

  

Pictures from Abroad

Well, I heard that two of our travelers are back now after their semester in Spain, so congrats to them for finishing up already!  They sent a few pictures from their Spring Break travels that took them to Paris, Florence, and Berlin.  Apparently, they had one minor encounter with some bed bugs while in Paris, but other than that, they had a BLAST!

They also traveled to Switzerland at some point for a winter feel in the mountains.  I had asked Caitlin about what her favorite foods were in Spain because I've always heard so much about great Spanish food, and she had some great comments about that.  She is living with a host family, and her host mom is a wonderful cook.  She's from the Canary Islands, which is part of Spain, but has a lot of African and Moroccan influence.  Caitlin says: "I've eaten more meat here than I do at home, which is different, but also a nice change at the same time. We actually have a pig leg in our kitchen that you can shave ham right off of whenever you want to. Sounds weird but its some of the best ham I've ever had! My host mom makes a lot of traditional spanish food. Paella is very popular, which is basically rice flavored with a bunch of spices (mainly saffron), and then with veggies, chicken, chorizo, seafood, or whatever you want. It's definitely one of my favorites. Another favorite are these things called croquetas. I can't really describe them, they look kind of like mozzarella sticks, but they're not made from cheese. Hard to explain but they're pretty much some sort of fried dough with any kind of meat, cheese, or fish chopped up in the dough. My explanation is not doing them justice and probably makes them sound disgusting but if you ever get the chance to try them you should. And the third big food here, and something I could eat every day for the rest of my life, is tortilla española. It's Spain's take on frittata pretty much, and is usually made with potatoes, egg and sauteed onion, but my host mom sometimes put tomatoes or zucchini in too. Tastes great hot or cold, or put in a sandwich."

Caitlin has a fabulous attitude about it all, and this sentence sums it up pretty nicely: 

"...it's always some sort of culinary adventure and I always try everything before asking what's in it just in case."

Girls in Sports Day!

We recently celebrated National Girls in Sports Day where local young girls were invited to the College to take part in different athletic activities taught by college students.  Meg Anderson was an event organizer, and got the team involved to teach a volleyball segment.  Several team members participated, but Meg got pictures of Julia, Amy, Piper and Lizzy giving instruction and running the girls through some basic drills.  By all accounts, it was a very fun and successful day of volleyball!!  Thanks for sharing your expertise, guys!  (A little known fact about Vermont is that it's the ONLY state in the country without Girls High School Volleyball.  So, many of these girls were probably handling the volleyball for the very first time.)

Novice Crew Champions!

Lizzy and Olivia have learned a new skill this Spring, and apparently, they are very quick learners!! They both have joined the novice crew team, as Julia did her freshmen year. It's a fun, and different sport, but the lower body/core training is excellent for volleyball as well.

The crew coaches have talked to me several times about how strong both of them are, and how good their "erg" times were--whatever that means. :) These two are naturals on the erg machine, and are part of the power center of the 8 person boat they're on.

Over spring break they went with the crew team to Georgia to train and compete and the Novice boat they were on took 1st place in the Clemson Race!!

Way to go, both of you. Keep up the great work, and stay warm in the wee hours of the morning out on that lake! :)

Here is a link to a recent race, shot from a head cam on the coxswain: http://youtu.be/Y3Xg2KPaTEY

And here is a clip of their boat way ahead in another recent race!!::

Quite the serenade!

I'm not sure how many of us have ever been serenaded quite so famously before?! Judging by the reaction to the Dartmouth Aires of a few people in the front row, I think some of them would have paid BIG money to be in Amy's shoes in this picture!!

Amy and Julia are both members of the Mischords a cappella singing group here on campus. Amy's brother is a member of an a cappella group in addition to the men's club volleyball team at Dartmouth College. The Dartmouth Aires were runners-up on Season 3 of NBC's The Sing-Off. They have received a lot of publicity surrounding the show, which aired this Fall, and have released a new album and are touring New England and beyond. Our Town Hall Theater booked them to come and perform, and it was a highlighted event in town which sold out very quickly.

The Dartmouth Aires is the oldest male a cappella group at Dartmouth dating from 1946. Our female counterpart with that tradition is the Middlebury Mischords--the oldest all female a cappella group dating back to 1962. The Town Hall Theater thought it would be perfect to ask the Mishchords to open for the Aires. What they didn't know was that this would bring together two siblings, resulting in a fabulous display of Hart talent!! In the picture above, Amy is being serenaded by the Aires in a song called, "Amy." Will told the audience how special it was for him to be here singing in the same show as his sister, and wanted to do a special number. This "contraband" picture shows them both on stage together! (I'll never reveal my source!) :)

The Dartmouth Aires may have been the headlined show, but the Mischords provided the audience with a real treat. Amy had several solo's which was really fun. Julia also had some solo parts, and seemed to be one of the leaders for the "other sounds" in the background of the main singer. (I'm showing my terrible idiocy in all things musical right now, I'm afraid!) At any rate, Julia was fantastic at whatever that is called, along with her dancing and general stage presence!

I tried much too late to get a ticket since it sold out so quickly, but was fortunate that one of the Hart's friends was unable to come at the last minute. Amy texted me and I gladly accepted and had a seat next to Mr. Hart, which was very special treat for me. MJ and Meg were also in the audience to enjoy the music and support their teammates! What a wonderful night of great music and a great show! The Aires really put on a show in addition to their music. It started with their comedic outfits and stage antics, but was very high energy, fun, and funny in addition to singing some great music. Mr. and Mrs. Hart had to be so proud to have both kids shining on the same stage! FUN, FUN!

Notes from Abroad

I've recently heard from Caitlin and Maddie, who are both in Spain, and having a wonderful time! This picture was taken at the 18th hole of St. Andrew's Golf Course in Scotland. (The taxi driver told them to take a picture there for their dad's, which I think is priceless!!)

Anyway, Caitlin reports that she's living with a family in the city center of Madrid with two kids in their 20's and also another foreign student from China, so it's quite a family all together. She reports that there have been several funny miscommunications, which is part of the deal, I'd imagine, but I can't wait to hear more about all these fun experiences! Her host mom is a fantastic cook, so Caitlin is enjoying all the Spanish food, of course! She and Maddie are actually taking a few classes together, which is very nice, but doing a home-stay is perfect because it really forces them to speak Spanish all the time.

Maddie reports that it's taken a while to get used to the Spanish way of life, but she's loving it! She said life there moves at about half the pace of MIDD life with siestas, long lunches, and late dinners. Maybe we should all learn something from that example?! :) She's very happy to have a familiar face and good friend in Caitlin there to share the experience with, and what a great experience it is!

They miss everyone at MIDD, but thanks to modern communications, they've been able to email and even Skype with a couple people. We miss them both, but are very happy to hear about their fun experiences. I'll try to get some information from Stud about her archaeological dig soon, too. Lizzy talked to her, I think, and said that she's loving her experience as well. More to come later...

NEWVA Team Academic Award

Recipients of the NEWVA Academic Team Award Announced

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The New England Women’s Volleyball Association announced today its recipients of the NEWVA Academic Team Award. Fourteen teams earned the honor, attaining a team-average of at least a 3.30 GPA during the fall semester.

The NEWVA Academic Team Award was established in 2008 to recognize the hard work and dedication of the teams’ student-athletes off the court and in the classroom. Twenty-seven percent of all member programs qualified for the prestigious award marking the largest percentage since the award’s introduction.

Listed below are the NEWVA Academic Team Award winners. The number of years a team has won the award is listed in parentheses.

Bowdoin College (4)

Connecticut College (4)

Emerson College (3)

Emmanuel College (1)

Husson University (2)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (3)

Middlebury College (4)

Roger Williams University (3)

Salve Regina University (1)

Springfield College (3)

Trinity College (2)

Wesleyan University (2)

Western New England University (1)

Westfield State University (1)

Williams College (4)

Established nearly 25 years ago, the New England Women’s Volleyball Association is open to all collegiate institutions in New England sponsoring Division III women’s volleyball. Membership has grown to 56 members in 2012, representing nine different conferences.