DAY 22
DAY 22
Its my final night of my long voyage. I'm sitting in a Comfort Inn Airport hotel in Montreal again. Why? Because I had one three part ticket (NYC-SYDNEY-MONTREAL-NYC) and one separate roundtrip (MONTREAL-HAVANA-MONTREAL) and since there's only like 1 flight per day out of Havana, it was not possible to get home in one day, esp since Montreal is not a big flight.
I decided to stay at a place with a free shuttle, free wifi, free breakfast, cheap, close to the airport, just cuz i'm sick of traveling. Maya is staying with her friend Rita, so we parted ways at the airport. We'll see each other in three weeks at nationals though! I see Maya more often than I see many of my friends in NYC.
So....Cuba was....mixed. I made the 64 and I'm happy about that but I did not achieve my goal of making the 32. I went 3-3 in the pools but felt I fenced MUCH MUCH better than in Montreal. I used the clock, used the full time, was patient, and won two bouts in overtime.
I got robbed of one bout though, there were THREE seconds left and I fleched. My first action did not hit, but I remised before I passed and he called it afterwards -- even though it was not even close. That ref misscalled an action in Maya's 128 bout too and a British friend of mine was complaining about him too. Oh well.
Would have been nice to have four victories and have a higher seed. But in two bouts I was down 4-2 and came back to 4-4, one of which I went on to win and one of which I went on to lose (the bs one I just talked about). Still I think I showed MUCH better resilience, which was a goal of mine.
So in the 128 I fenced Julie Leprohon from Canada. I used to fence her a lot as a Junior and in NACs, but its been awhile. The last time we fenced was in St Maur last year or the year before and she beat me like 15-7, so I was pretty nervous. But I fenced smart, patient at the beginning, then slowly built a lead to 10-6. Then she came back to 10-10 and I was REALLY MAD at myself. We went into overtime and I had priority and I got the last touch. Cool beans. Glad I pulled that one out.
Then in the 64, I was seeded 58th so I had to fence the #7 seed, Branza from Romania (who went on to get third). I fenced the first period well but then she killed me in the second and third. I look forward to reviewing the tape and learning from it, because I was not so smart in this bout. I also watched her fence Minzca from Hungary and she beat her 15-8 too, and the bout seemed very similar....she was just really at good at keeping her point free and always finding a second action.
Other than fencing, maya and I hung out with our friend Non who went to Penn State but is Thai and fences for Thailand. We went to the market and to Vieja Havana, drank a mojito, experimented with different restaurants and palmadares, and took a lot of pictures. We also got in some time by the pool. There was also one cooler evening with a breeze when I could finally understand how people can survive in Cuba. Its not ALWAYS as hot as a mid-June hot day. I have a bit of a heat rash on my hands.
Non clued us into a nice habitation where they rent rooms for 20 bucks a day, I think that's the way we'll do it next time. The Habana Libre is cool but a rip off. We also talked with the Italian fencer Sara Cometti, who is a friend of Steffie's. She has been going to Havana to fence for 15 YEARS!!!
maybe the journey is just beginning..... :)
and as I said to Maya when I said goodbye "well, it was fun even when it wasnt!" CIAO!
Its my final night of my long voyage. I'm sitting in a Comfort Inn Airport hotel in Montreal again. Why? Because I had one three part ticket (NYC-SYDNEY-MONTREAL-NYC) and one separate roundtrip (MONTREAL-HAVANA-MONTREAL) and since there's only like 1 flight per day out of Havana, it was not possible to get home in one day, esp since Montreal is not a big flight.
I decided to stay at a place with a free shuttle, free wifi, free breakfast, cheap, close to the airport, just cuz i'm sick of traveling. Maya is staying with her friend Rita, so we parted ways at the airport. We'll see each other in three weeks at nationals though! I see Maya more often than I see many of my friends in NYC.
So....Cuba was....mixed. I made the 64 and I'm happy about that but I did not achieve my goal of making the 32. I went 3-3 in the pools but felt I fenced MUCH MUCH better than in Montreal. I used the clock, used the full time, was patient, and won two bouts in overtime.
I got robbed of one bout though, there were THREE seconds left and I fleched. My first action did not hit, but I remised before I passed and he called it afterwards -- even though it was not even close. That ref misscalled an action in Maya's 128 bout too and a British friend of mine was complaining about him too. Oh well.
Would have been nice to have four victories and have a higher seed. But in two bouts I was down 4-2 and came back to 4-4, one of which I went on to win and one of which I went on to lose (the bs one I just talked about). Still I think I showed MUCH better resilience, which was a goal of mine.
So in the 128 I fenced Julie Leprohon from Canada. I used to fence her a lot as a Junior and in NACs, but its been awhile. The last time we fenced was in St Maur last year or the year before and she beat me like 15-7, so I was pretty nervous. But I fenced smart, patient at the beginning, then slowly built a lead to 10-6. Then she came back to 10-10 and I was REALLY MAD at myself. We went into overtime and I had priority and I got the last touch. Cool beans. Glad I pulled that one out.
Then in the 64, I was seeded 58th so I had to fence the #7 seed, Branza from Romania (who went on to get third). I fenced the first period well but then she killed me in the second and third. I look forward to reviewing the tape and learning from it, because I was not so smart in this bout. I also watched her fence Minzca from Hungary and she beat her 15-8 too, and the bout seemed very similar....she was just really at good at keeping her point free and always finding a second action.
Other than fencing, maya and I hung out with our friend Non who went to Penn State but is Thai and fences for Thailand. We went to the market and to Vieja Havana, drank a mojito, experimented with different restaurants and palmadares, and took a lot of pictures. We also got in some time by the pool. There was also one cooler evening with a breeze when I could finally understand how people can survive in Cuba. Its not ALWAYS as hot as a mid-June hot day. I have a bit of a heat rash on my hands.
Non clued us into a nice habitation where they rent rooms for 20 bucks a day, I think that's the way we'll do it next time. The Habana Libre is cool but a rip off. We also talked with the Italian fencer Sara Cometti, who is a friend of Steffie's. She has been going to Havana to fence for 15 YEARS!!!
maybe the journey is just beginning..... :)
and as I said to Maya when I said goodbye "well, it was fun even when it wasnt!" CIAO!