:-* A virtual kiss on the cheek for my entire Mizzou family. That is the traditional way to greet family and friends here in Puerto Rico. I have been here little over a month now and I fall in love with it more and more each day. Be it the view of the lush mountains or the beautiful ocean that surrounds the island, Puerto Rico is a little piece of paradise.

In Puerto Rico I am playing for the Monteñarias in Morovis. We are off to a great start this season; so far we are 10-1 and sitting pretty with a three game cushion in first place. I have been playing progressively better and better despite a few problems with my knees. Things have been looking up recently, as I am feeling as if my shooting touch has come back to me. Playing here has been quite an adjustment, the basketball differs greatly than the Big 12 competition I had gotten used to at Mizzou. The fans, though, make the games, they are so intense and into the game, it makes for a great place to play.

I love Morovis. I am living in a four bedroom apartment on the second floor of a store front with three other teammates. Two of which are Americans, Amy Denson (Arizona State 2006) and Shelia Lambert (Baylor 2002) the last girl, Natalie Emmanuelli is a Puerto Rican native but she has spent a large chunk of her life in Orlando (in other words, she speaks English and Spanish). It is a pretty nice set-up with pink concrete walls, and individual air conditioning units in each bedroom. In the kitchen and living room, we fight the heat with two ceiling fans and cracked windows in hopes of creating some air flow. We have been getting along fairly well so far. We spend a lot of time laughing at our terrible attempts at speaking Spanish with the people in the Pueblo. If I’m not hanging out with those three, I’m probably with Tocarra Ross (Iowa State 2009) and her teammates, they play in Isabella, about an hour and fifteen minute drive from Morovis. We have been able to hang out a few times on off days.

I love my teammates, my roommates, my town and the basketball here but of all the things in Puerto Rico that tug at my heart strings, the food has the tightest grip on my heart. I have never in my life ate so much rice and beans or enjoyed the variations so immensely. Along with the staple of rice and beans one cannot go wrong ordering carne frita (fried pork), tostones (fried plantains), pulpa (octopus), chuletas (pork chops) or amarillos (sweet fried plantains). So delicious! Don’t worry though, I haven’t put on hardly any weight, the lack of air conditioning in the gym won’t allow for me to gain a pound.

That is all for now Mizzou family. Information about the league I’m playing in and my teams status can be found at http://www.lsfpr.com/ (if you type this into Google, it will give you an option to translate it from Spanish to English). Thanks so much for your love and support.

Always,

Alyssa

P.S. Congrats to the football team on handling the rival in the season opener. M-I-Z!