Film City and Camp Bondsteel

Our last days of the trip were spent in Kosovo at the NATO base Film City and at Camp Bondsteel. To pick up where I left off:

The next day, we woke up early to get in a gym workout and get breakfast before we had to meet to get our IDs for the base. During this time, we tried our hardest to get a ride in the Blackhawks down to Film City where our performance was that evening. Our hopes were high, but it did not work out. We left in vans for Film City in the early afternoon.

Upon arriving at Film City, we grabbed some food and hung out a little bit before things got going. At 1900 we were scheduled to play against the international Film City beach volleyballers. Since Film City is a NATO base, there are soldiers there from all the NATO countries. We played against a team with players from the US, France, Italy, Poland, and Germany. We played several teams. It was a really fun night.

Afterwards, we met at SAMs, the US bar on the base, for a celebration. Camp Bondsteel is under General Order Number One which means there is a no tolerance policy regarding alcohol. Since Film City is a NATO base, General Order Number One is not in effect. We had a few drinks with the soldiers and had a fantastic time hanging out and chatting. Film City seemed to us like an Olympic Village. There were soldiers from so many different countries that all come together to hang out with each other and have a good time. It is a very unique place. I had an incredible time there. We had to be dragged away because we did not want to leave.

The drive home was really fun. We reminisced about our favorite parts of the night before getting into a discussion about how the four of us would rank out in our next days shooting simulator expedition.

Before heading to the simulator, we decided to head to the softball diamond to go cheer on the teams that were playing. Immediately Brooke and I were talked into playing on a team that was missing a few players. If we did not play, they had to forfeit because they did not have enough players. Somehow I ended up playing First Base and Brooke ended up in Left Field! We saw way more action than we had anticipated. We are much better volleyball players than softball players and it really showed. I couldn't catch a ball that was thrown to me to save my life.

We did hit the ball though. I actually hit an in-field home run. However, I was made fun of for the way I ran the bases. Apparently it was very girly! We had a good laugh about it. Our team lost by A LOT, but we had so much fun.

After the softball game, Jeff, Brooke, and I visited the Medevac team and took a tour of their Blackhawk. We sat inside the bird and took a few pictures. It was fun to visit with them and learn about what they do. They have a tough job, but thank God they are willing and able to do it.

Next we went to the indoor shooting simulator where we would partake in weapons training. Who would have thought that Jeff Nygaard would be an expert marksman? He was incredible! We were all impressed with his accuracy. We all did pretty good, but Jeff scored extremely high. However, the tides changed when we moved from the target practice to the scenario playouts.

Apparently Brooke and I had great teamwork because we kicked major butt when we were shooting the machine guns. We all got a good laugh out of it because it played out exactly how our Tour Manager called it the night before. Apparently personality has a lot to do with how your react in the simulator. It was really fun for us.

After shooting, we grabbed a snack and went back to our containers (our rooms on base) to get ready for the evening’s performance.

We went to the courts at 18:00 to start warming it up. There were already quite a few people down there. We chatted for awhile before the big crowd came. Then it was show time! A few brave soldiers came out for the first challenge. We played 4 versus 6 and gave them an absolute smashing! They were such good sports and the crowd that had gathered seemed to love it.
We played several games to 15 against many different teams. Once the score started to get out of hand, Brooke and I would run to the other side and play with the other team to try and give them a little help.

General Kay joined us at one point, but we could not talk him into playing with us. He thanked us for coming over and we presented him with an autographed Official AVP ball. We took a few pictures and then got back to playing.

We played for a few hours until it got too dark outside and we could not see anymore. We gave away tons of T-shirts, caps, visors, lanyards, sunglasses, and Fubar stickers. I had such a fantastic time. We took tons of pictures and signed autographs to soldiers and their family members back home.

Then the Karaoke machine started! Who knew that Jeff Nygaard is the Johnny Cash Ring of Fire Karaoke King? It was fantastic! There were several soldiers that joined him, all with great voices. We were highly entertained. We did not leave the site until 23:00 and we loved every minute of it!

We were sad to leave the next day. We were picked up at 3:30AM to head to the Pristina Airport for a 7AM flight. It was brutal. I decided to stay up and repack, email, call home, blog, etc. It worked out well.

We had three flights to get home. The first was from Pristina to Vienna. We had an hour in Vienna before our flight to Munich. Then we had a three hour layover in Munich before a direct flight to LAX. I ate my last 2 pretzels of the trip at the airport. I have to say that they were disappointing pretzels compared to the ones we found in the little town bakeries. I certainly had my fill on this trip. I will be good now until next year.

I got a very pleasant surprise on the way back. I was upgraded to Business Class. I could not have been happier. I had not slept yet so was completely exhausted. When we took off from Munich, I laid my chair flat into a bed and slept soundly for the first 4 hours. It was so nice. I forced myself to stay awake the rest of the flight so that I could sleep when I got home. I watched three movies on the plane and enjoyed lounging in my spacious seat. What a great way to end an amazing trip.

I have had a lot of time to reflect on our trip. I must say that I have never felt so proud to be an American Pro Beach Volleyball player in my life. Seeing the smiles that we brought to so many faces makes this the most rewarding “work” I have ever been a part of. I am so anxious to plan our next trip.

I cannot thank every American soldier enough for their sacrifice, dedication, and hard work that they do for our country. Troops - You are not forgotten back home. We love you and support you.

Go USA!
Angie