Kayla's Customized Hell

Goths
Circle I Limbo

DMV Employees
Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind

Parents who bring squalling brats to R-rated movies, Ben Bernanke
Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow

Scientologists
Circle IV Rolling Weights

Rednecks, Creationists
Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled

River Styx

General asshats, Jerry Falwell
Circle VI Buried for Eternity

River Phlegyas

The Pope
Circle VII Burning Sands

George Bush, Republicans
Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement

Osama bin Laden
Circle IX Frozen in Ice

Design your own hell

Narrowing Down

Well, Sam Peszek announced today that she will be out of contention for worlds, after tearing her labrum.

We've known about this injury for a while now, but it didn't seem to be a problem for her except on bars (which she hasn't been competing due to the injury).

Sam at this year's nationals. Many thought she was in even better shape than in Beijing.

Good girl, Sam - giving yourself time to heal up. More should follow suit.

An additional benefit is it makes Worlds selections easier for Martha...

So now, the team is starting to look more and more like this:

(All-arounders)

And...

(Vault/Balance Beam & Floor)

or

(Uneven bars and AA/Floor and Vault?)

Or...

Bonjour.

So, I haven't touched this blog in many a moon. Which is a bit of shame, because I feel like at least some of the things I have to say are interesting.

I'm at college right now, so that's keeping me fairly busy and giving me a new sense of structure to my life - well, new in the sense that I hadn't really been in school for about eight months.

I am going to Mills College in Oakland, California. I really like it here. Everyone is so nice and fun and smart but not at all pretentious. Except for a couple girls in my French class who at least appear to be so... I know, I know, I shouldn't jump to conclusions!

My hallmate, Emily, is really good about giving people chances. She's also in my French class but has made an effort to get to know "Marie" and "Elizabeth" (the quotation marks there signify that those names are to be pronounced with French accents, while the asterisk signals that their names have, regrettably, been changed). She says they're actually nicer than they seem - what do you know!

It really is true how often people misread behavior as mean or stuck-up. People used to think that about me a lot when I was a kid - let's just hope they weren't (or worse, aren't) actually right.

Arrogant little me.

So yes, if you didn't glean from the above diversion, I'm taking French class. It actually sort of happened accidentally - I don't even know if French is the language I really want to be taking, though it is a world language and I do enjoy it.

The thing was, at Mills each freshwoman is a member of a Living/Learning Community (LLC). They're small groups of about eight students who have the same advisor and take one class together - in our case, French. French was the only language group being offered, and being the language junky that I am I couldn't pass it up.*

*There is actually a Spanish one too, but it's for heritage hispanohablantes only. Their group is right across from us, though, and I am very friendly with them, so that's really nice.

I really want to take Russian, I think. I am still interested in Romanian but that is obviously a less commonly spoken language and I don't think I could use it. Not that I could necessarily use Russian here either.

But, if I were to move to Europe, especially Eastern Europe, Russian speakers are in huge demand. From what I understand it's a very admired, kind of mysterious thing if you speak Russian. I guess the Ruskies - as The Couch Gymnast affectionately refers to them - still haven't completely shed that Soviet image. I think it makes them all the more charming, at least with regards to those gymnasts. The Ksenias, of whom The Couch Gymnast writes in her blog, certainly seem to be great friends at least. Little Ksenia I would even describe as bubbly!

Ksenia in Beijing.

For the record, I (and Steliana Nistor) liked her routine at Euros so much better. I kind of doubt she'll medal for it, but maybe she'll make finals. And hopefully get something for her bar routine!

I want Beth Tweddle to get gold on bars, in her home country. Ksenia can have silver. And I'll be generous and give He Kexin bronze (though she's quite honestly guaranteed a gold if she hits). I hate to say it, but I'm tired of her.

I feel bad saying such things about the Chinese, but they really are kind of boring these days. I must see them like people saw the Soviets back in the day, just another factory who always had another gymnast coming down the conveyor belt if one of their stars got hurt. They were so deep in talent that there was always somebody waiting in the wings.

The only difference is that the Soviet routines did have originality. The new code kind of fucked them - and everyone else, for that matter - over. I'd probably like the Chinese so much better if they had been as well prepared as they were for Beijing but didn't code-whore like they do.

A classic Chinese uneven bars routine. Before they were littered with Onos and healy turns.

A classic Chinese balance beam routine. Probably one of my favorites of all-time, and I mean that in all seriousness. Not scoring this routine above Gina Gogean's was one of the biggest judging errors in gymnastics history. Kui is the perfect example of a gymnast with tremendous difficulty who can execute so beautifully while being innovative. You simply don't see beam sets like this today. You just don't.


Another classic Chinese beam routine from a ridiculously talented athlete who just couldn't hit when it counted.

On the bright side, at least it's easier for gymnasts who want to to stand out from the crowd! Here's hoping to a successful Worlds! :)

Euros Documentation

I did bring a camera to Euros but, unfortunately, I cannot find the USB cord to upload photos. I keep telling myself to buy a memory card reader. Alas....

So, for your viewing pleasure (or, more likely than not, for my own personal entertainment), here are some photos and videos - taken by others - of Euros. Come on, it's not like mine came out this good anyway! ;)

Russian Ksenia Semenova's floor routine in Event Finals. 14.625. Bronze medal.

Just check out the way she enters the floor mat! She has grown quite a bit since Beijing - some of the commentators were saying as much as 10 centimeters! She had quite a few form problems in Milan, but still managed to win the all-around comfortably. Hopefully she will get used to her new body and clean up some of her skills, because she is looking elegant and beautiful.

Russian Ksenia Afanasyeva's all-around floor routine. 14.575. Silver medal.

Haha, I love that both of the top Russian women are named Ksenia. I've taken to calling Afanasyeva "Big Ksenia" and Semy "Little Ksenia." For obvious reasons. :P

Both Ksenias train at the same gym and placed 1-2 in the all-around at Euros. They have kick-ass choreography too.

The Ksenias training hard at their home club in Moscow.

Romanian Anamaria Tamirjan's event finals balance beam routine. 14.750. Silver medal.

I like Ana a lot. She's a very elegant gymnast; I am glad she medaled here in spite of her wobbles, especially if it encourages her to continue on with gymnastics. She's dealing with some injuries - pain in one of her hips, a fissure in her thighbone, and was having some ankle problems after the all-around. The same goes for Ana's teammate, Gabriela Dragoi, who placed third in the finals. This was her first medal in a major meet and hopefully will be incentive for her to continue as she is dealing with chronic tibia pain. Sigh... gymnastics injuries... I'm thinking the Romanians really ought to do something differently with their training, as they are losing so many gymnasts lately.

On a second note, I am not the only one who's an Ana fan. Did you hear the horn in the background of the video after Tamirjan finishes her routine? That was courtesy of a particularly zealous Romanian fan who was not at all shy about voicing his allegiance to his team of choice. He blew that thing every single time a Romanian girl did a routine, but he went particularly crazy for Ana. He'd yell "Viva Ana! Viva Gabi!" He had a huge Romanian flag. It was great.

Apparently Steliana Nistor knows him, too. They spoke to each other throughout floor finals; I was in awe. I really need to figure out who he is. :)

Great Britain's Beth Tweddle on uneven bars for event finals. 15.575. Gold medal.

Beth's got a few form issues. But so do Nastia Liukin and He Kexin, and her releases are better than both of their's. And she's twenty-four fucking years old, ancient in gymnastics! She has decided to specialize on bars and floor in order to save her body for London in 2012. I hope she can.

Also - I met her father on the bus to the arena. I heard him speaking English and asked him when the bus was supposed to leave, and fifteen minutes or so into talking I found out he was her dad! I waited with him and her mother in the line to get in - but they called it the queue, hahaha. Very, very nice people.

Switzerland's Ariella Kaslin on vault during event finals. 15.050. Gold medal.

Kaslin's medals (gold here, and bronze in the all-around) were the first at Euros that Switzerland has ever gotten. Not perfect, but she can do a non-Yurchenko vault, and she can do it well. That earns her points in my book.

Other Assorted Photos

Men's floor podium - Matthias Fahring and Fabian Hambuchen of Germany, Alexander Shatilov of Israeli, and Eleftherios Kosmidis of Greece

Beam podium - Anamaria Tamirjan (Romania, Yana Demyanchuk (Ukraine), and Gabriela Dragoi (Romania)


Oh my God! Someone (Beth Tweddle) who actually points her toes during double pikes!

Little Ksenia mid-Pak salto.

Good luck at Worlds, everyone!!

Laziness/ La Pereza/ La Mandra

In whatever language you want to say it... yes, I have been lazy; terribly lazy, in fact, when it comes to writing in this blog. I guess Eva was write - writing in English, Spanish, and Catalan would be a lot of work. Oh well, I am up to the job, though my entries may not be as frequent as they once were or as detailed. I guess I will just provide a numbered outline with some key bits of news from my love - again, my laziness kicking in! :P

La Dolce Vita de Kayla Isaacs

(Yes, for those of you who are half-awake while reading this, that is not English. It's Italian!).

1. My "multi-part" series about the important people in my life - namely, my host family - will not be continuing, because I have switched host families. It was not my choice to switch family. No, that was a suprise my host mother pulled on me while I was away from home, which segues into event #2.

2. I spent two weeks in northern Italy during the Semana Santa (Spanish spring break). For those of you who know that Semana means "week" - as in, one week only -, I should clarify that I took a couple extra days off school. It was well worth it. :)

3. The original reason I wanted to go to Italy was to see European Championships (affectionately abbreviated by fans as "Euros") of Artistic Gymnastics in Milan. I did go to Euros indeed, and it was amazing. While many complained about the decline of European gymnastics over the years and found the meet outright painful, it was the first major competition that I've attended, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. A month later, I would still say I'm on a post-Euros high!

4. Speaking of Euros, I am trying to learn Romanian. Guess why? I met Steliana "Kick Ass" Nistor while I was there! For those of you living under a rock (which I'm guessing would be anyone who doesn't regularly follow gymnastics), Stela is a retired Romanian gymnast. She has a team bronze medal from Beijing, two silvers in the all-around and balance beam from the 2007 World Championships in Stuttgart, and several Euros medals. Unfortunately, these successes probably don't even measure her true potential, as she was plagued by injuries for nearly all of her senior career.

Stela at 2004 Junior Europeans, before her knee and back injuries and her growth spurt.
Her all-around total surpassed that of even Alina Kozich, the senior winner.



On bars at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Stela and I talked throughout the competition and ended up exchanging email addresses. She is a sweet, sweet girl and deserves nothing but the best (are you listening, Romanian Gymnastics Federation???) in her future.

Stela speaks to the Romanian press after women's qualifications in Milan.

5. I will be attending Mills College in Oakland, California this fall (and hopefully for all four years!). I have been getting to know my classmates through a Facebook (Oh, what would we do without it?) group, and they seem like wonderful women. Yes, it is a women's college, not a "girls' school" -

Dumbass!

6. It is now May. May 4, to be exact. That means that my birthday is in two weeks (!!), and also that I have been in Spain for over three months. Now that is crazy.

7. I still don't understand exactly why I had to change host families. I found out my last day in Italy that I was moving (way to ruin an otherwise perfect trip). My host mother sent me an email saying that her mother had to move in - no reason was ever specified - and that she needed me room. People from the exchange student organization packed my stuff for me, which I was really pissed about, and that was it. Aside from host mother, no one else even attempted to say goodbye.

8. On the bright side - I like my new host family much better than my old one. I have a mother (Antonia) and a father (Francesc), and two siblings (Berta and Eudald), which was basically the structure of my old family, except that this one actually wants to spend time with me. My host sister is 12 and my brother is 10 - obviously much younger than my previous host siblings (two boys, Ignasi and Joan Pao, who were 23 and 19, respectively). I'm sure the fact that they have younger kids contributes to the fact that we actually spend time together - my old host brothers were just always gone, and when they were around, we never talked. My old host father only wanted to talk about obscure historical events and was vaguely senile, while my host mother was almost always working or tired. In all fairness, I don't think they were a "bad" family - I just think they either were unwilling or unprepared to make the emotional investment of having an exchange student. Perhaps if they had a student who was a little more outgoing and who craved a little less familial contact, things would have worked out differently. Who knows?

9. I have come down with a bit of a cold. My host parents have been playing doctor, making me ginseng tea and asking about my well-being. It's adorable. :)

10. Our poodle, Claude (my father and stepmom's dog), died last night after a battle with some sort of immune disease. He was 9 1/2 years old. I was always afraid that one of our dogs would pass away when I was at boarding school (or, as the case may be, abroad), and now it has. I had thought he was doing better, but I guess not. Poor baby. He was truly a good dog, until very recently behaving like the puppy he was at heart. He will be missed.

Claude in happier days.

11. Right now, I don't feel like translating this to Spanish or Catalan. If anyone has a serious problem with that, leave a comment and tell me, and I will provide it. Other than that...

¡Adios!

Introducing... The Players! / Se Presantan.... ¡Los Actores! / Es Presenten.... Els Actors!

English

I tend to drop names a lot... so in this several-part series, I will provide a summary of the important people in my "Catalonian" life, just to give you all with a bit of context. We start with perhaps the person most directly involved in my abroad experience, my host mother.

Ester: The Overworked Host Mother

Ester is my host mother. She is fifty-two years old, a wife, a mother of two sons, and is currently nurturing a needy host child. Oddly enough, she happens to work as a psychologist. This might have been a convenient coincidence for me, but (un?)fortunately she does not therapize me at all.

She's very busy (I guess Catalonia has fucked up people too, which is oddly reassuring), and thus has little time to chauffeur me around town and provide me with a social life. She insists that any depression I'm feeling from "culture shock" stems from leaving my blinds closed. (The only reason I leave the things closed is that she said earlier that opening them would make the room cold, and my room is freezing.)

I feel for Ester. I wish she had more free time, though she does nearly every day find the time to cook me and her family dinner (which I guess is more of a priority here than it is in the States). In spite of her flaws (she took me out to Barcelona to get to "know" the town, and we ended up stuck in a "practical" shoe store), she has been on the whole, A) supportive and B), reliable. She is also is sane, which is more than some other host mothers can claim. :)

Castellano

Tiendo citar los nombres con frecuencia. Pués en esta multi-parte serie, proveeré un resumen de la gente importante en mi vida «catalana», para daros un poquito contexto. Empezamos con quizá la persona más involucrada directamente en mi experiencia al extranjero, mi mamá de acogida.

Ester: La Mamá de Acogida Agotada Por Trabajo

Ester es mi mamá de acogida. Tiene cincuenta y dos años, es una esposa, una madre de dos hijos, y actualmente está criando una estudiante de acogida necesitada. Lo bastante raro es que resulta que es psicóloga. Esta habría podido ser una coincidencia conveniente para mí, pero (¿des?)afortunadamente ella no me terapiza por nada.


Está muy ocupada, (supongo que Cataluña tiene la gente jodida también, lo cual es un poquito tranquilizador), y por eso falta mucho tiempo para hacer de chófer para mí ni llevarme por la ciudad, ni proveerme con una vida social. Insiste en que cualquiera depresión que estoy sintiéndome del «choque cultural» es el resultado de dejar cerradas mis persianas. (El único razón que dejo las cosas cerradas es que me había dicho más temprano que abrirlas haría más frío en mi habitación, y mi habitación ya me congela.)


Siento por Ester. Deseo que tenga ella más tiempo libre, aunque prácticamente cada día encuentra tiempo para cocinarme y su familia la cena (lo cual supongo que es más de una prioridad que en los Estados). A pesar de sus defectos (me llevó a Barcelona para «conocer» el pueblo, y nos encuentramos cerradas en una tienda de zapatos «prácticos»), ha sido por lo general, A) ayudante y, B) fiable. También está cuerda, la cual es más que algunos madres de acogida pueden afirmar. :)

Català

Ay... ho sento, però altra vegada no tinc ganas de traducir aquest al català. Soc une persona mala, ho sap. Peró ja és tard i no tinc l'energia. Bona nit!

I Love My Friends / Quiero A Mis Amigos / Estimo Els Meus Amics.

English

Well, this post is specifically directed towards my Spain friends, but...

Thank you all so much for last night. Seriously... I had a wonderful time. Even if I was a little obnoxious, haha. Basically, for those of you who aren't here right now, all these girls from my school (Gresol) all worked together to make sure I was able to come out with them yesterday. They talked to my host mother, who is very busy and more or less unable to drive me, talked to me, and tried to see if they could arrange a ride for me.

Making plans in a foreign country, I've discovered, is complicated. It's truthfully kind of a pain in the ass. It's really embarrassing, because I feel like a little kid. Seriously, there were so many points in this whole process where I could have given up or said, "Nope, sorry, won't work." They didn't let that happen. They took care of nearly everything for me, which they didn't have to do... I love them! Sorry, I'll stop rambling right now. But please, know that all of you (including those who weren't involved last night) are appreciated. Hell, if you're even reading this, you're appreciated! :)

Take care,
Kayla

Castellano

Vale, esta entrada es en especifico para mis amigos de España, pero...

Muchas, muchas gracias a todos por anoche. En serio... lo he disfrutado mucho aunque sea yo un poquito molesta, jaja. ;)

Básicamente, para estos que no están aquí conmigo ahora, todas estas chicas de mi escuela (Gresol) trabajan juntas para asegurar que pudiera salir ayer con ellas. Hablaron con mi madre de acogida, quien está muy ocupada y más o menos no puede llevarme, hablaron conmigo, y trataron de pedirme una vuelta.

Hacer planes en un país extranjero, he descubierto, es complicado. Para ser honrada, es más o menos una pena en el culo. Me da mucha vergüenza porque siento como una niña pequeña. En serio, había muchas veces en este proceso en que habría perdido la esperanza y la motivación, o habría dicho «No, lo siento, no va a salir.» Pero ellas no dejaron que eso pasara. Ellas arreglaron casi todo para mí, lo que no tenían que hacer por nada. ¡Les quiero! Lo siento, pararé de cotorrear ahora. Pero por favor, sabed que todos vosotros (incluso estos que no estaban involucrados con anoche) son agredecidos. Joder, si estás leyendo esto, te agradezco. :)

Cuidaos,
Kayla

Català

No ho sap. Ho sento. :( Ajuda, si us plau???