Sibenik

Ocala native Jessica Dickson, the career scoring leader among men or women at both Vanguard High School and the University of South Florida and a 2nd-round WNBA draft pick, is in Croatia continuing her professional basketball career. This is the second of her blog entries for The Sports Blog at ocala.com. Here is her first entry from September, and The Sports Blog's original post on her new destination.

Hello to all. Hope all is well. I am doing wonderful!  

Sorry it has been a while. It took me a minute to get a computer and all settled in, but I have been here for a little over two weeks and boy, I must say I am really enjoying myself. I was a nervous wreck on the way over here to Croatia. I was thinking about the food - that was definitely the first thing on my mind. You know I gotta eat. LOL!

The weather. the people, the culture and the team? Well all of my questions would be answered soon enough upon arriving at the airport. I was picked up by Megi - she works in the basketball department for the team. She is great! After we got all of my bags and things we had a 20-minute drive to Sibenik from Split. I must tell you over in Europe they drive fast and Megi was no exception. All the while she was driving, I was praying. LOL! But I am used to the driving now. 

Upon arriving in Sibenik we stopped to get something to eat at this restaurant named The Golden Fish and im thinking to myself, OK, this is the real test, eating the food. But much to my suprise the food was good. They have American food like chicken, steak, pizza and everything. After dinner she took me to my apartment. All the while on the way there I'm looking out the car and seeing all these buildings with graffiti on them, which by the way are people's apartments, and I'm thinking Parkside Gardens sounds good right about now. LOL! And oh boy, I hope my living situation is a good one.

We pull up to the building where I will be staying. Megi tells me the outside and the downstairs part is not so pretty but my apartment is good so my mind is saying, well, if it looks like the outside and downstairs I'm in trouble. My apartment is on the fourth floor, so we walk up the stairs to the fourth floor and she opens the door, and I am suprised the apartment is really nice. They call them flats here, but it's nice and I was smiling from ear to ear.  

I am the only African-American person here. My first day out was an adventure because  everyone just kept staring at me. I would have people literally in the middle of their conversation on their cell phones stop their conversations to stare at me. It was akward at first but now I am used to it. One of the ladies that works in the office told one of my teammates that i am cute and another lady at the hospital told them that i am pretty. Hey, what can I say - I am a looker.   LOL! I get it from my mother hahahaha! 

The girls on the team are really cool. I like them a lot - they have really embraced and welcomed me. They also have taught me some Croatian songs - one is about being afraid of horses LOL! And I know a couple of croatian words like "hvala," which means thank you. "Dobro" means good, "voda" means water, "jaja" means eggs, so I'm learning a little bit and the girls have been helping me. I am really happy here, it's very nice here, very beautiful. I have a pretty view of the water from my balcony and I have been told that the president owns half of Sibenik. Maybe he will adopt me into his family and make me part-owner of Sibenik and set up my swiss bank account. LOL! 

In closing, I just have to say over here people are more laid back and the atmosphere is so calm. They are just enjoying life and I am really enjoying the moment and enjoying the opportunity that God has blessed me with, because without him none of this would be possible. I keep this scripture in my mind and heart: Joshua Chapter 1, verse 9 says: "Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go," and I certainly know he is here with me. Until next time take care and God bless!