After that I spent some time online catching up on some news and looking at emails. I also was putting some videos together. I bring a flip camera with me on trips like this and film little tidbits throughout the day. The last trip that I was on in Poland, I was able to upload videos while I was there, but it can be a pretty time consuming process so I haven't uploaded any to Youtube while I have been in Prague and here. I will upload some when I get home. My channel is justinruiz1979 if you are at all interested in looking at them in another week or so. When I am uploading videos from out of the U.S. I have to convert them before I upload them or it just takes forever. Anyway, after I had put a couple of videos together, I spent some time watching home videos that I have on my computer.

When I watch those home videos it is nice because I get to see my wife and daughter, as well as how much my daughter has grown in such a short time. However, even though I miss them when I am on these trips, there are plenty of other people who have to spend more time away from their families than I do. Soldiers, for example, do their tours in pretty long stints that to me would seem hard. Also I was talking to a Cuban wrestler today, and he told me he only gets to see his family every three or four months because they live in Camaguey and he has to train in Havanah. Anyway so I guess the point that I am making is that it is hard to be away from home, but at the same time I am grateful that I get to see them as much as I do. Now moving on to some more wrestling stuff.

Weigh ins were scheduled to take place at 6:30 so I intended to catch the bus at 3:00 so that I would have plenty of time to get to the venue, work out, and relax before weigh ins. However, I think that everyone else had the same idea as I did. There were so many wrestlers that were trying to get to the venue at the same time that I could not make it onto the first three buses that came by, and I consider myself lucky that I was able to make it onto the fourth bus. You see the real challenge is dealing with a lot of different cultures where lines and waiting aren't a big part of life. The majority of these people cut right to the front to get to the bus door, and then they are experienced in jockeying for position. Today was some of the most intense bus loading that I have ever seen. I will try to describe it to you the best that I can. During the world team trials, I went to Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. They have a stream filled with coy fish that you can feed. When you drop a piece of food into the stream hundreds of fish swarm to the small morsel and actually pile on top of each other while in the water. I know it sounds crazy, and trust me it looks crazy too. That is exactly what the bus loading looked like to me today. People were pushing and shoving like they were Dennis Rodman looking for a rebound. It was unreal. In fact, I had to film some just so that I could show everyone back home. 

The absence of waiting in lines doesn't just relate to bus loading, it also especially relates to meal times. I don't know how many times that I have been in a line after weigh ins waiting to get something to eat when all of a sudden, several people will just butt in the front of the line and help themselves like there is nothing wrong with that. You just get used to it because getting upset at the people that butt doesn't help. I have tried that before, and they just look at you funny because they don't speak the language and have no idea what you are saying. In fact, I think it would be hilarious to take a big group of people from some of these non-line-abiding individuals and turn them loose on a buffet like Golden Corral or Chuck A Rama and just watch the chaos that would ensue the restaurants. I can imagine handfuls of angry and confused customers that would have no idea that people could be so rude, but really to them it isn't rudeness because they don't know any other way. I am sure that during the Soviet era that if you didn't push your way to the front of the bread line, you and your family simply didn't eat. At least that is what I tell myself to remain calm and patient. 

So after that rant, back to weigh ins. I finally made it on a bus and made it to the venue where they had six mats to train on as well as a sauna and scales. It was a pretty nice set up, and I would have given them props for a job well done except 6:30 came around and no one was able to weigh in because of who knows what problem. Twenty five minutes after the scheduled weigh in time athletes were allowed on the scales and received their draws. I think doing that in the U.S. would be funny too. I wouldn't really want to do it to someone who was weighing in, but just have a movie start twenty five minutes late or a high school football game or the six o'clock news could come on at six twenty five one time just for a laugh. Please don't misinterpret my observations for complaining. I am here to wrestle and do my best, and regardless of what happens I am prepared to do what I came here for. However, I just have to look at how things work in other parts of the world and really count my blessings to be able to live in the United States with so many amazing opportunities. There isn't anywhere else where I would rather live. So God bless the U.S.A.! 

We start wrestling tomorrow at 1:00p.m. Moscow time so wish us luck. We hope to do our country proud!