Go, Caitlin! Go, Fernando!

Since my last email to everyone, Caitlin was hired as a staff writer at Sports Illustrated China! I couldn't be a prouder older sibling. Last night, I was brushing my teeth while she interviewed the agent for the first Chinese basketball player to play in the NBA! This morning, she went to a press conference and we LOVE that she gets to shake hands and introduce herself, "Caitlin Rhodes, Sports Illustrated China." (!)

In another fun development, Sports Illustrated annually participates in athletic competitions with other magazines. They excitedly approached Caitlin about what athletic events she'd like to compete in, and when they mentioned running, she said, "Oh my sister runs marathons, too bad she can't race for us." Well, they actually really liked that plan, and now on October 20th, I am also a staff member at Sports Illustrated. Here is Caitlin's email to me:

i signed you up for the 800m. it was really funny/sketchy because the office manager came over and asked me to sign up for the 800 and the shot putt...so i was like okay, and i did it, and then he looked around furtively and said..."your sister..." and I was like ohhh, you want me to.... and he nodded. so I was like uhhh and he was like ok she'll run the 800, you run the 400. DEAL! lol um...on october 20th, if we are still in Beijing, you are officially an SI employee for a day. and he said that if you run the 800 and i run the 400, we'll definitely win the competition. no pressure. love you! miss you already! ps i was like someone give me a shot put to practice with, i have never thrown one before...

Good old sibling, as she says, "I don't even know how to spell it, let alone throw it...is it put or putt?" She asked if they could give her one and they said, "Oh you want to practice with one?" And Caitlin goes, "Yeah. Also I have not even seen one before." But my money is still on sibling without a doubt.

Just when I though my little sibling could not be more of a rock star, we scored VIP tickets to The China Open. We watched Fernando Gonzales beat Tommy Rebredo 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. It was so funny to hear the collective, "Ai yaaaaaaas" and "Ai yoooooooooos" from the crowd when one of the player's hit the ball out or into the net. We were so close to the court that we realized if we cheered for Fernando, he could actually hear us! So we planned out and geared up for partnered cheers. People around us were amused and would turn and look at us every time. But we didn't hold a candle to the fiery force that was the Chilean crew behind us! People in our box took pictures of them, they were vocally gifted projectors and seriously spitted--- loved their energy! Fernando appreciated it too, he gave them a shout out during his victory speech at the awards ceremony.

Before the singles match we saw the doubles final as well. In between the two matches there were a few hours to walk around and we came upon a practice court with a good crowd. At first I could only see one woman playing on one side of the court. But then I heard Caitlin exclaim, "Amelie Mauresmo!" She was the player on the other side of the court, we couldn't believe it! I jumped up on a bench and watched her consistently nail backhands at her coach, she was drilling them with so much power, like Fernando powers his forehand. She was on a roll! Again, we couldn't believe how close she was--we could see all her muscles, she is one strong lady! Ironically, I had wanted to take a picture of her life-size poster board cut out at the entrance to the stadium but I didn't take it because I was a little embarrassed to do so in front of Caitlin's boss (even though he's the nicest guy) and now we have actual pictures of Mauresmo herself in action--captured all her muscles and everything:)

Next to Maureso, I am convinced Cay truly is the strongest and buffest gal in China. We have never seem other girls lift weights at our gym, and Caitlin outlifts some of the fellas! The other day she was lifting and one of the trainers came over and took weight off of hers to add to the person he was working with, and even after he had done so, Caitlin was still out lifting him by 22lbs! It's amazing how incredibly small the women are here. When I go shopping, I ask for the largest size they have. My skirt I purchased yesterday is an XXL, which is funny to me because in '01 I got pants here that were XXXL! A Ladies "small" in China would fit the children in our kindergarten....I wish I was kidding! Since I have been here, I would say I have seen a handful of women who are above a size 2. Negative 2 seems to be base line! And with all due respect to the fellas as well, there doesn't tend to be a whole lot to them either, especially the security guards. It's almost like a rule that to be one you have to be really thin.

Interestingly, China has security guards stationed everywhere all the time. They are at the entrance of every building you enter, sometimes you see them standing in the street. Some of them are so little, I think some are about 15 years old. I think even I could take one! My conservative estimate is that Caitlin could took take down about seven at once in about three and half seconds. It's empowering to feel so strong and big walking the streets here, oh the powers of relativity....