Our team won a close match today against the Czech Republic. Tom Schlack played #2 today and shellacked his opponent with a 6-1 6-1 victory . Next was our #1 match with Ken White. He  started out with a 4-1 lead but the  Czech Republic  player turned the match around and won 6-4  6-1. The rubber match was our doubles team of  Mike Tammen and Ken White against their #1 team. Mike and Ken played great an won 6-2 6-2 . We now move on to play Italy tomorrow in the quarter finals. Match photos below.

So I finished my last blog wondering if I would ever see my laundry again. As you recall, Mike and Brenda Tammen and I left our laundry with a man carrying a shovel inside a very small building deep in hills of Turkey. We made arrangements to have him or someone do our laundry and then deliver it to our hotel lobby the next day at 4:00. Brenda and I would meet him there and exchange the agreed upon funds for the clothes . To be honest , I really did not think I would see my things again . At 4:00 the next day,  I   went to the lobby of the hotel and both my clothes and Brenda were not there . My imagination went wild – maybe she had arrived early and was asked by someone to go outside to look at her clothes inside a questionable  black sedan with darken windows  and now she and my laundry were lost in Turkey forever . I know it sounds like I  may need paranoid medicine at this point but you need to understand I did drink the water out of the hose bid on the courts in Turkey on my first day here and later found out you should not drink the water. So who knows what the water has done to me.  Also there are way too many bulletins lately stating USA citizens should be careful in such and such Country on such and such date. Additionally ,  I have never had to register my name with some agency just in case I disappear in Turkey . Finally , I did see Midnight Express …. So these are my excuses to why my imaginations seems to going a little wild at the moment. Back to my story – At 4:10  Brenda appears in the lobby of the hotel – I am relieved to see her but I do not show it  – I explain to her  that the laundry has not arrived  yet but maybe  our Exchangers are stuck outside the gates to the hotel  ,and they  are not allowed in. So we walked very slowly  about 300 yards to the gates mainly due to the weight of my tennis bag on my shoulders  and there behind the border line of the hotel and the rest of Turkey is the small  little man that escorted us through his neighborhood to the hole in the wall   laundry building  . As our eyes meet , a huge smile covers his face, and he waves his arms to gesture that he is the one we met yesterday.  Brenda and I  cautiously  cross the hotel lines  to meet him  and out from the side of his  car are two figures appear . To my relief, one of the figures is his  wife and she immediately give us a gentle smile . Her long brown hair is partially covered and she is  dressed in a hand knit striped sweater. Nudged against  her side  is her beautiful little brown eyed  daughter with pink tennis shoes . Resting at their feet is a large clear bag with our clothes .  It is clear to me that this family of three who been patiently waiting for us at the gates  of the hotel  have spent at least  part of the day washing  and  neatly folding  our things .  They have come to  exchange us their services for the amount we agreed to. Maybe we are the first Americans that they have met and are wondering if all Americans walk through neighborhoods with bundles of laundry in their arms. Most likely they are just very nice people doing someone like us a favor. I take a picture of them which is included below. If you would like to have a similar adventure and meet this wonderful family, I think Brenda has someone’s business card that can reach them . This same person may want to sell you a purse too at least he did with us .