Globe-Trotting Jayhawks: Sydney Benoit

From Aug. 8-18, the Kansas women’s basketball team and staff will embark on a 10-day foreign tour through France and Switzerland, as the Jayhawks aim to build team chemistry and grow together on and off the hardwood. Throughout the tour, which includes four games, a different player on KU’s 2016-17 roster will share what the team was up to each day while abroad.

Day 1 – Paris, France
The day has finally come and it came with many surprises. We had made it through the workouts this summer and our week of two-a-day practices had come to an end. To kick off the first day on our way to Europe, we started with our normal routine. We got up for weights and practice in the morning and then headed to the Kansas City airport.

From there things started to get real interesting. Our flight to the Atlanta airport was supposed to leave at 6:30 p.m., but got delayed three and a half hours. Yikes! No worries though, we were going to make it to Europe eventually.

We passed the time at the airport by basically entertaining ourselves. Several games were played including connect four, card games and a couple of games of truth or dare. Most of the day was spent lounging around the airport and anticipating the next 10 days spent in Europe. The suspense of having to wait any longer was killing everyone.

We finally boarded the plane and took off for Atlanta around 9 p.m. The flight to Atlanta was two hours and since Atlanta is an hour ahead we had to rush to our gate to board our flight to Paris, which was leaving at midnight. We got to the gate right on time, showed our passports and were the last people to board the plane.

We had finally made it to the last stop before arriving in beautiful Paris. Sleep was a must at this point and the nine-hour flight to Paris was underway. Trying to sleep through the night on a plane was difficult, but the thought of getting to wake up in France the next day beat the uncomfortable night of sleep.

Rock Chalk!
Sydney

UP NEXT: Jada Brown blogs about waking up in France and the Jayhawks’ first French meal.