(Editor's note: Duke senior Michele Matyasovsky, a member of the 2002 NCAA Tournament All-East Region team, will share a diary with ESPN.com throughout the season.)

Dec. 3, 2002

Hey there everyone! First of all I just want to apologize for this diary entry being so late! I have had so much schoolwork to do with finals coming up next week!

	The Blue Devils had time for a little fun in the sun while in St. Thomas.

Right now we are on our way back to Durham after spending five incredible days in the Virgin Islands for our Thanksgiving tournament. The games were awesome and of course we had a great time hanging out in 85-degree weather! Now my friends can't make fun of me for looking so pasty white in my uniform!! Ha ha!

Well, I figured I would give y'all a little recap of our trip:

Day 1: When we first arrived, we realized that instead of buses transporting us around the island we would be driving around in what we liked to call "safari trucks." They were basically pick-up trucks with benches in the truck bed and a canvas covering. This made it very convenient for those of us who had to take a picture every two seconds!

It also made it easier for Alana to converse with the locals. In fact, on the way back to our hotel, Alana struck up a conversation with one of the natives at a red light. He told her that he was going to give her a goat to eat in order to "help her get bigger muscles." Alana just started laughing, but I was thinking that I might try to eat some goat when I get back to Durham. Hey -- anything for added protein, right?

The ride back to the hotel from the airport was absolutely gorgeous. We had to drive up very steep hills, and at times, I didn't think the little safari truck was going to make it. But after some encouragement from the team it eventually got us back!

Day 2: We had an early practice since we didn't play that day and then we were able to hang out in the sun for awhile. Most of the team went snorkeling around St. John. Vicki, Sheana, Alana and I decided to enjoy the beach and go jet-skiing. Although the waves were a little rough, it was a lot of fun. That night there was little banquet for all of the teams and then we all went to sleep because we were exhausted!

Day 3: Happy Thanksgiving! We had an early game against Hampton so we didn't do much during the day.

We played all of our games at the University of the Virgin Islands. I think we all might try and go to graduate school there! The facilities were extremely nice -- but my favorite part was that they had a DJ playing music during timeouts and at halftime. I felt like it was club UVI during some of the timeouts, so I had to bust out some of my dance moves on the bench when Coach G wasn't looking! I tried to get the DJ to make me a mix to bring back for our warm-up music, but he didn't like my idea too much!

After the game we had a great Thanksgiving dinner with the team. Although there was no stuffing, and it wasn't exactly my mom's cooking, the coconut shrimp, turkey and crab legs didn't taste all that bad! ; - )

Day 4: So the weirdest part about St. Thomas is that there are iguanas running around everywhere. They basically own the place. Well, as Jess would say, "There I was just eating my breakfast, and all of the sudden this dinosaur decides to join me." The iguanas were completely out of control! They would just walk around the pool like it was nobody's business. Iciss almost stepped on one at breakfast and then proceeded to start screaming and caused a big scene. I just started cracking up laughing as she ran around being all dramatic. They are kind of scary looking though!

Day 5: Since we played Arkansas so late this day, Coach G allowed us to spend an hour in the sun before noon. I decided that my hour would be spent trying to learn how to windsurf. I actually wasn't that bad at getting on the board, but trying to steer it was another story. I spent half the time trying to paddle out away from the shore because the wind just kept blowing me toward the beach.

Meanwhile, a referee that was at the tournament could have been a professional windsurfer. I was trying to get some lessons and be friends with her -- I was hoping if I was really nice then I could maybe get some calls in the games! Ha ha! That definitely didn't work, considering I fouled out of one of the games! It was worth a try though.

The Arkansas game was an awesome game to play in. The Lady Razorbacks were very competitive and we learned a lot from them. The best parts of the game, though, were the comments that the announcer was making during the game. At one point, the Arkansas point guard hit a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game up and the woman says, "Ohhh, it's getting hot in here!" We all just looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh! Then Mistie Bass made a great post move, made the shot and got fouled. As we were running back on defense the commentator yells, "And that's a big-girl move!" It was hilarious!

Overall, the trip was incredible! I definitely recommend going there for a vacation -- just make sure to watch out for the dinosaurs walking around while you eat breakfast!!

For more on Matyasovsky or Duke, visit the Blue Devils' official athletic site.