We showed up at Pittsburgh airport taking pictures from the get because we
were so excited. We waited 3 hours and boarded our 45 minute flight to Detroit.
Our layover was four hours so we had some time to pass. We danced for cancer for
relay for life and it was a wonderful time and a good cause! (Rachel got it on
video) Our flight left at 745 p.m and we were in for a long ride. We all got a
rough nights sleep so we were a little tired whenever we arrived in Sao
Paulo.
Our morning began around 8 am whenever we landed in Sao Paulo. At
the airport was our tour guide Fernando who has brought forth an amazing time
thus far. This was the first time we realized it was going to be very hard to
adapt to their culture whenever we couldn't figure out what the bano was.
Luckily Fernando is fluent in English and in Portuguese. We then took a three
hour bus ride to our resort in the mountains of Sao Bento. We ran into the
basketball team there which was nice to see familiar faces in a foreign land.
Our resort is gorgeous and is literally the rolling hills of Brazil. Then we
were on to culture shock. Fernando took us to lunch at taipa restaurante where
there was a buffet of chicken hearts. Multiple of us had a hard time keeping the
food down, it was kinda like an episode of fear factor. Then we explored the
town of which we are staying and fortunately took a tour of an elementary school
with children in first and second grade. It was hard to translate with the
students as they were only beginning to learn English (we went into an English
class). It was a beautiful day so we laid out by our pool at the resort and
spent some good time together. On our way to the clinic we put on at 6 we
stopped at the grocery store. It was so hard to find food because everything was
in Portuguese and we couldn't understand. We bought Doritos and ruffles because
it was the only recognizable food label. After that we went to a field where we
met about 75 local boys who were very good at soccer! We held a clinic for them
where there were three different stations and we interacted one on one with
them. We played head/catch (Cabasa/pega) .. The cross bar game and small sided
games. We gave away tshirts to the winners and then played a huge game, us
verses 50. It was so fun but they crushed us! Afterwards Fernando took us to
sabor de serra restaurante which was a fancy pizza place. We had soup and local
favorite pizza like margarita and Portuguese pizza. The portuguese pizza had
ham, eggs, onion and tomato. Most of us really enjoyed the food compared to our
lunch. We were so tired but Fernando said there was a party going on up the
street similar to a St. Patrick's day party so obviously we went. It was a
festival for the saint of impossible causes, Santo Expedito - Fernando suggested
we pray to him to help him find a wife! The party began when a local wedding
ended. The wedding took place at the center of the festival. The doors were open
for everyone to see the beautiful bride. The music was provided by a Brazilian
country artists. We sang choooo chaaaa choo cha cha cha choo cha cha cha.
Everyone is so dang nice they were all teaching is how to dance! An enthusiastic
local led all of us in a little rock n roll. Many people asked to take pictures
with us because the country music singer announced in Portuguese (so we had no
idea) that they had the U.S. national women's soccer team with them tonight.
This was only the beginning of us feeling incredibly famous in Brazil. We
decided to call it a night soon after because we were all exhausted. The stars
in the mountains were indescribable.
After a great nights sleep, we woke up and went to breakfast at
10am. There was a large array of fresh fruit, pastries, juices, and eggs
with bacon made specially for us. Our favorite foods were papaya, coffee, and
banana bread. As you can see we are very Americanized, but that is not stopping
us from trying new things. After breakfast we went for a hike through the
beautiful mountain trail. This also included a scavenger hunt that the
basketball team left for us. We had an excellent view of the entire town
including all the places we were the day before from this trail. We ran back to
our rooms to change for our game against a team who was made up of the best
players from the region of Santa Rita Do Sapucai. It was about an hour and a
half bus ride to this city, where along the way we saw beautiful rolling hills
and other great scenery. Once arriving at the stadium, we took a tour of
Electronic Valley. This is similar to a 2 year tech school over in the US. At
this school they specialized in different types of electronics, such as GPS's
and Iphones. After the tour of the tech school we entered the stadium where
everybody was staring at us. Fernando explained to us that we were kind of a big
deal here because it is not often that they see American athletes. The locker
room was even different from the ones we are used to. When we walked out onto
the field we passed a car in the middle blasting music, which was meant to be
their stereo system. All of the players and fans wanted pictures before, during,
and after the game. We walked out to start the game behind our American flag
while they walked out behind their Brazilian flag. They played both countries
national anthem. We were really nervous at this point due to the fact that we
had no idea what we were up against. We ended up having the skill level and
athleticism way higher than theirs, and we won the game 4-0. After the game we
were treated like we just won the World Cup. We exchanged shirts with the
opposing team, gave autographs and took hundreds of pictures for them. People
were even asking for our sweaty shin guards and hair bands. It was to the
point were Fernando had to escort us off of the field. The team was very
welcoming and nice, they even asked us to go to dinner with them. At dinner they
served the typical Brazilian meal of rice, beans, and breaded meat. It actually
was really good. There was a reporter there to interview some of us, which was
funny to try to figure out what he was saying. We took more pictures and signed
more autographs before leaving the restaurant. After the ride back to our
resort, we are planning on relaxing in the hot tub and enjoying each others
company.
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