Okay… Now is Danica!! Wow… mine is probably going to just be a repeat of what Court said, because it’s the same day :] haha. Well we went to sugar loaf in the morning! It was fun, Bruno was scared because he doesn’t like heights. But the view was really pretty and we saw a monkey!! (Ish… I think I might have seen it, but I’m not sure.) After that we went to lunch then headed to our first match of the tournament! We lost the first two set…. Then one the third… and then the fourth! Then you would never guess what happened during the fifth… just kidding you probably can… We won! Haha it was 15-6. :] it was an awesome match! After that we went back to the hotel and got ready to go to the samba club thingy! Pretty much everyone was dressed up. It was so fun!!! We were just being stupid and dancing and having a good time. The music wasn’t really dancing music… or what we normally dance to, but it was a lot of fun!! Okay well that is pretty much are day! Peace out everyone :]
P.S. Larry if you read this I can’t email you back until I get home! So if you want to know what happened during our day just read the blogs and such! Miss and love ya!
Monday, July 28, 2008
High Performance YOUTH TEAM Blog: July 25th & 26th
Hey everyone!!! Courtney again. July 25th was a great day!! The youth team enjoyed a nice relaxing day. It first started out by us enjoying a nice trip to the top of the famous Sugar Loaf Mountain. The youth went off trail hiking and even got to see a monkey (so we think). We were at the mountain for about 3 hours. After the mountain we went to lunch and enjoyed some more great Brazilian food. We then had the first game of our tournament. It started off kinda shaky but we came back and CONQUERED!!!! It was a great game. Down 2 games to none, we came back and won. It was a great game. Everyone fought hard and tough and it was fabulous. After the game we went back to the hotel and got dressed up all cute to the Samba Club. It was a ton of fun. We all had on our cute dresses and spent the night dancing away. After the Samba we went back to the hotel and went to bed to prepare for our second day of games.
Love you all and miss you bunches :-)
Love you all and miss you bunches :-)
Sunday, July 27, 2008
High Performance JUNIOR TEAM Blog: July 26th
Well…today was a wonderful day! We did a lot of chilling and cheering! This morning we got to sleep in very very late! Then we went for a stroll on the beach and saw many giant waves. There was a lot of people body surfing and it was really cool to watch. Then we went to the market as a team and April and I shared a pizza. The USA mens team beat BRAZIL in three games this morning and we were screaming and going crazy in our room! Then we went to the youth’s game later and they lost in 4 games. They played so good, it was really sad! But the town that we went to was beautiful! The gym was super nice!! And now we are going to sleep!!! I’m tired! Goodnight! -Kortnie Christiansen junior team
Wat up from Rio! Today was a pretty chill day. We woke up for breakfast to find out that all of our coaches got tickets to see the USA vs. BRAZIL match…let me tell you I (and many others) were majorly jealous! So Kortnie, Emma, Fiona, April, Michelle, and I all decided to have a party in our hotel room with Guarana, and Brazilian cookies and chocolate as we watched the USA men beat up on the Brazilians in 3! We had such a blast. After words was lunch at the Market, then strolling around on Copacabana beach and watching the huge waves roll. We traveled to this beautiful town to watch the Youth team play, sadly they lost in four games, but they still have the chance to win the tournament so that’s great! We’ll be rooting for them. Well it’s late, and I hope everyone has a great night! ~Whitney Mendivil, Junior Team
Wat up from Rio! Today was a pretty chill day. We woke up for breakfast to find out that all of our coaches got tickets to see the USA vs. BRAZIL match…let me tell you I (and many others) were majorly jealous! So Kortnie, Emma, Fiona, April, Michelle, and I all decided to have a party in our hotel room with Guarana, and Brazilian cookies and chocolate as we watched the USA men beat up on the Brazilians in 3! We had such a blast. After words was lunch at the Market, then strolling around on Copacabana beach and watching the huge waves roll. We traveled to this beautiful town to watch the Youth team play, sadly they lost in four games, but they still have the chance to win the tournament so that’s great! We’ll be rooting for them. Well it’s late, and I hope everyone has a great night! ~Whitney Mendivil, Junior Team
High Performance JUNIOR TEAM Blog: July 25th
Oi people well this is Emma again. Well today was one of the coolest and fun days that we have had here in Brazil. Well we went to Sugar Loaf and I am terrified of heights and we went up this big rock that grew up out of the ground and then became a mountain, haha. Then we came back to the hotel and ate lunch and changed to go to the youth’s game, they did so good they beat a team in 5 games. We went back to the hotel ate dinner and got ready to go SAMBA oh my gosh we had so much fun there it was a club and I think that there music is different from our music in the states. We came back to the hotel and slept. This has been the coolest experience that I have had in my life, I love the girls and the coaches they have made me feel like a Utahan haha. Obrigado
Bonjour haha jk Oi from Brazil! This is Fiona again. Today was fetchin awesome! Well there is this big rock haha well mountain and it is called Sugar Loaf. We went up on a cable car it was so much fun. being on a high mountain was cool. I felt like I was gonna fall every time I looked over the bars. After that we got back and then went to the youth’s game they did so good. They won in 5 it was the best they have played yet I think. So when we arrived back to the hotel we got ready to go eat then samba! Oh my Hannah Montana it was way fun. It was very different to our clubs back in Utah but it was fun. We danced with our bottles of water while everybody else had beers it was funny. Anyways its really late so I am gonna hit the sack. So nighterz to all those in Utah and Idaho.
Bonjour haha jk Oi from Brazil! This is Fiona again. Today was fetchin awesome! Well there is this big rock haha well mountain and it is called Sugar Loaf. We went up on a cable car it was so much fun. being on a high mountain was cool. I felt like I was gonna fall every time I looked over the bars. After that we got back and then went to the youth’s game they did so good. They won in 5 it was the best they have played yet I think. So when we arrived back to the hotel we got ready to go eat then samba! Oh my Hannah Montana it was way fun. It was very different to our clubs back in Utah but it was fun. We danced with our bottles of water while everybody else had beers it was funny. Anyways its really late so I am gonna hit the sack. So nighterz to all those in Utah and Idaho.
Friday, July 25, 2008
High Performance JUNIOR TEAM Blog: July 24th
Hey guys! It’s Ashley again from the Junior team. Today we had a different schedule than the Youth, but it was still equally as awesome! We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel, and then walked on the beach for about twenty minutes. We then got ready for our match early, so that we could head to the USA Men’s National match. We only got to stay for two matches, but it was still so worth it to go! The men can hit so hard, and it was fun to see some boys play volleyball for once! We left for our match which was a half hour drive, and played at this club for kids and teens. It was really fun, especially because all of these little kids that were in their early elementary years had come to watch and cheer for us. Right when we walked in they were cheering Los Estados Unidos!!! It was so cute. They cheered for us so hard, and even asked our names and chanted them. We won our match in four. After our match, we exchanged our uniforms, and danced with the other team for about fifteen minutes. We tried to teach them some of ours, and they taught us some of theirs. It was a lot of fun. For dinner, we went to this amazing grill, with all kinds of meat to eat. The food was amazing. The bathroom was pretty sweet too, with floss and automatic garbage cans!! A lot of the girls and I had chicken heart as well. It wasn’t very good, but now we can brag about it! All in all another great day in Brazil. -Ciao-
Hey everybody its Janae! Today we all went to the U.S.A vs Poland match. It was so much fun but the junior team had to leave halfway through the match to go to their game. The youth got to stay and watch the whole thing. The junior team won their match in four games it was awesome! Then we all went to dinner and came back to the hotel to go to bed! I hope to see more of Brazil and have fun!
Obrigado!!!!!
Hey everybody its Janae! Today we all went to the U.S.A vs Poland match. It was so much fun but the junior team had to leave halfway through the match to go to their game. The youth got to stay and watch the whole thing. The junior team won their match in four games it was awesome! Then we all went to dinner and came back to the hotel to go to bed! I hope to see more of Brazil and have fun!
Obrigado!!!!!
High Performance YOUTH TEAM Blog: July 24th
Hey everyone! It’s the 24th of July and today we had an awesome day! It’s Hannah talking by the way. We woke up pretty early this morning so that we could go play on the beach, we worked a lot on ball control and passing and hitting. Beach is pretty hard, a lot different than volleyball indoors.
After playing beach and going to the ocean for awhile we got ready for one of the most amazing experiences ever, the USA men’s team playing the Poland in the semi-finals of the World League! I don’t think I have ever seen such amazing volleyball in person in my whole life. The men could hit so hard, just by watching them I felt as if I got better. It was so fun to see what they could do with the ball and by watching their arms, hands and movements I knew what I could do to improve. The game was so so exciting, it went to five games ending with USA winning 16 to 14. Our team was even on international tv in the stadium! After the match we got to meet some of the men from the team. We met Priddy and Stanley, the hardest server in the world. They were really appreciative of our support and our extremely loud cheering, which they could only somewhat hear over all the booing we got, but we didn’t care it just made us cheer louder!
Returning from the men’s game we had about a three hour break where we could just hang out, I took a little nap, I was pretty exhausted. For dinner we went to this Brazilian barbeque restaurant where they cut the meat onto your plate. I ate so much meat and so many different kinds I thought I would pop, some of them were a little interesting. I ate beef, pork, turkey heart, chicken heart (this was not an experience I would like to remember), cow neck, lamb, cheese wontons, egg salad and fried bananas. Most of the meat was amazing, it was so juicy and tender, they also had sushi, I had tried it at the pizza place last night so I decided not to eat that again! Today was an awesome day filled with so much fun stuff, and I can’t wait till tomorrow! Talk to you later! Adios! P.S. Mom and Dad and Ethan I love you
Oi! Hey everyone, it’s Ciara. Today, was an awesome day. We started off the morning with a wonderful breakfast, full of fruit, rolls, and eggs, than the youth team headed down to the Copacabana beach for a training session. After we were done playing some intense volleyball, we went back to our rooms to shower, so that we could go and watch our men’s national team play Poland in the World League semi finals. When we got there, everybody was excited to see us, all the fans and working staff, etc. After we got our seats, they played all different types of music, where everybody was standing and clapping, just having a good time. As soon as both the teams came onto the court, the energy level rose 1,000 degrees, as well as the intensity level. It was shocking to see how many Polish fans Brazil had… ha. Soon, the game started, and we had developed our own cheering section, full of many Brazilian children. When we would start a cheer, the whole rest of the stadium would boo, and whistle, which in a way was really intimidating. The first four games flew by in a flash, but the last of the set was the most intense. The U.S. team barely won 16-14.After the game was over, we got to go down onto the court and meet the entire U.S. National team. It was amazing, and a wonderful opportunity. Getting to shake their hands sent chills up my spine. When that was over, we headed back to the hotel for a nice nap. For dinner, we hit a Brazilian Barbeque, where we ate turkey heart, chicken heart, beef, pork, cow neck, and lamb. It was really different, but I enjoyed it. Well, I love all my family, and I miss you all very much!!
Love you Camden and Crash
Hasta la vista
Thursday, July 24, 2008
High Performance JUNIOR TEAM Blog: July 23rd
Hey this is Alisha and Cherish reporting from Rio and it is day 7 here in Brazil. We are chillin in our sweet hotel. Today was very interesting… We started out pretty early this morning in Buzios, we loaded our stuff up and had a yummy breakfast. Oh by the way, the food here is phenomenal! After breakfast we all jumped on the bus for a long dreary ride to Rio, haha not really, it wasn’t that bad. We got to our new hotel and they weren’t ready for us so we all threw our stuff into a couple of rooms and went to lunch. Then we took off for our game. We won!!! We left for our hotel again and got ready for an amazing pizza dinner. They had every imaginable flavor of pizza. Even all of the dessert kinds you would ever think of. Everyone ate so much… we could hardly move after. All in all it was an amazing day… Over and out! Alisha and Cherish.
High Performance JUNIOR TEAM Blog: July 22th
Oi!! This is Michele and April speaking! We were suppose to write the blog about our day yesterday but our adventure kept getting better! So I am writing it this morning!
Yesterday it was awesome because it was one of the first days that we got to sleep in! Once we all met in the lobby after eating breakfast, we all walked to the beach in Buzio. When we arrived it was just so beautiful! The scenery and everything was just amazing! There were people everywhere selling dresses and jewelry where some of us went shopping crazy! We were two of them. Also a sight to see was the men in speedos. How many guys do you see wearing speedos in the United States!? Also we went running on the beach as a team, and I have always wanted to do that! It really felt good after eating so much food and gaining some pounds from it.
When we were through at the beach we went back to the hotel and swam in the pool and hot tub. What was really fun was Bruno, Augusto, Parker, Alydia and us playing UNO cards in the hot tub! Our goal for not getting the cards wet didn’t last very long….
After having that experience we then found out that Ricardo had invited us to go hiking with him and his wife. He took us to this beautiful place where the view was just amazing! We had so much fun and we’re so glad that he invited us to go with him.
We traveled back to the hotel after we were done with the hike and grabbed our money to go shopping at the market. Our Junior team decided that we would all eat together as a team, so we went and ate at a crepe restaurant. Everyone said that theirs was delicious! After we had dinner we split up and went and did what we wanted. After a while it got boring shopping so we all sat and talked while eating ice cream. We like hearing Augusto and Bruno say big words so we taught them how to say antidisestablishmentarianism…. We don’t even know if that’s how you spell it. It was so funny.
While we were sitting there eating for some odd reason Bruno and Augusto started telling us what animals we all looked like. Immediately they told Michele that she was a macaca… which is monkey in Portuguese. They told April that she was a piriquito… which is a parakeet. It was really fun.
By the end of the night we were all pooped and went to bed. It was a fun but tiring day. We’re excited to go to Rio tomorrow. It should be a fun, exciting, new adventure.
We miss you all! Love Michele and April! Xau!! (chao)
Yesterday it was awesome because it was one of the first days that we got to sleep in! Once we all met in the lobby after eating breakfast, we all walked to the beach in Buzio. When we arrived it was just so beautiful! The scenery and everything was just amazing! There were people everywhere selling dresses and jewelry where some of us went shopping crazy! We were two of them. Also a sight to see was the men in speedos. How many guys do you see wearing speedos in the United States!? Also we went running on the beach as a team, and I have always wanted to do that! It really felt good after eating so much food and gaining some pounds from it.
When we were through at the beach we went back to the hotel and swam in the pool and hot tub. What was really fun was Bruno, Augusto, Parker, Alydia and us playing UNO cards in the hot tub! Our goal for not getting the cards wet didn’t last very long….
After having that experience we then found out that Ricardo had invited us to go hiking with him and his wife. He took us to this beautiful place where the view was just amazing! We had so much fun and we’re so glad that he invited us to go with him.
We traveled back to the hotel after we were done with the hike and grabbed our money to go shopping at the market. Our Junior team decided that we would all eat together as a team, so we went and ate at a crepe restaurant. Everyone said that theirs was delicious! After we had dinner we split up and went and did what we wanted. After a while it got boring shopping so we all sat and talked while eating ice cream. We like hearing Augusto and Bruno say big words so we taught them how to say antidisestablishmentarianism…. We don’t even know if that’s how you spell it. It was so funny.
While we were sitting there eating for some odd reason Bruno and Augusto started telling us what animals we all looked like. Immediately they told Michele that she was a macaca… which is monkey in Portuguese. They told April that she was a piriquito… which is a parakeet. It was really fun.
By the end of the night we were all pooped and went to bed. It was a fun but tiring day. We’re excited to go to Rio tomorrow. It should be a fun, exciting, new adventure.
We miss you all! Love Michele and April! Xau!! (chao)
High Performance YOUTH TEAM Blog: July 23rd
Ola from Rio de janero!
WE drove here very very early this morning on a bus which was about a 2 hour drive from Buzios. We are staying at a hotel that is seriously right across from the beach, Copacabana. It is very pretty here and there are amazing views. We ate lunch at a restaurant right on the beach. After lunch we headed for our games against The Flamengos which is a club that is said to be one of the best in Brazil at volleyball. The Youth team lost their match in 3 the juniors lost their game in 4.
After the games we went to a pizza place that served every kind of pizza you could think of it. Kenzie’s favorite was the Mango one and chocolate one. Kallie’s was the beef stroganoffs one and the white chocolate with a close third by the icecream with chocolate sauce slice. We are pretty sure we can speak for everyone when we say we all ate way way too much. After dinner we headed back to the hotel for a goodnight’s sleep. So good night everyone back in the U.S.!
WE drove here very very early this morning on a bus which was about a 2 hour drive from Buzios. We are staying at a hotel that is seriously right across from the beach, Copacabana. It is very pretty here and there are amazing views. We ate lunch at a restaurant right on the beach. After lunch we headed for our games against The Flamengos which is a club that is said to be one of the best in Brazil at volleyball. The Youth team lost their match in 3 the juniors lost their game in 4.
After the games we went to a pizza place that served every kind of pizza you could think of it. Kenzie’s favorite was the Mango one and chocolate one. Kallie’s was the beef stroganoffs one and the white chocolate with a close third by the icecream with chocolate sauce slice. We are pretty sure we can speak for everyone when we say we all ate way way too much. After dinner we headed back to the hotel for a goodnight’s sleep. So good night everyone back in the U.S.!
High Performance YOUTH TEAM Blog: July 22st
Journal entry
Oi, it’s Clotile again. We had a great day. We played at the beach and got sweet tans (except for me though cause I already have a sweet tan), and also played some volleyball with new people that we meet. Then some of us took a nice jog along the beach. Most of the girls decided to go back to the hotel, but me, Ashley and Cherish stayed and swam a bit longer.
When we got back to the hotel and got ready for our hike with Ricardo. The hike was long and steep and tiring!!! But it was totally worth it because when we got to the top the view of the ocean was AMAZING. There were so many mountains and even cacti. We also took lots of pictures. Then we went back to the hotel again to get ready to go shopping.
The night on the town was awesome. I went with my team and we all had some sort of pizza. Kenzie and I shared this really good banana pizza. Later on that night I meet up with some of the junior players and walked around with them. As we were walking we saw this silver robotic man who danced for us when we gave him money. Then we saw some dancing and some guy jump over a rope (a really high rope). We also meet cute boys and got ice cream.
We got back to the hotel around 10:45 and I went up to Cherish and Kortnie’s room and played “America’s Next Top Model”. The photographer was Cherish and the director was Kortnie and I was the top model. I stayed over there for about 20 minutes and went and got my stuff packed. That’s my wonderful day. Love, Clotile Moananu-Harris #12
Bonjia!! Hey it’s Alydia currently I am riding on a bus to Rio where there is the most beautiful beach on earth, that’s what Bruno said. But I’m not supposed to talk about today, so I will talk about yesterday.Yesterday was great we got to sleep in and go to the beach and relax in the sun. It was a beach full of wonderful views, and I’m not just talking about the landscape, there were many beautiful men in many little Speedos. One in particular was named Iván; he definitely had a little Speedo. Iván played volleyball with us on the beach and he helped us with our ice cream, money problem.
After the beach we went back to the posada and Bruno, Augusto, Parker, Michele, and I played Uno in the hot tub. Lets just say that’s the last time we will be able to play Uno… After that I took a shower and got ready to go hiking.
The next thing we did was get on the bus and drive to the trail head, which was a road that lead up the mountain. It was a very short hike but the views were unbelievable! It was so beautiful on top of the mountain you could see so far.
After the hike we went back to the hotel and got our money to go shopping at the market. Once we got to the market we ate dinner as a team at a pizza place, they had really strange types of pizza, like banana and cinnamon, but they all turned out to be delicious! Then we split up into two groups Augusto came with Kallie, Hannah, Ciara and me. We had so much fun! At first we shopping for our families but then we saw a place called Laser Shot! It was like Laser Quest and our team took 2nd! Lots of little boys beat us. It was really fun though. Then we had ice cream with everyone on our team and went back to the posada. We packed and went to bed. We love you guys!!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
High Performance YOUTH TEAM Blog: July 21st
HEEEEYYYY everyone!!! It’s Danica today. :] Everything was freakin kick butt! At about ten-ish we went sailing for a good couple of hours! Really it was one of the best things ever. Haha every so often they would stop the boat and we could jump off and swim in the water. I would jump off a so many times, that was the best part! And when you would be I there you could use floaties, pretty much everyone went in. Even the ones who couldn’t seem to well :] We also had a DANCE PAAAARTY! They were teaching us some pretty sick dance moves… I’m even more pro now! :P You would fall all over the place as the boat would rock and just try and grab a hold of whatever you could! After the boat ride we went back to where we went shopping yesterday and had lunch. Because us “youth” girls are so AWESOME… we decided to have lunch together. We went to this place called David’s and the food was amazing. After we went to the beach to play in the water (again)! Like I said before, because the youth girls are awesome, we all went together! Some junior girls, my family, Bruno, Augsto, tari, and alaina also came along. We were playing keep away with the football… boys against girls. Girls rocked ‘em! We then just played in the ocean. The tide was pulling us really bad, but it was fun! After we came back to the hotel to swim some more… I think we have some problems and can’t stay out of water!!! The pool was too cold and the hot tub was filled, so the youth girls, April, Bruno, and Augsto went into the sauna. You couldn’t even breathe in there! It was so hot, and you were breathing in fumes or something. We were telling stories though so it was fun! After that we just kinda chilled in our rooms and waited for dinner. After that we made plans to have a bon fire on the beach. I was stoked! Haha we found wood on the streets on our way down there to build it. We just told stories and had a good time! The water looked so pretty!
PEACE OUT EVERYONE! I hope you enjoyed my entry :]
Okay this little part is for Larry now (if he reads it haha) but that is what we did today! And I miss you! I really hope your camp is going well…. I want to know how you do as soon as you know! :] I better be the first person. Haha you were the first person I told… but that’s cause I love you muchly. Okay any who I’m getting darker! I might look like you now ^-^ not really… oh but I’m wearing your jersey! Awesome I know. Okay… I don’t know what else to say… I wrote it all above about my day. I’m pretty sure my chin is good now. My shoulder is feeling better also. We saw a PEGUIN! AH…. Okay well love you bye!
Oi Amigos. This is Courtney here. This trip has been one of the best experiences of my life. On day 4 we had a blast. ;) Today we started off the day by going sailing. We got on this huge sail boat with a bunch of different Brazilian people. We got to see the ways of how they react to different things. It was super fun to see those kinds of things. They would occasionally stop the boat so that we could get off the boat and jump in the water. The water was FREEZING!!! I thought that my legs were going to freeze off of me. Then Wade wanted Kallie and I to swim to shore. That wasn’t to fun. Everyone kept yelling “SHARK” and I thought that my legs were going to get bitten off. It was scary. I didn’t enjoy that part. After we got back on the boat Kallie and I felt much better. We sailed for a little bit longer then finally got back to shore. After that we went to lunch as a team. We went to this restaurant called David’s. It was really good. We got a little bit of everything and the food was great. After enjoying our great lunch we went to the beach. The girls played a game with the football against the boys. I just got to watch due to a pulled groin. . . .(we think). It was great fun to see how competitive the boys and the girls were against each other. We got done on the beach and as a team (the youth) we sat in the sauna and the jacuzi and told stories. Lots of funny things came up. It was great. After that we enjoyed a great Brazilian dinner at our cute little resort hotel. The food here has been amazing!!! It has been great to enjoy all the different kinds of foods. After dinner we went back to the beach and built a fire. It was quite big to start off and slowly died down. We did skits and told stories to end off the night. We then came back to the hotel to jump in our nice warm beds and enjoy a good night’s sleep to have a fun fifth day.
I love you all and miss you tons. :) love court.
High Performance YOUTH TEAM Blog: July 20th
Balaisa from Hannah! That means “everythings good” in Portuguese. The day I’m journaling about is the 20th. The very first thing we did today was go to the beach. We played beach volleyball against the Brazilian girls, it was totally obvious that they did this a lot, I know I felt a little inexperienced. We played four on four against them. Nobody one but Nikki, Kenzie, Ciara and me were the closest the score was 15 to 18. After playing beach and getting in the water (the waves were huge!) we took the Brazilian girls out to lunch at a deli. It was way fun and we really got to know the girls better, when it was time for them to leave everyone was really sad, I was so surprised at the connection we all made so quickly. We traded emails and addresses so that we could keep in touch. After lunch it was time to leave Macae and go to Buzios. The ride was around an hour and a half, we watched Akon music videos on the ride there. When we got to the hotel I was so amazed. It is seriously the prettiest hotel I have ever seen, it is small little buildings surrounded by tons of plants and flowers and birds and lizards, and of course the mosquitos. We went to see the beach that is closest to our hotel, it was beautiful. We later learned that Buzios is the most famous tourist town in all of South America, we learned that when we went to the market later that night. The market was huge and it had so many little booths with jewelry and shoes along with boutiques with clothes priced at 200-300 reals! I got a bunch of jewelry for really cheap , which would be way more expensive in the States. After shopping (we ended at 11) we were pretty wiped out so we decided to head to bed, ready to start the next day! Talk to you soon Ciao!
OI! This is Ciara. Today was amazing. We got to sleep in so we could be fully rested for the day. When we woke up we, went down to a wonderful breakfast, full of exotic fruits, different types of rolls and waffles, and cereal. After that we all went up to our rooms to change in our bathing suits, due to the fact that we were going to go and meet the Macae volleyball team at the beach, and play in the sand. It was a great experience, just watching them play, with all the ball control, and how they know where to put the ball, whenever they want to. After we were done we took them to a local pizza parlor, where we bought our new friends lunch. When we were done, we said our goodbyes, went to shower , than took off to Buzios. As soon as we got, there, we were in love. The hotel was beautiful, with all the tropical flowers, little bungalows , and birds. When we were settled we went down to the amazing local beach. It was absolutely breath taking… everybody was in awe. The wonderful blue waves crashing down around the paper like sand, was like heaven. Soon, enough we all went to eat , than got ready for a night in the wonderful city of Buzios. We hit all the exotic shops, ate delicious food, and watched some of the tribal dances. It was like taking a step back, and watching a new way of life. How people can connect through so many different things. After, we shopped a little, ate, and danced, we got on the bus and went back to the hotel, so that we could get a good night sleep, and get ready for another awesome day, here in Brazil.
We miss you all, and we are looking forward to seeing you. Until next time,
Chow
High Performance JUNIOR TEAM Blog: July 20th
Macaé/Buziós
After breakfast at our hotel, we headed out to the beach for some volleyball against the Macaé team that we have been playing over the past few days. It was a beautiful, hot day as we set up the nets to play each other. We first started out with wave games, then switched to four-on-four USA vs. Brazil (Youth Teams vs. Youth Teams, etc.). It was such a blast! Even though most of our teams got worked, haha we fared pretty well on the beach considering most of the USA girls haven’t played beach volleyball before. The boys delighted in playing football for awhile (Bruno, Augusto, Edward, Connor, and Darrian Mendivil, as well as Parker). Some of the girls got into the ocean with eight foot waves, while others continued to play. Soon after each person from the different teams paired up and we went to get pizza. It was a great cultural learning experience for everyone! It was nice to meet the other girls and get to know them better, plus exchanging gifts and e-mails.
Once the goodbye’s were said it was off for an hour and a half trip to the city of Buziós. Our hotel is absolutely gorgeous!! It’s more of an authentic Brazilian feel than our American style hotel was in Macaé. There are vines coming out of the ceiling, and each room is decorated with very cute beds and showers. The view from outside looks like a jungle, we found out our area is a type of resort so no wonder the city is so beautiful. Cesar took us down to the beach so we could see where it was, and the view was breathtaking. Adorable houses and tree’s all over the places, and you can see mountains that are far out at sea. Connor fell over while the kids were playing with their feet in the sand haha it was quite hilarious. After a delicious dinner and fun rounds of UNO, we went out to shop. The shopping was fun! Very nice stuff that we had to pick and choose from, no need to overdo it though we are going to do more shopping tomorrow and plus sailing!
Whitney Mendivil, Junior Team
July 20, 2008
Well we woke up in the morning and ate another delicious breakfast! I love the food here! It seems so much more healthy than the food in America. I told myself that I just have to go out of my comfort zone and try new things and new foods! And now that I have I really enjoy them! Then after, we went to the beach across from our hotel and played beach volleyball against the Macae girls! They were so much better on the beach courts then us because they are used to playing and running in the sand! They all wore BRAZILIAN swim suits! I loved it. WE played as doubles and then four on four and when we were not on the court we were taking on the waves in the ocean! It surprises me every time that I get in the ocean because it is so salty! I’ve swallowed a lot of water! But lucky for me I haven’t gotten sick at all! Then after we all got done playing we invited the girls to come and eat lunch with us at a local sandwich café. I loved spending the time with them and getting to know each other’s personalities even thought we didn’t speak the same language! They are all such beautiful girls and they all knew a little bit of English! We took a lot of pictures and gave hugs to the girls! Then we had to leave the beach and return to the hotel and pack up our stuff to drive to the next town! We are now in Buzios! This town is the most gorgeous town I have ever been to! Everything is so green and all the houses are so humble and unique! Our hotel is really exotic and it makes me feel like I am in the jungle! The people are so amazing here! Everyone is so nice and loving and welcoming to us! Then we ate a marvelous dinner here at the hotel! I just love everything about Brazil! There are so many colors and everything is really tropical! We also went to the Buzios downtown shopping center! This was my favorite experience so far! I love shopping but shopping in Brazil seemed even better! There was a lot of clothes and jewelry that were really exotic! All the jewelry that I bought was hand made and sold right on the spot! I bought stuff for my family and friends but we also get to go shopping here tomorrow so there is no need to stress out! I love Brazil!
-Kortnie Christiansen, Junior Team
After breakfast at our hotel, we headed out to the beach for some volleyball against the Macaé team that we have been playing over the past few days. It was a beautiful, hot day as we set up the nets to play each other. We first started out with wave games, then switched to four-on-four USA vs. Brazil (Youth Teams vs. Youth Teams, etc.). It was such a blast! Even though most of our teams got worked, haha we fared pretty well on the beach considering most of the USA girls haven’t played beach volleyball before. The boys delighted in playing football for awhile (Bruno, Augusto, Edward, Connor, and Darrian Mendivil, as well as Parker). Some of the girls got into the ocean with eight foot waves, while others continued to play. Soon after each person from the different teams paired up and we went to get pizza. It was a great cultural learning experience for everyone! It was nice to meet the other girls and get to know them better, plus exchanging gifts and e-mails.
Once the goodbye’s were said it was off for an hour and a half trip to the city of Buziós. Our hotel is absolutely gorgeous!! It’s more of an authentic Brazilian feel than our American style hotel was in Macaé. There are vines coming out of the ceiling, and each room is decorated with very cute beds and showers. The view from outside looks like a jungle, we found out our area is a type of resort so no wonder the city is so beautiful. Cesar took us down to the beach so we could see where it was, and the view was breathtaking. Adorable houses and tree’s all over the places, and you can see mountains that are far out at sea. Connor fell over while the kids were playing with their feet in the sand haha it was quite hilarious. After a delicious dinner and fun rounds of UNO, we went out to shop. The shopping was fun! Very nice stuff that we had to pick and choose from, no need to overdo it though we are going to do more shopping tomorrow and plus sailing!
Whitney Mendivil, Junior Team
July 20, 2008
Well we woke up in the morning and ate another delicious breakfast! I love the food here! It seems so much more healthy than the food in America. I told myself that I just have to go out of my comfort zone and try new things and new foods! And now that I have I really enjoy them! Then after, we went to the beach across from our hotel and played beach volleyball against the Macae girls! They were so much better on the beach courts then us because they are used to playing and running in the sand! They all wore BRAZILIAN swim suits! I loved it. WE played as doubles and then four on four and when we were not on the court we were taking on the waves in the ocean! It surprises me every time that I get in the ocean because it is so salty! I’ve swallowed a lot of water! But lucky for me I haven’t gotten sick at all! Then after we all got done playing we invited the girls to come and eat lunch with us at a local sandwich café. I loved spending the time with them and getting to know each other’s personalities even thought we didn’t speak the same language! They are all such beautiful girls and they all knew a little bit of English! We took a lot of pictures and gave hugs to the girls! Then we had to leave the beach and return to the hotel and pack up our stuff to drive to the next town! We are now in Buzios! This town is the most gorgeous town I have ever been to! Everything is so green and all the houses are so humble and unique! Our hotel is really exotic and it makes me feel like I am in the jungle! The people are so amazing here! Everyone is so nice and loving and welcoming to us! Then we ate a marvelous dinner here at the hotel! I just love everything about Brazil! There are so many colors and everything is really tropical! We also went to the Buzios downtown shopping center! This was my favorite experience so far! I love shopping but shopping in Brazil seemed even better! There was a lot of clothes and jewelry that were really exotic! All the jewelry that I bought was hand made and sold right on the spot! I bought stuff for my family and friends but we also get to go shopping here tomorrow so there is no need to stress out! I love Brazil!
-Kortnie Christiansen, Junior Team
Monday, July 21, 2008
High Performance JUNIOR TEAM Blog: July 19th
Macaé/Buziós
After breakfast at our hotel, we headed out to the beach for some volleyball against the Macaé team that we have been playing over the past few days. It was a beautiful, hot day as we set up the nets to play each other. We first started out with wave games, then switched to four-on-four USA vs. Brazil (Youth Teams vs. Youth Teams, etc.). It was such a blast! Even though most of our teams got worked, haha we fared pretty well on the beach considering most of the USA girls haven’t played beach volleyball before. The boys delighted in playing football for awhile (Bruno, Augusto, Edward, Connor, and Darrian Mendivil, as well as Parker). Some of the girls got into the ocean with eight foot waves, while others continued to play. Soon after each person from the different teams paired up and we went to get pizza. It was a great cultural learning experience for everyone! It was nice to meet the other girls and get to know them better, plus exchanging gifts and e-mails.
Once the goodbye’s were said it was off for an hour and a half trip to the city of Buziós. Our hotel is absolutely gorgeous!! It’s more of an authentic Brazilian feel than our American style hotel was in Macaé. There are vines coming out of the ceiling, and each room is decorated with very cute beds and showers. The view from outside looks like a jungle, we found out our area is a type of resort so no wonder the city is so beautiful. Cesar took us down to the beach so we could see where it was, and the view was breathtaking. Adorable houses and tree’s all over the places, and you can see mountains that are far out at sea. Connor fell over while the kids were playing with their feet in the sand haha it was quite hilarious. After a delicious dinner and fun rounds of UNO, we went out to shop. The shopping was fun! Very nice stuff that we had to pick and choose from, no need to overdo it though we are going to do more shopping tomorrow and plus sailing!
Whitney Mendivil, Junior Team
July 20, 2008Well we woke up in the morning and ate another delicious breakfast! I love the food here! It seems so much more healthy than the food in America. I told myself that I just have to go out of my comfort zone and try new things and new foods! And now that I have I really enjoy them! Then after, we went to the beach across from our hotel and played beach volleyball against the Macae girls! They were so much better on the beach courts then us because they are used to playing and running in the sand! They all wore BRAZILIAN swim suits! I loved it. WE played as doubles and then four on four and when we were not on the court we were taking on the waves in the ocean! It surprises me every time that I get in the ocean because it is so salty! I’ve swallowed a lot of water! But lucky for me I haven’t gotten sick at all! Then after we all got done playing we invited the girls to come and eat lunch with us at a local sandwich café. I loved spending the time with them and getting to know each other’s personalities even thought we didn’t speak the same language! They are all such beautiful girls and they all knew a little bit of English! We took a lot of pictures and gave hugs to the girls! Then we had to leave the beach and return to the hotel and pack up our stuff to drive to the next town! We are now in Buzios! This town is the most gorgeous town I have ever been to! Everything is so green and all the houses are so humble and unique! Our hotel is really exotic and it makes me feel like I am in the jungle! The people are so amazing here! Everyone is so nice and loving and welcoming to us! Then we ate a marvelous dinner here at the hotel! I just love everything about Brazil! There are so many colors and everything is really tropical! We also went to the Buzios downtown shopping center! This was my favorite experience so far! I love shopping but shopping in Brazil seemed even better! There was a lot of clothes and jewelry that were really exotic! All the jewelry that I bought was hand made and sold right on the spot! I bought stuff for my family and friends but we also get to go shopping here tomorrow so there is no need to stress out! I love Brazil!
-Kortnie Christiansen, Junior Team
High Performance JUNIOR TEAM Blog: July 19th
HI Everyone its Fiona! Today was so much fun. Well obviously we first woke up in the morning then went and got breakfast. The hotel serves great breakfast, the fruit is amazing!! After that we went to store to get water and snacks for ourselves. Guess what’s next? The beach!! The water is pretty cold and has a strong under current so we couldn’t go in too far, but it was fun just chillin. We came back and showered up and went to play our volleyball matches. The youth dominated! They won in three. Congrats to them! We the juniors on the other hand didn’t have quite a good match we lost in three L but it’s a new day. So we got back to the hotel and cleaned up and went to dinner and after that we went to walk and chill on the beach. It was a lot of fun we just played games and had fun. We went and got ice cream after it was pretty cool you get to scoop your own and pay based on the weight. Over all it was a super duper day!!
Hey people I am Emma Filiaga! Today is so much fun. We first woke up this morning and ate at the beautiful hotel that we are staying at! DELICIOUS! Well anyways we then went to the which was fun I love all the girls and coaches here they are making my experience so much fun. We had so much fun on the beach today the water was warmer than I had expected and so we just played in the water forever, I got the best tan line. If my mom is reading this tell the boys that I am getting dark, hahahahaha. We then came back to the hotel and got ready to hit the court, we walked to McDonalds and ate, walked to the Gym it was pretty fun. Our team did not win Macae beat us in three games some points we would work hard and other points we just gave up on everything, but over all we had fun. Then later on tonight we went and walked on the beach and it was so pretty walking on the beach it was so much fun we drew things in the sand and took pictures. Then we went to get ice cream at this place in the town it was pretty good ice cream some of the taste were different compared to the ice cream we have back in the states. I am having so much fun her I love it here the girls that we play against are nice and the group of girls are making my experience more and more fun.
High Performance JUNIOR TEAM Blog: July 18th
Hey! My name’s Ashley! Brazil has been a pretty amazing place so far. The journey was long, but we all had a good time and got to know each other a little better. We even got a little bit of sleep! The bus ride was probably one of my favorite parts of the day. I loved seeing all the houses and the activities people did. To me, the houses in Brazil are not as important to the people as the houses are in the US. They’re merely just shelter, while they do their real living in the outdoors and interacting with other people. They all seem pretty happy too! We had dinner at the hotel, which was really fun. We had loads of good food, and most of the time we did not know what we were eating. The fruit was especially amazing. After dinner, we had our matches, with the Youth going first. They played very hard, and looked great to me, but there were a few crucial errors that the ref made so that in the end they lost. Up next was the Junior team! Our first game we went out and played pretty great, we won! We lost our energy in the second and third games, so we also lost those games. The forth game it took us about halfway through to come back again. We were building momentum as they were two points away from winning. We came back and won that game 26-24! The fifth game was awesome, we gelled together so much as a team, and won them with 15-11. It was a great feeling to win our first match in Brazil. I hope we’ll continue enjoying this country during our stay!
Hey this is Alydia! Despite the fact that the plane ride was long and very uncomfortable, sitting next to Kallie the entire way we found something to entertain ourselves. Not only was the plane ride long and boring but it was crazy! I took one sleeping pill and I just could not stop laughing. Once we got off the plane we went strait to a bus and drove 3 hours to our hotel. It was so strange to see how little people have here and how much we have and yet we still complain, but not once have I heard someone complain who lives here.
Once we got to the hotel we got settled in for about 3 hours and then we had an odd and yet delicious lunch. I ate an egg that was like a boiled egg but it was in some weird sauce. The desserts and meat were delicious! I just wanted to keep eating it! Oh and the rice was so so so so so good!!! After we ate we hung out at the hotel for about 30 minutes then we loaded the bus to go to our volleyball game. I have come to the realize that many people around the world have certain perspectives about the USA. My team had a few experiences with these perspectives during the game. Not only did we get called on doubles but it seemed like every 10 calls we were out of rotation, even though we weren’t. We took the game to 5, and during the last game to 15 I received a yellow card. It may sound strange but I was so fired up when Courtney got the pancake and it went into the net and a girl on the opposite side of the net hit the ball through the net and I hit it over and we ended up losing the point. So I did not like that and so I started to talk to the ref, ok I was yelling at the ref. Even though I was totally in the right and he knew it too, he gave me a yellow card. By this I learned so much and I am really thankful I got to experience that.
And I would just like to end by saying that Im already having so much fun and to my dad, that conversation we had on the phone… BAM! I’ll talk to you later J LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!
Hey this is Janae! Brazil has been pretty amazing! The flight was pretty long but we kept our self preoccupied with movies, shows, and games. When we got off the plane we boarded the bus and got to see all of Brazil, the houses and all of activities that they do. When we got to the hotel we checked in and then we went downstairs at eat lunch. When we were done with that we headed over to go play some volleyball!
The youth fought hard but in the end they lost 2-5 games. Then the junior team played we won the first game, but we lost our intensity and we lost the second and third match. But we turned it around and left with a win! I hope to have fun and experience more of Brazil!
Hey this is Alydia! Despite the fact that the plane ride was long and very uncomfortable, sitting next to Kallie the entire way we found something to entertain ourselves. Not only was the plane ride long and boring but it was crazy! I took one sleeping pill and I just could not stop laughing. Once we got off the plane we went strait to a bus and drove 3 hours to our hotel. It was so strange to see how little people have here and how much we have and yet we still complain, but not once have I heard someone complain who lives here.
Once we got to the hotel we got settled in for about 3 hours and then we had an odd and yet delicious lunch. I ate an egg that was like a boiled egg but it was in some weird sauce. The desserts and meat were delicious! I just wanted to keep eating it! Oh and the rice was so so so so so good!!! After we ate we hung out at the hotel for about 30 minutes then we loaded the bus to go to our volleyball game. I have come to the realize that many people around the world have certain perspectives about the USA. My team had a few experiences with these perspectives during the game. Not only did we get called on doubles but it seemed like every 10 calls we were out of rotation, even though we weren’t. We took the game to 5, and during the last game to 15 I received a yellow card. It may sound strange but I was so fired up when Courtney got the pancake and it went into the net and a girl on the opposite side of the net hit the ball through the net and I hit it over and we ended up losing the point. So I did not like that and so I started to talk to the ref, ok I was yelling at the ref. Even though I was totally in the right and he knew it too, he gave me a yellow card. By this I learned so much and I am really thankful I got to experience that.
And I would just like to end by saying that Im already having so much fun and to my dad, that conversation we had on the phone… BAM! I’ll talk to you later J LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!
Hey this is Janae! Brazil has been pretty amazing! The flight was pretty long but we kept our self preoccupied with movies, shows, and games. When we got off the plane we boarded the bus and got to see all of Brazil, the houses and all of activities that they do. When we got to the hotel we checked in and then we went downstairs at eat lunch. When we were done with that we headed over to go play some volleyball!
The youth fought hard but in the end they lost 2-5 games. Then the junior team played we won the first game, but we lost our intensity and we lost the second and third match. But we turned it around and left with a win! I hope to have fun and experience more of Brazil!
High Performance YOUTH TEAM Blog: July 19th
Ola,
Today was our first full day in the beautiful city of Macae. We started it off by eating a wonderful breakfast which included pancakes with chocolate sauce J it was amazing. Then we walked to the beach where we played in the water got some nice tans… hopefully. The sand was a gorgeous gold color and the water was nice and clear but unfortunately very cold. We then went back to the hotel to eat lunch and prepare for our afternoon games. The Youth team played first and won in 3. We also got to trade some of our shirts with the girls from the other team it was pretty cool finding a way to communicate with the girls who don’t speak English. The Juniors unfortunately lost in 3 but they played great but Ashley suffered a sprained ankle. Tonight we ate a delicious meal at the hotel then we went for a walk on the beach and stopped at an ice cream shop where we served ourselves. We miss everyone!
Today was our first full day in the beautiful city of Macae. We started it off by eating a wonderful breakfast which included pancakes with chocolate sauce J it was amazing. Then we walked to the beach where we played in the water got some nice tans… hopefully. The sand was a gorgeous gold color and the water was nice and clear but unfortunately very cold. We then went back to the hotel to eat lunch and prepare for our afternoon games. The Youth team played first and won in 3. We also got to trade some of our shirts with the girls from the other team it was pretty cool finding a way to communicate with the girls who don’t speak English. The Juniors unfortunately lost in 3 but they played great but Ashley suffered a sprained ankle. Tonight we ate a delicious meal at the hotel then we went for a walk on the beach and stopped at an ice cream shop where we served ourselves. We miss everyone!
High Performance YOUTH TEAM Blog: July 18th
Journal of Events
Hi this is Clotile and I am just going to tell you a little about my experience in Brazil. My journey started on July 17, 2008 and also pretty early. I had woken up at 9:30 so that I would be able to make the airport. I had made it on time and then off I went to start my 12 hour flight to Brazil. We were on the plane for about 2 or 3 hours before we hit Atlanta and a 9 hour and 15 minute to Brazil from Atlanta. The flight was pretty awesome though because when we had gone on our 2nd plane ride the air plane had all sorts of games and movies (so I couldn’t sleep much).
As soon as we landed in Brazil we went and had our passports checked, picked up our belongings and meet our tour guide through Brazil. His name was Czar and he is supper tall!!! And after all that we had to get on the bus for another 3 hours. But during the 3 hour drive I had seen a lot of places that here they call “favillas” and in Portuguese that means ghetto. It was amazing to me to see the way most people lived here. They literally live in run down buildings that are in pretty bad shape. It just makes me so much more grateful for all the many blessing that I take for granted in the USA.
We arrived at our hotel around 1:00 and we have a really nice hotel here, that is like the top 5 star hotels in the USA. The hotel we are staying at is called the “four point” and it also has an amazing view of the ocean. Then we got our rooms and watched movies. Around 3:45 we had eaten our first Brazilian food of the trip. Boy do I have to say that it is definitely different than the normal American food that I am use to (but I am not going to complain). Then we left to the “Fundacao De Esporte” which is actually the volleyball court that we were playing at.
We got to the Fundacao De Esporte and it was so amazing. It is just one court, but the place is huge. I was kind of intimidated at first, but that all changed when I realized that I would be representing the US. We had arrived at the court around 5 and our game was scheduled at 6. We didn’t end up playing until almost 6:30. We then played our first team who was “Macae”.
We played 5 games. The first game we played we won. We were focused and knew what our mission was. We started to play more games though, and lost focus and lost our match. It was tragic, but at least we knew that even with all the bad calls of the refs, we had still done some pretty amazing things. Finally, we got to meet some pretty amazing Brazilian youth who had so much spunk! It was kinda funny though, because they would try to say something in English and they just sounded so corny (not to be rude).
And that is how my trip is going so far.
Hey! My name’s Ashley! Brazil has been a pretty amazing place so far. The journey was long, but we all had a good time and got to know each other a little better. We even got a little bit of sleep! The bus ride was probably one of my favorite parts of the day. I loved seeing all the houses and the activities people did. To me, the houses in Brazil are not as important to the people as the houses are in the US. They’re merely just shelter, while they do their real living in the outdoors and interacting with other people. They all seem pretty happy too! We had dinner at the hotel, which was really fun. We had loads of good food, and most of the time we did not know what we were eating. The fruit was especially amazing. After dinner, we had our matches, with the Youth going first. They played very hard, and looked great to me, but there were a few crucial errors that the ref made so that in the end they lost. Up next was the Junior team! Our first game we went out and played pretty great, we won! We lost our energy in the second and third games, so we also lost those games. The forth game it took us about halfway through to come back again. We were building momentum as they were two points away from winning. We came back and won that game 26-24! The fifth game was awesome, we gelled together so much as a team, and won them with 15-11. It was a great feeling to win our first match in Brazil. I hope we’ll continue enjoying this country during our stay!
Hey this is Alydia! Despite the fact that the plane ride was long and very uncomfortable, sitting next to Kallie the entire way we found something to entertain ourselves. Not only was the plane ride long and boring but it was crazy! I took one sleeping pill and I just could not stop laughing. Once we got off the plane we went strait to a bus and drove 3 hours to our hotel. It was so strange to see how little people have here and how much we have and yet we still complain, but not once have I heard someone complain who lives here.
Once we got to the hotel we got settled in for about 3 hours and then we had an odd and yet delicious lunch. I ate an egg that was like a boiled egg but it was in some weird sauce. The desserts and meat were delicious! I just wanted to keep eating it! Oh and the rice was so so so so so good!!! After we ate we hung out at the hotel for about 30 minutes then we loaded the bus to go to our volleyball game. I have come to the realize that many people around the world have certain perspectives about the USA. My team had a few experiences with these perspectives during the game. Not only did we get called on doubles but it seemed like every 10 calls we were out of rotation, even though we weren’t. We took the game to 5, and during the last game to 15 I received a yellow card. It may sound strange but I was so fired up when Courtney got the pancake and it went into the net and a girl on the opposite side of the net hit the ball through the net and I hit it over and we ended up losing the point. So I did not like that and so I started to talk to the ref, ok I was yelling at the ref. Even though I was totally in the right and he knew it too, he gave me a yellow card. By this I learned so much and I am really thankful I got to experience that.
And I would just like to end by saying that Im already having so much fun and to my dad, that conversation we had on the phone… BAM! I’ll talk to you later J LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!
Hey this is Janae! Brazil has been pretty amazing! The flight was pretty long but we kept our self preoccupied with movies, shows, and games. When we got off the plane we boarded the bus and got to see all of Brazil, the houses and all of activities that they do. When we got to the hotel we checked in and then we went downstairs at eat lunch. When we were done with that we headed over to go play some volleyball!
The youth fought hard but in the end they lost 2-5 games. Then the junior team played we won the first game, but we lost our intensity and we lost the second and third match. But we turned it around and left with a win! I hope to have fun and experience more of Brazil!
Hi this is Clotile and I am just going to tell you a little about my experience in Brazil. My journey started on July 17, 2008 and also pretty early. I had woken up at 9:30 so that I would be able to make the airport. I had made it on time and then off I went to start my 12 hour flight to Brazil. We were on the plane for about 2 or 3 hours before we hit Atlanta and a 9 hour and 15 minute to Brazil from Atlanta. The flight was pretty awesome though because when we had gone on our 2nd plane ride the air plane had all sorts of games and movies (so I couldn’t sleep much).
As soon as we landed in Brazil we went and had our passports checked, picked up our belongings and meet our tour guide through Brazil. His name was Czar and he is supper tall!!! And after all that we had to get on the bus for another 3 hours. But during the 3 hour drive I had seen a lot of places that here they call “favillas” and in Portuguese that means ghetto. It was amazing to me to see the way most people lived here. They literally live in run down buildings that are in pretty bad shape. It just makes me so much more grateful for all the many blessing that I take for granted in the USA.
We arrived at our hotel around 1:00 and we have a really nice hotel here, that is like the top 5 star hotels in the USA. The hotel we are staying at is called the “four point” and it also has an amazing view of the ocean. Then we got our rooms and watched movies. Around 3:45 we had eaten our first Brazilian food of the trip. Boy do I have to say that it is definitely different than the normal American food that I am use to (but I am not going to complain). Then we left to the “Fundacao De Esporte” which is actually the volleyball court that we were playing at.
We got to the Fundacao De Esporte and it was so amazing. It is just one court, but the place is huge. I was kind of intimidated at first, but that all changed when I realized that I would be representing the US. We had arrived at the court around 5 and our game was scheduled at 6. We didn’t end up playing until almost 6:30. We then played our first team who was “Macae”.
We played 5 games. The first game we played we won. We were focused and knew what our mission was. We started to play more games though, and lost focus and lost our match. It was tragic, but at least we knew that even with all the bad calls of the refs, we had still done some pretty amazing things. Finally, we got to meet some pretty amazing Brazilian youth who had so much spunk! It was kinda funny though, because they would try to say something in English and they just sounded so corny (not to be rude).
And that is how my trip is going so far.
Hey! My name’s Ashley! Brazil has been a pretty amazing place so far. The journey was long, but we all had a good time and got to know each other a little better. We even got a little bit of sleep! The bus ride was probably one of my favorite parts of the day. I loved seeing all the houses and the activities people did. To me, the houses in Brazil are not as important to the people as the houses are in the US. They’re merely just shelter, while they do their real living in the outdoors and interacting with other people. They all seem pretty happy too! We had dinner at the hotel, which was really fun. We had loads of good food, and most of the time we did not know what we were eating. The fruit was especially amazing. After dinner, we had our matches, with the Youth going first. They played very hard, and looked great to me, but there were a few crucial errors that the ref made so that in the end they lost. Up next was the Junior team! Our first game we went out and played pretty great, we won! We lost our energy in the second and third games, so we also lost those games. The forth game it took us about halfway through to come back again. We were building momentum as they were two points away from winning. We came back and won that game 26-24! The fifth game was awesome, we gelled together so much as a team, and won them with 15-11. It was a great feeling to win our first match in Brazil. I hope we’ll continue enjoying this country during our stay!
Hey this is Alydia! Despite the fact that the plane ride was long and very uncomfortable, sitting next to Kallie the entire way we found something to entertain ourselves. Not only was the plane ride long and boring but it was crazy! I took one sleeping pill and I just could not stop laughing. Once we got off the plane we went strait to a bus and drove 3 hours to our hotel. It was so strange to see how little people have here and how much we have and yet we still complain, but not once have I heard someone complain who lives here.
Once we got to the hotel we got settled in for about 3 hours and then we had an odd and yet delicious lunch. I ate an egg that was like a boiled egg but it was in some weird sauce. The desserts and meat were delicious! I just wanted to keep eating it! Oh and the rice was so so so so so good!!! After we ate we hung out at the hotel for about 30 minutes then we loaded the bus to go to our volleyball game. I have come to the realize that many people around the world have certain perspectives about the USA. My team had a few experiences with these perspectives during the game. Not only did we get called on doubles but it seemed like every 10 calls we were out of rotation, even though we weren’t. We took the game to 5, and during the last game to 15 I received a yellow card. It may sound strange but I was so fired up when Courtney got the pancake and it went into the net and a girl on the opposite side of the net hit the ball through the net and I hit it over and we ended up losing the point. So I did not like that and so I started to talk to the ref, ok I was yelling at the ref. Even though I was totally in the right and he knew it too, he gave me a yellow card. By this I learned so much and I am really thankful I got to experience that.
And I would just like to end by saying that Im already having so much fun and to my dad, that conversation we had on the phone… BAM! I’ll talk to you later J LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!
Hey this is Janae! Brazil has been pretty amazing! The flight was pretty long but we kept our self preoccupied with movies, shows, and games. When we got off the plane we boarded the bus and got to see all of Brazil, the houses and all of activities that they do. When we got to the hotel we checked in and then we went downstairs at eat lunch. When we were done with that we headed over to go play some volleyball!
The youth fought hard but in the end they lost 2-5 games. Then the junior team played we won the first game, but we lost our intensity and we lost the second and third match. But we turned it around and left with a win! I hope to have fun and experience more of Brazil!
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