USF Volleyball Brazilian Tour=

[E.T.]

DAY 4

http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=36667&SPID=2920&DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=899165

[E.T.]

DAY 5

http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=899614

The girls are having fun !

[E.T.]

DAY 6

http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=900131

[T-Man]

Brittany,  who wrote the day 5 blog is a former student at my HS... She has a great mom and dad (both successful coaches in Pasco county).. It is great to see her doing so well.  

[E.T.]

Day 7

http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=900602

Alli Arbogast:

I want you all to know that Brazil is AMAZING!!

Yes it is !

[E.T.]

DAY 8

http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=900742

What a wonderful opportunity this is for the girls in so many ways.

[E.T.]

USF Volleyball Brazilian Tour Blog: Wrapup By Johari Williams  

Courtesy: USF

Release: 05/29/2007

SAO PAULO, Brazil (May 29, 2007) – If you thought the other blogs were amazing wait until you get a load of this one! To quote the famous quartet Boyz II Men, “It’s so hard to say goodbye,†but luckily our Portuguesa has picked up so we’ll just say tchau.

Our final day in Brazil began exactly the same way as the previous nine days – with me opening my eyes at 7:30 a.m. The only difference was instead of awakening to the peaceful sight of my roommates sleeping, I awoke to Juliana yelling in Portuguesa because she had a calf cramp. It was at that moment that I knew it was going to be a great day!

After devouring the delicious Brazilian breakfast, the group boarded the bus and headed to Club Pinheiros. Our final match of the trip was against one of the top club teams in the country. It was incredibly competitive. We split the first two games but they came out on top in the third due to a little extra muscle power.

After a quick lunch at the club, we headed to the mall to grab last minute gifts. Once I found the perfect pair of sandals for my roommate, I left...or at least I tried to leave but I ended up walking out on the other side of the mall. I stepped out into a whole Portuguese world that I was totally unprepared for. Thankfully, I found Coach Claire (Lessinger) wandering the mall and she directed me back to the bus. From there, we bid adieu to Brazil and headed to the airport.

The Summary

Well the trip started out a little rough with everyone getting off the plane in Rio De Janeiro (pronounced He-o) looking a hot mess. As the week progressed, the trip kept getting better and better. On our first day in He-o, we got pounded by waves and then followed that up with a tour of the national team facility. The facility was beautiful, the chefs were “muito bom†and the players weren’t too bad themselves.

Visiting Sugar Loaf was great for pictures but nerve wracking for those with fears of heights. Imagine two narrow mountains hundreds of feet in the air that look similar to the McDonald’s arch. Then imagine getting carried to the top of the mountains aboard a tram of sorts attached to a mucho thin wire. It was breathtaking at the top though.

Our time on the island of Ilhabela seemed like a dream getaway to a private lodge. We were like Amazon women taking boats everywhere and hiking mountains. Ilhabela is definitely a must see if you ever travel to Brazil. We strongly recommend comfortable footwear if you decide to find a waterfall.

Not to be outdone by the sights of Brazil was the amazing food. Stroganoff and guarana are now two of my favorite things EVER! I was seriously worried about Alli starving to death on this trip because of her “food phobia†but she seemed to be in heaven during meal times. The Alli Test is how we knew the food was up to par.

Obviously a different country brings with it different customs. I can’t say we liked them all, but I guess that’s why they call them customs. Eventually we grew accustomed to most of them. One of the things that threw me for a loop was the lack of clocks in hotel rooms. We were staying at some ritzy places so if they didn’t have clocks you can bet Motel 6 was working by the light of the sun. It was definitely a true test for my internal alarm clock. I guess it had to do with the relaxed atmosphere of the country. If you don’t know the time you can’t be late. I thought about using that excuse with Coach Claire if I happened to oversleep. NUNCA!  

Some of the other ones were the water in the little plastic containers with tinfoil lids. You used to enjoy those as child when they were filled with apple or orange juice. My personal favorite custom was the shot of café with a spoon that was definitely made for Thumbelina or Tinkerbelle. That’s still up for debate.

Somehow the team has a way of turning every situation into a dance party. After every single match, win or lose, there was no doubt that we would be dancing. Even a seemingly un-dance-worthy situation like taking a tram to see Cristo (Christ) needed a disco ball. A band got on the tram and next thing you know we were dancing.  

We took some time out from playing volleyball and experiencing Brazilian culture to visit an orphanage in Sao Paulo. This was many of the girls’ favorite aspect of the trip. Interacting with those kids and seeing them smile when we made fools of ourselves warmed our hearts. If I could have snuck some of them back to Tampa with me I would have. Unfortunately I didn’t have big enough luggage.

This was a trip that we will all remember for the rest of our lives. It gave us a chance to play volleyball at an extremely high level and to share it with the current and past Brazilians on the team. We are so grateful we had the opportunity to experience Brazilian culture and the available internet service to share it with all of you.

Tchau, Beijos

P.S. Eu gusto!  

:GoBulls

[E.T.]

I missed Day 10, the most important blog:

http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=919060

Please visit Task Brasil all children deserve to be helped all over the world, they didn't make the choice to come into this world poor.