My cankles and I arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Tuesday after 19 hours of travel. After winding around lakes and through what looked like moss covered mountains, our bus stopped in front of the Everest Hoteis (Hotel)—a mere two minute walk from the beach. This may be one of the nicest hotels I’ve stayed in as part of USA Volleyball—clean rooms, clear water, and free intermittent internet. The food is great (though, it doesn’t take much for me, right?). I will say that my fave so far is the breakfast—the cereal, the MILK, the eggs. Simple stuff, I know—but they do it right.
Brazil is beautiful and so are its people. Boaters and runners and tai chi folks line the streets every morning as we wind our way to the practice gym. In some countries I’ve been, people generally blend together, like there is a distinct similarity that identifies them as Turks or Japanese, etc. In Brazil, however, I see mostly black or olive skin tones, but with many colors of hair and facial features, making it difficult to distinguish foreigners from locals.
I’m also hearing Pourtugeise for the first time. It reads and sounds a lot like Spanish (even some of the grammar rules are the same, like assigning male and female to words), yet apparently locals look at you like you’re crazy if you try to communicate in Spanish, or English for that matter.
Practice-wise, we have been in the gym four times already. Hugh has talked about this being a great learning experience for us as a group. That we expect to win, but we are also focused on getting better. We must expect the battle and keep our heads up and fight in adversity—something that didn’t happen today in practice.
We play Germany on Friday for our first match of the Grand Prix. Puerto Rico on Saturday, followed by the Olympic champs and home team Brazil on Sunday. Sweet. Three good teams to kick this battle off—how cool!
As for me, I’m taking it day by day, drill by drill. Today I got a little better, listened to a new song with Courtney on the bus ride and chatted with her about similar struggles we’ve experienced this summer. I’m so thankful for this day…
Ancora Imparo, people. [I am still learning]
Brazil is beautiful and so are its people. Boaters and runners and tai chi folks line the streets every morning as we wind our way to the practice gym. In some countries I’ve been, people generally blend together, like there is a distinct similarity that identifies them as Turks or Japanese, etc. In Brazil, however, I see mostly black or olive skin tones, but with many colors of hair and facial features, making it difficult to distinguish foreigners from locals.
I’m also hearing Pourtugeise for the first time. It reads and sounds a lot like Spanish (even some of the grammar rules are the same, like assigning male and female to words), yet apparently locals look at you like you’re crazy if you try to communicate in Spanish, or English for that matter.
Practice-wise, we have been in the gym four times already. Hugh has talked about this being a great learning experience for us as a group. That we expect to win, but we are also focused on getting better. We must expect the battle and keep our heads up and fight in adversity—something that didn’t happen today in practice.
We play Germany on Friday for our first match of the Grand Prix. Puerto Rico on Saturday, followed by the Olympic champs and home team Brazil on Sunday. Sweet. Three good teams to kick this battle off—how cool!
As for me, I’m taking it day by day, drill by drill. Today I got a little better, listened to a new song with Courtney on the bus ride and chatted with her about similar struggles we’ve experienced this summer. I’m so thankful for this day…
Ancora Imparo, people. [I am still learning]
