Goodbye Brasil - Jackie Witlock

We got up early and had our final breakfast of fresh fruit, fresh juice and cheese bread. We boarded our bus and headed to the Christ Statue. Rain made us change our plans. We could not ride the train up to the Statue because of a mud slide, but our tour guide Hugo worked out a deal with a company who transported us half way up the mountain. We met another group who took us almost to the top. The roads were very small and wound around the mountain. The van drivers were very good but a couple of us got a little car sick going up the steep hill. When we arrived we had to walk up ten flights of stairs to get to the statue. Of course Lynn and I had not been doing coach Berners work outs so it took us a little longer than it did for the girls. The statue was breath taking. It is not as big as the statue of liberty but similar in many ways. France gave it to Brasil as a gift and it's a wonderful way to end our journey. On the way down from the statue we had to switch van's and we came upon a deserted hotel. We thought it would be a wonderful place to have a wedding or some type of celebration. We found out that the hotel had sat empty since 1975 and someone had purchased it and was going to start to refurbish it in August. Of course we thought maybe one of the girls should have a destination wedding there so we could all go back to Rio.

While we were off having fun on our last day Ligia was trying to get her visa paperwork completed. She had to fly back to Sao Palo to try to get everything done. It was very stressful for everyone. We did not want to leave her behind because she had done everything the American Consulate had asked and had not received it. They had told her 5 working days and she applied on June 2nd. Thanks to Janice Wiersma - International Employment Manager South Dakota Board of Regents. Also, a big thank you to Senator Tim Johnson and his staff for helping. She arrived back in Rio to meet us at the airport @ 5:30. She is able to stay at NSU as the assistant coach with a work visa for the next three years.

I felt honored to go to Brasil with the Volleyball team. I work to help fund raise scholarship money for NSU Athletes. It was nice getting to see how well this group of girls represented Northern State University. They never complained about anything. They had to be up early to practice and lead clinics. They worked as a team and always made sure everyone was involved. I have 10 new daughters and a wonderful friend in Lynn Gilbraith.