Last Day in Sao Paulo

This morning was a lot the same as yesterdays only this time we had our coaching clinic at a private school. The kids who attend here must have a family income of less than 200 real’s a month. It was a huge eye opener for many of us to know that these kids cherish everything they receive since they don’t have much. Their enthusiasm to work with us was priceless. All of our Portuguese has definitely improved from day one because most of us were able to communicate much better without the need for a constant translator. Although, Ligia’s translating has gotten a bit mixed with having to switch back and forth between the two languages. In other words, when she tries to speak Portuguese to Murley, English is definitely still the best option.
Lunch was fabulous for our pre-game meal. A small café/grocery store served some delicious sandwiches. We liked to call it the Sao Paulo version of Kesslers. After lunch we had some time to choose what we wanted to do before our 6 pm match. Many of us packed for the fact that we got home rather late tonight and leave early for Rio tomorrow.Our Bus driver has been Awesome in getting us from place to place as well as parking in extremely small places. The hotel staff has been great as well.
The absolute highlight of the night was ending our game with a WIN in the 5th set. We had Ligia’s father, Orlando, as a coach from the stands motioning what strategies would work best. Penetrating our blocks seemed to be the most suggested from Orlando. The most exciting part of the night however was after the game. A player asked me if we could switch jerseys since we had the same number and to my surprise we were able to. Their entire team began bargaining items to switch, anywhere from shirts to shoes. They informed us how expensive shoes are for them and most of us left them with a used pair of volleyball shoes that to our surprise made them extremely Happy. We ended the night with Pizza at a nice restaurant close to the hotel and are now ready for our journey to Rio.