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.

Rio IS beautiful by Lynn Gilbraith

Whenever we told someone we were ending our Brazil trip in Rio de Janeiro they said, “You will love it. It’s beautiful there.” Well, they were right. It is and we do!
We started our day with breakfast at the hotel, then walked down to the beach so the girls could participate in a beach volleyball clinic. They worked very hard for two plus hours. Jackie and I got tired just watching them! Haha
After the hectic pace of the trip, it was a treat for everyone to spend the day relaxing on the beach. Time was spent playing in the surf, sun tanning, reading, and people watching. The girls managed to get invited to participate in some beach sports - volleyball, futvolleyball and beach tennis. (Coach Daw, you would have loved it!)
Tonight we went to a street market near Copacobana Beach to do some souvenir shopping and had a great meal at a nearby restaurant for our “last supper” in Brazil.
It’s been fun being here with all of my NSU volleyball daughters. The Brazilian people have been great to us and I think part of that is due to how enthusiastically the girls have interacted with everyone we’ve met. They have really tried to learn more about Brazilian culture and speak Portuguese whenever they could. (And on top of that, those girls from the US play some pretty good volleyball, too!)
I feel really lucky. Lucky to have been part of this trip, and lucky to be going back to all that we have back in the States. We are truly blessed.

RIO BABY!!! By:Megan Gilbraith #1 :D

We left Sau Paulo early this morning after a tearful goodbye to Ligia’s wonderful parents, Orlando and Teresa. Breezing through a 45 second security checkpoint, we headed north to Rio de Janeiro on a very short plane-ride with a very short landing strip. (Some of us thought that we might not make the landing and end up in the ocean!) After getting off the plane we quickly realized that Rio and Sau Paulo are very different. Sau Paulo is very New York City-like and Rio is more scenic with beaches, greenery, and speedos.
The first thing we did as we arrived in Rio was drive straight to Sugar Loaf, a famous Brazilian scenic tour that takes place on three different mountains. Tourists and residents take gondolas from mountain to mountain to give people a fabulous view of Rio! We got a great view of the mountains, beaches, ocean, and could even see the Christ statue. Sugar Loaf was a great start to our time in Rio de Janeiro!
After Sugar Loaf we drove past the beaches that seem to go on for miles. Great news: our hotel is only a couple blocks from a beach! So after some twisting of the arms, we put on our swimsuits and headed to the beach. They are B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! The sand is so soft and the water is really nice. All kinds of activities took place on the beach as we arrived. Futbol (soccer), volleyball, sand tennis, futvolley, running, walking, swimming, body surfing, boogie-boarding, and people watching were some of the activities that the girls participated in today.
One of the highlights today was meeting our newest teammate, Paula! She lives about an hour and a half from Rio and made quite the effort to come meet us (she took a bus and a taxi to get to our hotel). It was so exciting to finally meet the new Brazilian on the team and all of us are ready for her to come to Aberdeen!
Day 1 of Rio is over, but many if not all of us are excited to get a day of beach in tomorrow...Go Wolves!

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.

Helping the Community of Sao Paulo

This morning the team ran a volleyball clinic at a local elementary school for students ranging in ages from about 10 to 13. Most of the students there came from poverty and for some students the lunch they got at school was the only meal they got each day. The gym at the school was outdoors and very run down. Although it was difficult to communicate with the students, many of them were very enthusiastic about learning both the language and the skill of volleyball. Our team broke up into groups of two and taught skills of our own position. After the clinic, were took pictures with the students and signed autographs. All of the students were very excited to get their t-shirts and volleyballs signed by the team and you could tell that it was a very good day for them. It was also a very good day for us. Running the clinic was a very eye opening experience for out team. The school was very grateful for our time but we were even more grateful for the opportunity to experience something so great.

Later, we had lunch at a restaurant near our hotel and then relaxed for a little while before out game. Our four o’clock match was in a very nice community. We played a 17’s and 18’s club team and won all four sets.

Ahhhhh Sao Paulo! By: Claire Kopfmann #7

Hola! Today started out on a good note because everyone got to sleep in! While some of us laid around, or went to get Starbucks, Jackie and Lynn went to a Gay Pride parade! It was the world’s largest gay parade, with one to three million people in it! They took some very interesting pictures, and had a blast.
After our relaxing morning we went to the Japanese Street Market. It was a giant blocked off area with a ton of little vendors. They were selling everything from jerseys, to bracelets, and even food. We all tried something new for lunch. There was shrimp on sticks, fried meats, and fried ice cream! We all had a great time and left with a souvenir.
Immediately after the market, we got on the bus to head to the soccer game. The weather was beautiful and the atmosphere was awesome. There was one fan section diagonally above us that stood the entire game and never once stopped chanting or yelling. We also made a little friend at the game that brought us treats and helped us learn their cheers and chants. He was fluent in both English and Portuguese so he could translate what the fans were saying and learn the player’s names. We were all cheering for Sao Paulo’s club team, whose colors were black, red, and white. Sao Paulo won the game three to one. After the game, most of us bought some Sao Paulo or Brazil jerseys that were super cheap.
For supper we went to a mall that we had visited a couple of days ago to eat. We ate at this Texas buffet that was super good. After a little ice cream for dessert, we headed back to the hotel! And...Happy Birthday Steve!

Relaxing in the Park by Whitney Morsching #18

After a long night of dancing at the club, we needed a day of restful activities! We started off the day with a bus ride to Cantareira Park, which is atop a mountain and overlooks almost all of Sao Paulo. We were going to hike up the mountain to see the views, but, with all the rain we had last night, there was a mudslide in the park. So we weren’t able to do the hike, which was a little disappointing. But I’m sure most of the girls were ok with giving our legs a little rest!

Then it was off to lunch, where we ate at, of all places… SUBWAY! All of us have been craving some sort of American food, but we still didn’t get to satisfy our ranch cravings (they didn’t have any!). It was nice to have a little reminder of home, even if we had to point out what we wanted through the glass instead of just rambling off our order.

After lunch we went to Ibirapuera Park, which I would describe as Sao Paulo’s version of Central Park in New York City. The park was beautiful, and so was the weather! There was a huge open grass area where there were tons of people playing soccer, Frisbee, reading, or just going for a walk. We sat there soaking up the Brazilian sun and just relaxing for awhile, which felt amazing! A few people started wandering around and exploring the rest of the park. Murley and Schriver even decided to get a little running in! Kaili and Jackie found a few (very good looking) guys playing volleyball and asked to join in. Soon enough, we had the whole team over there wanting to play. So we grabbed the guys and went over to an outdoor volleyball court and joined in with some more guys that were already playing there. We had an intense 4’s tournament going on after a little bit, with quite a few spectators! All of whom would cheer for our girls whenever they got a kill against the guys :) We had a ton of fun playing with some really good players and made some fun new Brazilian friends. Oh, and everyone got a good laugh when I tripped over the ropes holding the net up... thanks guys!

Dinner tonight was amazing! We went to an extremely upscale mall to a pizzeria buffet. It was just like the steakhouse we went to our first night in that the waiters would bring you all the different kinds of pizzas. Once again, we thoroughly enjoyed the hint of American food, but it definitely had Brazilian flavor. The best pizza in my opinion was the chocolate dessert pizza with coconut and white chocolate on it… amazing! Needless to say we all came back to the hotel nice and full!

Hope all is well back home… we miss you!