| Wolverines in Brazil In Conclusion -- Final Day Hello All Blog Followers! |
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For our last day in Brazil we had a little more freedom than we were used to. Some of us woke up early to go to the hotel pool on the roof of our hotel. The view from up there was amazing! Some people walked a block or two to the Copacabana beach. Vern and Claire ended up doing water aerobics in the four-foot deep pool on the roof. It was the temperature of bath water.
After we all were finished at our respective laying out areas we showered and packed to check out of the hotel. We went to meet Camila and Ju at the mall. Ju had her visa interview in the morning. Almost the entire team got manicures and pedicures. Although they were not what people are used to in the U.S. everyone's nails looked great regardless. We had about five hours to spend at the mall. Some people searched for suits, while Michelle and I tried to go in as many stores as we possibly could in the seven-floor mall.
We got to the airport in plenty of time to get through security, which took about three minutes total. It was sad saying bye to Camila and Ju. Although we will most likely be seeing both of them soon they were so much fun and helpful on the trip that we did not want to leave them.
Taken as a whole we accomplished what we went there to do! We won, we got better, we experienced a new culture, and we had fun!
| Cassie Petoskey |
Wolverines in Brazil
Wednesday, May 27 -- Day 10: Beach Volleyball and One Day Left
Dear Bloggers,
We have one day left in sunny Brazil. Today was an extremely eventful day in Rio de Janeiro. Everyone was relieved when the ants didn't follow Lexi to our final destination. We woke up at 7:15 to meet for breakfast and mentally prepared for our beach volleyball training session that was to come. Our bus took us beachside, where our instructors were anxiously waiting to kick our butts. Everyone rushed to get their sunscreen on and to get stretched out before starting warmups. The instructors, who spoke VERY little English, simply explained the warmups as "run". We split up into two groups and warmed up running and peppering before we started drills. One thing for sure was that it was HOT. We got to play doubles, and partners Mark and Leisa flashed back to their glory days as they handed it to us on the court. About half of the team had mixed feelings about the beach volleyball game going into our experience today, but we were all pleasantly surprised to find that we were not as bad as we thought! After having the sand hosed off of us multiple times, we ended our time on the beach with a refreshing dip in the ocean.
After lunch it was time for our all-day tour of Rio. We had a guide "Gill", who was super pumped to join us on our bus and tell us about this beautiful city. Our first stop was to see the giant statue of the Christ, one of the seven world wonders! We arrived at a train station where we took a train to the top of the mountain. We were graced with the presence of a samba band for our last few stops, and Michelle, Maggie and Juliana showed off their samba skills for the whole group. We got to the top of the mountain but still had 200-plus stairs to climb to get to the base of the statue. The scenery was BEAUTIFUL. We could see the entire city from where we stood. Besides a few cases of the fear of heights, everyone loved the view from up top.
We then finished out our tour with seeing the largest of the slums in Rio, as well as the multiple beaches designated for the attractive men and women, the beaches for gays and the beaches for the athletic. Some of the team and coaches went up Sugarloaf Mountain in a cable car, where once again, some feared the heights and stayed behind but enjoyed the local beach and shops.
Dinner was at the best pizza place in the area with more than 30 flavors. This was a momentous occasion for Michigan volleyball because we were allowed to have one slice of dessert pizza each, which was a "last dinner in Brazil" treat. We rounded out the evening with browsing through the miles of street vendors before we came back to the hotel due to some seriously tired girls.
One day left in Brazil. This trip has been amazing! Hope everyone has been enjoying our daily blogs. Well be back in Ann Arbor on Friday.
We came, We saw, We conquered.
Go Blue
| Claire McElheny |
Wolverines in Brazil
Tuesday, May 26 -- Day 9: Dancing in Rio
Wow! Looking back on other girls' blogs makes me realize how fast this trip has gone by!! We definitely have had a great trip. We have all been so lucky to be able to do as many things as we have. It has been an incredible experience, but many of us are getting antsy to head back to the states and get back into our normal summer routine.
In continuation to Maggie's blog, many of us went to a mixer with the Brazilian junior men's team Monday night. It was so funny because they spoke little English and wanted us to samba with them. Jupa tried to give us lessons, but honestly, we weren't too good. Our solution was to put on some "American" music and Michelle showed them how we do it! She has some serious moves!
Tuesday morning we kind of chilled, watched video and prepared for our match. We played well but lost 3-0. We fought hard but, unfortunately, just came up short. Coming off of the tough loss, we were ready to head to Rio and have some fun. After an extremely delicious meal at the training center, we hit the road and got comfortable in our hotel.
Two more days of the Brazilian lifestyle and we are headed back to Michigan to enjoy our summers! Go Blue! :o)
| Jackie (Jackie Nissen) |
Wolverines in Brazil
Saturday, May 23 -- Day 6: Finally a Day Off
Oi (Hello) everyone! Juliana here, the official translator for the team.
Finally, we had a day off after five straight days of playing, traveling and exploring (not exactly me) Brazil. We woke up at 9:30 in Buzios (a beach in the state of Rio de Janeiro), ate breakfast at the Pousada (a house that is transformed into a hotel) where Vern (Veronica Rood) broke an antique chair, which made us question her sudden strength. Then, we got on our bus to our fun day!
Today was our boat tour day, but before getting on the boat we needed to stop to buy some sunscreen, especially for Michelle, who wore SPF 50. As soon as we saw the beach from far away we got so excited because the view was beautiful; the water was so blue and the sun was shining, we could not have asked for a better day.
After taking a few pictures we finally got on the boat with other people. There were Argentineans, Americans and Brazilians, all on the same boat enjoying the view, but cultures collided when the bathing suits were brought out. Our team had a hard time getting used to the Brazilian bathing suit, and the Brazilian girls did not like the American dippers.
The boat took off and the tour guide started explaining the places around, but safety always comes first; he explained how to use the "jacket life". After a couple minutes on the boat, it stopped and we all jumped in the water, literally the entire team. When we came back to the boat, we all took over the deck, and no one else could lay down there. Next stop was on an island, where we had to get in a little boat and a guy paddled our way to the sand. Half of the team went to the island and half stayed on the bus taking a nap while lying out.
At the beach we were all looking for food, and Lexi -- of course -- tried everything that was offered to her. The boat was about 50 yards away from the beach, and Cassie, Michelle, Camila (our tour guide) and I came back to the boat swimming; it was a great work out! A couple more minutes on the boat and our tour came to an end. We were all starving and went to eat right the way in this really good restaurant.
After eating we went to our Pousada to get our stuff: we moved to a different Pousada because our first one was infested with ants, and they were all over Alex's dirty clothes. We were all amazed with our new hotel, it is so pretty. We got accommodated in our new rooms, took a shower and left to go to Downtown Buzios. There, we were free to walk around by ourselves for about two hours.
Downtown was really cool with all sorts of different restaurants and stores where the girls went crazy buying Havaianas (Brazilian brand of flip flops). Also, Jackie, Cassie, Lexi, Vern, Maggie, Jenade and I all had Acai (a typical berry from Brazil), and they all loved it. We left at 10 from downtown and came back to the hotel, where we hung out in the lobby until about 11:30.
This trip has been so much fun for me! Even though my name is brought up every five minutes for help, I am so fortunate for being here with my team, explaining everything to them. I am glad they have the chance of seeing a little bit of Brazil; I am sure they understand me a lot more now.
| Juliana Paz |
Wolverines in Brazil
Friday, May 22 -- Day 5: Concrete Floor and an Autograph
Oi!
Hello from Brazil. We are now on our fifth day in team bonding paradise. Our day started off with a lovely wakeup call at 9 :30 am to have our first official breakfast of the trip! Michelle had somewhat of a turbulent morning, when she thought she had lost her passport. There was a moment when we were all worried that we were going to have to sneak her back to the U.S. in one of our suitcases. Have no worries, the passport was soon found and everyone could enjoy their fresh orange juice and hot coffee.
Next, was yet another trip to a mall: our third in five days. However, this time was different; some of the girls, including myself tried on and eventually bought authentic Brazilian bikinis. We now are fully prepared and will be looking our best on our beach days in Rio.
Then, we were off to our fifth and final game before our weekend off. The gym was different to say the very least. When we walked through the caged doors we expected to find what we had played in the past four times, but this was quite the contrary. After two flights of narrow stairs, we caught a glimpse of a spacious room, complete with a fireplace in the center. Then, to our left, behind another caged wall was the volleyball court. Everything about it seemed normal until we each took a step onto the floor. It was solid, hard concrete and Lexi and myself immediately began to wonder how it would feel to do the diving, rolling, and sliding that we are accustomed to.
The heartwarming twist about the rough floor was the fact that the team that we were playing, Fapi, had raised the money in order to paint the floor that beforehand had been extremely dirty. In comparison to the intense passionate words exchanged through the team the night before, this crowd welcomed us with open arms and actually treated us as celebrities. The younger girls waited after the game to get autographs from every single person on the team and made sure not to miss anyone, including our trainer, Jenade.
The little girls even provided some entertainment while we waited for our bus after the game was over. We played so many games, from hand clapping games to teaching us new Portuguese customs and words. This was a great way to wrap up the day and begin our seven-hour journey to Rio, our next destination. We are SO excited for a free day, which we will spend going boating and snorkeling in the ocean.
Hope for sunny weather for us tomorrow and GO BLUE!
| Sloane Donhoff |
Wolverines in Brazil
Thursday, May 21 -- Day 4: A Win and a Playground
It's day four on our lovely Brazil trip, and we only have a week left. Today we packed up our bags because today was our last day in Sao Paulo. We headed to a mall to get some shopping in and for lunch. While some of us stayed true to our adventuresome roots in terms of food, others found comfort in Subway and Starbucks. We all got a good laugh from how they spelled Cassie (Kessy), Maggie (Megi), and Jackie (Jake) on their Starbucks cups.
Then we headed onto the bus to travel through traffic to our match. While on the bus we played a couple rounds of Catch Phrase, which if you have ever played, you know it is always a great time. We arrived at the gym, which could only be described as an athletic resort, and walked around for a bit. The complex was absolutely beautiful, complete with a track, huge pool, beach volleyball, parrots, bushes in the shape of a hearts, and our personal favorite, a playground. To nobody's surprise, Lexi and Cassie were the first ones to start running around the playground. Don't worry though, Michelle and I could not leave them there alone so we decided to seesaw, which turned out to be a massive failure. Michelle is 5'4", and I am 6'4"...this does not add up to exciting seesawing.
After reliving our childhood, we headed to the court to watch another men's volleyball match. While watching, Lexi fell in love with No. 12, and successfully met him and got a picture with him (and a good portion of the team) after we played. Get it girl!
We warmed up for our match with some stretching, and even got creative and did some jump rope! The team we played was very good, but we won, improving our record to 3-0. We won pretty impressively in the first two games, lost momentum in the third but came back and won game four. Mark said not only was it or best match of the trip, but the best match of the spring. What we did not know was that during the match, there were some words exchanged across the net between the passionate Brazilians, which explained why Juliana looked very angry most of the match. I don't know exactly what was said...but after seeing the fist pumping and chest pounding the first night, I can imagine that they are not suitable for printing here!
After a long day, we showered up, got some more tasty pizza and headed onto the bus for the ride to the next city. We played "The Question Game" (where we ask random questions, both deep and silly) and had long and deep talks about everything from what we would be doing 10 years ago to the color of our mood. Great team bonding as always! I wish I had any idea how to spell the name of the city we're in for the next 24 hours, but spelling (along with foreign language) is not my strong point. When we arrived everyone just wanted to relax. I took the time to upload more pictures to Facebook (I am the understood team photographer) and have successfully uploaded 4 albums so far.
Now off to bed to rest up for another big day!
Tchau!
| Fletch (Courtney Fletcher) |
Wolverines in Brazil
Wednesday, May 20 -- Day 3: A Win and a Comedy Routine
Hello everyone from sunny San Paolo, Brazil.
Day four of our trip started off a tad shaky but of course got better as the day went on. We woke up around 10:30 and headed to brunch. No chicken hearts for me today! We ate at the same restaurant as we did on the first day and again, it was delicious. I suppose when you are in a foreign country and find something you like, it is a good plan to stick with it. After brunch we went to the airport across the street and exchanged American dollars for Brazilian reals. Camila (our guide) was with us to make sure us American girls knew what we were doing. I don't know what we would do without her!
At 2 p.m. we headed to our match. We played a younger club team again today. We totally underestimated them. We struggled a bit in the first game but pulled it together throughout the rest of the match, winning four! This wasn't our prettiest match, but we did get another win and some sweet Brazilian t-shirts and flags.
After our match, we were STARVING! We were headed to a men's club volleyball match and weren't planning on eating until after it was finished, but Jupa used her gorgeous looks and fluent Portuguese to convince Camila food is the first priority. Well played Jupa! Her charm and expertise scored us sandwiches and chips. Bower took over eating all the chips and Michelle stole Leisa's Cheetos.
After our snack, we finally made it to the match. These guys had mad hops! Some would think they had watched Claire's skills tape.
After the match we went for dinner...yes our second dinner. We went for a pasta this time and again, it was yummy! Cheese ravioli...you can never go wrong. The bread at the restaurant was amazing and anyone that knows our team, knows that bread is one of the highlights of any dining experience with us. I think our team went through multiple loafs. Sloane may have eaten one all by herself.
After dinner, Michelle decided to show us her stand-up comedy act in the bus ride back to the hotel. She commented on Fletcher's great play this afternoon and Leisa's reply to her super kill with "FLETCHER I'M NOT IMPRESSED." This kill just wasn't good enough! She wanted a BLOCK instead! Claire quickly wanted to get back to the hotel room to take a shower...Claire knows why.
Thanks so much for following us on our journey and make sure to check beck tomorrow for day five of our Brazilian adventure! GO BLUE!
| Karlee (Karlee Bruck) |
Wolverines in Brazil
Tuesday, May 19 -- Day 2: A Win and a Small Shirt
Hello again everyone from another successful day in Brazil!
We woke up around 10:30 and went to an early lunch where the food was wonderful. For lunch, we went to another great Brazilian steak restaurant. There is a delicious salad bar and the waiters bring around various types of meat for us to try. After lunch, we headed to our match in Sao Caetano. The gym was beautiful. It had the feel of playing outdoors. The team we played was a bit younger than Monday night and, YES, they did refrain from putting their hands in the air and beating their chests when they got a kill.
Our team has done a fabulous job of finding the "fire" within and celebrating loudly when we get a block or kill. We won the match 3-0, but Mark and their coach decided to play a 4th game for fun :) We won that too! The team also exchanged t-shirts with us. Cassie's was a TAD too small. Leisa said it may not even fit Brady (her oldest son).
When the match was over, we headed back to the hotel to shower and get all dolled up! Yes everyone, we do own NON-ADIDAS clothing. Hard to believe, I know. We headed out to a nice Pizza dinner. The pizza here is not comparable to American pizza. It is DELUXE! Luckily Maggie (our celiac girl) was able to find something good to eat as well. The meat, as I said earlier, is wonderful. After eating, we all paid a visit to the bathroom and soon realized that in nice restaurants in Brazil, they have complementary dental floss and Listerine available. It blew our minds.
After dinner, Camila (our tour guide, food orderer and translator) took us to a club in Sao Paulo. A famous Brazilian band played and our team showed off our dance moves. Gabe and Mo made an appearance on the dance floor, but it was Michelle who was the star of the night. Camila was also nice enough to hook us up with two of the nicest looking body guards in Brazil. They stood around us as we danced and made sure that we were safe! It sure was a treat! Apparently, we get to see them again Thursday :) After dancing the night away we returned back to the hotel and fell asleep quickly.
This has been an amazing journey already and we are only a few days in, so make sure you check back to the site daily for more updates!
GO BLUE!
| Meg (Megan Bower) |
Wolverines in Brazil
Monday, May 18 -- Day 1: A Win and a Stuck Bus
Today, we had our first taste of Brazilian food! We were all amazed by the seemingly endless amounts of what we called "Meat on Sticks". We quickly abandoned our American need to know exactly what we were eating and just enjoyed the phenomenal mystery meat. Some of us more adventurous volleyballers even said "si" to the chicken heart! (gotta try everything once)
After we all had copious amounts of meat we walked back to the hotel and almost everyone succumbed to food coma. We got on the bus to go to the "circle gym" four hours early because of the awful traffic in Sao Paulo. Most of us used this opportunity to further recuperate from the redeye flight. We stopped at a nearby mall because we had an extra hour and the people working in the food court got a kick out of helping the Americans. We went shopping and the saleswomen were so helpful we almost missed the bus. They only let us leave the store after I physically acted out what would happen to us if we were late and we learned how to say "We promise to come back tomorrow" in Portuguese.
After all the excitement of the day it felt good to step into the familiar territory of a gym and locker room. We waited for the Futsal game to be over. (It's like soccer but indoors and the court is smaller.)
We warmed up and began our first Brazilian volleyball match in the gladiator like caged dome. The first game started slowly and we had very little rhythm. Every game got more and more passionate and emotional. SHOUT OUT JULIANA!
After battling the whole night we won in five. Leaving the arena was a serious ego boost as two body guards told us to stick together and not take any pictures. A group of 20 boys surrounded our bus and kept saying they loved us. We all realized our Beatles moment was coming to an end when the bus pulled out of the parking lot until we got stuck in a hole. The boys showed off their multitasking by filling the hole with stones and trying to get our numbers. The longer we were stuck the more creative their suggestions became from skype to multiple marriage proposals. Finally, with our whole program huddled in the front of the bus, the boys pushing, and everyone praying the bus driver gunned it into first and we rumbled out. About the time the last boy stopped running alongside the bus it set in how tired we all actually were.
We relived the game the whole bus ride home to the sirens of our escort. After the shortest meeting in Michigan volleyball history we were told tomorrow we would get to sleep in until 11. Everyone passed out in record time and was left to dream about how we could possibly top the day one we all just experienced.
Go Blue!
| Lexi Zimmerman |
Ps - Shout out to my mom dad and sisters who I haven't talked to since I left. :( I made it to Brazil safely love you!
Wolverines in Brazil
Sunday, May 17 -- Getting There
Hello everyone! Michelle McMahon checking in from day one of our trip to Brazil. I have been picked to give the first player update on how the trip is going, so I want to start by telling you about what we have done so far.
We left Sunday for our 12-day journey in Brazil and I cannot tell you how excited and fortunate I am to be a part of this trip! We left from the tennis center to the airport around 3:15 PM. The bus ride was a blast as usual our team is pretty entertaining I have to say. Everything went smoothly at the Detroit airport except for one little thing; Lexi walked into the men's bathroom by mistake today, and when the man walking out informed her of this "misunderstanding," she was more concerned as to why this stranger was talking to her, while she was walking into the wrong bathroom, instead of realizing what she was doing. It was pretty hilarious.
Another adjustment for myself and the majority of my teammates was the loss of connection with our cell phones as we went into Brazil. That means no texting and no calling; I'm sure our parents are happy about it though ;).
Our flight to Brazil had a layover in Atlanta. We arrived in Atlanta safely, but the plane ride from Atlanta to Brazil was looooong. It is a good thing Cassie was my travel buddy because she kept me entertained the whole way. Megan, Cassie and I quickly made friends with a local Brazilian boy on our flight. He asked who the star on the team was, and right away I pointed to Megan. She's a star out there :).
We are really fortunate to have Jupa (Juliana) on the team and on this trip with us. She began her translation duties immediately when we arrived in Brazil this morning. She read us all the signs and told us where we needed to go; she's great.
Well, I can't wait to see and experience the many things that are to come on this trip! We will be updating all of you following our blog daily as a different player will recount the day's events for you. You can also follow what we are doing on our new team Twitter account that the university has set up for us. It is a great way for you to stay in touch and follow all of our fun from a distance.
Until next time, Go Blue!
| Meesh (Michelle McMahon) |
Wolverines in Brazil
Thursday, May 14 -- Preparation
Today is our last day of official practice before we head out on our Brazilian "World Tour"! We have had seven practices over the last 10 days in preparation for the trip. It has been very strange to be practicing after finals are over and school is out, but the team has handled it very well. We have had a couple of injuries during the training session, but it looks like everyone should be good to go once we get to Brazil. The latest injury was Juliana Paz, who broke her pinky in practice on Monday. It initially looked like she was not going to be able to play on the trip, which would have been really unfortunate since she is from Brazil. Luckily, we just found out today that it appears she will be able to play for most of the trip as long as we can provide great support and padding for the finger. I know the entire team (coaches included) are very excited to get out of our gym and play someone with a Portuguese accent. We depart on Sunday evening and land in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Monday morning.
Hopefully the team will have good energy after spending 11 hours traveling because we have our very first match on Monday afternoon! We had originally planned to have a practice on that day to knock the rust off, but the plans were changed and I know the team would much rather compete than practice. It will be very interesting to see how we handle the quick turn-around!
In addition to that first match on Monday, we will play five matches in five days in and around Sao Paulo. We don't have a great idea of what level the teams we will be playing are, but Camila, our tour planner, has assured us they will be HIGHLY competitive! That is our number one goal for the trip, to compete against the highest level teams possible.
After the five-day gauntlet in Sao Paulo, we head to Saquarema, which is the location of the Brazilian National Team training center. We are staying at the center for three days and play two matches against some form of their Junior National Team. I have heard that this training facility is beautiful, so I can't wait for us to get there. With volleyball being one of the highest-regarded sports in Brazil (right behind soccer), they put a great priority on their national teams. Ironically, the two top teams in both men's and women's indoor and beach volleyball in last year's Olympics were the U.S. and Brazil!
Our two matches in Saquarema will be our final indoor games. We will conclude the trip with a couple of days in Rio de Janeiro. While in Rio, we will get to see some amazing sights, do a little shopping and we will have one day of volleyball on the beach with some of the top professional players from Brazil. That will be very interesting to see how our players adapt to the beach game. A couple of our players have some experience in the sand but not many!
I hope you will follow along with our trip on this daily blog. We are planning to have a different player do an entry each day to update everyone on how that particular day of the trip went as well as updating our newly established team Twitter account. Keep checking back and follow along in our adventure.
GO BLUE!!
Mark Rose
