The Augustana basketball teams are in Brazil this week and are blogging on the trip. Mark Roth is blogging for the men’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team.

What an unbelievable time for the Augustana basketball program. After about a 10-hour flight from Chicago to São Paulo we made it in one piece. Dan Jurgutis overcame his anxiety of long plane rides and Tayvian Johnson took the first flight of his life.

On our way to the hotel in Jundiai we got caught up in traffic in São Paulo. With 15 million people in the city of São Paulo we were able to see how busy the city can be. Just by looking out of the bus we could see the change in culture between the United States and Brazil. The graffiti in Brazil seems to turn into art on the pavement surfaces and there are many outdoor soccer complexes. We are used to seeing basketball courts or baseball fields built for kids to play on. Here it is clear the soccer is the main sport of Brazil.

After a brief session at the hotel pool in our Speedos, we took off for our first game. It was a great feeling to be playing with each other after spending so much time competing with each other in practices and open gyms. We played in front of a small crowd in an “any place, any time” style of game. The crowd came to life on a few dunks by Alex Dziagwa (above) and we were able to play as a team very well. (Augustana won 107-71.)

After the game, we ate a pizza restaurant; this was no American pizza however. With a wide arrange of toppings from potatoes and egg to dessert pizzas with coconut and ice cream, the waiters was bringing different pizzas to our table all night. They must have gotten the Augie basketball message of “stay together, keep coming” (with pizza that is)! We are going to get some rest and then get back after it tomorrow!