Monthly Archives: August 2013

Augie: Women sweep Brazil

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With their socks.The Augustana basketball teams are heading to Brazil this week and will be blogging on the trip. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Kevin Schlitter is blogging for the men’s team.

Well we’ve done it again!

We’ve managed to go undefeated here in Rio and had quite the time doing it. Today we played a game that was full of unselfish, team basketball. I think we can all say we’ve made huge strides while we’ve been here and it has been a great experience!

Yet again the girls we played were full of fun and welcomed us with open arms. Today, instead of exchanging shirts, many of the Brazilian players wanted our socks. Although many of us had just played in them and they were definitely smelly and sweaty, the Brazilian players wanted to give us jerseys for our socks because they can only buy white socks in Brazil and many of us had black or navy that we wore. It was a bit different and I won’t lie: I feel bad for giving them my socks because they were not something I should let anyone else touch, especially after a game. But, in good fun we exchanged laughs about the smell and sweat and they assured us that they were a wonderful gift!

Tonight we will head to a traditional Brazilian steakhouse where we will have quite the traditional meal and we will of course celebrate our three wins and the time we’ve spent here.

Tomorrow we will head to the beach bright and early to watch the sunrise and take in whatever we can of this wonderful city. I’m sure it will be another one of the great things that we get to experience while here. Then, tomorrow night we will head back to the United States. First, we will fly from Rio de Janeiro to Miami and then back to Chicago.

The time has flown, but it has been anything but wasted. We can’t be grateful enough for the opportunity we’ve had to come to Brazil and see some amazing things!

Augie: The view from up here

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GroupThe Augustana basketball teams are in Brazil this week and are blogging on the trip. Kevin Schlitter 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.

The day started overcast, but the views we saw made it seem like a bright day.

Sugar Loaf Mountains in two words is “simply breathtaking.” We started off zipping up the world famous cable cars that can be seen in James Bond’s movie Moonraker. The ride up was a little unsettling for most of us seeing how the cars swayed so much on a windy day.

Once we made it to the first mountain we were amazed with the views of the city of Rio de Janeiro and more importantly, the several beaches and mountains in the background.

But we weren’t done just yet.

Another cable car ride brought us even higher into the sky where it seemed like we could see for hundreds of miles. A great team picture at the top and then it was straight down on solid ground.

After the mountains we did a little shopping at the international market where they were selling everything from t-shirts to earrings to even ‘love sacks’. Hundreds of vendors flock the square right off Ipanema Beach every Sunday. A brisk windy walk back to our hotel and it was right back to the beach where there were the biggest waves I have ever seen in person. These waves had to be at least 15 feet high.

At first only a few brave souls wondered out to take on the beasts but as time passed more and more came in. Coach Giovanine’s wife was talking to us about how someone’s bathing suit was bound to come off with how strong the waves were. Sure enough, the words were barely out of her mouth and Ben Ryan’s bathing suit showed up right in front of me!!!

Dinner tonight was at a Churrascaria or Brazilian steak house which is famous down here. We ate and ate and kept on eating until we physically could not fit anymore. Later tonight we plan on heading down the beach to another local night market in search for souvenirs.

Tomorrow will be my favorite day when we visit Cristo Redentor, or Christ the Redeemer statue. We finish the night by playing a very tough C.R. Flamango team which beat Kansas State last summer.

Augie: Shopped, then dropped

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Shopping.The Augustana basketball teams are heading to Brazil this week and will be blogging on the trip. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Kevin Schlitter is blogging for the men’s team.

We’ve definitely shopped until we’ve dropped.

Today we spent our morning shopping at a little market in Ipanema, which is about a 45 minute walk from Copacabana, where we are staying. While we shopped and browsed throughout the morning, we even got to see some of the guys from the Augustana men’s basketball team. It was fun to get to see people we know in a place where not many speak English or know who you are. We exchanged waves and short conversations and then went about our day shopping.

Clearly we enjoyed the shopping a little bit more than the group of guys considering we were there for about three hours.

After getting a lot of souvenirs and fun gifts for ourselves, we made our way to a restaurant called Banana Jack, where we had lunch. It was a really cool burger place with a jungle theme. We ate there and then hailed cabs to give us rides back to the hotel.

For now we are going to relax and get off our feet so that we can prepare for our third and final game tomorrow here in Rio. We are setting out to get win number three on this trip!

Augie: Time to go shopping

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The girls. And Ipanema.The Augustana basketball teams are heading to Brazil this week and will be blogging on the trip. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Kevin Schlitter is blogging for the men’s team.

Today’s our free day, so naturally we are going to the beach and going shopping!

Our guide, Joseph, and his wife, Roberta, are going to take us to the market at Ipanema, which is supposed to be one of the best and biggest markets in Rio. We are all hoping to get the last of our souvenirs and presents for everyone back home.

Then, we’ll do the typical beach day with fun in the sun and the waves. Hopefully it gets a little sunnier because it is looking a little gloomy outside right now. Tonight we’ll find a place for dinner and then tomorrow we’ll play our last game.

Our time is winding down in Rio and it’ll soon be time to leave, so we are looking to have the last of the fun that we can here before heading back to the States on Tuesday!

Augie: Living the nightlife

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Dressed upThe Augustana basketball teams are heading to Brazil this week and will be blogging on the trip. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Kevin Schlitter is blogging for the men’s team.

So last night we went to Lapa which is similar to the District of Rock Island, but much bigger. Lapa is often a dangerous place because of all the nightlife, but we stayed safely with our guides, Joseph and his wife Roberta, and were able to sit casually around a table and experience the area.

Most people in Rio don’t go out until about midnight and stay out until 4 a.m. We were there from about 8-11, so most people weren’t out yet, but it was more about getting to see the nightlife and experience the true Brazilian social scene.

We’ve now settled back at the hotel after a long day on a boat. Today we took a tour of the islands off the coast of Brazil by boat. First we took about a two and a half hour bus ride to get to the dock where we got on the boat. Then our group and some others got onto the very large boat and headed across the water to the different islands.

We got to stop three times while on the boat. The first stop let us jump off the boat for some swimming while surrounded by lots of fish and the beautiful sun. The second stop was at a beach where we got to get off, take pictures, and see an old cathedral that was located on the island. The final stop was the longest and included our traditional fisherman’s lunch.

The food different than anything we had eaten, but judging by how much everyone ate it seemed to be pretty delicious food. After a long day in the sun, we finally took the trip back to the dock and finally a bus ride home. Now we’ll hang out by the pool, possibly order some pizza and prepare for a free day of shopping and the beach tomorrow!