Tag Archives: Brazil

Behrend: Last game

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The Penn State-Behrend men’s basketball team is Brazil. Dom DiVito blogs:

After an early check out on Sunday morning we were off to play our last basketball game of the trip. When arriving to the gymnasium we knew we were in for a competitive game since the court was better kept than most in Brazil. The team we were facing was the best team we have faced thus far. We were extremely excited and ready for the challenge. The fans were surprisingly very loud and were very appreciative towards both teams.

Although we came up short in our game, it was a great learning experience for us and it will really help our team for our upcoming season.

Day 5

We received a shirt and postcards from the opposing team so we tried to make sure every player received some of our Behrend gear in return. It was tough to see a player from the other team wearing our jersey after he just scored 20 points against us … But that’s what it is all about. Russ (the big fella) got hooked up with a uniform that is big even on him.

After leaving the game we had a five hour bus ride to Paraty. During those five hours, most of us were in and out of sleep. If you couldn’t sleep you were lucky to see more beautiful mountains within the forest. Our highly skilled bus driver (Stocko) propelled us on the winding and dangerous roads without a concern in the world.

When arriving to the resort I was truly impressed with how nice the location was. There was a beautiful pool in the back with a river running behind the pool deck. If you are up early enough you can interact with the monkeys that jump from tree top to tree top over looking for bananas from the tourists.

The scenery in Paraty is a different experience from the other resorts we stayed at mostly because of the historical village. Little history lesson: Paraty was colonized by Portugal to be used to export the gold found deeper inland. The result is a beautiful village with stone roads and historical buildings at every corner.

Some of the buildings from the Historical Center were from the 1700s and the road remains the same as it was. Another unique intricacy about the village is that it is located at sea level. This means when the tide is high, some of roads in the historical village get washed with sea water.

I have been extremely impressed with the sites in Brazil and couldn’t expect more. Fernando told us that 90% of the wealth in Brazil is owned by 9% of the population. We have seen the eye opening poverty areas as well as the picturesque areas, and we appreciate the experience from both.

In Brazil: Case’s day off

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The Case Western Reserve men’s basketball team is in Brazil, and blogging about the experience as well. Brian Curth writes:

Our third full day of the Brazil trip provided a long day as we drove from Guaraja to Rio. The drive provided many eye-opening views as we neared Rio and drove through the slums or favelas throughout the city.

As someone who lived internationally before in Tokyo, Japan, I often feel I have a good perspective on foreign places and different cultures. However, what we saw today was like nothing I’d ever seen before and really put things into perspective for me and how fortunate I am to live in the United States and all the rights and privileges I have there. The amount of poverty and poor living conditions that thousands of people have to suffer through everyday really makes you count your blessings.

After we drove through these conditions and got closer to our hotel is when we saw the beach and the waves. The waves here seem significantly bigger and more powerful than those in Guaraja. Pat, our tour guide, warned us that it is extremely dangerous to go further than waist deep as the pull out to sea is quite strong. Once we reached the hotel we had a little bit of time until dinner and were able to walk around a little bit and shop in a market area with small booths aimed at tourists with various T-shirts and souvenirs.

After we finished shopping it was time for dinner, which was one of the best meals I think I’ve ever had. We were fortunate enough to dine in an upscale Brazilian steakhouse, which was all you can eat. As a team, myself included, we indulged to the fullest and tried various different types of steak and meat. We ate for quite a while until we could barely move, because it was so delicious. The different flavors and seasonings on the steak were plentiful and there was never a dull moment as the chefs continued to bring new cuts. As somewhat of a picky eater I decided to get a little bit adventurous and even tried a frog’s heart, which was certainly a different taste, but good nonetheless.

Along with the meats there was also a plethora of different side dishes to complement the different steaks. Fried bananas seemed to be a crowd favorite among our guys. Once we finally finished the chefs invited us back into their kitchen to see all the different steaks and cuts and how they were prepared.

Overall, for mostly a travel day today and no basketball, there was by no means a lack of activities as we arrived in Rio and continue our adventure in Brazil.

Behrend in Brazil: The ball is tipped

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The Penn State-Behrend men’s basketball team is Brazil. Dan Simpson blogs:

Our excellent tour guide, Fernando, rented us surf boards and took us to the nicest beach I have ever seen. He explained to us that the low tide created a path to an island and consequently created another beach. It was neat having ocean in front of us and behind us. So we crossed the path to the island to climb up a hill, which we all expected to be easy. Come to find out, it had steep slippery rocks and wet dirty paths. I thought for sure one of us was going to wipe out, thankfully no one did. A couple courageous individuals (myself not included) kept venturing to the other side of the hill. The hill allowed us to see the city we were staying in and a breathtaking vantage point on the ocean.

To cap off the night we played at a gym in the city of Cubàtoa. Outside of the building there was a banner advertising for the game with Penn State Behrend E.U.A on it. It was neat to see, and we knew we were going to have a fun environment. The second biggest television station filmed our game and conducted interviews with coach and some players. All throughout the game there were kids and even adults lined up behind our bench asking for our names. We didn’t know if we should talk to them or not for fear that coach wouldn’t approve it during a game. Once the game ended, we spent the next thirty minutes being swarmed by kids. Justin has been a crowd favorite (maybe because he handed out silly bands). During that time I approached a player on the other team and he wanted to trade me a futbol jersey for one of my Behrend shirts. I was shocked he wanted to do so, but I made the trade.

We won the game, but the atmosphere made the experience something we will never forget. Fernando (our guide) thanked us and told us how thankful the city is to have us play and impact them in a positive way.

Behrend catches a wave in Brazil

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The Penn State-Behrend men’s basketball team is Brazil. Chris Thorsen blogs:

The second day was a very exciting and eventful day. We started our day off with a great breakfast at our hotel here in Guaruja. The breakfast is very similar to our types of breakfasts in the U.S. except down here they also have some desserts for breakfast, so we helped ourselves to some chocolate cake and other pastries.

We then went to the beach and were treated to our first surf lessons ever. It was a great time. The instructors we had were really cool and they all wanted us to succeed at riding a wave. Some of us were surprisingly good at it right away and others it took awhile to get the hang of, but eventually all of us were able to stand up on the board.

Next, we continued with another great lunch at a restaurant down by the beach. After lunch we headed to the city of Santos. To get there we had to take a ferry. However, on this ferry people just drive their cars right onto it and you have the choice of either staying in the car or getting out and standing on the boat. So of course we got out and stood on the ferry and took some nice pictures.

The next part of our day was very exciting. We went to a school where Brazilian children try to learn English and we assisted them in their learning. We split into groups and all of them had some questions prepared for us. Their English was a lot better than we thought it was going to be. They understood a lot of what we said and they spoke it with no problem. It was very nice to interact with them and learn things about how their lives are here, and it seemed like they enjoyed learning about our lives back home also. They were enjoyable to talk to and it was a great experience for all of us.

Brazilian school children

Finally, we ended the night with our first game versus P.R. Grande (a semi-professional team or “club” team here in Brazil). It was a very exciting and intense game. We ended up winning 73-71. Everyone on our team contributed and played well. There were some younger fans there watching and enjoying what they were seeing. After the game, we gave each player on the other team a set of Penn State Behrend playing cards. They were thankful for our gift and a few of them spoke English and were very nice to talk to.

Getting back on the bus many kids surrounded us and were telling us congratulations and some even wanted us to take pictures with them. We embraced all of the attention and tried making all of the kids happy. So all in all, day number two here in Brazil was a very adventurous and exciting day.

Case in Brazil: One day later

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The Case Western Reserve men’s basketball team is in Brazil, and blogging about the experience as well.

A nine hour flight isn’t bad, right? No, not at all. The nice thing going into nine hours on an airplane, was that the flight was overnight. A time where we were supposed to be sleeping, we would be able to sleep on the plane. When we arrive in Brazil, we would have our night’s sleep and the day ahead of us. A pretty good plan, if it had worked out.

Upon our arrival in Washington, D.C. to catch our connecting flight to Sao Paulo, we charged through the airport to make it to the gate in time. We were cutting it close making it to the gate for our 10:30 p.m. connecting flight. Up on the board the time remained 10:30. There was a slight difference nobody noticed as we thought we were racing against the clock. The little a.m. at the end of 10:30. This was no typo. Due to undisclosed reasons, our flight had been canceled for the night. The 10:30 a.m. flight would get us to Brazil at 9:30 p.m. with a one-hour time change as we are traveling to the east. Day one of Brazil, down the drain.

Looking around, while the loss of the day was disappointing, everyone was still content. I mean, here we were, on our way to Brazil, anticipating the amazing experience that lays ahead. Everyone has taken the change of plans in stride. We were put up in a fairly luxurious hotel, given meals, and now, flying 3,000 feet above South America. And, apparently South America is much larger than I have ever realized, for we have six hours left to go until we arrive.

Oh well. That’s all part of the game. Plus, it is quite entertaining to see an entire group of guys, all well over 6 feet tall, squish into their plane seats, and today’s practice was slated!