Girls on boat heading back to the mainland!

 Girls on front of boat heading back to the mainland!

 Leaving the Island!

 Leaving the Island!

 Sunrise in Rio!

View from our hotel in Rio!

God is great! I know you all thought that the blogs were done, however we decided to have one last hoorah. We started this interesting journey by leaving Ilha Grande. We all enjoyed the view of the blue water and surrounding island as we boated back to shore. Some of us were daring and sat on the front of the boat as it steered ahead for land. The whole team, saddened, boarded the bus and headed straight for the airport where our interesting night began.

We arrived at the airport and immediately went to check our bags. As it turned out we had to wait for the check-in to open so we sat around for over an hour waiting. In that time Kimmy found out she had ants in her bag and frantically went to the bathroom with Amy to shake out the clothes in her suitcase. After that we all started checking our bags, then found out that our plane needed to fuel up and take a pit stop at San Juan, Puerto Rico. Everyone was super mad because we would fly about 7 hours to there and 3 hours to Atlanta making it over a 10 hour trip.

After we sat at our gate (which was a bit of a challenge to find because everything was NOT in English) for a while before everyone boarded the plane. It seemed a bit old school compared to our flight here because the T.Vs were hanging from the ceiling with a giant flat screen at the front. As the flight took off it was a bit bumpy which caused some concern, but it was only some turbulence. Only after being on the plane for 40 minutes the captain decided to let us all know that we were having some minor problems and needed to head back to Rio. The problem seemed minor, but made us concerned for the mere fact that we need to head back to the airport. This issue had gotten worse because one of the flight attendants decided to act unprofessionally saying to some random man "This is an emergency and you need to take your seat. Would you want to be flying around in a broken plane?". So after that little comment lots of us started to panic thinking we were in trouble. Thankful we made it safely back to Rio.

All of us were clearly upset and exhausted after this incident because the flight ended up being canceled after sitting on the plane until 3:30 in the morning and we all just wanted to head home. Delta set up a hotel for all the passengers on the plane and told us to come back tomorrow. Turns out the hotel we went to was the 2nd best hotel in Rio. This place was BEAUTIFUL. We all settled in and went to bed after our emotionally and physically draining night. Some people ended up not going to sleep until the sunrise, but it was definitely worth seeing. It was very refreshing waking up and seeing the view from our rooms. The ocean looked huge. I'm pretty sure this was the nicest place we stayed all trip. Our lunch was so good with a variety of things to eat and fantastic desserts. Finally, we all got some sun from sitting up on the roof top pool where we also had the most perfect view of the "Christ the Redeemer" statue.

Coach and the head tour guide had been trying all morning to get us on a different flight because all of us were terrified to fly on that same plane. When it was time to leave the pool and go pack our things to head for the airport we found out that we were taking the same plane back to Atlanta. After that Hanny, Emmy and I headed downstairs to check out and wait for everyone. As we went to check out Coach was also down there doing the same thing. All of a sudden she got a phone call. It was the best news we heard all day. We were on a new flight with US Airways to Charlotte. The mood completely changed and everyone was so happy. All of us are so thankful for having an amazing Coach and all the work she put in, with the help of the head tour guide to get us home safely. Cya tomorrow Pittsburgh, Behrend Womens Basketball is coming home! :)

Natalie

Our tour guide Andrea!!!!!!

Some of the girls kayaking!!!

Farewell barbeque team dinner!!!

The motto of our trip has been "you only live once (YOLO)" and because of Grandpa Detsch's flashlight pens, we have survived. Our last day on this amazing adventure began by waking up to another delicious breakfast. Once we had some food in our stomach's and threw on our swim suits we jumped in the water. The tour guides on the island took us snorkling. We saw beautiful fish, sand dollars, huge star fish, some squids and even a sting ray. We were out in the Atlantic ocean for hours and never wanted to come back in. Before lunch some of us went fishing and some of us took a snooze to get our energy up for the rest of the day. Around noon we came in for lunch which consisted of vegetable lasagna, fish, rice, soup and fresh salad. After we fueled up again we were back in the water. Even though it has been raining since we arrived, it has never stopped us from having a blast. Some of the group jumped on the kayaks for an adventure while others went up to the "game room" and played poker and pool. The select few that went out on the kayaks paddled around a half mile in the pouring rain. We made it to a pier and a complete stranger helped us dock our kayaks and threw a ladder in the water and helped us to shore. He showed us that it was safe enough to jump off into the water. The group was mastering front flips, dives and crazy moves in the air until dusk. Once we made it back to our beach on our island we kissed the ground and celebrated our successful safe arrival home. To continue our celebration we ran and grabbed Coach, picked her up, and dragged her into the water with us (completely clothed and very surprised). We tackled each other into the water, threw coach into a couple back flips, and enjoyed each others' company. We also thought it would be a good idea to go grab one of our tour guides and toss him into the water with us. He taught us how to water cha cha dance! Since it was pitch black and getting colder we all finally got out of the water and were walking to our rooms to shower all of the salt water off of our bodies before our dinner. On our trek home, the power on the whole island completely shut off. Thankfully Emily's grandfather made us the flash light pens so we could run to check to make sure Ellen, Amy and Coach were safe in their houses! After a solid couple of minutes with the island completely blacked out the lights came on and we all got ready for our traditional barbeque dinner. The food we had tonight was absolutely phenomenal. We had amazing steak, potatoes, and everyone even tried a piece of cooked squid! Following yet another delicious feast we all sat together and had our team awards ceremony. To end our last night in Brazil we all learned some more Brazilian dances and sang songs at the top of our lungs! We all sat around watching diligently as the tour guide serenaded us with different songs. It got a little emotional knowing that our trip was coming to an end but we all ended the night with huge smiles on our faces. I can not even begin to put into words how amazing these past 7 days have been. Tomorrow we travel to Rio de Janeiro to hopefully see Christ the Redeemer statue (weather permitting) and to buy some last minute souvenirs to bring home. We have another 10 hour plane ride home and then we will all be back in our family's arms! We will see you all at the Pittsburgh airport on Wednesday!!

YOLO,
Aly Eagle #4

Boat ride to the island of Ilha Grande!

Team jumping off a platform at the beach! 

Some of the girls in the ocean! 

We are surrounded by other islands! 

Just when we thought our trip to Brazil couldn't have gotten any better.. it did. Most of us woke up around 9:00 a.m. after a great night out on the town in Paraty. We enjoyed another simple, yet tasteful breakfast poolside where WiFi was available so all of us dedicated daughters could contact our moms and wish them a very happy Mother's Day. Shortly after breakfast, we packed up and loaded the bus to make our transfer to Angra dos Reis where we hopped on a boat and headed to the island of Ilha Grande.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the staff of our resort and immediately enjoyed yet another scrumptious Brazilian meal of fish, rice, chicken, salad, and more. Although we were all stuffed to the brim from lunch, we could not wait another second to get into our bathing suits and into the ocean. Kimmy of course was the first to the water followed shortly by Sarah. The weather was not as cooperative as we had hoped for, but as usual, us Behrend girls made do with what we had.

Several of us took our chances with the canoe and kayaks to venture out along the shore of the island. It was quite the adventure. When we all had our fill of exploring, we got just about everyone to agree to jumping off a platform in the middle of the water, yards away from shore. Keep in mind it was pouring rain at this point. The owners of the resort thought we were crazy. Surprisingly, the ocean water was quite warm. Several of us continued to spend hours of our time in the water simply kayaking and swimming around. However, once dusk started to set in, we were warned by Bri to head back into shore since both dawn and dusk are prime feeding times for sharks. Apparently she's an avid Shark Week watcher, so we took her word for it and made our way back to waist high water.

We finally got all showered up after a long day of salt water and sand before eating our last meal of the day: steak, pasta, rice, etc. And for the rest of the evening, we will most likely be relaxing before another great day at sea. If tomorrow is nearly as fun as today was, we may never come back... just kidding!

Lots of love from Brazil :) 

Brittany Wilwohl

We took a tour of the city of Paraty today and had a wonderful tour guide!

We visited the city of Quilombo today and met some very generous people who will forever be in our memory. 

Day 5 in Brazil was another great day. First we got up and went to breakfast, which was the typical breakfast we've been having consisting of eggs, bread, fruits, cakes, and different juices. Then we traveled to Quilombo to learn about the history of the city. After our tour guide, Andrea, translated to us their stories we learned so much about this amazing group of people. It was started by three women and is now in the fifth generation and over all the years everything they do is still the same that those three women started. They all live very close to one another in a family. Once a daughter or son gets married they live in a house right by their mother and so on. After the tour and stories they made us an amazing lunch consisting of homemade chicken, mashed potatoes, beans, rice, and a fresh salad. It was all very delicious. Then we traveled back to our hotel in Paraty to have another tour of the city. Our tour guide was Chris, who spoke English, that was very good. He explained the history of the city and that they had all different churches for different people including blacks, poor, whites, and the slaves. Now there are a ton of shops and restaurants located in the city. The city is located right on the river and it is very beautiful. After the tour we went around and did our shopping, which was a little difficult with everyone barely being able to speak English and our lack of Portuguese knowledge we know. Then we met up as a team to eat dinner at the restaurant Nato on the main street. It was another awesome meal we had and probably one of the best in my eyes. People had steak, chicken, shrimp, rice, fries, and so much more. After dinner we came back to the hotel to chill for a little before going out as a team to have some fun out in the city Paraty. Keep reading to see how our last few days in Brazil go!

Hannah Novotny

Team photo with the second team.

Team photo with kids from the second clinic.

 

 

  

 Teaching the kids how to shoot.

Teaching the kids how to dribble.

We met the PSB's women's soccer team this morning before we left Sao Bento!

We took a final team picture in the tree house at our resort in Sao Bento before heading to our final clinic and game.

Day 4.
Today was another amazing day in Brazil. Many more pictures were taken all with memories that will last a lifetime. We started the day by welcoming Behrend's womens soccer team. They looked tired from there travels but both eager and excited to explore Brazil. We took a group picture with them by the pool , and then we departed to our second camp of the week. The camp today was just as exciting as the previous one. It was so fun teaching the kids basketball skills. They loved us and made us feel like celebrities!  We signed many more autographs and took many more pictures. After that, we had our second game of the week. It was a hard fought battle but unfortunately we came up short within the final minutes. The final score was 72-69. The style of the game was completely different than the first because it was very aggressive and physical. The atmosphere in the gym was unreal! We had everyone from Brazil cheering us on against their own country! It was crazy. We couldn't even hear ourselves think. After the game, we were told we were going to eat at local mall. We could not contain our excitement to eat some good ole' Micky D's. We then departed for our four hour trip to the city of Paraty. All in all it was a fun filled day filled with many new experiences!

Emily Detsch

Day 3 - Team photo at soccer game in Sao Bento!

Day 3 - Game Photo & Team Exchange 

Day 3 Sunrise!!

Go back.. Day 2 May 9, 2012

After a long day at the clinic and walking around the little town we are in, we decided to sit around at the jacuzzi and just relax for a little bit before bed. As we are all sitting, talking about how Brazil is basically heaven and nothing can get better than being here, we see a light come up over the mountain top. Not knowing exactly what it is we just kept on talking about Brazil and being here, the kids, how we are "famous" to them, and the feeling it gives us every time a kid runs up to you and asks for your autograph. We finally started to realize what was trying to peak over, the moon. Only in Brazil can you watch the moon rise over a picture perfect mountain top while looking at the millions of stars in the sky. That is how we ended Day 2 as a team.

Day 3 May 10, 2012

As the alarms go off at 5:21 am (Brazil time), we got up to go watch the sun rise, which was said to rise at 5:56 am (Brazil time). We all walked around to various spots to try to find the best view of the sun coming up over the mountains. After walking up a bouncing bridge to a tree fort to see the view, we realized the fog was overtaking the little town below. Looking around all you could see was the mountains peaking over the town and through the fog. Finally finding the perfect spot to see the sun rise, we waited and waited to see the sun come up. 6:30 am rolls around and still nothing, just a little bit of light coming up. It's here, it's 6:40 am and the sun is coming up. Nope! Wrong answer! A cloud comes across the mountain top to cover where the sun is just about to rise. Laughing and giggling about the situation, we waited a little longer. At 7:00 am it finally appeared over the mountain top and above the cloud. Erie's sunrise is absolutely beautiful, top 3 in the world, but being in Brazil and standing there, looking at the fog over the town and the picture perfect mountain tops, the sunrise was something you can't even put into words. It is something you have to see for yourself. BEAUTIFUL!

Later on in the day..

Not having any idea what, where, or even who we are going to play today, we pull up to a basketball court. To the right of us it is beat up and ragged. This is exactly what we were thinking it was going to be like, so we just kind of shrugged our shoulders and got excited to play, but it wasn't the court we were actually going to play on. No one looked to the left to see the gated in area. We pulled in to the place and everything was beautiful. There was a huge pool area to the right that was absolutely beautiful. Right next to that were their outdoor basketball / soccer courts. We go to walk into the court and as we walk in little kids are smiling and waving at us and running up to us. Once again the feeling is absolutely amazing. You would never expect this at home and when we come here we are celebrities. We walked into the court and it was a pretty sweet gym, something we were not expecting at all. All eyes on us warming up and little kids running up to us on the court we had to try to get ready to play our first game. The buzzer goes off and the game is about to start, but first we make a trade with the team. We each give each other a gift from our country / school. Something we have never done in America. It was a different, but cool experience. Game started and we ran up and down the floor playing 4, 10 minute quarters at a faster pace than we are used to. The Brazilian team we played was very scrappy, but extremely fun. After we finally got into our own "Behrend groove," we started to build the lead. Game over and we win 88-55. After we all shook hands and said "good game," the other team wanted to trade jerseys and t-shirts with us. It was an awesome feeling knowing another team wanted our "Behrend gear." Once again, an experience we never expected, but loved every second of it.

An hour and a half drive later, we get to dinner. We went to the same place as last night and the food was phenomenal again. After dinner, we all went back to our hotel rooms and showered and washed our jerseys as best we could. Then we loaded back up on the bus at 7:45 pm (Brazil time). We drove back down to the little town where we had dinner to go to an indoor soccer game. Well, somewhat like soccer, but with a smaller ball and only four people and a goalie playing at a time. We walk into the game and the entire town was there. The second we walk in people started whistling at us and running up to us. We are famous. To these people and these kids, we are famous and its a feeling we cannot describe. The soccer game was definitely an awesome experience. As we leave the soccer game more kids run up to us and ask to take pictures with us. Now back on the bus and finally able to catch our breaths, we make it back to the hotel. Now its down time, time to relax and get ready for another clinic with kids tomorrow, a game and a four hour bus ride to the next city. I will leave you with this. Pictures say a thousand words, but a thousand pictures cannot describe Brazil, this experience is so surreal yet amazing!

Chao,

Kimmy Pol

Day 3!

Game 1:  PSB vs. Taubate
Score: 88 - 55 (W)

Outside of the restaurant we ate dinner on day 2!

The kids teaching us to play handball!

All of the kids at the school!!! 

We survived our first day in Brazil! We started off by having an amazing breakfast at our resort. It was much different then what we normally eat. They had an assortment of cakes including carrot, coconut, sweet corn, and banana walnut. It was different but it was nothing like we had ever eaten. Along with the food they had fresh squeezed juices. It was like they just picked it right off the tree and squeezed it right into the glass. After that we took a walk around the resort which was filled with breath taking views. They had a basketball court so it was right in our comfort zone. When we got back we immediately changed into our bathing suits and lounged by the pool for about two hours. To say the least half of the team looks like a lobster now after only about an hour and a half. By that time we had worked up an appetite so we headed to the dinning room to eat lunch. They served us vegetables, fish, pasta, rice, and a coco pie like dessert. Once we had eaten we all gathered on the bus to go to a clinic where we went to show kids how to play basketball. When we arrived they looked at us like celebrities. We spent time working with about ten girls while over 200+ kids watched us. It was really cool because after we showed them how to play they showed us how to play handball. It was different being on the other end trying to understand a sport that they were so used to playing. They definitely beat us because we were all over the place. After the clinic every kid wanted us to give them our autographs and wrist bands. They would follow us once we left the school down into the city and we couldn't get away from them. People wanted our pictures and wanted to trade clothes. It was wild!! We got to walk around before dinner and the city was beautiful. There were stray dogs everywhere so you could almost say that they are the squirrels of Brazil. After about an hour of touring the city we ate dinner at the little restaurant in the city. The food is even better than we could have imagined. Everything is made fresh and has an entirely different taste. You have not eaten good food until you have been to Brazil! Well until tomorrow Chao!!    

Holly Bourquin

We have conquered our morning hike!

G-Force

Wednesday morning on our hike.

Post Power

Leaving JFK for Brazil!!

We have safely arrived in Brazil! We have had a crazy and eventful day full of traveling and a lot of sleeping. Beginning yesterday, we departed from Pittsburgh to New York and from New York to Brazil. This consisted of a lot of airplane time and over night travel where we tried to get as much sleep as we could. When we landed in Brazil, we were all full of craziness and were very anxious to get our activities underway especially after meeting our tour guide Andrea. She is full of energy and very excited to work with us. After we landed in Brazil, we traveled to Sao Bento where we stopped along the way to have lunch which was a change for all of us. Instead of ordering your food when you get there, you pick which foods you would like to eat before eating and then you weigh your plate to see how much it would cost you. You then pay at the end of your meal after you have finished. The ladies who were checking out at the restaurant slightly laughed at us and said that we all ate the same which was kind of ironic because we eat the same no matter where we go in America as well! After we ate lunch we got back on the bus to go to our resort. When we arrived there we were all very much in awe at where we were staying. There is a giant swimming pool accompanied with a hot tub and sauna to use at our free will. Those are on top of our bedrooms that have 3 to 4 beds in them with full bathrooms and showers along with our very own porches to walk out into the beautiful weather! Speaking of the weather, Sao Bento is the coldest place that we are to travel with temperatures of about 80 to 85 degrees which is not cold to America at all! In the evening we had a Samba dance group introduce us to the dancing they do in Brazil which was EXTREMELY thrilling. We all danced our shoes right off and had a ball doing it! They even had a live band to perform the music that we danced to right on our resort which was something you do not get to experience every day. After that we enjoyed many different kinds of pizzas which included Portuguese pizza, ham pizza, fish pizza, vegetable pizza, and even Chocolate and banana pizza! All in all we have had a pretty eventful time in Brazil and it is only the first day! I can't even begin to think about how much fun these next few days are going to be with all of us! Until next time, stay posted!

Obrigado,

Sarah Schweitzer

We are just about to Jetset and are looking forward to our first destination!

Check in on May 8 for our first blog!

Welcome to our BLOG!

Penn State Behrend Women's Basketball team has added a new blog site. Look for our blogs throughout our trip to Brazil May 7th through the 16th.