TicketsJune 26, 2010
The University of Cincinnati volleyball team is currently embarking on a 12-day journey through Brazil where the team will play against Brazilian teams while experiencing the Brazilian culture firsthand. Below is the most recent update on the trip from sophomore Becca Refenes.
Day 4:
Howdy! This is Becca. The Bearcats woke up bright and early this morning and headed down for breakfast at the hotel. There's not much bacon, pancakes, or cereal, but there was plenty of bread! They definitely enjoy it here! After breakfast, we all changed into our "Brasil" t-shirts and walked to the mall to watch the soccer game at the bar, "Badenbec".
As we trekked through the mall, it was eerily empty. It dawned on us that absolutely no stores were open because they had all closed just for the game! We waited in line for the bar to open and then rushed in. People were everywhere. They were all dressed in their jerseys and even brought their "Vuvuzelas" (aka loud, obnoxious horns). Haha! The game, to fill you in, was between Brazil and Portugal. It was the last game of their group before the elimination round, and Brazil was heading into it in first place in its pool. We sat at a long table facing the TV as everyone surrounding us went nuts as the game started. Throughout the game, whenever Brazil was about to score you would hear ear-piercing screams and yells in anticipation of a potential goal. If Portugal was about to score, you would hear agony and stress in their voices. It was interesting to see everyone so into the game. I guess you could compare it to the Super Bowl, but even then you don't see followers as avid as these people. I mean, an entire city not working for three hours in the middle of the work week for a game that isn't even the finals? Insane. It was an experience that we all very much enjoyed! The game ended with nothing but a couple of goose eggs, but Brazil won because they were ranked above Portugal.
The team split up into groups and we were free to shop and eat where we pleased. Some of us went back to the hotel before we had to meet again at 5:00 p.m. Annie, Bruce, Jeff, and Upton came back to find that their keycards didn't work. So being the problem-solving bunch they were, they decided to use Annie's Dictionary to find words like "Doesn't work" and "Key". They were prepared and ready to break the language barrier. As they acted out very animatedly and used their newly learned Portuguese to try to explain to the desk clerk their problem, the lady just looked at them and spoke in very plain English, "So it's not working?". The whole lobby laughed and the group was embarrassed. It made for a good story though!
At 5:00 p.m., we loaded up again and drove to play Taboao Da Serra. It was a circle-shaped, colorful gym with a dome roof. The first set was shaky and our serve receive wasn't our best. We ended up losing 27-29 after putting up a pretty good fight. With the first set under our belts, and us having a better idea what we were up against, we won the second set 25-19. The third set passing went down again and we had a few more errors then we would've liked. We lost 19-25. The fourth set we started strong, but let them go on a 7-0 run after a tough server. The Bearcats rallied back though, and worked hard to come out with the win 25-21. The sets were tied, so things were getting exciting. We were down at first, but caught up at 8-8. They scored the ninth point, but we scored right back and got a few point lead. They made a short run back and the score was rally back and forth until (Stephanie) Niemer scored game point with a deep hit to the corner. Bearcats win it 17-15!
Post-game we were able to trade with some of the players! Niemer gave away two headbands, and I traded my shorts. They must of really liked them because as we were walking out, the rest of the team started grabbing our shorts and asking for them!
It wasn't till around 10:30 p.m. that we finally got on the bus. We were exhausted, happy with a win, and looking forward to bed, but we weren't ready for a very delicious surprise. The team went to an authentic Brazilian Steakhouse! Meat, meat, meat...the only words that could describe what we ate. We stuffed ourselves with sirloin, steak, beef, sausage, pork, chicken, and even chicken hearts! It just kept coming and we kept eating! An interesting side note, the funny part of restaurants in Brazil is that they always serve you these tiny bottled waters. No ice, and in small cups. We were chugging them faster than they could bring them out after a long game! It made us appreciate the waiters in America that won't stop bringing out water. We wanted those guys again! After the ridiculous meat fest that was had, Reed let us have dessert! There was blackberry cheesecake, chocolate cake, and tons of others all on this awesome dessert cart. It was a sweet ending to a sweet day!