Aug. 19, 2003

August 19th
This morning we visited Careca Sports Center where they begin training young children to become professional soccer players at age 5. The training session we watched was with a small group of teens from China. Even though we were just watching practice, we actually had to pay to attend.

We then ate lunch, and headed off to our game. Our first game was against the Juventude Futball Club -- a professional women's team. It was amazing to watch their touch on the ball and we ended up losing the game 3-1, but we played a good game. Jennie Nobis scored our only goal, assisted by Kristen Heil.

The second game was against Rio Preto an amateur team. The game ended in a 2-2 tie. Freshman Aria Hudetz scored our first goal assisted by Coach Mikki. Junior Shea Swoboda scored the second goal on an assist by Ashley Gibbs.

After our games we returned to the hotel to shower and once again eat. We went to a restaurant in the Galleria Shopping Center and had pasta. We stopped by the grocery store on the way home and had a chance to buy some snacks. Most of us branched out and bought unknown goods while a few stuck to the familiar chips and candy.

The bus ride home was enjoyable as we initiated our freshmen with our annual bus-dance. Watching the new freshmen partake in their first-ever initiation dance up and down the isles of the bus was a sight worth seeing. The experience in Brazil has been wonderful and we are all looking forward to our day off tomorrow that will be spent at the beach.