Journal Entry #2 Thursday, June 21, 2007 Today was our first day of training with the Malwee team so no one really knew what to expect. We started the day in the same way that we would learn to be the only way. We woke up at about eight o'clock and made our way down to breakfast by eight thirty. The first walk down to breakfast was a great one because when one walks in and comprehends the bounty in front of him, he can't help but shutter a little. There were all different types of fruits, baked goods, and eggs. After breakfast we met outside for the bus ride to the camp and our first meeting with the Malwee boys. We pull up through the gates of a foundation whose apparent prestige rivaled that of an Ivy League University and saw the stone laid pathways through the jungle maze with stone statues all to welcome you. We walked into the gym portion where the playing is done and saw the fell into the culture immediately. We met some of the head coaches for the Malwee team who were all famously genuine and genuinely famous. We were led into the locker room and given jerseys to play with. These jerseys weren't just throw around ones either,they were the same jerseys that the pros played in (but were obviously washed). We warmed up and stretched out normally and we were all wondering how much running we were going to be doing and how many seemingly pointless drills we would be doing. The answer to that question surprised us all as the only thing we did thatmorning practice was to scrimmage against ourselves with some restrictions added and disregarded at times,one touch, A-B-C, and other such limitations. This was my second time ever playing Futsal and as a goalkeeperI was interested to see what it entailed. Because it was my first time playing actual futsal and not just a pick up game I didn't know and no one informed me that I was supposed to wear a lot of pads. For that reason this was one of the most painful but fun experiences ever. We went back to the lockerrooms after a good 2-hour session. We then took a bus ride to lunch, a place called Pavenello's. This was a great high quality buffet with all the rice, beans, and meats you would ever want, the only down side was that you were only allowed one soda/water. A quick favorite was a drink called Guarana, a Brazilian sugary soda. We went back to the hotel for quick showers and then departed for a quick game against a local futsal team that was our age. When we showed up, we got dressed in the same type of jerseys as before and put on our indoor shoes. When we get to the court from the locker room, our coach tells us that we are going to play outside. Well, no one had brought cleats because we weretold we were going to be playing indoors. After no real warm up we started and eight on eight games on a small grass field with a mix of soccer and futsal rules. The game was really fun and a good experience to see how different futsal and soccer truly are because they were not that good on grass. The final scorewas 4-2 in our favor and we completely dominated. We then got back into the bus with the team we had just played and it was a fun time trying to talk to them in what retarded Portuguese we knew. We went to Pavenello's again for dinner and had great stews, salads, and other related delectables. After eating we went back to the hotel to shower and we decided to go out and explore as a group with some people who had done the trip the year before. We went to the mall and supermarket to get water and snacks for the rooms. While at the mall we realized a funny thing, everything in the stores was expensive American imports. When it started to get dark we went back to the hotel and went to be because everyone was very very tired. Next Journal Page
Journal Entry #2 Thursday, June 21, 2007 Today was our first day of training with the Malwee team so no one really knew what to expect. We started the day in the same way that we would learn to be the only way. We woke up at about eight o'clock and made our way down to breakfast by eight thirty. The first walk down to breakfast was a great one because when one walks in and comprehends the bounty in front of him, he can't help but shutter a little. There were all different types of fruits, baked goods, and eggs. After breakfast we met outside for the bus ride to the camp and our first meeting with the Malwee boys. We pull up through the gates of a foundation whose apparent prestige rivaled that of an Ivy League University and saw the stone laid pathways through the jungle maze with stone statues all to welcome you. We walked into the gym portion where the playing is done and saw the fell into the culture immediately. We met some of the head coaches for the Malwee team who were all famously genuine and genuinely famous. We were led into the locker room and given jerseys to play with. These jerseys weren't just throw around ones either,they were the same jerseys that the pros played in (but were obviously washed). We warmed up and stretched out normally and we were all wondering how much running we were going to be doing and how many seemingly pointless drills we would be doing. The answer to that question surprised us all as the only thing we did thatmorning practice was to scrimmage against ourselves with some restrictions added and disregarded at times,one touch, A-B-C, and other such limitations. This was my second time ever playing Futsal and as a goalkeeperI was interested to see what it entailed. Because it was my first time playing actual futsal and not just a pick up game I didn't know and no one informed me that I was supposed to wear a lot of pads. For that reason this was one of the most painful but fun experiences ever. We went back to the lockerrooms after a good 2-hour session. We then took a bus ride to lunch, a place called Pavenello's. This was a great high quality buffet with all the rice, beans, and meats you would ever want, the only down side was that you were only allowed one soda/water. A quick favorite was a drink called Guarana, a Brazilian sugary soda. We went back to the hotel for quick showers and then departed for a quick game against a local futsal team that was our age. When we showed up, we got dressed in the same type of jerseys as before and put on our indoor shoes. When we get to the court from the locker room, our coach tells us that we are going to play outside. Well, no one had brought cleats because we weretold we were going to be playing indoors. After no real warm up we started and eight on eight games on a small grass field with a mix of soccer and futsal rules. The game was really fun and a good experience to see how different futsal and soccer truly are because they were not that good on grass. The final scorewas 4-2 in our favor and we completely dominated. We then got back into the bus with the team we had just played and it was a fun time trying to talk to them in what retarded Portuguese we knew. We went to Pavenello's again for dinner and had great stews, salads, and other related delectables. After eating we went back to the hotel to shower and we decided to go out and explore as a group with some people who had done the trip the year before. We went to the mall and supermarket to get water and snacks for the rooms. While at the mall we realized a funny thing, everything in the stores was expensive American imports. When it started to get dark we went back to the hotel and went to be because everyone was very very tired.
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