Journal Entry # 9 Thursday, June 28, 2007
We woke up at regular time and did our regular breakfast, shower, then bus routine.
We got to the Malwee training center a little later because our bus broke down
on the way to the hotel so they called another bus to come out and get us at the
hotel to take us to Malwee. The bus they sent was a really small school bus instead
of the usual big tourist bus we usually ride in. When we got there the Aussi s,
who had been playing with us for most of the training sessions, were already dressed
and warming up. It was their last day there so some of the first team professionals
came to out training to play with us. We played some fun games that incorporated
what we had been doing the entire time but were also really fun. There was a game
which was like a giant scrimmage but there were cones allover the court and if
you talked or hit the cone with your body or ball than the other team got a PK.
After games like that we ended training and went to lunch with the Australians
to our good old Pavenello's. There we said our last goodbyes to the Aussi s and
then went back to the hotel to prepare for the game we were going to. Tonight
we did not go to our usual place for dinner because we went out to see a professional
league soccer game. We were going to one of the nearby bigger cities to watch
San Palo play. We drove about 2 hours to get to the tickets then go to the game.
The game was in one of the sketchier parts of the city but it was
still very obviously safe. We parked the bus a couple of blocks
away from the stadium and walked the distance from there.
There we street venders selling all different types of things like
banners, flags, and foods. This was where we ate our dinner,
a meal of skewered meets and weird Brazilian hot dogs.
The hot dogs were two hotdogs in one big bun with pieces
of corn, lettuce, sauce, and crunchy cru tons. The game
was not the best because it was the best team in the
league playing the worst team in the league and
because the teams' fates were already sealed in
terms of league position so neither team tried
very hard. The game ended in a zero-zero tie
with no real chances on goal for either team.
We left the game five minutes early to avoid
confusion and traffic, so we went outside the
stadium where there were people playing music,
drinking, and dancing. We stopped to listen to
the music for a couple of minutes and went back
to the bus for a long ride home. Most everyone
slept on the bus ride home because it was pretty
late and we were all tired from the long day we had
had before coming to the game. We ended up getting back to the hotel at about
1:30 so we just went to our respective rooms and went to sleep.