March 10, 2008

Bom dia (Good morning)!! Me chamo Kelly Keelan e me chamo Jessica Paris.

Day two of our trip started out with us getting up bright and early for the long day ahead of us. After another delicious breakfast, we departed to the Espaco Esportivo e Cultural Bovespa, a youth center located in the local Paraisopolis Favella. This "favella" is low-cost housing, which is home to 200.000 Brazilians. The center provides activities such as futebol, basketball, tennis, handball, music, choir, and tutoring for the children in school subjects.

We expected this clinic to be the most rewarding part of our trip. We were given the opportunity to play futebol with the miudos (kids). While some of our team played, the rest went upstairs to watch the kids dribble circles around us; they broke our ankles and spun us in circles every chance they could. The style of play we were exposed to is completely different than American soccer. The soon-to-be futebol stars used their creativity and deceptive, quick feet to make sure we never touched the ball.

While the game was being played, our teammates upstairs were making friends with the other children who were younger. They were all excited to see us just as we were excited to see them; some of the local boys and girls were actually trying to communicate with our girls. The kids were very fascinated by our cameras and they all wanted to be in the photos. After being schooled by us on the court, each of the Mason girls and coaches were given a certificate from the Center by the players. In return for hosting us, our team gave out jerseys and some personal gifts (such as used cleats) to the Brazilian players. The smiles we put on their faces were priceless and having to say goodbye was emotional.

After a sad goodbye, we headed to the Sao Paulo Futebol Clube Stadium. The stadium held 100,000 dedicated fans, which is usually always sold out. We took a tour of the museum and stadium and learned about the history of the club. We were lucky to go out to ground level but were told not to touch the grass. After shopping in the Sao Paulo's Clube store, we went to eat at a restaurant at the stadium. We had a buffet-style meal with the choices of salad, vegetables, pasta, beans and rice, and fried chicken. Now that we were fully stuffed with food and plenty of water, it was time to go on our 50-kilometer bus ride to our second international match against Paulista-Jundiai Selection. Speaking of plenty of water, half the team needed a pit stop during the two-hour ride, however our bus driver was unable understand English.

Game time! The competition was much stronger then our game yesterday. However, that couldn't stop us. We came out dominating by scoring all of our goals in the first half. Mason was given a free kick that was taken by Kelly Keelan who crossed the ball aiming for Patti Benner's head. Patti headed the ball back to the near post past the keeper for the first score of the game. Our second goal was a corner kick taken by Kelly Keelan which again Patti's head was the initial target; that made it her second goal of the game. Our third and final goal came from Capricia Alston who won the ball and passed to a wide-open Max King who shot the ball just outside the 18 yard line. Even though we scored all of our goals in the first half, we still kept dominating in the second half, but their keeper managed to keep it to three goals. Unfortunately our spring shut out steak came to an end when they scored in the first half just before our final goal. We were happy with our 3-1 result and beating a Brazilian First Division Club.

Before we got on the road we stopped at a local restaurant and stuffed our faces yet again. The food keeps getting better and better here. We had appetizers such as salad, cheesy bread, French fires, and other Brazilian specialties. The main course was rice, tender steak as well as marinated chicken. YUMMY!! After cleaning our plates it was time to make the bus trip back to our hotel (we made sure out translator scheduled a pit stop this time). Back at the hotel, we had a few hours to relax after a long day. This is just day two of our trip and we hope that each day is just as exciting.

Tchau!! KK and JP