March 9, 2008

Oi everyone! This is Patti Benner and Leslie Cabe keeping you updated as the George Mason Women's Soccer Team travels through Brazil! As of now, we have been in the country for 24 hours! Our flight wasn't that bad but it was long. We were on the runway for about two hours before our plane took off but at least our iPods were charged and we had plenty of school work to keep us busy.

We finally made it our way across the equator and into Brazil at about 1130. When we arrived at our hotel, we were pleased to see food waiting for us in our room! Everyone here has been so nice and welcoming that they make our transition from America to Brazil very easy.

The food has been amazing. For breakfast, there was fruit, different breads, sandwiches, eggs, sausage and yummy juice. There was a funky avocado juice with sugar that was delicioso (oh yeah, we're slowly learning portuguese)!

After breakfast we had our first training session in the heat. Strangely it was nice to play under the hot hot sun because it's been so cold back in Virginia! After our session, we went back and waited for lunch. While we were waiting, we walked around the market that's only open on Sundays. There were different venders selling fresh fruit, veggies, meats and fish. A few of us even stopped to watch a woman making a juice out of a sugar cane root! For lunch, there were different meats, a pasta dish, salads, potatoes, fresh veggies and the freshest fruit we've ever had.

Stuffed, we waited around until we could play in our first international match against ESP Pinhienos. The game went well, we won 5-0. The first goal was scored by Leslie with an assist by Kelly Keelan; The second goal was scored by Theresa DeLucca without an assist; The third goal was scored by Annie Lebherz with an assist by Max King; The fourth goal was scored by Leslie with the assist by Patti; And the fifth goal was scored by Nilani Duarte after it bounced around and she volleyed it in.

After the game, we had pizza and hung out with the other team. They were all very nice and sweet and helped us with our Portuguese. If pizza wasn't enough, our dessert was chocolate pizza and banana cinnamon pizza!

We know that it's only been 24 hours but it feels like it's been days! We can't wait to see what the rest of the week has waiting for us. Tciao!