Highline College in Brazil Day 1

(August 12^th/13^th , 2015)

 Yesterday we embarked on our long journey to Rio de Janeiro. From meeting outside of Delta airlines to going through customs in Brazil. This trip came so much faster than we had ever thought. Seems like just yesterday we were telling our friends, “One more month until Brazil!” Reality came quick when we were all meeting in the airline looking for those green warm-UPS. All the girls were giddy with excitement to get to Brazil but little did we know the flight would be so excruciatingly long. The flight to Atlanta was nothing compared to the flight to Rio. However, it was a very quick way to bond with each other and get to know one another outside of volleyball. Now that we are here and have experienced enough I can safely say that the long flights here were indeed worth every second.

        When we all walked out of the airport we were ready to see the beautiful city of Rio. We got onto our bus and started toward the national training center. We drove through cute little towns and got to see the homes of the people of Brazil. We drove over amazing bridges and saw the stunning ocean. The bus ride was over two hours long! Everybody was exhausted from the plane ride so we all ended up falling asleep. When we pulled up to the training center everyone was wide awake! We were all so excited to walk around and see what our home would be for the next 8 days, and let me tell you it is absolutely amazing!

Being at the training center finally was such a surreal feeling. Getting a tour of the grounds, getting our rooms and unpacking. It felt nothing like we would had imagined it to feel.  Getting ready for our first practice was exciting yet not so exciting with exhaustion hitting. All though we were all so jet lagged we made it through a pretty exciting practice knowing the men’s and Women’s Brazilian teams were practicing on the other courts. Than came dinner, and sitting in the same room as the Brazilians, it was pretty intimidating. And that night I’m sure we all slept amazing, cause I know I did for sure! 

Cheyanne, Arianna, Kahlia