BRAZIL WEEK ONE

So I've been here a little over a week and I've finally found some time where I'm not so tired i don't even want to sit at the computer. i arrived on the 18Th at about 1 in afternoon. i flew threw the night which didn't help my case in the whole jet lag department since i have a hard time sleeping on planes. luckily the plane was only at 25% occupancy so i was able to have a whole row to myself. i didn't get the best sleep but better than i would have sitting up. i got to Sao Paulo and had to get through customs and then switch airports from the international airport to the national airport which is about a 45 minute bus ride. the flight to Uberlandia, which is where my team is located, was a short 1:45 minute flight. it was going smoothly until we were about to land and 5 feet to touch down the pilot jerks ups and we head back into the air. i was pretty tired so i didn't realize what happened until everyone start making noise. The flight attendant was nice and spoke enough English to tell me that there was a gust of wind that made him abort the landing at the last second. I'm glad he took the precautions!!! once i landed i got my bags and came out to meet my gm who's name is Fernando and the asst. Rodrigo. Fernando is from Uruguay where they speak Spanish so I'm able to hold a good conversation with him. Rodrigo is from Brazil but studied English in Seattle and was an assistant coach for BYUHawaii so he speaks English well. we jump in a little hatchback which i bet make up 70% of the car population down here. i haven't figured out exactly why (gas, not a lot of space, etc). probably a combination of reasons. they took me out to lunch at a churrascaria (spelling), which is a typical Brazilian style restaurant where it is all you can eat. they bring out beans, rice, bread, fried bananas, and then they come by every 1 minute with a piece of meat which they cut a piece off if you like. they also have a salad bar with potato salads, bean salads, and regular salad fixings. i was really hungry so it hit the spot. during lunch they told me that the apart/hotel (they call it that because they have a kitchen but they still come clean your room) wasn't ready yet so I'd be staying at a different hotel the first night. they also gave me the option to go to practice to meet the guys or just relax at the hotel. i decided to go to practice and practice as well. i wanted to make sure i was tired at about 10pm or 11pm because I'm 4 hours ahead of Portland and it would only be 5pm or 6pm to my body by the time i would want to go to bed. plus we have weights at 9:30 am. they dropped me off at a different apart/hotel, which come to find out late is owned by the same guy who owns the one i stay in now. my asst. met me downstairs at 4:30 to go to practice. we walked there and it was only about 6 blocks. on the way he pointed out the spot I'd be staying at which was only about 3 blocks from the gym. when we got to the gym i met all the guys and coach who were all really nice. the coach immediately pulled me aside and told me that he knows I'm a shooter and that he didn't care if i missed 10 in a row to now worry about it. he told be he had just got done playing and still remembers what's it's like to be a player. this was one of only things i was nervous about and it felt like a ton a bricks off my shoulders to know that my coach has confidence in me is really important to me. we only had 5 guys so we just did some shooting drills. it was nice to sweat the plane ride out. after practice Rodrigo asks what i want to eat and i told him to suprise me. he took me to a place called acai cafe. acai is a berry that is from the north of Brazil. i guess it has the most calories per gram of any fruit. They serve it in drink form and sorbet form. we ordered a bowl and a hamburger with egg on it. I'm glad he was there because Portuguese is way different than Spanish contrary to what everyone kept telling me before i left. a lot of the same words but the pronunciation is way different!!! it sounds like a mix between french and Spanish. Anyways, the acai (pronounced ahs-i-e) was really good as well as the hamburger. i slept pretty well the night but the beds are pretty hard. the next 2 days as well as Monday through Friday of this week were all the same. weights from 9:30am-10:30am, conditioning and shooting from 10:45am-12:30pm, eat at the university (where we practice), which is really good. it's only 5 reals (about $3) all you can eat beans and rice, salad, mashed potato's, spaghetti, and chicken or beef. after lunch i go home and rest until 4:30pm and then go to the evening practice from 5pm-7pm. after practice i eat and go to bed. i felt like i was Bill Murray in groundhog day this past week. lol The only thing keeping me sane is that it's all new plays with new teammates. off the court this past week things have been good. last Saturday one of the other Americans showed up. his name is Robby Collum and he's from Wisconsin. he's a great guy. we get a long really well and have quite a lot in common . IE, big fam, fishing, basketball (of course), movies, etc. the day he got here i had just moved into the new apart/hotel. it's brand new and i was actually the first guest they ever had. along with a new place you have little things that need tweaking. example; the first time i took a shower i realized they hadn't sealed it very well and by the time i finished there was water all over the place. also the Internet they are using sucks!! at 2 pm it slows down so bad that it's not worth using. i talked to the gm about it and the are "working on it". I'm starting to wonder if I'm still in Mexico! if it wasn't for wanting to see my beautiful family I'd be more OK with it. so here i am 1 week and half down out of 40. if anyone has specific question or want to hear about anything in particular e-mail me at day_robert30@hotmail.com. love and miss everyone!