Day 6 - Alex Ratcliff
Dear fans,
Words cannot express how sad we were to leave the beach this morning. But it was made a little easier by the fact that it was raining when we left. We were more than willing to go lay out at 8 a.m., but lost our enthusiasm once we realized there would be mist spritzing us the entire time.
We loaded up the bus, said goodbye to our beautiful beach, and hit the road to Sao Paulo. Once there, our amazing bus driver located the elusive sports club and dropped us off. We ate lunch at an outside patio and then enjoyed the sun that had slowly come out, while we discussed what animal could possibly be making the horrendous noises emanating from the park across from us. We were convinced it was pterodactyls. Nothing else could make a sound like that! But AD assured us that it was only a bunch of birds. Darn . . .
After lunch, we took a stroll around a nearby soccer field to get our blood moving and then headed to the gym. When we got there, we enjoyed watching a rousing game of handball. Apparently, one of the teams was the national champion - pretty cool, huh. After the people vacated the court, we set up camp and started warming up.
First, we played the younger club team from the E. C. Pinheiros Club. It was good game. We came out slow at first but picked it up and shut them out in the last two games. After a short break, we played the older club team. The older girls presented a little bit more of a challenge. We played well and won the first game, but then they kicked it up a notch and we lost the next two games.
Once we showered and looked more like our normal, non-sweaty selves, we loaded up the bus again and went to dinner. This time we branched out a little and decided to try a buffet, but one without the skewers of meat being offered at every turn. Stuffed with food, mostly dessert, we packed the bus and made our way to the new hotel.
This is where my story ends, sitting on my hotel bed in my pajamas, exhausted and ready for bed. Up early tomorrow for our last day of volleyball.
This is Alex Ratcliff #14, signing off
