Since our arrival early Sunday morning (June 15), we have been on a nonstop whirlwind! Our first match that evening between Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina at Maracana Stadium was incredible from the standpoint of the supporters' passion for both countries. Our group's seating was split, with four of us up top at about the midfield line and eight nearer the pitch on the opposite side. One interesting cultural observation was that many Brazilians seated near us -- in a stadium filled with more pro-Argentina fans -- were cheering for Bosnia, but in Portuguese!
On Monday, we started our day with our 6 a.m. run, with Tom Cowin and Jeremy Patti joining Dr. Covell and me for a 5 km (3 mile) jog, followed by a nice continental breakfast. We then the rest of the day taking in the views while sightseeing at Christ the Redeemer Statute at Corcovado Mountain and Sugar Loaf Mountain. Traffic in and around Rio is horrific, and it can take an hour or more to drive a 20-mile distance! Any free time in the evenings has been spent catching up with family and breaks back home, journal writing, preparing for morning seminar, and playing games of table tennis, soccer, and volleyball.
Tuesday, I was surprised to see that the eight other students -- McKenzie Pezze, Sarah Babski, Irina Smith, Andrea Canales, Mark Martinez, Nick Prue, Troy Tanzer, and Ross Titelbaum -- joined by Tom Cowin, showed up for the 6 a.m. morning run, which marked the first time in four iterations of these seminars abroad that we have had 100% participation from our student delegation! Tom and Mark kicked off the morning seminar with their presentation on "Brazil's Challenges in Staging the World Cup," and then we were off to central Rio for a sightseeing tour of some the city's important cultural and historic sites. Some of our most satisfying moments are over meals, where the students have been able to sample different kinds of Brazilian fare.
Wednesday started with good intentions on the part of most of the students to climb the "mountain" right behind our hotel, which was quickly aborted when the trail leading to Barra da Tijuca Forest turned out to be neither well marked nor noticeably trafficked by humans. We were told that there were certain exotic animals to be seen in the Forest, but we decided against being the trailblazers . . . never mind that the mosquitoes were out in force at that time of the morning! The big event that day was our second match at Maracana between No. 1 ranked Spain and Chile, which match was won by the latter, 2-0. Funny thing was that our entire delegation save for Andrea Canales wore Spain's colors, even though we were seated in a decidedly pro-Chile section. Awkward.
Tom Cowin turned 21 at the stroke of midnight on Thursday, and his fellow students celebrated the occasion with beverages and merriment. Little wonder that only one student, Nick Prue, showed up for the morning run at 6 a.m.! After our third morning seminar by Sarah Babski and Andrea Canales, we headed up the mountain out to Petropolis, the Imperial City of Brazil, about 45 miles and 90 minutes from our hotel. While there, we visited the Imperial Museum, which was formerly the summer palace of the second Brazilian Emperor, Pedro II, in addition the Crystal Palace, St. Peter of Alcantara Cathedral, before taking a factory tour of the Bohemia Brewery! Perhaps the day's highlight was a surprise birthday party for Tom complete with chocolate cake, candles, and a "choir" of Bohemia patrons singing the Brazilian version of Happy Birthday in Portuguese!
No comments:
Post a Comment