The morning of the finals seemed very normal, but everyone was a little more distracted than usual. I borrowed a bike someone had rented so I could get to the fields faster, but then the chain kept on coming off, so then I tried to put the chain back on, but I should have been mentally preparing // warming up. Anyway, that's just the sort of distracting thing a lot of people were going through. I hope I can learn from this sort of lack of mental preparation and be more diligent before tournament finals in the future (well, I mostly hope I'll have reason to learn from this).
The other big distraction was that the masters final was going on while we were warming up, and a lot of us wanted to support the masters guys in their effort to take home the title. Well, we were ready to take the field just as they were pulling for game point. Up until that point their puller, Jason Trevor, was throwing rollers so they could get down field without giving the other team a brick. On the last point he made a great adjustment telling his team he was going to float one to catch the British off guard, so the D needed to hustle down. The adjustment worked brilliantly and the US guys got the block on the second or third trow, then converted the break to take the title. It was really great, and inspirational leading up to our game.
Our game started with us going down wind and our O scoring on one possession. Our D then went out and forced a turn pretty quickly. Well, we weren't able to convert, but we got it back again, and once again weren't able to convert, the Germans finally scored, and I knew things were about to go south. Basically, whenever a team wins a hell point, they'll definitely win the next point, or at least that's what I've observed recently. Well, sure enough our O turned it and the Germans converted on their first chance, putting them up a break. I went in on the next O point and set my guy up for a deep cut right as the disc was being centered to our captain and main handler Dave. Well, the throw went up, but it was a little slow (dave puts a ton of spin on his throws, so they tend to move slowly, but they're very accurate) and thus gave a poaching German defender enough time to catch up to the disc and make a play on it, well, I was ahead of the disc waiting for it to catch up to me, and I understood that I had no chance to make a play on the disc until after he did. He layed out and tipped it, but I was still able to catch it easily for a goal (check facebook for some pics). Well, we traded for the next 30 min or so (only really eventful moment was me turning the disc over right after calling a timeout, man I'm good).
Anyway, the game was tied at 9-9 and we were going downwind and once again on D. Well, they moved the disc well, but we finally get them to turn it on a high stall count throw that they try to put up the line. Finally, our D fastbreakes effectively and we move the disc down with two long gaining in cuts. After the second in cut Erin gives me a quick little dish and so I have the disc 5 yards out and maybe 5 yards from the left sideline. Well, right as a catch the disc Erol runs between me and the near sideline and says, 'Yeah Joaq!' as he's running towards the flick side of the endzone. Somehow I knew what he wanted and put a high backhand right in the near side of the endzone and he turned just as he crossed the perpendicular between me and the endzone. He caught the goal easily and we took our first lead since 1-0 at 10-9.
Between points the time cap went on, and according to the rules of the tournament we then played to 11. A fresh D line went on and we pulled for the win. The D got the turn near the endzone, and after a few quick passes Arnie threw to Carla for the win, and the gold. We all rushed the field and partied on Carla for a minute or so before going and having our post game spirit circle with Germany. Right after the spirit circle, the guy I was covering most of the finals comes up to me and says "Do you want to trade jerseys?" I quickly replied "My white for your white?" He said "Yes." and we had a deal. I was stoked that he was down with the white jersey, because I had already arranged to trade my red to a Philippines player.
After hanging with the Germans and cheering them multiple times, we all set up in the bleachers with beers to spare to watch the next two finals games. Both games followed a similar path. The team with fewer players come out strong and gets a couple of breaks before running out of gas and eventually succumbing to the depth of the other team. The only difference was that the US women were not only short on players, but aside from the other Americans, they were short on crowd support. The Philippines on the other hand, were the darlings of the tournament, so in a way it was nice to see the 'villainous' Ausies win, seeing as they were put in the same spot as we were.
When the open finals ended the tournament awards ceremony was held in the stadium. There were commemorative discs presented to the people who got the most assists, goals, and D's in each devision, along with and MVP disc for each devision presented to the person with the greatest sum of D's, goals, and assists. Well, three awesome things came out of this. First, in the open devision, guys from the Philippines won in each category. Second, in the Mixed devision, we didn't have a single person win any of the discs, in either gender, showing how much of a team we were. And finally, in the Woman's devision, Becca Tucker from the US won all four awards, now that's just sick.
Anyway, after the discs were presented, medals were given out, and each gold medal wining team got to give a short speech. Everett was very eloquent in giving ours, and made a point to shout out the Spanish team seeing as they were the only ones to beat us. After the ceremony was over the Peace Team organized a small ultimate clinic for the local kids, it was really cool, and they all dug it. I don't think it'll last long in Maceió, but it was all the rage while we were there, and there's a small chance it will have some staying power.
I left part way through the clinic to go back to the hotel and do some packing//sopering up//cleaning up for dinner and partying. We tried to get a team dinner at the nice all you can eat place in the back of the beer themed party venue, but it didn't quite go down. People from both the mixed and masters teams rolled through, and we all had a good time (I mostly ate sushi, I mean, it's not that often that you get down on some all you can ear sushi). As dinner was ending everyone was feeling real tiered, but a couple of shots of espresso later and we were inspired to make the trek to the party.
Once again we were duped into walking do to faulty information, and once again we walked through some sketchy ass places to get to the party venue. When we finally arrived we found that the party venue was full, and that no ultimate players were there. Luckily there was a sweet bar with a huge patio just down the street and all the ultimate folks just changed venues (and I was able to sneak some jungle juice in, so there was no need to buy drinks inside). Anyway, at the party I was introduced to the medal game by some of the Ausie girls. The game goes like this, if someone is able to dunk their medal in your drink while it's still around their neck, you have to finish your drink. All in all, it's pretty sweet, and a good way to make friends and get drunk, what more do you want?
I think this party is where I let loose the most, it was really fun. Even though I left earlier than from the other parties, I'd say I partied harder. So, I guess you could say I mailed it in, but I'd just say I went home early.
Anyway, the next day went by quickly. I packed then caught a cab to the airport with some teammates. The whole trip home seemed much faster than the trip there (and that's not only because we had a 2 hour layover instead of a 12 hour one). The most memorable part of the trip home was saying goodbye to all my new friends, but seeing as we all play ultimate, I'm sure I'll see them all again. Anyway, Sunya and I made it home safely and swiftly.
Okay, that's it, nobody has to endure any more poorly written brazil posts. I guess it's time to asses the college ultimate scene (and maybe write a quick something about lei-out). I should have a post up after next weekend's Stanford Qual. I'll be out in Palo Alto on Sunday, so I'll try to write about the elimination games. Word.
Showing posts with label Beach Worlds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beach Worlds. Show all posts
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Brazil III - Pool Play (II)
Here we go agin. After getting a whopping three and a half hours of sleep, I got up for food and warmups. I made it to the fields around 9:15 and began warming up down by the beach fields (our game against Germany was on the main stadium field, but it was occupied). Anyway, the Germans had played a game already that day, so we knew they'd be warm and that we couldn't afford to come out cold against them. Well, we were probably more ready for this game than any other of the tournament. We started out on O (as was our want seeing as we were playing timed games with no halftimes) and converted. On our first D point I guarded Rue and got a D when they had to try a bail out huck to him. We then converted the break and were on our way to victory. Somehow, I wound up guarding more handlers than cutters latter in the game because we had a lot of tall guys on D. Anyway, the strategy they were employing in terms of dumps was to break the mark without having the handler move. After a lot of yelling by one of the masters guys watching the game (I heard he coaches Florida), we adjusted and started playing right on the dump's hip. Well, this adjustment led to me getting a layout catch D on a dump pass then throwing a goal. Over all, I think this was my best game of the tournament, we wound up winning 11-7.
After the game we had a great rapport with the German team, and, luckily, we had a great cheer that was set to an old German drinking song. Well, after hanging out with the germans for a bit we had a long break until three, at which point we were to play the Canadian team.
Going into the tournament we had all assumed that the Canadian team would be strong, and that playing both them and Germany on the same day would really test us. Well, much to our surprise, the Canadians were floundering for the first few days of beach worlds. Our game with them wasn't necessarily representative of their abilities due to the very windy conditions on the beach fields that day. I don't remember too much about this one, I think Tucker got his callahan in this game (another tall guy eats up a floating upwind dump pass), and we won easily 10-2.
Well, after having only two games we all stuck around the fields to watch the game between Great Britain and the Philippines on the showcase field. It was the only game going on at the time, and as such had a huge crowd. It was during this game that everyone at the tournament fell in love with the Philippines team. They had a total of 8 players, one of whom was a woman, and another was a water boy during important games. So, they were playing one of the top four open teams at the tournament with a rotation of 6 players, and because there were only 60 seconds between points, the Philippines players would drink water on their way back to the line.
The O that the Boracay Dragons ran was very give and go heavy and made great use of the amount of touch they had on their throws. Basically, they'd overload one side of the field with 4 players, letting the 5th rest upfield from the disc on the far sideline. They'd then throw as many quick passes as they could to gain yards, and when the D adjusted they'd either reverse the field and use the resting player, or they'd swing, and the player who wasn't involved would cut deep. Every possession they had was a ton of fun to watch with multiple rediculosly athletic plays. Also amazing was how GB kept hucking, assuming they could get jump balls over the smaller Philippino players, but inevitable, one of the Dragons would make a sick play, and they'd get the disc back. I think my favorite part of the game was when the game was clearly already won by the Boracay Dragons and the relented to the crowds chants of "Number 9! Put her in!" It was really cool to see the whole team get playing time, especially in such a big game.
Well, after the game we had an impromptu west vs. east us scrimmage, which turned out to be very fun, with the west dominating (I don't actually remember how it went down, but I'll at least claim we rocked house). Anyway, after the fun, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up then off to a team dinner at pretty nice Brazilian all you can eat place. The food was good, and it was nice to hang out as a team. After dinner we went as a team to the party. I really enjoyed the dinner to party transition, it lead to a warm team bonding sort of feel to the whole night, and I think it translated well onto the fields in the following days.
The party that night was at a large beer themed bar that had a very fancy all you can eat place in the back (if only we had known that ahead of time). The place had a very classy feel with good lighting, hardwood floors, a large outdoor patio, and a stage and two bars inside. All the classiness and chillness almost made me feel bad for sneaking in some jungle juice, almost. There was a cover band playing classic rock like the Beatles and Pink Floyd. They rocked some harder stuff towards the end of the night, but it was all good. I think it helped the social atmosphere, but there was still a sweet dance party. The biggest effect the music had was determining who won the party. Even though some of our team stayed until the end, the swiss were there in force, rocking out. It was a decided swiss victory.
The next morning we had an early 8 am start (our first of the tournament) against the winless host team Brazil. It was a chill game, and we wound up winning 18-3. I don't remember to many stand out plays, but there is a big one I'll shout out. Grant got a layout callahan on a dump pass, where he landed on his knee, thus staying in bounds for the goal. So, that made four of us with callahans on the tournament, we joked we should make "I got a callahan in Brazil" T-shirts, I still think it's not a bad idea.
With our victory against Brazil we secured an afternoon by and our spot in the finals. Still, we were left with a final pool play game against the Spanish team that was ineligible for the finals. We had to play them on the windy beach fields, and they were incredibly motivated to beet us. Well, we had a turnover riddled windy zone-y game and they wound up winning. We had a lot of trouble stopping their three woman possession oriented O, and he had even more trouble scoring up wind. This was also the first time we didn't come out strong in a game, something that was troubling, especially since our only remaining game was the finals. Well, even though we were humbled by a loss, I don't think it helped us in the next game. After the game I went to lunch with Kali before her women's devision semifinal with Australia. After lunch we went back to the fields where I watched and supported the other US teams in their bids to make the finals.
After the games ended that evening there was a lot of drinking and a pickup game between the pickup teams at the tournament (Currier Island and the Peace Team). I played with my hommies on the peace squad, and I'll say we won the battle of the pickups. I then headed back to the hotel before going to the trade night at the point.
Trade night was held in the cleared out banquet room at Hotel Ponta Verde (the sight of player registration). The room was very bright and different teams had their own sort of trading stations set up around the room. Also, Michele played some music for the people. I had a blast and got to see a lot of sweet jerseys and shirts from around the world, and I also arranged trades for Brazil shorts and sandals, and a Philippines jersey. After the trading I headed out to dinner with the guys from the Peace Team, some of the younger guys from the US open team, and J9. We had dinner at the all you can eat place close to the fields. Dinner was light (relatively) and I capped it off with an espresso before heading out to the party.
Due to some confusion and accidental misinformation we thought that the party bar was close and easy to get to, so we decided to walk. Well, it was relatively close, but out walk was mad sketchy, and we probably should have been a lot more nervous then we were. I guess we were to excited about meeting sweet people and being in Brazil to be overly concerned about where we were walking. We wound up making it to the bar after about 20 min.
This party was awesome. All the teams that had been eliminated were getting real shitty (especially the US guys and the Australian women). Anyway, for a team with an early finals game the next day we made a great showing. Dave, Ken, and Erol were their with the Brazilian girls they had met earlier in the week, X was there being his usual 24 hour party self, and J9 and I were busy meeting new people (and trying to mediate the stolen hat affair going on between the US open team and the Australian woman's team). Well, despite our presence, we were outlasted by one German man. That's right, in the battle for the party, we lost because one guy from the other team held down the fort (to be fair, he was their with his hot girlfriend from the Spanish team).
Well, we all made it back in time to get at least 6 hours of sleep before the finals the next day. I guess that wraps up pool play, at least I made my personal goal of getting this post up before the end of January. Still, I have to write another Brazil post and a Lei-Out recap in the coming weeks.
P.S. I hope you enjoyed my lack of proof reading.
After the game we had a great rapport with the German team, and, luckily, we had a great cheer that was set to an old German drinking song. Well, after hanging out with the germans for a bit we had a long break until three, at which point we were to play the Canadian team.
Going into the tournament we had all assumed that the Canadian team would be strong, and that playing both them and Germany on the same day would really test us. Well, much to our surprise, the Canadians were floundering for the first few days of beach worlds. Our game with them wasn't necessarily representative of their abilities due to the very windy conditions on the beach fields that day. I don't remember too much about this one, I think Tucker got his callahan in this game (another tall guy eats up a floating upwind dump pass), and we won easily 10-2.
Well, after having only two games we all stuck around the fields to watch the game between Great Britain and the Philippines on the showcase field. It was the only game going on at the time, and as such had a huge crowd. It was during this game that everyone at the tournament fell in love with the Philippines team. They had a total of 8 players, one of whom was a woman, and another was a water boy during important games. So, they were playing one of the top four open teams at the tournament with a rotation of 6 players, and because there were only 60 seconds between points, the Philippines players would drink water on their way back to the line.
The O that the Boracay Dragons ran was very give and go heavy and made great use of the amount of touch they had on their throws. Basically, they'd overload one side of the field with 4 players, letting the 5th rest upfield from the disc on the far sideline. They'd then throw as many quick passes as they could to gain yards, and when the D adjusted they'd either reverse the field and use the resting player, or they'd swing, and the player who wasn't involved would cut deep. Every possession they had was a ton of fun to watch with multiple rediculosly athletic plays. Also amazing was how GB kept hucking, assuming they could get jump balls over the smaller Philippino players, but inevitable, one of the Dragons would make a sick play, and they'd get the disc back. I think my favorite part of the game was when the game was clearly already won by the Boracay Dragons and the relented to the crowds chants of "Number 9! Put her in!" It was really cool to see the whole team get playing time, especially in such a big game.
Well, after the game we had an impromptu west vs. east us scrimmage, which turned out to be very fun, with the west dominating (I don't actually remember how it went down, but I'll at least claim we rocked house). Anyway, after the fun, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up then off to a team dinner at pretty nice Brazilian all you can eat place. The food was good, and it was nice to hang out as a team. After dinner we went as a team to the party. I really enjoyed the dinner to party transition, it lead to a warm team bonding sort of feel to the whole night, and I think it translated well onto the fields in the following days.
The party that night was at a large beer themed bar that had a very fancy all you can eat place in the back (if only we had known that ahead of time). The place had a very classy feel with good lighting, hardwood floors, a large outdoor patio, and a stage and two bars inside. All the classiness and chillness almost made me feel bad for sneaking in some jungle juice, almost. There was a cover band playing classic rock like the Beatles and Pink Floyd. They rocked some harder stuff towards the end of the night, but it was all good. I think it helped the social atmosphere, but there was still a sweet dance party. The biggest effect the music had was determining who won the party. Even though some of our team stayed until the end, the swiss were there in force, rocking out. It was a decided swiss victory.
The next morning we had an early 8 am start (our first of the tournament) against the winless host team Brazil. It was a chill game, and we wound up winning 18-3. I don't remember to many stand out plays, but there is a big one I'll shout out. Grant got a layout callahan on a dump pass, where he landed on his knee, thus staying in bounds for the goal. So, that made four of us with callahans on the tournament, we joked we should make "I got a callahan in Brazil" T-shirts, I still think it's not a bad idea.
With our victory against Brazil we secured an afternoon by and our spot in the finals. Still, we were left with a final pool play game against the Spanish team that was ineligible for the finals. We had to play them on the windy beach fields, and they were incredibly motivated to beet us. Well, we had a turnover riddled windy zone-y game and they wound up winning. We had a lot of trouble stopping their three woman possession oriented O, and he had even more trouble scoring up wind. This was also the first time we didn't come out strong in a game, something that was troubling, especially since our only remaining game was the finals. Well, even though we were humbled by a loss, I don't think it helped us in the next game. After the game I went to lunch with Kali before her women's devision semifinal with Australia. After lunch we went back to the fields where I watched and supported the other US teams in their bids to make the finals.
After the games ended that evening there was a lot of drinking and a pickup game between the pickup teams at the tournament (Currier Island and the Peace Team). I played with my hommies on the peace squad, and I'll say we won the battle of the pickups. I then headed back to the hotel before going to the trade night at the point.
Trade night was held in the cleared out banquet room at Hotel Ponta Verde (the sight of player registration). The room was very bright and different teams had their own sort of trading stations set up around the room. Also, Michele played some music for the people. I had a blast and got to see a lot of sweet jerseys and shirts from around the world, and I also arranged trades for Brazil shorts and sandals, and a Philippines jersey. After the trading I headed out to dinner with the guys from the Peace Team, some of the younger guys from the US open team, and J9. We had dinner at the all you can eat place close to the fields. Dinner was light (relatively) and I capped it off with an espresso before heading out to the party.
Due to some confusion and accidental misinformation we thought that the party bar was close and easy to get to, so we decided to walk. Well, it was relatively close, but out walk was mad sketchy, and we probably should have been a lot more nervous then we were. I guess we were to excited about meeting sweet people and being in Brazil to be overly concerned about where we were walking. We wound up making it to the bar after about 20 min.
This party was awesome. All the teams that had been eliminated were getting real shitty (especially the US guys and the Australian women). Anyway, for a team with an early finals game the next day we made a great showing. Dave, Ken, and Erol were their with the Brazilian girls they had met earlier in the week, X was there being his usual 24 hour party self, and J9 and I were busy meeting new people (and trying to mediate the stolen hat affair going on between the US open team and the Australian woman's team). Well, despite our presence, we were outlasted by one German man. That's right, in the battle for the party, we lost because one guy from the other team held down the fort (to be fair, he was their with his hot girlfriend from the Spanish team).
Well, we all made it back in time to get at least 6 hours of sleep before the finals the next day. I guess that wraps up pool play, at least I made my personal goal of getting this post up before the end of January. Still, I have to write another Brazil post and a Lei-Out recap in the coming weeks.
P.S. I hope you enjoyed my lack of proof reading.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Brazil III - Pool Play (I)
Well getting the next post up quickly really didn't happen, but I can blame the massive power outage I went through for that one. Anyway, I'll try to tackle at least the first few days of pool play.
Well, there was a rain storm the night before our games started, and we lost power for a while (meaning the AC turned off and I woke up all sweaty, how lame). Anyway, it was relatively clear when we woke up for breakfast but you could definitely see stormy weather on the horizon, Our first game was against Ireland and conditions were clear when we started. Games were to time with no half so we chose to start on O. We scored the first point easily, then got the break right away. Things were looking good and it seemed like we would role. Then the weather happened and we all know that wind is the great equalizer in ultimate. Anyway, we began trading down winders, but somehow it still felt (to me) like we were rolling. I guess we just came out of the gates quickly so I figured we continued. Well, the eventually got a wind break, making to score close, but we were able to get it back and score downwind to win 8-6 (the games were like 50 min long).
After the game we had a spirit circle, as is costume in international ultimate. What our captain didn't know is that the wining team's captain is supposed to summarize the game with what worked and what didn't, then the other team's captain talks, then the teams to the gifts and such. Well, this lack of knowledge made out first day's spirit circles kind of awkward, but I think things got better after that. Also, we were blessed to have someone who's a cheer expert on our team, and always had great songs for our opponents.
I think it was after this game the J9 decided we should mix a bunch of jungle juice (how American, right) and give bottles of it as gifts to our opponents. After the 10:00 am game we had a long bye until 3:00 then another game at 5:00. We used our huge bye to go to the super market and buy ingredients to mix some delicious jungle juice. Our first attempt at mixing our gift involved stealing the large trash can from the hall and a big trash bag from the kitchen. Well, this round wasn't incredibly successful, that is, we lost a lot of the juice in the poring process, but it was delicious. Well, we finished with two 1.5 leader bottles of our new gift, and just in time to get to the fields and not warm up for our game (we also learned that we needed to make some sort of funnel).
Our 3 o'clock game was against Great Britain, and we went into it really confidently; we had done well against them a couple of nights before, and that was without our whole team. The game went by smoothly, I had my first layout D of the tournament in this game, and I scored a few goals. We wound up winning 18-3 (no wind makes a big difference). Chilling with GB after the game was maybe better than with any other team, I guess there just isn't as much of a culture gap.
Our Last game of the day was in the arena against Trevor and Tyler's team, the Peace Team (a pickup team that also volunteered to do some outreach stuff in Maceio). This time our start wasn't as strong, it seemed like they lulled us into playing pickup style disc, still, we never trailed. the game was 4-3 then there was a hell point where Xtehn and I were the guys for our team and Trevor and Tyler were in for their team. It was really fun playing against those guys, and we eventually got the break to go up 5-3. After that we went on a huge run (partly because we had a lot of depth, and with Trevor and Tyler tiered from the hell point, they had lost two of their top three guys). It was 10-3 before anyone really noticed. We closed out the game kind of slowly and wound up taking it 13-6.
With our games for the day over and the sun setting we all headed back to the hotel and the adjacent little burger stand for showers and dinner. After dinner J9 and I got to mixing jungle juice for Ireland, our opponents for the next day, and to have at the party that night. Our refined mixing technique involved a smaller trash can that we got from one of the bathrooms, a 1.5 liter bottle with the top cut off and turned upside-down to create a funnel. We also began to rock a new recipe with a 12 pack of beer, a fifth of Pitu (cane sugar rum), and a lot of powdered flavor packets. So, with our concoction in hand we went to the party.
The party was at a small bar on the beach front, and it was a good thing that we pre-gamed // brought our own drink. The party was fun and full of dancing. As it wound down there was a skinny dipping group (not my thing), and I also threw my fire at this party (a story for another time, all you have to know is that I wanted to throw my fire in Brazil, and I made it happen). I wound up leaving around 1 a.m. and got to bed by two so I could be ready for that 10 a.m. game.
We had the same buys on day two as we did on day one, so that was nice for our internal clocks. Our first game of day two was against Austria. I don't remember too many details from this game, I just remember that it was very clear, and they didn't like the level of physicality we played with. The final score was 13-1 and I know they were disappointed with how they played, but they also said that we were much more physical than they were used to, and they felt that we were unspirited because of that. As I see it, we were a lot less physical than is typical of ultimate in the US and we toned it down more so when they asked us to. I also think that it shouldn't be fully on us to change they way be play. People play the game differently in different places, and everyone has to realize that. I understand that international ultimate is less physical than US ultimate, but I also think that a lot of teams didn't give us a chance and had decided how they would perceive our play before the game started.
Anyway, our next game was against Scotland and it was also pretty uneventful. The Scots were a really young bunch and they relied a lot on hucking to their athletes, the only problem was we were more experienced with better athletes. That is, I don't remember much, and it was windy. I think Erol got our first callahan of the tournament in this one, it was on a floaty dump pass in the up-wind endzone. The final score was 13-4.
Our last game of the day was against Switzerland. They had beat us in the little three team round robin scrimmage thing, so we got up for this one. We came out really strong and played hard D and efficient O. I got called for a couple of travels during this game, and the guys explanation was "you're taking 3 or 4 steps after you catch the disc every time." I said I'd try to stop faster, but I was going left right left then pivoting to throw, so I wasn't really traveling, but good spirit // ambassador of the sport and so on. I also got a callahan by getting a layout catch D on a dump pass after a stoppage (would that sentence be at all readable if you don't play ultimate? I didn't think so).
The post games activities were the same for day two as day one, small time dinner and big time drink mixing. This time the party was at a legit club, so we all took cabs that way after dinner and partied it up. There was a small issue with getting in because the people who were working at the club hadn't communicated well with the owner and didn't understand the tournament party thing, but it just resulted in a sweet 30 min outdoor party and dance circle, so all was good. This night was by far the biggest for me. After leaving the party around 2:30 or 3:00 we went to a little stand on the beach for late night food and drink. I think I wound up not going back to the hotel until the sun was rising around 5:30 a.m.
Anyway, that gave me plenty of time to rest up for our 10 a.m. game with Germany. I'll discuss that along with the rest of pool play next time.
Well, there was a rain storm the night before our games started, and we lost power for a while (meaning the AC turned off and I woke up all sweaty, how lame). Anyway, it was relatively clear when we woke up for breakfast but you could definitely see stormy weather on the horizon, Our first game was against Ireland and conditions were clear when we started. Games were to time with no half so we chose to start on O. We scored the first point easily, then got the break right away. Things were looking good and it seemed like we would role. Then the weather happened and we all know that wind is the great equalizer in ultimate. Anyway, we began trading down winders, but somehow it still felt (to me) like we were rolling. I guess we just came out of the gates quickly so I figured we continued. Well, the eventually got a wind break, making to score close, but we were able to get it back and score downwind to win 8-6 (the games were like 50 min long).
After the game we had a spirit circle, as is costume in international ultimate. What our captain didn't know is that the wining team's captain is supposed to summarize the game with what worked and what didn't, then the other team's captain talks, then the teams to the gifts and such. Well, this lack of knowledge made out first day's spirit circles kind of awkward, but I think things got better after that. Also, we were blessed to have someone who's a cheer expert on our team, and always had great songs for our opponents.
I think it was after this game the J9 decided we should mix a bunch of jungle juice (how American, right) and give bottles of it as gifts to our opponents. After the 10:00 am game we had a long bye until 3:00 then another game at 5:00. We used our huge bye to go to the super market and buy ingredients to mix some delicious jungle juice. Our first attempt at mixing our gift involved stealing the large trash can from the hall and a big trash bag from the kitchen. Well, this round wasn't incredibly successful, that is, we lost a lot of the juice in the poring process, but it was delicious. Well, we finished with two 1.5 leader bottles of our new gift, and just in time to get to the fields and not warm up for our game (we also learned that we needed to make some sort of funnel).
Our 3 o'clock game was against Great Britain, and we went into it really confidently; we had done well against them a couple of nights before, and that was without our whole team. The game went by smoothly, I had my first layout D of the tournament in this game, and I scored a few goals. We wound up winning 18-3 (no wind makes a big difference). Chilling with GB after the game was maybe better than with any other team, I guess there just isn't as much of a culture gap.
Our Last game of the day was in the arena against Trevor and Tyler's team, the Peace Team (a pickup team that also volunteered to do some outreach stuff in Maceio). This time our start wasn't as strong, it seemed like they lulled us into playing pickup style disc, still, we never trailed. the game was 4-3 then there was a hell point where Xtehn and I were the guys for our team and Trevor and Tyler were in for their team. It was really fun playing against those guys, and we eventually got the break to go up 5-3. After that we went on a huge run (partly because we had a lot of depth, and with Trevor and Tyler tiered from the hell point, they had lost two of their top three guys). It was 10-3 before anyone really noticed. We closed out the game kind of slowly and wound up taking it 13-6.
With our games for the day over and the sun setting we all headed back to the hotel and the adjacent little burger stand for showers and dinner. After dinner J9 and I got to mixing jungle juice for Ireland, our opponents for the next day, and to have at the party that night. Our refined mixing technique involved a smaller trash can that we got from one of the bathrooms, a 1.5 liter bottle with the top cut off and turned upside-down to create a funnel. We also began to rock a new recipe with a 12 pack of beer, a fifth of Pitu (cane sugar rum), and a lot of powdered flavor packets. So, with our concoction in hand we went to the party.
The party was at a small bar on the beach front, and it was a good thing that we pre-gamed // brought our own drink. The party was fun and full of dancing. As it wound down there was a skinny dipping group (not my thing), and I also threw my fire at this party (a story for another time, all you have to know is that I wanted to throw my fire in Brazil, and I made it happen). I wound up leaving around 1 a.m. and got to bed by two so I could be ready for that 10 a.m. game.
We had the same buys on day two as we did on day one, so that was nice for our internal clocks. Our first game of day two was against Austria. I don't remember too many details from this game, I just remember that it was very clear, and they didn't like the level of physicality we played with. The final score was 13-1 and I know they were disappointed with how they played, but they also said that we were much more physical than they were used to, and they felt that we were unspirited because of that. As I see it, we were a lot less physical than is typical of ultimate in the US and we toned it down more so when they asked us to. I also think that it shouldn't be fully on us to change they way be play. People play the game differently in different places, and everyone has to realize that. I understand that international ultimate is less physical than US ultimate, but I also think that a lot of teams didn't give us a chance and had decided how they would perceive our play before the game started.
Anyway, our next game was against Scotland and it was also pretty uneventful. The Scots were a really young bunch and they relied a lot on hucking to their athletes, the only problem was we were more experienced with better athletes. That is, I don't remember much, and it was windy. I think Erol got our first callahan of the tournament in this one, it was on a floaty dump pass in the up-wind endzone. The final score was 13-4.
Our last game of the day was against Switzerland. They had beat us in the little three team round robin scrimmage thing, so we got up for this one. We came out really strong and played hard D and efficient O. I got called for a couple of travels during this game, and the guys explanation was "you're taking 3 or 4 steps after you catch the disc every time." I said I'd try to stop faster, but I was going left right left then pivoting to throw, so I wasn't really traveling, but good spirit // ambassador of the sport and so on. I also got a callahan by getting a layout catch D on a dump pass after a stoppage (would that sentence be at all readable if you don't play ultimate? I didn't think so).
The post games activities were the same for day two as day one, small time dinner and big time drink mixing. This time the party was at a legit club, so we all took cabs that way after dinner and partied it up. There was a small issue with getting in because the people who were working at the club hadn't communicated well with the owner and didn't understand the tournament party thing, but it just resulted in a sweet 30 min outdoor party and dance circle, so all was good. This night was by far the biggest for me. After leaving the party around 2:30 or 3:00 we went to a little stand on the beach for late night food and drink. I think I wound up not going back to the hotel until the sun was rising around 5:30 a.m.
Anyway, that gave me plenty of time to rest up for our 10 a.m. game with Germany. I'll discuss that along with the rest of pool play next time.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Brazil II - The Tourist Days
My first few days in Maceió were amazing and really touristy. After raging the buffet and getting settled into our rooms, Sunya and I went back to meet up with Trevor and Tyler. We met up around 10:00 am and spent the rest of the morning tossing on the beach and swimming in the warm ocean water (it was my first time being around warm ocean water, and it was amazing). After finally accepting we were in brazil, we decided to get lunch and a nap before evening pick-up (yeah, there was international beach pickup, under lights, on the arena fields. Well, some teams didn't participate and instead just practiced, but we all know that's lame).
So, we hit up the local fare (burger/sandwich-y things with mayo) and parted ways for some (barely)afternoon napping. Well, I hit the bed around 11:45 and read maybe 10 pages of my book before passing out hard. So, how the hotel we were in worked was, you had to slide the key into this port thing in the room for the electricity in your room to work (well, luckily, the mini-fridge was exempt from this rule). Anyway, I wanted the electricity for the air-conditioner while I was napping, so I had the key in the room. Apparently, at some point in the afternoon my roommate wanted to get some things, but couldn't because I slept through him banging on the door for like 15 minutes. My plan was to be woken up for some beach chillin' before evening pickup, but that never materialized. Luckily, I woke up just as one of my teammates (with a bike) was leaving for the pickup/scrmmages. It was on the way there that I realized there are lights all along the beach-front at night. Also along the beach there is a bike/skate park, volleyball courts, basketball courts, and three soccer pitches (two of which had sand trucked into them so they could become beach ultimate pitches).
We got to the fields just as Switzerland was wrapping up beating GB for the second time (apparently Switzerland, GB, and us were playing a round robin with games to three and a three wins and your out rule). Well, after Switzerland beat GB we were up to play them. I jumped in on the first point (a D point) rocking a sunburn and some sweet DTB shorts. We wound up getting the turn and I went deep and caught a sweet huck from Kenbrah. We didn't get the second break in a row, but we managed to score our O point without turns, then get a break to win the game. This brought us to what our leadership (who was present at the time) built up as the important game of the night. Apparently us loosing to them with our skeleton squad was unacceptable, and we needed to lay the hammer down. Well, we didn't quite shut them out, but we did get one break so we won 3-1 having started on O (I'd like to think my showing up made the difference, but I actually think it was just our team respecting them and deciding to really play). After beating the Swiss we took care of GB again then called it a night (in terms of ultimate).
After playing we headed across the street to one of those all you can eat meat places and gorged ourselves on some delicious food. Brazilian all you can eat restaurants are super sweet. How it goes down is you hit up the buffet for some appetizers, then the waiters start coming around with different cuts of meat on these huge skewers and you just say if you want some. When you do they cut you some meat and there you have it. It was also at this dinner that I was introduced to the Brazilian national drink, the Caipirinha (fermented sugar cane with limes and lots of sugar). After dinner I was once again exhausted, and didn't make it out the the clubs that night, instead retiring early with my book for a good night's sleep.
The next day was awesome. We got up at a reasonable hour, hit up the breakfast then made our way out to the reef on a sweet $7.50 a person boat tour. What happens is you head out to the reef area where all these boar tour boats park and snorkel around with the option of ordering food and drinks from the kitchen boat. Now, these boats aren't motorized, actually there really rickety little sailboats, and the experience is awesome. Our boat tour lasted al morning and involved a lot of waist deep tossing with Grant from L&C. One of the best parts of doing the reef thing was spending time together as a team. I think hanging out together was more valuable than playing together could be. We acted like a team all week, it didn't matter how much we had played together, just that we all got along and gelled well socially.
After the boat tour we had a really low key day hanging out at the hotel, going to the grocery store, and the flea market thing. After lazing about all day we hit up the little burger place next to the hotel for dinner before going to the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony was really nice, all the different countries marched through with their flags and formed a huge circle. The TD then gave a speech, and finally it turned into a party. There were frisbee drinking games being played on the beach stadium pitches, and Michele (of Paganello fame) played songs for the crowd. I think the music played until around 1:00, then got some food with J9 (this was probably the best food I had the whole trip, and only because we just asked for the same thing as what the locals just got). Well, we got back to the hotel around 1:45 to get some sleep before our 10:00 am game with Ireland.
Well, that does it for the pre tournament festivities and posts, I'll get to posting about the games soon, and by soon, I definitely mean there will be less time between this post and the next.
So, we hit up the local fare (burger/sandwich-y things with mayo) and parted ways for some (barely)afternoon napping. Well, I hit the bed around 11:45 and read maybe 10 pages of my book before passing out hard. So, how the hotel we were in worked was, you had to slide the key into this port thing in the room for the electricity in your room to work (well, luckily, the mini-fridge was exempt from this rule). Anyway, I wanted the electricity for the air-conditioner while I was napping, so I had the key in the room. Apparently, at some point in the afternoon my roommate wanted to get some things, but couldn't because I slept through him banging on the door for like 15 minutes. My plan was to be woken up for some beach chillin' before evening pickup, but that never materialized. Luckily, I woke up just as one of my teammates (with a bike) was leaving for the pickup/scrmmages. It was on the way there that I realized there are lights all along the beach-front at night. Also along the beach there is a bike/skate park, volleyball courts, basketball courts, and three soccer pitches (two of which had sand trucked into them so they could become beach ultimate pitches).
We got to the fields just as Switzerland was wrapping up beating GB for the second time (apparently Switzerland, GB, and us were playing a round robin with games to three and a three wins and your out rule). Well, after Switzerland beat GB we were up to play them. I jumped in on the first point (a D point) rocking a sunburn and some sweet DTB shorts. We wound up getting the turn and I went deep and caught a sweet huck from Kenbrah. We didn't get the second break in a row, but we managed to score our O point without turns, then get a break to win the game. This brought us to what our leadership (who was present at the time) built up as the important game of the night. Apparently us loosing to them with our skeleton squad was unacceptable, and we needed to lay the hammer down. Well, we didn't quite shut them out, but we did get one break so we won 3-1 having started on O (I'd like to think my showing up made the difference, but I actually think it was just our team respecting them and deciding to really play). After beating the Swiss we took care of GB again then called it a night (in terms of ultimate).
After playing we headed across the street to one of those all you can eat meat places and gorged ourselves on some delicious food. Brazilian all you can eat restaurants are super sweet. How it goes down is you hit up the buffet for some appetizers, then the waiters start coming around with different cuts of meat on these huge skewers and you just say if you want some. When you do they cut you some meat and there you have it. It was also at this dinner that I was introduced to the Brazilian national drink, the Caipirinha (fermented sugar cane with limes and lots of sugar). After dinner I was once again exhausted, and didn't make it out the the clubs that night, instead retiring early with my book for a good night's sleep.
The next day was awesome. We got up at a reasonable hour, hit up the breakfast then made our way out to the reef on a sweet $7.50 a person boat tour. What happens is you head out to the reef area where all these boar tour boats park and snorkel around with the option of ordering food and drinks from the kitchen boat. Now, these boats aren't motorized, actually there really rickety little sailboats, and the experience is awesome. Our boat tour lasted al morning and involved a lot of waist deep tossing with Grant from L&C. One of the best parts of doing the reef thing was spending time together as a team. I think hanging out together was more valuable than playing together could be. We acted like a team all week, it didn't matter how much we had played together, just that we all got along and gelled well socially.
After the boat tour we had a really low key day hanging out at the hotel, going to the grocery store, and the flea market thing. After lazing about all day we hit up the little burger place next to the hotel for dinner before going to the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony was really nice, all the different countries marched through with their flags and formed a huge circle. The TD then gave a speech, and finally it turned into a party. There were frisbee drinking games being played on the beach stadium pitches, and Michele (of Paganello fame) played songs for the crowd. I think the music played until around 1:00, then got some food with J9 (this was probably the best food I had the whole trip, and only because we just asked for the same thing as what the locals just got). Well, we got back to the hotel around 1:45 to get some sleep before our 10:00 am game with Ireland.
Well, that does it for the pre tournament festivities and posts, I'll get to posting about the games soon, and by soon, I definitely mean there will be less time between this post and the next.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Brazil I - The Trip Down
I love Ultimate. I love the anonymity of it all. I love that the journey to a world championship event has humble beginnings for all the players who come from around the globe to play. That's not to say that the journeys themselves are small or easy, just that they aren't glamorous. What people will go through to get to an Ultimate tournament is immense, and it only magnifies their emotional investment in the outcome of the tournament. One story I heard was that a player from the Philippines flew to Tokyo, then to San Francisco, then Miami, then Sao Paulo, and finally to Maceió. Now, my trip wasn't as long or epic as his, but it'll have to do for now.
So, my journey started on an average Saturday morning in Santa Cruz, some fog, low 40s, you know, that horrible December weather. Sunya and my flight was at 11:30 so we met our friend Anna, who was giving us a ride, at 8:00 and got on the road. We got to the airport comfortably around 9:30 then went through the long an arduous process of checking in for an international flight. After waiting in line for like an hour we finally got to the check in counter. When the lady asked for our tickets Sunya handed over hers and I just gave my ID. She told me I'd need a ticket, at which point Sunya and I looked at each other with that "oh shit, is this really happening?!?" sort of look. Well, I just said "I was told by my travel agent that I'd only need an ID" and let it ride.
Five minuets went by with awkward silence and a lot of typing by the lady behind the counter, then out of the blue she hands us both our boarding passes and says "have a nice flight." What the fuck, right? She didn't say anything the whole time, and there was a lot she could have said. There wasn't a "You're right, the ID will do fine." No "I'll try and get you two seats next to one another." No, "Sorry, I can't get you guys adjacent seats." Nothing, just awkward silence and typing. I seriously thought I wasn't going to Brazil for those 5 minuets, and man, that sucked balls. Anyway, I guess it worked out. After getting our boarding basses we hit up an airport book store where I bought a Rolling Stone mag, and Empire by Orson Scott Card (I wouldn't recommend it, btw). After making our plane reading selections (Sunya bought a People mag) we made our way through security and got some food before boarding our flight.
The first leg of the trip was relatively uneventful, and the plane was empty enough that we could sit next to each other. Over all, it was nice, and I managed to resist listening to the iPod shuffle I had brought. I was really happy with the collection of music I put on the shuffle. It was really eclectic, and I found it all pretty jetset-y. I think I liked my selections because it was all good background music, but also great if you wanted to pay attention. Also, the music I chose isn't the greatest driving music, but it all does well for traveling (I'll post the list at some point). *
After landing in Chicago, Sunya and I garbed another quick bite to eat before boarding our long flight to São Paulo. I was expecting this ten and a half hour flight to be the real kicker, but it went by relatively quickly. I traded my isle seat for the easier-to-sleep-in window seat and the book I bought proved very readable, even if I didn't enjoy the politics it was plugging. Also, the music really carried me through on this one. Anyway, the flight became bearable, but I didn't get nearly enough sleep. I thought I might be able to get like 5 or 6 hours on the plane, but instead I got about three. Normally I could function enough to make it through the day on 3 hours, but after all that traveling, I was starting to fear the 12 hour layover in São Paulo.
After getting into Brazil (south of the equator for the first time ever!) we spent about 90 min in the airport figuring out details about our next flight, changing and brushing teeth, finding lockers and getting maps. After taking care of all our airport business we took a cab to down town to check out the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP). MASP was really cool. I dig museums, and this one was great. It had two floors of modern art below ground, an outdoor market at ground level, to go with floor of photography and a floor of fine art above ground. I think we spent about three hours looking around, but I could have used at least another hour (especially if I wasn't so tiered). Down town SP was pretty sweet, it was really hot and humid and there were Santas and Christmas decorations everywhere, like bizarre-o Christmas. Also, we went to the coolest public park I've ever been to, it was really jungle-y and there were kids play structures everywhere. I was exhausted the whole time and I tried to drink inordinate amounts of water to make up for it. It almost worked, then, in the museum, I fell asleep while walking and almost tripped into a priceless piece of modern art. Right then I knew the layover couldn't end soon enough.
Luckily that was toward the end of our stay and the museum, and it was dinner time. We found a restaurant at a hotel for some food, then after dinner we took a bus back to the airport. It was a nice charter type buss and we both got a good hour of sleep in, followed by the usual airport business and a nice two and a half hour flight to Maceió. Well, after sleeping on the bus and the plane I felt really energetic, and I was mentally prepared to stay up all night in the airport. See, our plane got in at 1:30 so we had our bags around two meaning we either had to get a cab to our hotel and wake people up around 2:30, or we could just stay up in the airport and save money by taking a bus in the morning. Well, it seemed to inconvenience the fewest people if we stayed up, also, saving money is always good on trips. So, after getting our bags we made our way up towards the airport eateries.
About a half hour into our airport all nighter we encountered a couple of fellow ultimate players who had the same plane. We had seen a few on our flight, but they all went off to grab cabs and meet up with teammates. Well, the two we met in the airport were predictable american college students who had been studying abroad in South America. When we met them, Trevor, captain of the University of Utah Zion Curtain, and Tyler, baller from Tufts, were wavering from there initial airport all night plan and were contemplating hitting up a hostel for the night, luckily the met us and found inspiration to stick it out in the airport.
I couldn't have been happier with how the airport thing worked out. First, the Bob's Burgers (I know, what a sweet name for a Brazilian fast food chain) stayed open all night, giving us a constant source of burgers, shakes, and fries, and second, Trevor and Tyler had tons of awesome stories from their semesters in south america. Basically, I remained energized all night, and the sun made an appearance at like 5:30 because of how far east in the time-zone Maceió is. At around 5:40 we asked some employees about busses/cabs into the city and they told us about a 6:00 am bus that'd get us where we needed to go. Jumping at the opportunity to save money we jumped on the public transportation and got a tour of both the outlying slums and some of the rougher neighborhoods that Maceió has to offer (the crazy thing is, the people who live in these neighborhoods all dress nicely to go to work in the touristy areas, also, all the women in Brazil wear high heels). We told the buss driver where we were going and they let us off where they said was really close. It just turned out to be about six blocks to far. Anyway, we had a nice little adventure figuring out where our hotel was, and eventually got there around 8:00 am. Just in time to hit up the breakfast buffet and chill with teammates. Meanwhile Trevor and Tyler walked the 4 additional blocks to their hotel, which turned out to be right across from the arena fields.
Okay, so that's the journey down. I'll try to get a post up about the pre tournament activities and the opening ceremony soon.
* I guess if you've also read my Road Trip posts you must think that I get really excited about any travel playlist I put together. This is partially true, I'm always excited about it right after I make it, but they don't always stand the test of time. In retrospect I really like the 1st, 2nd, and 5th I-5 playlists I made, and so far I'm still into my Brazil playlist. I could get into this whole thing more, but I really need to just organize my thoughts and devote a whole post to long playlists.
So, my journey started on an average Saturday morning in Santa Cruz, some fog, low 40s, you know, that horrible December weather. Sunya and my flight was at 11:30 so we met our friend Anna, who was giving us a ride, at 8:00 and got on the road. We got to the airport comfortably around 9:30 then went through the long an arduous process of checking in for an international flight. After waiting in line for like an hour we finally got to the check in counter. When the lady asked for our tickets Sunya handed over hers and I just gave my ID. She told me I'd need a ticket, at which point Sunya and I looked at each other with that "oh shit, is this really happening?!?" sort of look. Well, I just said "I was told by my travel agent that I'd only need an ID" and let it ride.
Five minuets went by with awkward silence and a lot of typing by the lady behind the counter, then out of the blue she hands us both our boarding passes and says "have a nice flight." What the fuck, right? She didn't say anything the whole time, and there was a lot she could have said. There wasn't a "You're right, the ID will do fine." No "I'll try and get you two seats next to one another." No, "Sorry, I can't get you guys adjacent seats." Nothing, just awkward silence and typing. I seriously thought I wasn't going to Brazil for those 5 minuets, and man, that sucked balls. Anyway, I guess it worked out. After getting our boarding basses we hit up an airport book store where I bought a Rolling Stone mag, and Empire by Orson Scott Card (I wouldn't recommend it, btw). After making our plane reading selections (Sunya bought a People mag) we made our way through security and got some food before boarding our flight.
The first leg of the trip was relatively uneventful, and the plane was empty enough that we could sit next to each other. Over all, it was nice, and I managed to resist listening to the iPod shuffle I had brought. I was really happy with the collection of music I put on the shuffle. It was really eclectic, and I found it all pretty jetset-y. I think I liked my selections because it was all good background music, but also great if you wanted to pay attention. Also, the music I chose isn't the greatest driving music, but it all does well for traveling (I'll post the list at some point). *
After landing in Chicago, Sunya and I garbed another quick bite to eat before boarding our long flight to São Paulo. I was expecting this ten and a half hour flight to be the real kicker, but it went by relatively quickly. I traded my isle seat for the easier-to-sleep-in window seat and the book I bought proved very readable, even if I didn't enjoy the politics it was plugging. Also, the music really carried me through on this one. Anyway, the flight became bearable, but I didn't get nearly enough sleep. I thought I might be able to get like 5 or 6 hours on the plane, but instead I got about three. Normally I could function enough to make it through the day on 3 hours, but after all that traveling, I was starting to fear the 12 hour layover in São Paulo.
After getting into Brazil (south of the equator for the first time ever!) we spent about 90 min in the airport figuring out details about our next flight, changing and brushing teeth, finding lockers and getting maps. After taking care of all our airport business we took a cab to down town to check out the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP). MASP was really cool. I dig museums, and this one was great. It had two floors of modern art below ground, an outdoor market at ground level, to go with floor of photography and a floor of fine art above ground. I think we spent about three hours looking around, but I could have used at least another hour (especially if I wasn't so tiered). Down town SP was pretty sweet, it was really hot and humid and there were Santas and Christmas decorations everywhere, like bizarre-o Christmas. Also, we went to the coolest public park I've ever been to, it was really jungle-y and there were kids play structures everywhere. I was exhausted the whole time and I tried to drink inordinate amounts of water to make up for it. It almost worked, then, in the museum, I fell asleep while walking and almost tripped into a priceless piece of modern art. Right then I knew the layover couldn't end soon enough.
Luckily that was toward the end of our stay and the museum, and it was dinner time. We found a restaurant at a hotel for some food, then after dinner we took a bus back to the airport. It was a nice charter type buss and we both got a good hour of sleep in, followed by the usual airport business and a nice two and a half hour flight to Maceió. Well, after sleeping on the bus and the plane I felt really energetic, and I was mentally prepared to stay up all night in the airport. See, our plane got in at 1:30 so we had our bags around two meaning we either had to get a cab to our hotel and wake people up around 2:30, or we could just stay up in the airport and save money by taking a bus in the morning. Well, it seemed to inconvenience the fewest people if we stayed up, also, saving money is always good on trips. So, after getting our bags we made our way up towards the airport eateries.
About a half hour into our airport all nighter we encountered a couple of fellow ultimate players who had the same plane. We had seen a few on our flight, but they all went off to grab cabs and meet up with teammates. Well, the two we met in the airport were predictable american college students who had been studying abroad in South America. When we met them, Trevor, captain of the University of Utah Zion Curtain, and Tyler, baller from Tufts, were wavering from there initial airport all night plan and were contemplating hitting up a hostel for the night, luckily the met us and found inspiration to stick it out in the airport.
I couldn't have been happier with how the airport thing worked out. First, the Bob's Burgers (I know, what a sweet name for a Brazilian fast food chain) stayed open all night, giving us a constant source of burgers, shakes, and fries, and second, Trevor and Tyler had tons of awesome stories from their semesters in south america. Basically, I remained energized all night, and the sun made an appearance at like 5:30 because of how far east in the time-zone Maceió is. At around 5:40 we asked some employees about busses/cabs into the city and they told us about a 6:00 am bus that'd get us where we needed to go. Jumping at the opportunity to save money we jumped on the public transportation and got a tour of both the outlying slums and some of the rougher neighborhoods that Maceió has to offer (the crazy thing is, the people who live in these neighborhoods all dress nicely to go to work in the touristy areas, also, all the women in Brazil wear high heels). We told the buss driver where we were going and they let us off where they said was really close. It just turned out to be about six blocks to far. Anyway, we had a nice little adventure figuring out where our hotel was, and eventually got there around 8:00 am. Just in time to hit up the breakfast buffet and chill with teammates. Meanwhile Trevor and Tyler walked the 4 additional blocks to their hotel, which turned out to be right across from the arena fields.
Okay, so that's the journey down. I'll try to get a post up about the pre tournament activities and the opening ceremony soon.
* I guess if you've also read my Road Trip posts you must think that I get really excited about any travel playlist I put together. This is partially true, I'm always excited about it right after I make it, but they don't always stand the test of time. In retrospect I really like the 1st, 2nd, and 5th I-5 playlists I made, and so far I'm still into my Brazil playlist. I could get into this whole thing more, but I really need to just organize my thoughts and devote a whole post to long playlists.
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