Thursday, July 23rd: I Have a Feeling We Aren't in Kansas Anymore

   After the long nine hour plane trip from Miami, we have finally made it to São Paulo, Brazil. After walking right through customs with no problems, we were met by Leo, who will be our tour guide for our time in Brazil. We then had a one and a half hour bus ride from the airport to the hotel. This bus ride was the first real exposure to Brazil, and São Paulo was not as different compared to a metropolis US city than I was expecting. The traffic was really bad, there was graffiti everywhere and a lot of American stores, everything from Sam's Club to Pizza Hut. 

     Once we got out of the large city of São Paulo and headed toward the city of Jundiaí the surroundings started to look much more like what you imagine Brazil to look like, shacks built right on top of each other with vibrant colors. There were a few villages of these shacks before Jundiaí and a lot of these shacks in the city of Jundiaí itself as well. Everything is so simple here in Brazil, they don't try to make anything fancy. As long as it gets the job done, it is good enough for the Brazilians and that is something very charming about this city. 

     We checked into our hotel which was right off the highway and had our first Brazilian lunch right away. The food was very good, fresh fruit steak and pasta all served right at our hotel. Then we took a power nap before we headed out to the first game of the tour. 

     I was not sure what to expect for this first game; in terms of level of play, refeeres, stadium, international rules, so I was very excited to get there and check everything out. The stadium was a multi-purpose court for the city of Jundiaí and although the facilities were not state of the art, I found it to be very unique and endearing. 

     The girls game was first and we cheered them on while we were getting lose and preparing for our own game. We also were able to get a feel for how the game will be played, which was pretty different compared to the American game we are used to. The refs would allow the team to pass the ball in right away, whether the other team was ready or not, which was much different. The other big difference was the physicality and how much they let go in the paint. Unfortunately, the girls team had a slow first quarter and ended up losing by 10 points. 

     As for the guys team, we got a 20 minute warm-up in on the court before we started our game versus the Jundiaí Club Basketball Club. As for our team, we got out to an early lead by running the ball down their throats, which was our gameplan going on since we are all capable of getting up and down and are deep coming off the bench. We were able to hold on to that lead through out the game, our team played very well together today and shot decently and handled their full court press as if we have practiced against it for months. The final score was 85-60, and even though the Brazil team got it handed to them today, they were more than gracious in defeat, taking pictures with us, chatting about NBA and even trading shirts. I was able to trade a "Roll Cobbs" shirt to Fernando for an awesome Jundiaí Club t-shirt!

     The best part of the day was talking to the guys we played against and seeing how genuinely excited they were to host us for the game. I should have gotten a picture of it, but Fernando was wearing his Cobber shirt with so much pride. I will have to make sure to get that picture after tomorrow's game.  Tomorrows game is in the afternoon, which means we will have some time to explore the city both before and after the game, which will be very interesting to take in more of the Brazilian culture. 

Good night from Jundiaí, Brazil!