Day #4

Today was dedicated towards visiting the Jesus De Christo "Christ the Redeemer" statue. We woke up around 8AM and headed to Copacabana to buy tickets to ride a bus up the mountain. After buying the tickets we had a while to wait in the Copacabana area so we walked around, shopped, got some lunch and dipped our feet in the water. A big wave actually came and took us by surprise drenching those of us who had socks and shoes on. Gabriel got his coconut to drink, which he was looking forward to and was very happy about as you can see by his picture with it below :) After a bit of waiting around, it was our time to get on the bus to head up to Christ the Redeemer. There were a very large amount of people up there, like a Disneyland line on a busy day. Luckily, our tickets were sort of a fast track deal, so we didn't have to wait very long. After arriving up there there were tons of people around the statue taking pictures. Everyone is trying to get a picture without photobombers in their photos which is nearly impossible. After getting some pictures we put the cameras down and took a moment to take in this amazing statue and what it represents. The way Jesus has his arm extended and the way he is positioned on the top of a tall mountain makes you feel very protected and peaceful.

Our way down from the mountain we got some ice cream, at at the Copacabana at an Indian restaurant (I completely misordered and got something I was not anticipating so had to steal some food off my dad! (He doesnt like to share.) After dinner we had to collect tickets for the next day of Women's Water Polo at a hotel in Copa. We were in a new an unfamiliar area and took a different route home on the tram and got completely lost. It took us three hours to get home! Yikes! Once we were home we were very happy to sleep. We didnt wake up until about 10AM the next morning.

Day #3

We woke up to head to venue to see USA vs Hungary. They won the game and we waited to see them after the victory. We also got to see my dear friend Holly Lincoln-Smith who plays for the Australian team. I got to be friends with her while I was living in Australia, she took care of me (Picture of me and her below.) We got to have a lunch with Dan in a buffet that was filled with Argentinian and Brazilian Basketball fans who were cheering on a competitive game of Basketball. Argentina won. We then went home for a small rest and me, Natalie and Gabe went to the Sheraton for some drinks. We saw Venus Williams again and SHE said "hey whats up guys" to US. I was pretty stoked about it. Having Gabe around I guess makes us pretty unforgettable. Because of him being 7 ft tall, he is asked if he plays "baquette" (basketball) I would say at least 20 times a day. He has taken a lot of pics with folks who ask him to take pictures with him. It has also worked in our favor by getting some free food :)

Day #2

The second day here, we woke up and dad had got us some AMAZING bread form a bakery downstairs and we ate that with some jelly and hardboiled eggs for breakfast. We headed to figure out how to get cards to use public transportation such as the buses and trains. We got it pretty much figured out (except for our routes… we seem to still get lost every day) and headed to Olympic Park to watch the men’s game. They were playing Montenegro. Each team was competing for a chance to continue. Whoever lost would be out, so the stakes were high and the crowd was ROWDY!  We sat right behind some Montenegro fans who were in competition with USA fans. We got away with no altercations :) After the game we got something to eat and then had to ride in a taxi to pick up Natalie from the airport. On the way to the airport I saw Cintia Dicker (a Brazilian model who is my favorite because she has red hair) while we were creeping along in the super slow traffic. It took us over an hour and a half to get to the airport. We drove through Copacabana and realized we needed to get down there STAT to explore! It is amazing and there is so much going on. The Olympic beach volleyball venue is on the beach and tons of people are around just being so active, playing, walking, eating, and shopping. Good thing our taxi driver was trustworthy because all of us were asleep at one point or another during the trip (sidenote: I have been falling asleep pretty much everywhere… games, car rides, bus rides… thank goodness I’m in a group because this sleepiness is REAL! We got to the airport and picked up Natalie, rode the taxi back to the apartment. Went over to the Sheraton next door and ran into Venus Williams! We got to take a picture with her and chat a bit. I was pretty cool. We went home and went to sleep. USA vs Hungary next day.

Catch Up

Sorry for not updating my blog sooner, we have been getting home in the wee hours of the morning every night and I really have not had the energy! We have been having a blast here in Rio. Really, its an amazing experience to be here and to witness the games.

The night we arrived we had some trouble finding our apartment. People here speak mostly no English. It is RARE when you find someone who knows some. Turns out we were in the wrong building. Would have been an easy fix had we and the doorman known what the heck the other was saying LOL. We went to sleep that night and woke up excited to head to Parque de Olimpico!

We watched Australia play Italy and then next up was the USA vs. China. They played amazing. The pool complex was amazing despite the water not being clear. I'm sure a lot of you have seen on TV that the water polo pool is quite murky and the diving pool is completely green! After the game we explored the Olympic Park. We found some tickets to a basketball game and SWIMMING! Even tho I have seen the Olympics three times, I have never seen the swimming. Our basketball game was scheduled to be at 7, however, "something was wrong with the gym" so they wouldn't let us in. We waited in a huge, gigantic line and waited to hear the news. We figured it had to do with a threat of some sort. Turns out it was a bomb threat that had been investigated. We finally went in and got to see Nigeria vs Spain, including NBA player Pau Gasol. It turned out to be a very competitive game that was a lot of fun to watch. Next was swimming which started at 10:30PM! It definitely accommodates the American TV watching schedule. We got to see Michael Phelps win the 200IM, Ryan Murphy win the 200 Back, and Simone Manuel win the 100 freestyle, being the first ever African American female winning a Gold in an individual event. The medal ceremonies are very emotional as you get to watch your flag rise up while you are on the podium. Swimming wasn't over until about 12:45 and we hadn't figured out how to get home yet since it was our first day. We couldnt catch a taxi or uber from where we were at the park, so we tried to figure out a bus... Unsuccessful! The language barrier is so difficult and we ended up walking to where we could get a taxi. Its never good around here to be out late at night, so we just wanted to get home as quickly as possible.

A complete water polo session, basketball and swimming, not bad for the first day! We definitely packed it in and had incredible experiences. We all talked about how we could possibly top a day like this. After checking our phones we realized we all walked between 8 or 9 miles and it was about 2 in the morning... Hence not writing a blog :) We were very happy to be home safe and ready to rest!

Pictures from the day below: