Day 4 – Scott Turnbull
At last the rain has stopped in Natal! Miguel told us this morning that although he has no control he wished the sun would come out for our visit and said that he was praying for it. This afternoon his prayers were answered! We awoke to overcast skies and a slight drizzle accompanied the beginning of our morning training session at ABC’s training facility.
Coach Beto once again put the guys through their paces while many interested onlookers scaled walls and peered though the fence surrounding the complex. There is something about Futbol that draws everyone’s interest here. It is truly fascinating.
After practice we had another fantastic meal at Laina’s Place (our hotel) and we boarded the bus to head to train on the beach at a fishing village to the south of Natal. The village was one of the more poor areas around here with very modest homes, fields of cattle intermixed with the houses and the odd empty lot with a makeshift set of soccer goals at either end. It seems every open space is a soccer field, no matter how beaten up the ground may be. Once at the beach we saw many things that I am sure none of us had seen before. There were two stray horses that seemed to have no interest in anything but grazing on the few blades of grass near the beach, their owners must have been around somewhere but were never seen by us. Of course at the fishing village we saw fishermen in all kinds of boats. Some with no boats at all that just wadded out in the water with their net strung between two of them trying to snag fish. Our training on the beach was well under way with our team split into three groups, two playing and one waiting to play the winner. After a few rotations through, a group of locals asked to play the odd team out. It was a great experience for our guys and I think the locals enjoyed showing off their skills also! I know Coach DeVries did as he lived out a dream playing with the Brazilians on the beach against our guys.
On the way back from the beach we stopped by the largest cashew tree in the world that filled an entire block of the street, it was quite a sight. After a quick dip in the ocean at the beach near our hotel we once again enjoyed some home-made pizza at Laina’s. We were treated to some new dishes including a pineapple pizza that several people have never before tried and a delicious banana cinnamon pizza that was absolutely amazing. It is now my new favorite kind of pizza. I will have to figure out a way to make it when I return.
This evening we ventured off on a city bus to a mall a ways from our hotel. Due to the price of gas here (R$2.70/L or $1.71/L or $6.80/Gal) most people choose to ride the bus. So needless to say the buses are packed, especially when the mall was closing and we were trying to hop on board. It was a good experience to intermingle with the local people and experience how they get around the city.
Tomorrow should be another great day as we play futsol (a game similar to indoor soccer) against a local team. It’s supposed to be sunny all day, kind of ironic when we are playing indoors but it will be nice all the same!!