"Ombragado Mosa" - Kevin Daly
The last couple of days have been a combination of new emotions and experiences. After a night of very little sleep, our physical journey to Brazil began as we departed our beloved Morris for the MSP airport.
The flights were long, but the layovers were agonizing. For the first time in my life I was able to experience something that I seen many times before in movies and documentaries: A team of athletes traveling together through the sleepless nights and never-ending days to do that which they love and had brought them together in the first place. This truly hit me before leaving Miami for Sao Paulo. Looking around the terminal and seeing people all doing their own thing, yet maintaining a sense of comradery. Some chose to catch up on sleep sprawled across the floor, others sat quietly listening to their ipod’s, and others were playing cards in a circle. In the movies, you always see the individuals and the team overcome the obstacles set before them to succeed. I became concerned that I had not done all that I was able to in order to gain the most from this trip. Whether my personal performance contributed to a win, or was the reason for a loss, I doubted if I was going to benefit as much as I could have had I prepared differently. After boarding the plane, this thought was pushed to the back of my mind when I found my seat and had my first experience with Brazilian culture as I sat next to a 7-year old named Lucas who was traveling to Brasilia to visit his grandparents. He was able to teach me to say ‘Thank-you ma’am’ (Ombragado Mosa) in Portuguese so that I was able to thank the stewardess’ when she brought around scrumptious servings of chicken, breakfast sandwiches, and orange juice. This flight was the worst as it was the longest we took, but was also a night flight. I had a hard time falling asleep, and found my thoughts wandering to a variety of things ranging from the Brazilian women, to whether or not I should sleep or go to the beach when we arrive in Natal. Through the difficult times navigating through the Sao Paulo airport, we were finally on our way to Natal. Actually, not really, we stopped at some other place first which as a teaser, showed me how much I was really anticipating the good time I was going to have. When we finally got to Natal, we went onto the beach to go for a run. As we passed the Brazilians, some were yelling support to us, whereas others criticized our speed, and probably some other things I couldn’t understand but were less than friendly. We concluded our beach trip with some swimming in the ocean and frolicking in the salty waves before heading to dinner and our first meeting with Miguel.
Kevin Daly