Augsburg volleyball team in Brazil -- Parents' Blog

By Cindy Jenkins, mother of Julie Jenkins (JR, Edina, Minn.)
Arriving in Brazil after a long delayed flight, our Brazilian contacts, Cesar and Rene, met Clarence, Jai, Dana, Katie, Jed and I at the airport. The drive to the hotel was interesting. We saw extremely poor housing areas, housing units built upon housing units -- a way of life we don't experience here. While driving, Cesar filled us with interesting and fun facts regarding the city. I rolled down the window to feel the warm tropical air, grabbed my camera to get some shots, and realized that you need to keep your hands inside the car. The roads are narrow, the cars drive very close to each other side-by-side, and motorcycles carefully maneuver their way inbetween cars even at high speeds. After arriving at the hotel, we hit the beach in search of the volleyball team, coaches, and trainer who arrived before us. It was a sight we haven't seen in Minnesota for some months -- sand volleyball in bathing suits, on the beach. The Augsburg girls had enthusiasm and excitement in their game as they teamed up by age and played 4-on-4. I knew we were in for a fabulous week. I put my tourist purse on, grabbed my dictionary for easy accessibility and decided to immerse myself in the Brazilian culture!

Our week consisted of the usual tourist stuff -- great food, picturesque landscapes, volleyball and many encounters with the locals. In the first two days, the group toured the two highest mountain tops in the beautiful oceanfront city of Rio de Janeiro. Sugar Loaf Mountain was a two-tiered cable-car ride to the mountain's top. This provided a spectacular view of the entire city, countryside, and coastlines for miles and miles. This cable car location was the filming of a famous scene in a James Bond "007" movie. It was here that I met my first group of approximately 30 children, ages 9-10. The children were from an underprivileged public school in Rio, visiting Sugar Loaf for the first time. Their education system does not fund field trips or teach the children about their culture, so two organizations sponsor a classroom each week to visit Sugar Loaf to broaden their awareness of the beautiful city they live in. The children were impressed that I was from the U.S. (they made me feel like I was famous or something) and with dictionary in-hand, we tried to communicate. Their guide mentioned that I was a "student" studying Portuguese, so they helped me pronounce words, the guide helped to interpret, and I was an example to these children that learning continues even into adulthood. I learned later that most of these children will not continue with school as we know it in the U.S. The kids may have to stay home to take care of younger siblings, or may drop out for other reasons such as lack of interest or joining gangs. As we communicated, we had so much fun and the happiness in these kids stole my heart. By the end of our meeting, all the students were saying hello and goodbye in English, as I was in Portuguese. I pronounced each and every child's name as we shook hands and said goodbye. I realized what beautiful names they had and how beautiful the words sounded as I spoke them (even in my English accent). I wanted to learn Portuguese!

We also visited Corcovada Mountain, where the Christ the Redeemer statue extends His peaceful presence over the entire city. Pretty much anywhere on the ground in the city, you can see this fabulous monument. On the train ride up the steep Corcovada, periodically you would see on the mountainside poverty-stricken, crumbled brick houses, with old cars and old trucks, with one small lane leading to where people live. I thought I was viewing scenes from movies, not actually seeing with my own eyes. Before the train reached its mountaintop destination (pretty steep at this point) -- both sides of the mountain dropped off and our eyes were opened to a spectacular 300-degree view of the ocean. You felt like you were in the clouds with nothing under, around, or over you. It was pretty amazing experience after the initial frightfulness. We were in awe of the accomplishment of pioneering the trails, carrying concrete to this incredible peak, to build and erect the 13-story-high Christ. In the base of the statue was a chapel; simple, plain, peaceful, but so incredibly moving I had tears in my eyes.

Everywhere the group visited was a welcoming experience -- even as I tried my broken hellos, good mornings, and thank yous in Portuguese. The locals would smile or laugh when I pulled out my dictionary. They openly welcomed the communication, helped with pronunciations and looked up words with me. I was surprised to find that you can communicate very well, with few words and a little animation, when the people are kind and patient. At the volleyball matches, the Brazilian children and young adults were considerate and respectful. And, oh how they thought our volleyball players were kindly beautiful. They wanted to know all the names of the players and then they would shout their names in cheerful sportsmanship and support. I made many friends in the stands and was surprised to find that even in Brazil, e-mail, "CSI" and "American Idol" is popular. I have a small notebook of e-mail addresses and look forward to continued communications with these newly found friends. Judy was impressed that by the time these particular teenagers completed high school, they would know three languages -- Portuguese, Spanish, and English.  While in the stands, Judy and I received Samba dance lessons (even Samba funk) from the young adults. They proceeded to teach our players how to dance after the match. I had decided the universal languages are laughter, music, dance, and sports.

The social project "Vive Vollei" was made possible by the Brazilian Federate and was a HUGE success. The players and coaches were incredible engaging with these children from gang-controlled streets. The children LOVED singing songs, learning the Auggie clap, and playing volleyball with our girls. These children were so poor that most of them were playing volleyball on the cement with no shoes. Brazil's No. 1 TV station, TV Global, was filming and reporting this spectacular event. Coach Jess and Amanda were asked to conduct interviews. Their responses were perfect! It aired to all Brazil on May 14. The feedback to Cesar was that it was very good interaction, very good press, and great interviews. Cesar is trying to get a copy of the showing and will pass along, when and if he can.

Traveling onto the plush resort town of Buzios is where the Harms parents and the young women were in their element. You couldn’t keep Katie or Dana off the beaches or out of the water, while Judy and Megan were body-surfing with no boards. The beautiful Postada, the beautiful beaches, sailing on the Atlantic, Clarence and Danielle surfing, the Amigos, coaches and players jumping off the boat to swim, Jai showing her gymnastic skills from the boat into the deep ocean, shopping, dancing, Rene's serenading guitar music, and English boys were some of the highlights of our last days in Brazil. The volleyball team, along with Marco and Rene, went to the discotheque, while the coaches and parents went to Samba dance. Since dancing doesn't start until 1 a.m., it was a pretty late night. At the outdoor, countryside, chain-link fence Samba dance, Jed and Tali showed how easy Samba can be! But for the rest of us, it was not so easy! Coach Jess was scared of the surroundings and wanted to politely leave. This was truly a cultural experience.

Last, but most importantly: To our guide Cesar, who spent endless hours to organize the matches, our hotels, the meals, the tours, the experiences, our safety, our fun -- and whose heart for Brazil and ALL people is as big as Brazil itself -- a HUGE THANK YOU. To our bodyguards Marcos and Rene, who had our backs, always on alert for our protection, eyes upon us always and who provided for our safety at all times -- a HUGE THANK YOU. To our bus drive.r for keeping us safe on the road of crazy Brazilian drivers -- A HUGE THANK YOU. A special thank you to Jed, who supplied computer needs for phone calls and blogs. We were able to keep in communication to our loved ones back in the U.S. -- sorry parents if you weren't the ones receiving the phone calls, but the boyfriends were! To the coaches who kept both the players and the parents in line. And lastly, the young adult volleyball players in our group, who were responsible, well behaved, fearless, and kind -- the parents would not have had a magnificent time had you not conducted yourselves with grace, kindness and loveliness. Thank you!

As I reflect back on the dream time in Brazil, I can not stop thinking of the countryside, the picturesque oceans, the heartfelt, inquisitive children, and of course the eloquence of the language. Brazil radiates beauty -- beauty in its people, beauty in its cities, beauty in its countryside, beauty in its coastlines, beauty in the words that flow from their dialect. Have you ever awoken from a sweet dream, only wanting to sleep that dream again? I ponder back on our week in Brazil in this same way. Why did I have to wake up? May I relive the dream again? 

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