It's sad to say that today was our last full day on our amazing trip to Brazil. Although we were all disappointed, I think it's safe to say that we all had a day that we will never forget. To begin the day we had another amazing breakfast that got us all started the right way. We then took a tour around the city of Paraty and we learned a lot about the history of this amazing town. The town of Paraty is honestly a beautiful place consisting of shops and restaurants with stone sidewalks leading you in each direction, sometimes even filling up with water so it is only right to call Paraty the Brazilian Venice.
We then proceeded to our boat called the Sir Francis Drake I (Love the Drake) to see some of the islands that Paraty consisted of. The 65 islands were scattered throughout the ocean and in each direction you looked they were more breathtaking than the one before. We were able to jump off the boat at each of our four stops. We went snorkeling and walked along the beaches leaving our Behrend footprints in the sand. At our third stop we ate our lunch that included fish or chicken, rice, and vegetables. We had a very relaxing lunch and I think it then set in that we were truly in a tropical paradise, with nine of our best friends having the time of our lives. At our fourth and last stop we were joined by a few gigantic sea turtles, some of us even attempted to catch one like the crocodile hunter. Our trusty tour guide Fernando talked the captain into letting us climb all the way to the top of the ship to get a better view. As we headed back to the dock all of us were laying on the boat silent just soaking in the Brazilian sun. The boat ride was the perfect way to end our once in a life time experience.
This opportunity has brought our very close team even tighter. Everyone will bring back memories that we will never forget. Brazil has done so much for us it is unbelievable. This trip has made us a better team in many ways. We became a better team on the court and we became a closer team on the beach. Brazil, we will never forget you and we will never forget the opportunities that you have given us. This was the trip of a lifetime and there are so many people that have contributed in to making this trip a success. Thanks to Coach Niland for giving us the chance to experience this and thanks to Coach Swick for taking so many pictures and always helping us out. Also, thanks to our treasurer Uncle Jimmy (aka Coach Sutton) and McLovin (aka Coach McAdam). We won't forget the Alum's generous donations to ensure we could have an eye opening experience. I hope we can show our Behrend pride in the future and help in the same way they did for a group of college players. If it were not for all of you, this trip would not have been nearly as fun. Also thanks to our parents for letting us do this and always being there for us. How could we forget Fernando?! Fernando has honestly made this trip so much better in many ways. Without Fernando I am not sure what this trip would have turned out to be like. He has really gone out of his way to make sure we would have a good time. I know for a fact that we all made a new friend in Brazil and that would be Fernando. Stocko, you're the best driver in Brazil! So here it is, goodbye to Brazil, and thanks to everyone involved. We will never forget you Brazil, obrigado and tchau tchau!
P.S. Thank you to Jill Yamma at Behrend and Pat Coleman for showcasing our blogs on psblions.com and D3hoops.com