The rotating series of blogs from Wayne State women's basketball coaches and players comes today from Head Coach Chris Kielsmeier on Day 5 of the USA D-2 Women's Basketball Tour in Brazil.  The Day 5 blog from Friday, August 4th highlights some unique things that Chris Kielsmeier has witnessed on the trip along with highlights from the team's day off on Friday visiting the Christ the King statue and Copacabana Beach. 

Chris Kielsmeier Day 5 blog

To start the next part of the trip blog I thought I would share some interesting things about Brazil that I have learned so far. 
 
There are termite hills in pasture fields everywhere and they are all over the field. Some of them were several feet tall. They were very strange to me because they weren't close to any trees or wood to be able to eat. 
 
A lot of houses and businesses store there household water in big blue containers on or by their roof. Some my be able to have water pumped into the container, but others may have to fill them with bottled water. These containers of water are the only way to have running water for drinking and cooking. To me this was very eye opening as we as Americans tend to take running water for granted. 
 
Cop cars drive around all day and night with their flashing lights on. To pull you over they use a siren and loud speaker, basically telling you to pull over. One of our leaders said he was pulled over once and neither one of them could communicate with each other so he got to go. Interesting way to possibly always get out of an international traffic ticket. :) 
 
I saw several heavily armed guards stationed at exits off of the freeways. Also, normal cops carry quite the heavy aresenal on them. 
 
I think rice and beans have to be served at every meal except breakfast. Every breakfast buffet we have had has served chocolate cake. 
 
You can't walk on Copacabana beach very far without someone constantly trying to sell you something. Anything from food, that may be pulled out of a bag and cooked on the grill being carried, to clothing, jewelry, bags, sunglasses and much more. 
 
Motorcycles, where do I start. They are everywhere and they drive everywhere (like in between vehicles driving fast on freeways). They also can deliver anything from pizzas to gourmet salads that are strapped on their backs as they drive in and around everyone and everything. 
 
I have not seen too many Americans stores, but McDonald's and Subways are everywhere. I also saw a Dr. Scholls and Blockbuster video store. I thought it was very strange to see the latter two stores. 

Day 5. Beach and Christ Statue day!!! This was more of a laid back day so I think most took advantage of sleeping in or not leaving their rooms too early. 
 
We had a full breakfast buffet that had a lot of good food on it. Lots of traditional American items, but also some different ones as well. I tried little bread balls that were filled with cheese, very interesting. The items ranged from lunch meats to chocolate cake and everything in between. 
 
After breakfast I was excited to hit the beach and attack some waves. Unfortunately it was really windy and the beach had been red flagged meaning no one could get into the water. We decided just to walk up and down the beach, but it got cold pretty quickly. The temperature was in the 70's, but the wind made it really rough. 
 
We then decided to go eat lunch. We found a nice place by our hotel. I got an American favorite, chicken parmesan with rice and french fries. It was really good. 
 
Back to the hotel to load our bus to go to Corcovado Mountain and the Christ Statue. Once we got to the mountain we had to take a 30 minute train ride up the mountain. Once we got to the top, wow! The Statue was simply AMAZING!!! It is 90 feet tall and has a heart in the middle of his chest. I just cannot believe how this was constructed and placed on the top of a mountain that didn't have much space at the top. The views all around the mountain were amazing as well. We all got pictures that will help us remember this incredible experience!
 
Time to eat again. We have certainly done a lot of that on this trip. We went straight to a really high end Brazilian steak house. An endless amount of different meats, shaved right on to your plates, as well as more vegetables than I though a restaurant could serve. I wasn't a fan of a chicken heart! We also got birthday cake because two of our leaders have birthdays the next two days. That was a best treat for everyone. Happy Birthday Leo and Ron! 
 
We then got dropped off at the hotel where our leader gave us tomorrows schedule and a pep talk about the games in the morning. His quote, "we didn't come here to participate, we came here to win."
 
I had a quick team meeting with our players. I wanted to remind them of the significance of the opportunity that they have in just a few hours, since we play at 9am Brazil time. When this trip started I really didn't know what to expect. After being with this team for almost a week, it's clear to me they understand the moment and really want to win. It has been an honor to coach this team and I cannot wait to make more memories with them and everyone on this trip! Go USA!