May 24, 2006

Throughout their 12-day trip to Brazil, Illinois soccer players will update their voyage through the team's Brazil Blog on FightingIllini.com. Today's installment contains an entry from upcoming sophomore Emily Zurrer, who is no stranger to international travel after her experiences with the Canadian National Team.

Emily Zurrer
After leaving the airport in Sao Paulo yesterday we loaded up on a bus and drove two-and-a-half hours to our hotel in Lindoia. Everyone fell asleep as soon as the bus started moving and I think we would all agree that this was the quietest bus ride our team has ever taken. We made it to our hotel around noon and and headed straight to a lunch of rice, beans, steak, french fries, salads and LOTS of fruits and desserts. After lunch, we had a little time to rest and explore the hotel before training at 3:00 p.m.

Our fields were right outside the hotel so it was just a short walk to practice. Later on that evening, we ate dinner and put a couple of parents on the "hot seat." This is a team tradition where the person on the "hot seat" tells us a little about themselves and then we ask them various questions (if you could have dinner with one person, who would it be ?? .... etc.). It was VERY entertaining! After that, it was early to bed to rest up for our first game of the trip.