Day 9: by Sam Lehman

Today we woke up bright and early at 7:30 to Brad's morning facts. After breakfast we took a bus ride to a public school across the street from Quero Ser. We dropped in to a couple different classes and got to see what the rooms were like. Their class rooms were very basic with one chalkboard at the front and chairs filling up the rest of the room. The kids were given the opportunity to ask any questions. Pretty much all of the kids were too shy to speak up but one girl who attended Quero Ser in the afternoon was bold enough to ask my sister the simple question, "how are you?". My sister was delighted and replied in Portugeuse, "tudo bem!". After getting our pictures taken by numerous school girls we made our way to Fernando's school, Quero Ser. Compared to the public school, Quero Ser was tiny. It was about the size of an average two-story house. Fernando explained that the school is a place where kids who want to get ahead in life and excel academically can go. Quero Ser teaches most of the same subjects that the public school does but to a higher level. We unloaded our numerous boxes of donations which were greeted excitedly by the kids and teachers alike. Before entering Quero Ser Fernando explained to us the school's motto which roughly means "We cannot change the way we started but we can change our future." The school definitely lives by these words. We also learned that middle schoolers go to public school in the morning and Quero Ser in the afternoon and elementary school kids vice versa. We were then ushered into Quero Ser's main room. We were lucky enough to be there for the christening of their brand new reading room named after Fernando's late wife Gail Barros. Over the arch of the room was a motto that was covered by a paper banner. One by one each player come up to the banner and pealed it away a little to reveal the motto. When it was my turn to peal off the banner I pulled a bit too hard and the entire banner came down revealing the motto, "I Wanna Be, Read and Know". After breaking in the reading room we had a snack of bread and lettuce which was grown from the garden. We played soccer and frisbee with the little kids and then we went to lunch at an Italian restaurant. Once we finished lunch we went back to Quero Ser and met the middle schoolers. We were greeted by the girls singing "Heal The World" and they danced to "Baby" by Justin Bieber. We also had the treat of getting to watch Fernando samba!! Fernando showed our team the computer room and there he gave us a talk about the importance of giving back to your community and helping those less privileged than yourself. I thought that this talk was really important and it meant a lot to the team.
Next, we had a friendly against a local team. The game was played in a large stadium and with people from around town sitting in the stands to watch their team play the Americans. I think the atmosphere really improved the experience of the game. We tied 0-0 with many chances to go ahead for both teams.
Once the game ended we said goodbye to the Quero Ser students and made our way back to the hotel. Back at the hotel we had a farewell get-together with some of the Brazilian families. It was really nice to get to see them for one last time before we left Sao Roque. After our goodbyes we went to dinner at an Italian restaurant. We all had a great time singing, dancing, and just enjoying each others company. Our team was talked into singing "Stand By Me" and "What a Wonderful World". Gabe really nailed the Louis Armstrong voice. At the very end of the dinner Xinho, Mido, and Fernando all spoke. They had incredibly nice things to say about our team and each other and I think their words touched everybody.
We bussed back to the hotel worn out and ready to go to bed. There had been talk of pulling an all-nighter but once we got back to the hotel we all stumbled to our seperate rooms and crashed.