Brazil Day 0 to Day 5

Day 0 – Travelling Day

Very tired from the early getting up we arrived at the airport and had to find out that our plane was delayed by two hours due to some weather problems in Paris and technical problems as well. When our connection flight took of we still were sitting in the plane towards Paris.
After three hours of discussion we finally got a night flight at 23:15 via Rio de Janeiro (instead of Sao Paulo) and would arrive in Curitiba at 9:30 on Wednesday.

In the remaining hours we spend the money we got for a lunch and made some speed sight-seeing in Paris. Within less then two hours we “walked” more than seven kilometres and took photos of the wonderful sight in the French capital.

Finally at 23:15 we boarded the Boing 747-400 but somehow I was too tired to keep awake till the start of the jumbo jet.

Day 1 – Sleeping Day

The landing in Rio was not as spectacular as I hoped (couldn’t see the Christi’s statue) but still the size of the city was impressive. Also the connection flight to Curitiba was delayed a bit.

The activities past the arrival in the police centre in Curitiba didn’t go beyond sleeping and eating for me.

Day 2 – Training Day

Still pretty tired from the journey and the time shift my first training in Brazil took place. As the place was the same as the day before I already heard stories about the very dense vegetation and I was told to be a bit flexible with the map.
The training itself was pretty nice and even if it was a bit strange to fight the bushes similar to the ones shown in the films Rambo or Predator I really enjoyed the training a lot. J

I want to mention the unbelievable good tasting bananas that are offered here every here and there. If you compare them to the bananas that are sold at home (even the good ones) these bananas are far ahead in their delicious taste!

Day 3 – Cultural Day

The cultural day was deidicated towards the city Curitiba which gives 1,7 million people a home. The city is famous for the dealing with waste (exchange of 4kg waste with 1kg fruits/vegetables!!) and the strange looking bus stations and many other things more. The city received a price for the concepts in the last few years and is paradigm for many other cities that are about to be build up.
We visited the botanic garden, the Oscar Niemeyer Museum, the Wire Opera House and the Tangua Park. While the sight seeing was a bit “annoying” to my cultural not very open minded attitude the visit of typical Brazilian grill restaurant was exactly that what my (body&) mind need.
I was already wondering where they would feed 6 busses of hungry sportsmen in short time but the place offered everything in a way that exceeded my expectations by far. Grilled meat (beef, chicken, goat…) was offered and I must really say that it was extraordinary delicious! J
After the lunch everybody had at least a little smile on his face – funny to see what delicious food can do to people!
In the evening we played poker and were finally invited to join some of the organizers for their daily night snack. In the cafeteria they suddenly started to make music with some cooking stuff and sang Brazilian songs. An unbelievable flair was lying in the air and it was fantastic to be there.

Day 4 – Training Day

The map of the day looked much more like I expected the maps to be. Most was open forest and only in the middle of the map a river was surrounded by a green area. Still a bit tired I really enjoyed the training again. Only in the end when I wanted to cut some distance by going through the green around the river I was a bit worried about the animals that might life in that bamboo thicket. But when I finally crossed the green within ten minutes I was still alive so it seems that there isn’t too much reason to worry.
In the evening I joined the shopping tour to the city centre in order to see some more sight of the centre as well as doing some shopping but somehow it seems that Brazil is different. I wasn’t really able to find a bigger supermarket and the sights seem to be far from each other so I can’t call the tour a real success.

Day 5 – Travelling Day

Already early in the morning the last fast training prior to the competitions was a part of the schedule of the day. Besides the Austrian team also the Danes, the Lithuanians some other nations and runners used the track in the Police Academy for their morning training.
Right after packing and the lunch we started our travel to Faxinal de Ceo. Including a short break in Guara Puava the journey took us seven hours.
The citizens of Faxial de Ceo gave us a worm welcome with some music and other performances. It really looked like the whole town hade come for our arrival – a fantastic feeling!
Finally we got our apartments which offer by far more space than the accommodation in the training camp offered.
After unpacking the whole team went out and we had a caipirinha and joined the CISM club for the disco as well.

Posted on: 06.11.2006 14:40
Last edit: 06.11.2006 14:40

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