Well, after only four days in my hometown Baton Rouge with my family, I found myself on a flight to Brazil six days earlier than anticipated. Yes, I had to travel on Thanksgiving Day! Because I am thankful everyday, and my family was willing to have our feast a couple of days before Thanksgiving Day, I still enjoyed all the good eating!

My team Cimed Macae made it to the semi’s of the Carioca tournament so I was asked to join the team sooner for reinforcement. Departing for Brazil on Thanksgiving Day I was to arrive the morning of the first match. Thankfully, the match date was changed to the following day. Still suffering from a bit of jetlag from over a month in Japan and now in Brazil (four hours ahead of Baton Rouge), I arrived exhausted from the long day of travel, slept for an hour and practiced Friday evening. Saturday, I entered the match as opposite (Woohoo) double substitution with Carol (second setter from the Brazilian National team). We won in three. The next match, I came off the bench playing middle … we lost in five. Third and final match I started in the middle. We won in four set and advanced to the semi’s to play favorites, Rexona. The first match of the finals was a disaster! We lost in three. One of the things, I like about the Brazilian National team and my first impression of Cimed Macae was the intense celebration of every point. Well, against Rexona the first match it was a completely different atmosphere. Very quiet and passive. Although there are some areas to improve technically and tactically the big difference was our spirit. So going into the next match that was one of our focuses. It was a much better match. We had opportunities to finish off the match in four but though I really do not like to use officiating as an excuse, they really made some bad calls at crucial moments in the fourth set. Although we lost in five, we fought!

Now, I am in Rio de Janeiro waiting to finalize some documents in preparations for starting the Superliga. Our first match will be on Saturday, December 9 on my mother-in-law’s birthday Donna Marina, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM and on Elizabeth (Wiz) Bauchman big wedding day CONGRATS WIZ and HUGH!

That’s it for now!
Ate logo,
Danielle

6 thoughts on “”

  1. Oi, Dani !

    É muito bom tê-la de volta ao Brasil, você que é a mais brasileira das jogadoras americanas, juntamente com a Tara. Espero que esta nova temporada no Brasil seja muito proveitosa para você, que certamente enriquecerá a nossa Superliga com sua experiência, classe e simpatia.

    Kisses
    Maurício
    PS: Você saberia dizer por onde anda a Cintia Barboza, porque ela não joga mais pela seleção dos USA ?

  2. DANIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
    SAUDADESSSSSSSSS MUITA SAUDADES DE VC
    QUERO TE DAR UM ABRÇO BEM FORTE
    EU ESTOU TRABALHANDO(Aleluia)HAHAHAHAHAAAH
    MAS EU ACHO Q QUARTA FEIRA EU VOU NO PINHEIROS TE VER
    VC TEM MSN?
    SE TIVER ADICIONA EU ritinha_xuxa@hotmail.com
    DANI TENHO MUITA SAUDADES DE VC..
    MEU TELEFONE (11) 4607-8681. LIGA PRA MIM
    TA TODO MUNDO AQUI EM CASA MANDANDO UM BEIJO PRA VOCÊ.
    UM GRANDE BEIJO
    TE ADORO
    RITA

Comments are closed.