FIFA Confederations Cup 2013

The Tickets
During one of our Saturday classes Professor Umashankar talked about getting Confederations Cup tickets for the games in Fortaleza. I have never been a huge soccer fan but for an international tournament the experience would be worth it. Stephanie, Seanise, and I talked about getting the tickets however they never got me the money so we weren't able to get tickets to the Brazil/Mexico game. In fact, we were so lazy we didn't get tickets to any of the games.

Once we arrived in Fortaleza, I decided I really wanted to go. Unfortunately the Brazil/Mexico game was sold out before we even left the States however both the Spain/Nigeria and Semi-Final games still had tickets. One day after class I decided I was going to give them an ultimatum - they could buy them now with me or I was going to buy in with a different group of students. I had to do all of the booking, ticket collection, and planning of how we were going to get to and from the stadium safely. We finally ordered tickets for the semifinal game with hopes Brazil would take second in their group and Spain would take first in theirs.

While riding the bus to school the morning after I purchased them, Stephanie was talking to Umashankar about how excited she was to go to the game. Professor Umashankar then asked who purchased the tickets. I was volunteered to purchased the professors for the second session tickets to the Spain/Nigeria game. I had to quickly call my parents in hopes they would be okay with putting in on their Visa or Mastercard because that is the only payment cards FIFA accepts. I had to tell my parents "it would be a great opportunity for me to get on the good side of my professors and a chance to get to know them on a person level." They were pretty upset however they decided it would be fine as long as I collect the money and that will have to be used as the weekly allowance.

A few days later... Dustin and I decided we wanted to go pick up our tickets earlier then our scheduled collection date. As soon as we walked in to the FIFA Ticket Collection Venue we were escorted to the front of the line (I'm pretty sure it's because we didn't speak Portuguese and nobody there spoke English).

Spain/Nigeria & Semifinal Tickets

Match Opener
The day of the first match, Brazil vs. Japan, we all wanted to go to a local bar or pub to watch the match. Unfortunately ever pub was closed to private events and Fortaleza has very few bars that have TV's. We decided to stay at the hotel and watch the game on their projector. It was a cool setup and there was free food and drink. The President of Brazil and FIFA President were boo'd during opening remarks because of all of the corruption within the Brazilian government.

Because the Confederations Cup is an international tournament, all eyes are on Brazil - giving the citizens an opportunity to demand change and show the world how they really feel. The riots began because of a 0.09 cent raise in bus fares but are really about the corruption within the government and the oppression of the lower class.

Brazil vs. Mexico
I had been asking around to see if anybody had access to tickets or knew of how I could get ahold of some. Mirela (T.A.) asked if I wanted a ticket from her cousin; the only issue is I would have to go alone and what's the fun in that?

The night before the match (June 18) I decided to log onto FIFA to see if there were any tickets available for the game we all wanted to go to but it had been long sold out. There were tickets so I immediately added six to my shopping cart and found people that wanted to go. I couldn't get ahold of my mom who was initially going to pay for the tickets so I decided to call my dad and see if he would approve the purchase. He was initially hesitant but after I told him "I killed the first session (of school)! I took his letter seriously! There are only so many opportunities you get to see Brazil play in Brazil in an International Tournament," he gave me the green light.

The next morning I had to wake up at 7:00A.M. to go pick up the tickets with Mirela. The line for the ticket holders without a scheduled time was a lot shorter than the line for people with a reservation. Mirela said "it's so Brazilian - doing everything last minute."

Brazil/Mexico Tickets

After we successfully got the tickets we went to her mothers house. It was incredible. Her mom is a doctor, artist, actor, professor, marketing director for UNIFOR, and businesswoman. She owns a large plot of land and has converted it all into business property with the exception of the upstairs segment of the medical clinic. Her maids made us a killer breakfast. It was the best watermelon I have had all trip. Mirela then pulled out a hammock and told me how she used to lay down all the time as a child. After breakfast they had me lay down and I passed out for a couple of hours to the smell of fresh homemade meal. The maid had been preparing chicken, sausage, rice, and a fresh organic salad. It made me really miss homemade meals, something most people take for granted.

Taking a nap in the hammock 

Mirela and Her Mother Having a Good Time

We then headed to UNIFOR to catch the busses for the arena. There were probably 50+ busses waiting to transport fans, it was incredible - and too think that this was one of several locations. We were then dropped off 1.5 miles from the arena and had to walk with every other fan. Because of the riots there were a ridiculous amount of police monitoring the streets. Once we arrived at the arena we went into the security secured area and grabbed a couple of beers and checked out the arena.

We then sat down and watched the teams warmup and then watched the game.

Jake, Florence, Mirela, Miguel, Dustin, and Kaitlyn Before Loading The Busses 

Brazil Team Warming Up 

Mirela Posing on The Bus Pay Station Seat

Pre Match Presentation

Mid-Game 

Brazil About To Score

Brazil After 90th Minute Goal

 Both Team Warming-Up 

View From Our Seats

Kaitlyn and I On The Bus

Cheers From the Budweiser Tent At The Arena

The Group Before The Match

View From Out Seats

The Group In Our Seats

The Field

Vamos Brasil!

Some Weird Fans 

Me Posing With Fortaleza Cityscape in Background

Outside the Arena

The Group OutSide The Arena

Walking Up To The Arena

Before Going Through Security

First Sight Of The Arena

The Walk To The Stadium

After the game we left walked back to the busses. There had been a riot outside of the arena during the game and the streets were destroyed. There was broken glass everywhere, piles of ash that had recently been burnt, light poles torn out of the ground. There was even a car that had been torched. Everybody was pushing and shoving to get onto the bus and every bus was packed.

This experience was incredible. By far one of my peaks so far while on this trip. I am going to the Spain/Nigeria game sunday with the professors! Posts to come.

Week 2 - Fortaleza

We just finished our first week of school. The hotel does not have wifi and most of our classes have online materials we need so we have to stay at UNIFOR for a couple extra hours each day which sucks. We study at in the Law building with all of the graduate law students so we all look like idiots taking over the building. 

On the first day after Brazil Economics we had a campus tour. The campus is awesome, there is a lot of art and green space but with the green space come bugs. We all were eaten alive the first couple of days. While on the tour there was an emu walking around campus. It freaked some people out. The director of international programs at UNIFOR warned us not to get close or it will attack and bite. The days are hot so during the tour we slowly began to fade out. 

The Law Building We Study In

UNIFOR Student Union - Where We Eat

Marketing is going to a difficult class because it is all key terms with some application. We cover a little more than a chapter a day so keeping up with notes and LearnSmart Assignments is a struggle. We have an exam next monday (Class 6) covering the first unit. 

Business Communications is a lot better down here than it was back in Arizona during saturday classes. I have a mid-B right now and she said if you have at least an 80% you have a good chance at an A. She is a tough grader though so we will see how well I do. Most of the assignments are team oriented so that will help. 

In our first Brazil Economics class the professor just rambled on about the evolution of Brazil's economy. Professor Claudio is a UNIFOR professor that is hired on by Eller to teach us about the Brazilian culture. This class seems pretty easy but we cover so much material each day I feel like it is going to be difficult. 

We study a lot both at school and at the hotel. UNIFOR offered some fish bowl study rooms but whenever we walk in, the law students leave. It is a really cool experience getting to know your professors on such a personal level and living with all of my classmates. 

A typical day schedule looks like this:

8:15-9:00AM - The Bus Leaves For UNIFOR

9:15-11:00AM - Marketing 361

11:15-1:00PM - Business Communication/Brazil Economics

3:30PM - Bus Leaves for Tulip Inn

Because we stay at UNIFOR all day we have to eat at their cafeteria. 

The food at UNIFOR is pretty good. The first day we had some gnarly pizza pockets which I will never eat again. Mia and Tyler (the TA's) found a nice buffet bar that is priced per kilo. It is pretty good however I will literally be eating the same thing everyday for the next 56 days: Watermelon, Chicken, White Rice, French Fries. 

On Friday we had our first business tour - Casaju Cashews. The tour was really cool to see how they create and manufacture the cashews. The plant was pretty large and it is the third largest factory for cashews behind Vietnam and India. We arrived an hour late so we had to shorten the tour; we only saw the production line. 

This weekend is going to be pretty boring because we have a big week ahead of us. 

Week 4 - Fortaleza

School, school, and more school. After the long weekend in Jericoacoara, an awesome beach village, we returned to Fortaleza with a full plate of school work:

We spend the entire week at UNIFOR and if we aren't at UNIFOR then we are studying at the hotel. We spent the entire week in our group working on all final projects. 

Tuesday:

Marketing LearnSmart 12-15 

Wednesday:

BNAD 350 Presentation 

Marketing Phase 2 

While working on our Whole Foods Expansion Presentation a team member called me out because I didn't give him the best team evaluation. It was a really awkward situation because there is no way of nicely saying you thought he didn't contribute enough. But that doesn't bug me; its the idea that another team member threw me under the bus because he probably gave a worse review. The guy who was calling me out said "its not a team player move to not give everybody a 100%" but in a team evaluation where I am being graded for honestly that doesn't really make sense... 

Thursday:

BNAD 314R Presentation 

BNAD 314R Team Evaluations

Marketing LearnSmart 17 

We took a taxi home after our presentation because we were the first group to present at 9:00AM and the bus didn't leave until 1:00PM. I then had to study the entire day for our Marketing Final. I have never worked as hard as I did for this class or this semester so hopefully it will pay off. Who knows maybe my dad was right - this is a new start. 

While taking a study break and making lunch a receptionist came to our room and told us we had to change rooms because there was a problem with the toilet - I guess somebody didn't like the baday...

Friday:

Marketing Midterm 3 

BNAD 350 Exam 2 

Today after our Marketing Final, Professor Umashankar asked who knows Portuguese. I was selected to be apart of a Case Competition where we present an entire case in Portuguese... I knew I was picking it up quickly but there is no way I am going to be able to present an entire case and answer questions about the business in Portuguese. The one cool thing about this is that it is in Utah and is paid for by Eller. It should be a pretty cool experience and why not take a free trip to Utah to present a project that will help me in the business world. 

Once I got home I immediately passed out because I was up well past midnight every night this week. Seanise and Stephanie woke me up with a beautiful Smirnoff Ice. We then went to another Brazilian Meat Restaurant where they walk around and you select what cuts you would like. While paying the bill Alex texted me saying our Marketing grades were posted. Looks like studying really does work... 

Marketing Final Grade

Seanise and Stephanie have cramps so we stopped by the farmacia on the way back from dinner for some Midol. They made me ask the pharmacist but they had no idea what I was saying so Seanise grabbed a back of tampons and they immediately understood what we were talking about. 

We went out to a new nightclub tonight - Orbita. It was a pretty cool place. One of the local T.A.'s talked to the manager so we paid 25 Reals for cover but then got a 25 Reals coupon for free drinks. Unfortunately the drinks were really expensive. While at the bar Stephanie and I played some Snooker which is like billiards but pretty different. We met some brazilian locals and played them, luckily they all spoke english. Seanice and Stephanie wanted to leave early so we called it a night and headed home.

 

Week 1 - Fortaleza

We successfully made it to Fortaleza. The hotel we are staying at is like an apartment - nightly rate 400US$ per room. I now understand where the $816,000 budget goes.  I am actually kind of glad we left Rio because it was so expensive. 

The rooms are pretty nice but they don't supply blankets so sleeping is pretty miserable. The room gets pretty cold and all we have is a thin sheet. 

We had the weekend to get acquainted with the city and local neighborhood. I wouldn't say we are staying in the nicest place; who knows if it is actually safe. On saturday they took us to a beach resort as one of our "Business Visits." They had dune buggies we could take out and explore the sand dunes. Because we are always YOBO'ing we took one out. The driver flew over the dunes. It was an awesome experience, if I only I had the GoPro. Throughout the trip we had several pit stops where we got to sand board, zip line and go down a waterslide into a lake, and have a drink by the beach. 

The Group At Our First Beach Destination

Stephanie, Seanise, Mike, and Jake on the Buggy

Stephanie, Mike, Seanise, and Jake Sand Boarding

Seanise and I Zip-Lining

The Boat Ride After the Zip-Line

That night we all went out to a true nightclub, Republik. The cover is a a little expensive but it was a lot of fun. Everybody ended up getting a little too hard. Somebody threw up in the lobby of the hotel, another student ran through the hallways naked, and two students were caught hooking up on the couches in the lobby. The next day we had to have a team meeting and discuss everything that went down. Everybody was stressing out because their was rumor that the students were going to be sent home. We start school tomorrow at UNIFOR. 

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Global Cohort 2013 - Brazil

After this past year of school, I really questioned why I was wasting my time. Brazil offered a unique experience where I could both travel and study simultaneously. After having my parents approach me about why I am not trying in school and while I struggled in the past - professional admission into Eller is a fresh start. So here we go...

I flew 6,271 miles from Salt Lake City to Rio de Janeiro with connections in Dallas and Miami. The whole group flew from Phoenix so I met them in Miami and then we all flew together to Rio. It was a long 24 hours of traveling. On our way to Miami we had to reroute and fly over the Florida Keys to avoid a strong thunderstorm. 

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Day 1

Once we landed in Rio we had the Austral Group waiting for us to take us to our hotel - Mar Ipanema. While on the bus ride they discussed what our agenda is for Rio and where we are going as a group and where we should check out separately. 

In Brazil their slums are called Favela's and they are a large part of the culture because a majority of the citizens are lower and lower-middle class. Some students showed hesitation and expressed strong opposition so the T.A.'s and Professors are now reevaluating if we should go through one. 

Once we checked into the hotel we went to the beach checked out the local neighborhood we were staying in. We immediately order a caipirinha which is a staple of Brazil.

  

The beach was incredible however because we were constantly reminded that Brazil "isn't safe" we must always be on our guard. So everybody was always questioning what we were planning on doing. Some students went as far as asking if we were allowed to go into the ocean because the water isn't safe in Brazil. 

Everybody Hanging Out At The Beach

That night we went to a local restaurant where they sever all sorts of meats. They walk around with these cuts on skewers. It was an awesome experience however there was way too much meat for me to handle. You could take a bite of a chicken heart and then eat an octopus moments later. The best part of the meal - it came with five free drinks. 

After the restaurant we went to a bar called "Shenanigans." Seanise, Stephanie and I sat down with another student, Mike, and began drinking. We tried an Irish Car Bomb, Sex on the Beach, and several other bizarre shots. It was a lot of fun because it had billiards and darts while having several drinks. Our waitress was from Long Beach, California and made sure we were having a good time. The bar implemented a weird payment system. When we walked in you received a card that was your tab. The waitress would then swipe your card and in order to leave you had to present a receipt showing proof you paid. One student ordered too many drinks and didn't have enough money so he said he "lost" his card and ended up getting out of most of his expenses. 

Stephanie, Mike, Jake, and Seanise at Shenanigans

Day 2 

We woke up this morning to go to the Christ the Redeemer statue that overlooks Rio. The statue was a lot smaller then what I was expecting but it was still incredible to have the view of the Bay with Christ the Redeemer behind you.

(Backdrop before you take the train up to Christ the Redeemer)

That afternoon we ended up going to a Favela but was escorted by government officials. The Favela we visited was monitored heavily by the government in order to stop all drug dealing inside for the favela.

The Favela we walked through

Playing some soccer with some local kids in the Favela

That evening we went to a european style nightclub "00." It was a sweet lounge but nothing compared to Europe or the United States. Seanise, Stephanie, Mike, and I separated from the group because everybody was getting a little too intoxicated. One week of summer is in Rio. What can you expect. 

(Jake, Stephanie, Seanise, Mike before going out)

Day 3

Wednesday morning we woke up and went to the beach. We went with a smaller group which was a lot more fun. That afternoon we went into a forest and hiked up to a waterfall, it was a pretty incredible fall to see and the drive into the mountains was awesome. 

(Stephanie, Mike, Seanise, Jake at the waterfall)

 After that the bus took us to a local beach where hang gliding was popular. 

"I'm not afraid of death, but rather not living fully." A group of seven of us decided to go hang gliding. It was a sketchy experience but something that was worth the money. We walk into a shack and fill out a form and pay for insurance. We then are driven up individually to a peak, which is something we were told explicitly not to do. Once we get up to the peak we have a spectacular view of the ocean. 

The Launch Ramp

They have us practice the running motion off of a slopped platform once so we understand how to launch. I was second so I have Seanice film my takeoff. It was one of the coolest things I have done in my life. Being able to glide over Rio at sunset. You could the sugarloaf mountain, Christ the redeemer, and everything else. Once we landed we were shown our picture and video and then drove back to the hotel by the guides. It was a bank breaking experience but worth every reals. 

Once we got back we had to quickly go to dinner. Because we had spent so much money the first couple of days we went to McDonalds. It was nasty but cheap. That night we went into downtown to go to a bar. It was cool to experience the locals bars but they are so different and expensive. They have a live band playing samba music the whole night. 

Seanise, Mike, Stephanie, Jake at Bar with Samba Band

Day 4

Thursday morning I woke up and went to church. I feel as though they talked a lot more and we were standing a majority of the time. After Seanice, Stephanie, and I talked to the priest about how Pope Francis is going to Rio in July. We then loaded the buses for the airport.