DAY 5

Sacramento State completed the fifth day of its foreign tour to Portugal, and first full day in Lisbon after spending the initial part of the trip in Madeira. The Hornets improved to 3-0 with a victory over a regional All-Star team named Next Level. The teams played five sets, and Sacramento State was victorious in four of those frames (25-10, 25-11, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15). Below is the fifth installment of a series of blogs every Hornet player will write during the trip. Today, we hear from senior middle blocker Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin.

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Bom dia everyone, I'm Tiyanane and I'll be giving you guys the tea about Day 5 in Portugal! We are currently still in Lisboa (Lisbon) and it's been very exciting so far. Being in a big city is a huge shift from island life in Madeira, but its a nice change of pace! As for today, it was pretty relaxing. We got to sleep in, which is uncommon and very much appreciated (thank you David), and we met for breakfast in the hotel at 10 am. My Dad also met us for breakfast and joined the group which was really nice :) One thing I love about breakfast in Portugal is all of the FRUIT!! They have so many options and they always have papaya. I love papaya. After breakfast, we split up into groups. Some of us went to relax by the pool while the others took to the streets and began to explore. I decided to go by the pool and crochet, a new hobby I've been enjoying.  

After sitting by the pool, Karlee, Kalani, and I decided to walk around the city and stumbled across a vintage store. We tried on a bunch of things, and bought some really cute pieces. Unfortunately, when we looked at our phones, we realized we had very little time to get back to the hotel and meet the group for lunch. We had to turn what was supposed to be an 8-minute walk into a 4-minute walk and surprisingly we did! Kind of… Anyways, we ended up being on time (enough) and walked as a group to a store called Pingo Doce. Lunch was tasty and fueled us up for the game later. However, the real star of the show for me, was the chocolate cake and espresso after the meal. It was DELICIOUS. After lunch, we walked back to the hotel to get ready for the game.

Todays game was so fun to watch! Oh, if you don't know already, I got injured the day before we left for Portugal so I've haven't been able to play so far. But don't get it twisted, cheering is still a lot of work! Especially the way I cheer. If you know me, you know I can be incredibly loud. We played five sets to 25, and dropped only one. I'm so proud of my teammates for working hard and having fun with all the different lineup changes. Soon, I hope to be out there playing with my teammates, but for now I'm trying to be the best cheerleader I can be!

When the game ended, we had a chance to exchange gifts with the other team. We gave them custom Sacramento State shirts and they gave us some really cool magnets with different types of art on them :) After the exchange, we took pictures and got the opportunity to get to know all of them. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. Getting to know people who have experienced a life very different from mine was so exciting and insightful. We all shared a meal together outside and talked for a while. We laughed, made tiktoks, took more pictures and exchanged contact info so we could talk again! We talked about everything under the sun, and I don't think any of us really wanted to stop hanging out. It was really cool how we related to each other on so many things, but also enjoyed learning about how different we are as well.

When we got back to the bus, our driver told us we HAD to go to the beach, so that's just what we did. We made a quick beach detour and some of us hopped in for a dip in the ocean. Afterwards, we grabbed gelato which Ruben so graciously treated! The gelato was AMAZING :) I got Maracujá (Passion Fruit) and Pistachio. Full and giddy on gelato, Pamm (Zierfuss-Hubbard) had the amazing idea for all of us to get on a merry-go-round and we had a blast. Judging by the sound of the dragon I sat on, I don't think it was ready for the weight of a grown adult. Regardless we all had fun and sang the Sacramento fight song as we went around. Once the ride stopped, we made our way back to the bus and headed back to our hotel.

When we arrived at the hotel, our guide David asked our whole travel group to gather in a circle and reflect on the day with different people. After we reflected, we then spoke up about things that we were grateful for today. It was a special moment, and a practice I hope we keep continue doing individually and as a team.

Afterwards, we all went upstairs to our rooms and got ready for bed. And now I'm finishing this blog! I hope you guys enjoyed this journal entry from me today, and felt like you were there with us. Don't forget to check in later and hear about Day 6! Boa noite :)

Day 4 Blog - Caty Cordano
Day 3 Blog - Kalani Hayes
Day 2 Blog - Bridgette Smith
Day 1 Blog - Caitlin Volkmann