East H.S. Soccer 2019

July 7, 2019

Hola desde Costa Rica,
Today was awesome. ¡Pura vida! We started the morning watching the US women’s team win the World Cup game in our cozy living room at Casa Cielo Grande. It was fun to listen in Spanish and yell, “gooooooooooooool!” when we scored. After cheering on the US, we headed down the mountain for our first practice at the Wilmer Lopez soccer complex. The Costa Rican “bladium” was so cool. It was extremely hot and humid and I felt like I just jumped into a pool but it was still fun! The director gave us red and green uniforms that are HUGE, but they have a fun design. We played for about 2 hours then went on a tour of San José. The all time best part of the day was after we were done practicing we went to this lookout point on top of this mountain and were able to see the sunset with the entire city. It was absolutely gorgeous!! The day ended with dinner at a cool outdoor restaurant and had pizza while listening to live music. We can’t wait for what tomorrow brings!

-Taylor

July 8, 2019
Today we started our day out with a fun practice and a scrimmage against a Costa Rican boys team. It then rained for a few hours and our game was pushed back to 7:30. The rain was so strong and the lightening was incredible! We talked a lot with players from here. We had lunch with a boy named José whose around our age and plays soccer. He told us a lot about the team he plays keeper. He told us a lot about the team he plays on and how much he plays soccer. We also played with a girl named Camila who is about 12 and was so skilled for her age. We had a lot of fun interacting with the Costa Rican kids and learning about their interests and culture. I think the city is amazing and I would like to stay here for weeks and weeks. The vibe in the city is so fun and vibrant I can’t wait to see more of Costa Rica!
Signing off,
Alana

July 9, 2019
Hola families! I hope everyone is doing as great as us in Costa Rica. Let me tell you, we have done so much in the last three days it’s crazy! We already left our first stop in San Jose and arrived this afternoon at our second stop, La Fortuna.  We had a long day of traveling after our last morning of soccer. I’m not going to lie, leaving San Jose was kind of sad. We had to say goodbye to our friend Camilla who played in our scrimmage last night. She was pretty good knowing she was only 11 and playing with us! We also had to say goodbye to our coaches Freddy and Carlos Luis. They were very good and caring coaches who taught us a lot. They would also provide us lunch every day after our soccer sessions, and they were amazing meals. Today’s lunch was the best I would have to say. It consisted of lasagna that seemed to be mixed with chicken pot pie.There was also a salad with some really good dressing. And a kind of cheesecake type dessert. It was like Costa Rica in food heaven! That was my highlight of the trip so far and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Thanks for la comida, Cleo!  Thanks for tuning in and more is coming.

Pura vida!

Natalie

July 10, 2019
Hello parents!
Today was a really cool day. We began the day by starting our service in a small community named La Lucha near our hotel. We mixed and laid cement for an outdoor community center. It was a bit painful but it was fun. We had a yummy lunch followed by poker lessons and games. After lunch and games we played soccer against all of the neighborhood kids. They were actually really good. My favorite part came after the soccer game when our group and all of the little kids went on a hike through the jungle. The jungle was really beautiful but I enjoyed talking to a little boy named Ryan. From what I could understand, he had 5 siblings and many cousins. He loved playing soccer and wanted to see snow. I didn’t understand everything he said but spending time with him and being part of his culture was a great experience. I hope we get to see the little kids again tomorrow!!
See you soon!
-Adin

July 11, 2019
Hola desde Costa Rica (hello from Costa Rica!) Today has been very eventful! We began today with a breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon. We were all peacefully eating as the lights and generator went out- we were promptly told that a squirrel had blown up in the electrical wires. Turns out his tail was caught up and burned in the wires. ¡Pobrecito! After our breakfast we went to La Lucha to start our service for today. We worked from 9 to 12 and took a short break to eat. After eating we continued working and after a couple of hours we had finished our section of the patio. Phew! It was hot work!
After lunch, we went to play soccer with a few girls our age from the community. It was super cool to connect with the other people and share the joy of something even though we didn’t all quite understand each other. We were able to mix teams and got to play alongside and against everyone. Shortly after our game, we returned to the hotel and then back to La Lucha one last time to make tortillas with the community leaders. We started with bags of dough and added water until we got the right consistency. From the mix we made balls and flattened them out into the tortillas shapes. We cooked them and added sausage to the inside. Maria Felicia made us promise we’d make tortillas for our moms. We shared our delicious taco-like things with members of the community and ended the night with hugs and kisses. This was such a great experience to share with everyone that we met.
See you in Denver!
Xoxo, Ella

July 12, 2019
Hello parents, today we traveled to the beach. We jammed to music during our 5 hour bus ride with a stop for lunch. After lunch when we got into the bus we were told that we could walk and see crocodiles. We stared over a bridge down at the vicious creatures, that according to Adin were dinosaurs. Finally without being eaten we got back on the bus and went to the beach. We put on our swimsuits and sprinted to the ocean. The waves were pretty big and I instantly turned into a mermaid. We finished the day at the beach with crab hunting. Alana picked up an angry crab that viciously attacked her, but not to worry I saved her by using my mermaid tale and talked the crab to peace. We then went to the pool and ate chips and saw who could hold their breath the longest. Ryan won but no surprise, he cheated. After nice boiling showers we came to dinner and were served burgers twice the size of our heads. Overall a pretty successful day!
Peace out,

Kelsie (the little mermaid)

July 13, 2019
Greetings Parents! T-2 days!! Today started like any other day with a bomb breakfast! We then made our way down to the beach where the action started. We spent our morning learning to surf. The first portion of our lesson started in the sand learning the various key steps for surfing. As we progressed to the water I soon discovered that the hardest part of surfing is walking the board out against the waves. During the second half of our surfing lesson the current pushed us all so much that we probably caught three waves. Lunch today was a pizza party at the pool of our local restaurant where we’ve eaten our meals. In the afternoon we went to this part of the beach about 8 km away called “Whales Tail” because when the tide is low the sandbar looks like a whale’s tale. The walk out to the sandbar had a little drizzle, but on our way back the drizzle turned into an all out down pour. The best part of my day was a fun game that Jenny introduced where we all sprint along the beach and scream as long and as loud as we can. All in all, today was another día inolvidable. See you all in Denver in a few days!
XOXO,
Jibby (Jariya)