Pura Vida!!

Hola from beautiful Costa Rica! Sorry for the delay in posts, but it has been a busy few days for the Falcons!

Day 1: We arrived in Costa Rica after an early morning flight. Upon arrival, we were met our our Sports Tours guide Emily and our local guide Melody. They have been with us everyday and teaching us all about the culture of Costa Rica. After a quick lunch we had our first practice at Liceo, a boys high school in downtown San Jose. For dinner, we went to a local restaurant where we had dinner and watched the Costa Rica vs. Honduras soccer game. It's basically the equivalent to the Super Bowl in America...it's a big rivalry and the whole country shuts down for the game!



Day 2: The morning was relaxing with some pool time. The mornings are beautiful here. Mid morning, Melody picked us up for our tour of downtown San Jose. We learned alot about the cost of living here and the culture of the city. We saw the President's house (he is currently quarentined due to the swine flu!). It is a basic house that he has lived in his whole life. Security consisted of a camera, one man by the front gate, and two cops reading the paper in a car across the street! Not exactly the White House! We also saw a beautiful Catholic church in the city and their famous theater. We then had some time to shop in the market before heading to our pre game meal. We headed back to Liceo to play...it was an amazing experience. The gym is the oldest and first gym for basketball in the country. International rules are a little different but everyone adjusted and played well.

Day 3: Today was fantastic! We took the bus towards the Caribean side of the country for our white water rafting excursion on the Pacurae River. It started with a breakfast Costa Rican style (ie. rice and beans) at the base camp. Then we took a bus with our guide Danny till the bus could go no further. After a 15 min hike straight downhill...in the middle of nowhere...in the pouring rain...we made it to our rafts in the river. The scenery was amazing. There were waterfalls everywhere and neon blue butterflies and toucans in the trees. We all learned the commands for paddling, stopping, turning, and the most important command "Get Down" from our guides and then we were on our way. When Tara and Tracy fell out of the boat on the first set of Class 1 rapids, we knew we were in for a long day!! However, after their rescue they rallied and made it through the Class 4 and 5 rapids. It was a great day of team work and adventure. Only one coach fell into the river (Kevin), but I promised not to tell anyone. :)

We made it home then headed to a traditional Costa Rican dinner. The restaurant was on the side of a mountain overlooking the city. It was a beautiful view. After dinner, traditionaly Costa Rican dancers performed and even brought some members of the team onto the dance floor to show off their skills!

Day 4: Today we took a trip over to Jaco Beach. It was a day to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Pacific coast. The water was warm and we all enjoyed swimming and laying in the sun for awhile. We then had a great lunch on the beach, did some shopping, and more swimming. It's only been 4 days and we have already done and seen so much!! We have much more to experience! Everyone is having a great time! For more details and more pictures, the super amazing Mike Cihon is blogging daily on the main webpage at : www.bgsufalcons.com

Enjoy! Now off to bed...two games tomorrow!!

Go Falcons!!

Coach Poole :)