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Men's Soccer Costa Rica Diary Day 8
March 18, 2009
On March 6, LMU men's soccer departed for a nine-day trip to Costa Rica. In addition to playing five matches against local teams, the squad will be visiting orphanages and taking in the sites. Throughout the trip, various players will check in with updates of what they have been up to. Day 7 3/15/09 Besides the first day of our trip, Day 7 was going to be our longest day. Fortunately, we had an experience waiting for us at the end that none of us expected to be so special. None of us wanted to leave the beauty of the coast. The hotel was amazing, the beach was beautiful, and we all had had an amazing time visiting. Unlike the rainforest, the sun was shining bright and the heat felt great. Day 7 started with a six-hour bus ride back to the capital. We had to get up very early in the morning in order to make it on time to the children's center. On the way we stopped at a tourist gift shop. Here we were able to find gifts for our family and friends! We were running a little bit behind schedule once we arrived in San Jose. Luckily there was a Denny's attached to the hotel we were staying at--The Best Western. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then we were off to see the children. We arrived to a building full of children waving in the windows. All of us were overwhelmed by the joy and happiness of the children. Here there were children with very little, yet their outlook on life would inspire anyone. In total, there were 270 kids from ages 4 to 9. The visit started with some of the children performing a dance they had prepared for us. Then unexpectedly the counselors made us do a performance. A few of the guys stepped up and did the Macarena! The children had little idea about the dance but enjoyed it anyway. After the dancing was done, we had about 15 minutes to spend some free time with the children. We played with the balls we brought to the center. Also, some of the children fancied our digital cameras and decided to take pictures of each other posing.
The free time ended and it was now time to bring out the candy! We brought enough for each kid to have 2 to 3 pieces. They were very polite, but you could tell they really wanted to get as many pieces as possible. We ended our visit with a presentation of new swings for the swing sets. They had four sets of three swing structures, yet the children had only 3 swings in total to use. All of us felt very satisfied to help make the community a better place for the children. Also, we gave away some clothing and other materials people had generously donated to children. All in all, the experience was very humbling and deserves as being labeled the highlight of our trip. |
