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Sunday, December 30th Sunday, December 30, 2012 Hola Amigos,Today, in our last full day in Costa Rica, it turned out to be a pretty eventful one. This morning we left the hotel (Costa Rican Tennis Club) around 9:30am and headed towards the Irazu Volcano. The trip up the volcano was a rough ride with a lot of twists and turns for the majority of the hour trip that it took from San Jose to reach the summit. Once we arrived at the National Park at the top, the view was breathtaking. The volcano was a crater that you looked down into that was very very big. Also, our guide, Josh, informed us that the admission to get to the National Park is 5 times more expensive for tourists compared to native Costa Ricans. The weather at the top of the volcano was also an experience in itself. It was windy with very strong gusts and the wind chill was probably around the mid to low 40's, compared to high 70's in San Jose. Also, when we arrived the weather was clear and you could see every inch of the crater, but that did not last very long. It took nearly two minutes for the wind to blow cloud cover over the volcano, and once that happened you could no longer see any part of the crater, so luckily we were able to arrive 10 minutes earlier when the weather was cooperating. We left the volcano and headed back down, towards town and ate at a restaurant about half way to a third down. This was a very nice restaurant that seemed to do very well with receiving tourists visiting the mountain and looking for something to eat afterwards. One side note about Costa Rican cuisine is that every meal has essentially two things, rice and beans, and of course this was no different at this restaurant. The meal that I had included a thin steak with onions, rice, diced potatoes, soft tortilla shells, and a side of black bean dip that came with a couple tortilla chips. Another aspect about the cuisine is that all-natural fruit drinks that are native to Costa Rica are very common with every meal as well. The three drinks this restaurant was offering was blackberry, mango, and cas (a fruit native to Costa Rica). All of them are very delicious and sweet juices, that tend to be thicker than normal fruit drinks in America. After we ate at the restaurant we were on our way to Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles. This is a church that is located outside San Jose in Los Angeles. The English title of the church is Our Lady of Angles Basilica. The church is famous for the pilgrimage that Costa Ricans take to the church every August. Usually around 1.5 million people will travel to the church on foot from anywhere they are in the country. It takes some people around 2 weeks to make it the church by foot. Another tradition about the church is that visitors who want to pray will walk on their knee to the alter to show their piety. The rock that the church was founded on it also on display in the church and those who made the walk to the church will bring small medallions to put in front of the rock. These medallions are shaped like certain body parts in hope that a miracle will happen for either themselves or a loved one. Lastly, the church was natural water springs that flow under the rock and visitors of the church drink and bath in the water (it is considered to be extremely holy water that has miracle capabilities). Because of this many people will bring large water containers to fill up to bring back home to a loved one. After we left the church we headed back to San Jose and the hotel. We then had an hour and a half practice at the court in the hotel. After practice we had diner that was a traditional Costa Rican dish that is found on the Caribbean side. It was, believe it not, rice and beans that was mixed together. You the had the choice of either steak, chicken, or fish, and I chose the chicken. It was very delicious that had curry and a bit of a kick to it. That was today, a very exciting long day that was a good way to end a nice 5 days in the beautiful country of Costa Rica. Our flight tomorrow leaves at 7am, so we're waking up at 3:30am, and I couldn't be any more excited for that!     Unknown / 4 comments Thrills and Skills Today was our fourth day in Costa Rica. It was full of bus rides and adventures into strange territory. To start the day we went to visit Arenal volcano which was near our hotel. This volcano is considered one of the sixteen most dangerous volcanoes in the world and has been “suspiciously inactive” for the past 27 months said our tour guide. This information immediately sent ripples throughout the bus as we all mumbled our fears amongst ourselves. Within ten minutes we would be within a kilometer of this dangerous volcano. Once we arrived we climbed a building and took a ride on the sky tram up into the top of the canopy. Some of us were terrified because on the second platform we were on we were about seven hundred feet above the ground. Once on the second platform we watched the zip liners go, it looks like a fun experience. On the ride back down to the original building I stood and admired the view. The view of the man-made lake next to the volcano was one of the most beautiful sights that a man could take in. After we went down we proceeded to a hiking trail with our tour guide. He explained some of the plants and told us about some of the animals. We barely saw any animals today but the most terrifying part of the trip was right ahead. A little bit up the hiking trail we came upon the first of two walking bridges. The two bridges were 400 feet long and high enough to put fear into any human. These bridges shook with each step and most of us were hanging onto the edges ready to say our last words and prayers at any second. The braver ones tormented the rest of us by jumping up and down and shifting their weight around to make the bridge sway even more. Once we crossed both bridges we were thankful to still be alive but then we were told we have to back track and do it again so two more times we said our last words in fear. After we finally got back without losing any kids, we boarded the bus and drove to lunch at a buffet which we ate on the bus during our drive back to San Ramon. After many hours on a bus for this week, we all came to the agreement we have been on the bus way too much. Once we arrived in San Ramon we went right to the gym where we held another clinic for kids in San Ramon. We broke up our players into five different stations: shooting, rebounding, defense, ball handling, and passing. The language barrier was obvious and prevalent and sometimes made it hard to communicate with the kids but thankfully some of our hosts players spoke both English and Spanish and they helped us. Some of these kids had a passion for basketball and seeing us help to develop that was an incredible feeling. After this we practiced with the members of the San Ramon team were there. I was unable to practice because of my injury but everyone seemed to enjoy playing with each other and working together. The thrills and skills that we experienced today were a great part of our experience in Costa Rica and made for a great day.     Unknown / 2 comments Day with the wilderness Friday, December 28, 2012    Kerry Reider Unknown / 5 comments Winning Ways 
Today was very busy in Costa Rica. After a team breakfast and a quick
introduction on life in Costa Rica by our tour guide Josh, we had some time to
tour the capital: San Jose. Just from
walking around for a couple of hours, we were able to notice many differences
between a city here and an American city.
For starters, most of the houses did not have numbers on them like they
do back in the states. If you ask
someone for directions down here to a specific place, their answer will most
likely be a point in a certain direction and an estimate to how far it is. Our tour guide said that everyone you ask
will give you an answer no matter if it’s right or wrong because they like to
help one another. While in the city, we
quickly learned that public transportation is heavily used like it is in one of
our cities; however, it is much more affordable here in Costa Rica. This doesn’t just apply to San Jose, but
there are a lot of stray dogs in Costa Rica.
Almost everywhere we went so far we have seen a stray dog. One of the places that we stopped at in the
city was the artisan marketplace. We got
to shop around and try to get used to the currency. For every American dollar, that would equal
500 colones. Sometimes it’s tough when
trying to buy things in American dollars and then receiving colones back in
exchange. You have to make sure they
aren’t ripping you off and giving the wrong change because you are a
tourist. After a team lunch in downtown
San Jose we were then off to San Ramon.
San Ramon was very different compared to the capital. Just like everywhere we’ve been so far, the
people are very friendly. Right when we
got there, we got to host a basketball clinic for the kids of San Ramon. At the clinic, we showed the kids how to
dribble, shoot, pass, defend, and rebound (amongst some other things.) The toughest challenge that we faced was the
language barrier between us and the kids.
Most of our teachings had to come through demonstrations since they had
no idea what we were saying other than some basic basketball words that we
learned in Spanish before we got there.
The clinic was a great experience and we all had fun helping children
learn the game of basketball where normally they wouldn’t be able to do those
things. After the clinic, we got a quick
tour of downtown San Ramon before our 7 o’ clock game against Coopanae
Universidad de San Jose – San Ramon, the best Pro club team in Costa Rica. They were last year’s champions for their Pro
league. After a slow start to the game,
we fell behind by as much as 19 points during the game. We cut the lead down to 11 points at
halftime. After some adjustments in the
second half we were able to tie the game in the 4th quarter. We came back to win the game 64-63. Today was a great day, from San Jose to
coaching the clinic, and to top it off with a great win against a good
international team. It’s a great day to
be a Hound.
  Unknown / 4 comments A New World Wednesday, December 26, 2012   Mike Bonavita Unknown / 4 comments On the Road Again Upon completion of our two practices on December 23rd and 24th, Moravian College Men's Basketball has now embarked on a trip to Costa Rica on Christmas night. After a long and fun van ride, we left from JFK airport and arrived in Mexico City for a layover flight. Captain, D.J. Strayhorn got randomly searched when going through JFK airport and teammate Cameron Cullen guessed correctly that he would be the one to get randomly checked. We are all glad for the first flight to be over but writing a blog at 6:09 am is not what I thought I would be doing at this time, sleep would be better. Unknown / 2 comments Moravian Men's Basketball Making International Trip to Costa Rica from December 26th - 31st Tuesday, December 18, 2012 The Moravian College men’s basketball team will be spending its holiday break with an international trip to Costa Rica from December 26th through 31st.Moravian Head Coach Jim Walker has made international travel an integral part of the program in his 33 years as head coach, taking advantage of the NCAA rule allowing teams to travel overseas once every three years. The Moravian men haven taken summer trips to foreign destinations such as Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and most recently London in 2009; however, this is the first time coach Walker has taken the international trip during the regular season. The Greyhounds, who are currently 6-2 overall and 2-0 in Landmark Conference action, have three community service activities scheduled during their trip on December 26th after arriving, the 27th and the 30th. The squad will also be touring San Jose, Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge, Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve and Arenal Sky Tram. On the 27th, Moravian will practice and play a controlled scrimmage against Coopenae USJ Arba San Ramon, the 2012 Costa Rican National Champions. The Greyhounds also have a practice and play a controlled scrimmage against the Costa Rican National Team on the evening of the 29th and on the afternoon of the 30th, Moravian will play an exhibition game versus the Costa Rican National Team in San Jose as they prepare for the Central American Championships in January. Coach Walker and several of the Greyhounds will be contributing to a travel blog at http://mccostarica.blogspot.com with entries on each day’s events as well as photos. After Moravian returns to campus early on New Year’s Day, the Greyhounds will have roughly 36 hours before jumping back into their 2012-13 regular season as they host Kean University in the first round of the 35th Annual Greyhound Classic in Johnston Hall at 5:30 p.m. on January 2nd. Christie / 2 comments |
About the Adventure When: December 26-31, 2012 The Greyhounds, who are currently 6-2 overall and 2-0 in Landmark Conference action, have three community service activities scheduled. The squad will also be touring San Jose, Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge, Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve and Arenal Sky Tram. On the 27th, Moravian will practice and play a controlled scrimmage against Coopenae USJ Arba San Ramon, the 2012 Costa Rican National Champions. Blog Archives |