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Thrills and Skills Sunday, December 30, 2012 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 |
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 |