By James Stevens and Beth Webster

The day began early when we reported to the lobby to place our luggage on the bus before breakfast. To our surprise, the ground was covered in a light dusting of ash from the volcanic eruption that took place over night less than 20 miles away from us.

After breakfast, we departed for Dominical and the bus was quiet until our first stop at Frutas Tropical Nahomy. There we got to try passion fruit, bitter star fruit, coconut balls, and coconut water straight from a coconut. The passion fruit looked like brains, but tasted like kiwi according to James.

After taste testing the treats, we fed some iguanas and headed across the bridge to observe some lazy crocodiles basking in the sun next to the river. When we returned to the bus, one of our tour guides, Michael, told us a story of a drunkard trying to cross the river one day and a week later his head was found on the river bank. The drunkard attempted to cross in the crocodile territory and ended up becoming a delicacy for a few crocodiles not long after starting his journey.

On our way to our next stop at a Publix-like market to get some supplies for lunch, Michael told us stories of the Costa Rican Hero, Juan Santamaria, a young drummer boy who set fire to a house called El Meson which housed Nicaraguan and US mercenaries. At the grocery store we bought turkey and PB&J for our sandwiches and of course couldn't pass up the opportunity to get Munchies, Doritos, and Snyder's to go along with our sandwiches and fruit. When we returned to the bus, to our surprise, Ana had gotten us Costa Rican Popsicles for a cold treat during the last leg of our ride.

The last bit was lively and full of singing and braiding for almost every player. Finally, we arrived at our hotel, Rio Mar Villas, and unloaded our luggage into a storage room before departing to the beach. The air in Dominical was humid and muggy, but once most of us got used to it, it was fairly tolerable. At the beach, most of us ate lunch and headed straight for the water. To our surprise, the walk out to the waves was rocky and several people suffered minor cuts and scuffs before reaching the chest high waters.

At this point, everyone was jumping and body surfing in countless waves. A few took a break to catch some rays, but as soon as we got the okay to surf, almost everyone was back in the water to give it a try.

To some people, surfing came natural and to others if was quite difficult. Gina, Isabel, and Brianna seemed to be the most successful, while Pam, Maggie, and Coach Sam couldn't quite hang ten. Surfing went on for two hours before everyone had enough and was ready to head back to the hotel. As we were heading back to the bus, several people realized they were pretty burnt, but luckily Coach Sam had some aloe for our teammates, who resembled lobsters more closely than soccer players at this point. The ride back to the hotel was sandy and everyone couldn't wait for a shower. Dinner was buffet style and everyone was hungry after a long day at the beach.

All in all, everyone enjoyed their first experience at the Costa Rican beach. Until tomorrow, PURA VIDA.