Time Capsule Letter – October 2016
Hey Aidan, Dylan, Elizabeth, Hiroki, Hunter, Jessalyn, Jessica B., Jessica V., Joey, Katie, and Nathan!
By the time you are reading this, you will all probably be back at school, your memories of surfing, playing sports, and doing service in Bahia Ballena Costa Rica a fond yet distant memory. For those of us who facilitated your trip, we too have wonderful memories of our time spent together. Those of us who live in Bahia Ballena see the evidence of the Sports Service Adventure program every time we pass by the main plaza (soccer field) of Bahia Ballena and see the wonderfully painted bleachers! We also are reminded of the fun times we had working with the local kids at the Flor de Bahia Elementary School when we pass them in the street and they want to give us a high five and reminisce about the fun times they had this summer.
Our aim was to help teach you how to surf, and during your five surf lessons in the Marino Ballena National Park, you guys impressed us so much with your great listening, tenacity, and constant ability to smile and have fun. Your surf skills developed greatly during your ten days with us and we sincerely hope that you will be able to take that skill forward with you in your lives. More than anything, we were so stoked that you all began to understand why it’s so important for surfers and anyone who spends a lot of time in or near the ocean to work together to keep the marine environment clean, healthy, and beautiful. We learned that everything ends up in the sea, so we can all do our part regardless of where we live by cutting back on plastic use, reducing our consumption, and preserving energy and water. All of these actions will help to protect our wonderful Planet Earth — the place that we call home — as well as the world’s oceans.
Your aim this summer was to help create a space where the local kids could practice and perfect their sporting abilities, and you guys were oh-so-successful in this mission. Through these camps, our program made a very positive impact on the local kids in the community of Bahia Ballena this summer by showing kids from all walks of life that sports are fun and can bring people together. You guys worked a lot, learned a lot, and we hope also had a lot of fun.
We will never forget playing signs with you guys, watching you play soccer with the locals in Esteban’s family’s indoor soccer field and rise to the occasion of teaching young children how to play kickball, going on an epic rafting trip down the Coto Brus river, surfing some gnarly waves together, listening to you sing to one another day and night, and having a singing and dancing party on the last night. For us, it was a blast and even better because we got to share it with all you guys — our very first Costa Rica Sports Service Adventure group!
Thank you so much for all your dedication this summer!
~Adrianne, Emi, and Gibran
Sports Service Adventure 2016, Costa Rica
Summer Blog Posts
June 26, 2016 – Arrival Day
The first Sports Service Adventurers are finally here in Costa Rica!
We spent our first evening together tasting local cuisine and watching the Copa America Soccer Finals at a typical Costa Rican restaurant. Everyone is happy, safe, and ready to get started! We are so excited to have Dylan, Jessalyn, Katie, Elizabeth, Jessica V, Jessica B, Hiroki, Nathan, Hunter, Joey, and Aidan with us for the next 10 days! Local Directors Gibran and Adrianne (not pictured; awaiting our arrival at home base) are amazing souls and we are all so excited to begin our journey together as an empowered group of individual and collective positive change-makers. Y lo sabes!
Abrazos desde Costa Rica!
Emi
Sports Service Adventure, International Director
June 27, 2016 – Day 2
June 28, 2016 – Day 3
June 29, 2016 – Day 4
Day 5
Written by Jessalyn Simon-Parker and Nathan Kapiloff
Note: We are still waiting on pictures from the rafting company, they are having some technical difficulties.
July 1, 2016 – Day 6
Written by Katie Ornellas and Joey Palazzolo.
July 2, 2016
July 3, 2016
