Arriving only with instructions to go find a friend of a friend at the local internet cafe, we weren't sure how our time in Nicoya would work. Luckily, our new friend was able to arrange a place for Matt and me to stay with an old lady that had some extra rooms in her house right near the center of town, and, as a bonus, she was even a great cook. After a couple of days in the city, we met up with the coach of the local team, through a connection from Javier, and we arranged to play with what was basically the reserve team for the town's first division pro team. Most of the players were between 18 and 21 from towns up to three hours away, and they turned out to be a lot of fun once we got to know them. During the week, we practiced almost everyday, usually from about 2 until 4 or 5, right in the heat of the 90+ degree days. After a few days, we started getting used to it and fell into our routine of getting up late, watching some tv, practicing, eating lunch at Cafe Daniela (arroz con pollo for me, sandwich de bistec for Matt), then resting, reading and hanging out in the evenings. Unfortunately, the week after we left, our team scrimmaged the first team to see if they wanted to pull anyone up, so we didn't get a chance to see how we would've fared.

Matt, me, Brynner, and Javier at an impromptu game on the Sunday before we left. Brynner was one of the players that actually lived in town and was also one of the nicest guys on the team. One night, he even treated us to some 'coyol', a very local drink fermented in the trunks of a special type of palm trees.

The field that we played on every day and Cerro Las Cruces (The Hill of the Crosses) in the background. We climbed the hill once on our own and were bombarded by monkeys, and it turned out that what was landing on us was neither rain nor berries. We also ran up this hill on the first day of practice, and it nearly killed us.

One of the main streets in downtown Nicoya. Not much to see here other than typical shops and restaurants and a confused Costa Rican.

This is Matt's room in our adopted house with Doña Eda, our hostess for six weeks. Miraculously, his blue soccer bag matched nicely with the rooms.