2013 Cost Rica Trip
Photo Gallery
February 13
Hi, my name is Ambere Barnett and I play for the 2000 Girls Owensboro United Soccer team in Owensboro, KY. I leave
tomorrow for Costa Rica, where I will represent Kentucky with the Region 2 Olympic Development Program. I have never been out of the country before and am a little nervous!! Tomorrow, I will be traveling all day. I will fly from Louisville to Atlanta and then on to Costa Rica. I hope you will all follow me along my journey. I am so excited! Happy Valentine's Day!! Ambere :)
February 15th, 2013
Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday, but it was a long day! :) I met so many people. My roommates are Channing and Connor. They are very nice!! Our orientation was all about learning all you can about Costa Rica! We met our tour guide. Her name is Mary Joe, but she is letting us call her MJ or Joe Joe. The food is different, so just a little getting use too!! My coaches are AWESOME!! :) The training was VERY GOOD! We swam afterwards and it was sooooo cold!
After we ate, we chilled and then went off to training again! The bus drive was pretty long, but fun! One of the college coaches from somewhere came and she was very nice! After the long drive, we came back to the hotel and swam to loosen up our bones, but I was so cold! Can't wait till tomorrow!! :)
February 16th, 2013
Today we played Costa Rica's U17 team. On the bus ride to the field, we listened to music; which was fun! Costa Rica was quick and aggressive. We ended up losing to them 2-1; but it was okay because it was our first game and we have only had two training sessions together as a team!! It would have still been nice to win though!! :) When we got back to the hotel, we went into the freezing cold pool!! Coach Mike said we didn't need to train this afternoon, just relax! The food is really good! I love the noodles, rice and some of the desserts! Everything here is AMAZING!!
February 17, 2013
Todays breakfast was soooo good! :) We headed to the fields afterwards and it was really loud on the bus, because we were listening to music! I played center mid today, which was different!! We beat Alajuela 1-0! Everyone was so excited!! :) After the game, we went to the pool and it was cold, but not as bad as all the other days! Lunch was really good too! Really!! We went to the mall later and I got my sisters something. After we hung out for awhile, it was time for cultural night!! It was AWESOME!! The food wasn't that good, but the entertainment was great! They did Costa Rican dances and then street dances, which were amazing! The guys were so cool! I got a picture with them! :) We can't stop talking about it! Have a great day!! :)
February 18, 2012
What a fun day!! After we woke up, we went to breakfast. When we were done we went to our room to get some things and off to the "White Beach"! The ride was 1 hour and 45 minutes long!! Along the way, we stopped at a bridge and it had alligators at the bottom. They were soooo big!! I took a lot of pix. Then, off to the beach. I felt awesome until I got salt in my eye. :( The water is very salty! After we swam a little, we changed and went to another beach, but it wasn't as good; so we went to the pool to swim and tan! After the pool, we ate lunch and "man, was it good"! :) Everything was delicious! We had icecream and it was AWESOME! Best meal. I <3 Costa Rica!! While we were eating, we saw animals in the raccoon family called I think "coatis". They look similar to a dog! After lunch, we voted on which beach to go too! We chose the "White Beach". It was a little colder, but we were only there for about 45 minutes! It warmed up the longer we were in though. After the beach, off to zip lining we went!! We had to wait for a little bit, because another region wasn't done yet. After we were done suiting up, Michael explained to us what to do! He was so funny! :) When he was done, we had to sit around for a while and everything was heavy! Finally, we got in the tractor and headed up the mountain! Once we got there, we all took turns. It was a lot of fun! After 1 hour and 30 minutes, we were done! I was sort of sad, but I wanted to go to bed. :) It was about an hour later than then we were supposed to leave for the hotel; so we had to hurry!! Dinner was pretty good tonight, but shower felt AMAZING!! Bed sounds the best though!! Goodnight!!
February 19, 2013
Todays breakfast was good!! Since it was a light training this morning, we didn't have to wear shinguards. :) After training, onto the bus we went and back to the hotel. We had 2 hours to just hang out! Lunch was okay today. After lunch, we headed to the orphanage/daycare. They were SO cute!! They loved the soccer balls and everything we brought! :) When we were done, it was game time! It rained at the field tonight. We played Arenal and lost 2-1. :( I played left back!! On the way there, we were all hungry! We weren't going to eat until after the 6pm game tonight, so as soon as we got back, we ate and then went to our rooms to shower!! It felt so amazing!! Well, I am getting tired! Talk to you tomorrow!! :)
February 20, 2013
Breakfast and then off to tour San Jose. We walked around a little and at the museum there were gun shots in the wall from the war!! That was kind of cool looking! We were able to buy some souvenirs while we were there. Then back to the hotel to pack, relax and eat!! The game was at 2 pm at Saprissa stadium! We won 3-0; so we ended up 2-2 for the week! After the drive back to the hotel, we ate, played, cleaned and packed. We went to bed around 11 pm. Home to the USA tomorrow!! :)
February 21, 2013
What a long day! First, woke up at 4:15 am and when we were done packing and rooms were clean; we headed to the lobby for breakfast in a bag!! :) We rode with Region 3 to the airport. We went through our breakfast in a bag to see what we had and I had a muffin that tasted like a cupcake, an apple, a croissant, orange juice and yogurt that was prune flavored. Ewwwwwww! When we got to the airport, we went to check our bags and then through security! We had to wait 1 hour to get boarded on the plane! I sat with Shelby Cohen and Lexxe Lipsey. They are both very nice and I got to know them a lot this week! On the plane we watched this show called "Chasing Mavericks". It was a true story about a surfer and it was so sad. 4 hours later we arrived in Atlanta and I got to turn on my PHONE! :) When we got off the plane we had to give the Immigration people our passports to look at and go through Customs. Then.....I finally got to see my mom at baggage claim! She was really happy! I had to tell everyone goodbye! :( We took a shuttle to the other airport part to go to Southwest check in. When we got there, we met Shelby! We hung-out together and had a good time! When we found the gate we were going too, we went and got some lunch! We went to Moe's and it had Mexican food, so Shelby and I ate there and mom ate at a sub place! 1 hour later it was time to board and just a little bit longer and we were in Louisville! When we got to the Louisville airport, we met Shelby's parents and sister at baggage claim and they were very nice! Then.....it was time to say our goodbyes. After we found our car, it was time for the last 2 hours of traveling! We stopped in Corydon for ice-cream! It was sleeting and cold. 1 hour and 30 minutes later we were finally home!!!!!!!!!! I was so happy to be home!! :)
February 26, 2013
My Final Blog!!! Costa Rica was AWESOME!! My favorite activity was zip lining!!! Our tour guide MJ was great!! My favorite game was against Costa Rica!!! Some of their rules are a little different, such as throw ins. Their style of soccer didn't seem too different, because we were all there to play the sport we all love....SOCCER!!! Most of the teams were older! My favorite food was their pasta!! I loved going to the orphanage, and they were so cute!! I enjoyed making new friends and seeing others again that I had recently met!! A special thank you to Tambrey, Heather, Coach Mike and Coach Jonathan for helping to make this an AMAZING trip!! Thank you Kentucky Youth Soccer and everyone who has supported me along the way!! And.....thanks for following my BLOG!! Your friend, Ambere :)