Tico Tuesday, May 18th

Tuesday greetings from Costa Rica!
This weekend I was whisked away to the beach with my friends David and Fernanda. Fer and I had been talking about cycling together again-she and I went almost every week in January and hadn't been again since! And so Friday night she texted me and said “We're leaving for Jacó (pronounced hah-CO) at 5am bring water and snacks!” Well, I didn't quite bike all the way to Jacó from home, but I did bike the last 38km (24mi), which overall was pretty easy. We ended up staying the night and getting to watch part of a cheering competition on the beach! I really enjoyed that since I used to be a cheerleader! More details of the story on the blog.
Lately I feel like I haven't told you much about things at church, but there really hasn't been much to tell. I really do more than bike and run and play. I'm currently formulating 375 questions for my final project for the Perspectives class!
May God bless you and fill you with joy this week!
Love,
Carrie

PS. Prayer request updates from last week will be on the blog too! Thanks so much for praying!

Hmm, ok for real this is a more concise version than the play by play my parents got. David biked the first leg from home to Orotina. Fer and I followed along in the car. Then in Orotina, I got on David's bike and Fer got on hers and off we went!
Well, pause. This was my first time using the shoes you clip into the pedals. We had me practice clipping in out and a couple times, but it's really hard for me to get my left leg out! They had me stop for some reason, the brakes were sensitive and I couldn't clip out fast enough and poom! Down I went! I broke my fall with my right hand though, so now my palm has a lovely bruise. Unfortunately I couldn't put any ice on my bonk (Mommy taught us bonk → ice when we were growing up), so I held out till I got ice at lunch. Anyway, since falling we decided to just have David catch me and help me stop and unclip, though I think I could probably do it now on my own and not fall.
Play. We decided to have me go first so I could set whatever pace was comfortable for me. I was fine with that, but after a few minutes I looked back and Fernanda was nowhere in sight! OOPS! It was already after 9 and starting to get hot out and Fer hasn't been exercising regularly, so she knew she wouldn't have a pleasant experience if she kept going. So, I got on her back and David got back on his and we set off again. It was a gorgeous ride and there was only one hard part-a big long hill they call “La Chanchera” (David told me it means pig-sty but an online source just told me it means pig slops. I'll let you decide). The rest was downhill or flat. And on a road bike...oh how glorious! We made it to Jacó in a little over and hour and a half. I guess David was pretty impressed at my physical (I wanted to spell it fisical) condition and speed! Sunday night at church he kept bragging about me.
We arrived at Jacó and I still had energy and was singing and everything. The only thing that hurt was my lower back. We were nasty sweaty though, so we decided to get a hotel room. And what would it be worth paying for a room if you don't spend the night? So we decided to crash there. It was nice to be able to shower and leave our stuff there and not worry carrying it around or leaving it in the car.
Then we headed over to the cheering competition. Fer's friend's daughter had already gone, but we did get to see some high school squads. That was fun, and I especially enjoyed it because I know what to look for. I tried explaining some things to Fer and David, but my cheering vocab is basically nil! I was able to explain enough though. It made me miss those (mostly) good ol' days of cheering. Oh the things I have experienced in life!
Then we finally found lunch. The rest of our time there was chill-napping, relaxing in a hammock, walking around town, enjoying the sunset, drinking yummy yummy smoothies and lots of water, and watching the championship futbol game. (Saprissa won...again!).
Sunday morning we had a yummy traditional breakfast with gallo pinto, eggs, toast and OJ, and lots of Salsa Lizano!!! Then we went to see some of the college squads do their practice run-throughs. That was even better than the high school groups! One squad really had it all together-good facials, great jumps with pointed toes, some fantastic tumbling, and really good stunts. They were all together and on time and sharp (not sloppy and with spaghetti arms). They were great to watch!
We headed back to the hotel room and were going to head out but we turned on ESPN and Nadal and Federer were playing in the final of the ATP Open in Madrid. So, we watched the first set and headed out at noon when we had to check out. (I knew Rafa was going to win. Federer couldn't get his first serve in to save his life and Rafa dominates on clay). And that was my adventure! Some other time I'll tell you more about cheering. Prayer update in the next post! Stay tuned!