Costa Rica... I keep coming back for more!: We are the Champions!

I am a little sad today. This is the first weekend in months that Pacayitas will not have a soccer game. Pacayitas soccer games are always the highlight of my weekend. I get to see some of my best friends show off their amazing talent. The team is made up of a group of men who grew up in the town. Many of them no longer live in Pacayitas, as they have moved to the larger surrounding cities for work. However, family is very important to Ticos so most of the guys, who live close enough, under three hours, come home on the weekends to see family and play soccer.

Pacayitas is part a of a soccer league made up of teams in the mountains outside of Turrialba. Since February, Ive gone to most of their Sunday games. The games are always exciting, but these last two weeks have been the most fun. Two weeks ago we won the semi final game and there was a huge celebration. However, that celebration did not even compare to last Sundays party after we won the finals against Cien Manzanas 2 to 0.

The game was a blast. Pacayitas took two busses and many rode along in their own cars. Truck beds were filled with anxious fans preparing to cheer on our Pacayitas team. With the level of excitement everyone had for the game, you would have thought we were playing in the World Cup. People stood in trucks dancing and chanting as Pacayitas took the field. I tried to pick up and follow along with the chants, screaming and clapping with everyone else. I was excited and nervous for my friends.

The first half ended and neither team had scored. It started raining at the start of the second half. Twenty minutes into the second half, Pacayitas got their first goal. With about five minutes left, they scored their second, securing the victory. The team went nuts, dog piling on top of each other. The rain soaked fans were just as crazy spraying beer, screaming, jumping on the sidelines and in the truck bed. It was awesome! The team and fans piled into trucks for the ride back to Pacayitas. Everyone was geared up for a party. Drivers laid on the horns for almost the whole 35 minute drive back. The honking and cheering only stopped for a moment, we passed a home of a sick elderly man and out of respect everyone was quite. Once around the corner it all resumed again. When we arrived in Pacayitas it was kicked up a notch. Chanting, honking, blowing horns. The players were taking their jersies off and swinging them around their heads. The few people in the town who had not attended the game, came out of there homes to congratulate the players as we drove through the whole town. We were sprayed with garden hoses, which only add to the mess of mud and water that came with riding in truck beds while it rained. We circled back to the town bar and everyone jumped out of the cars and the party began. Drinking, eating, dancing, cheering, and chanting… almost everyone in the town was there. Audrey and I were shocked by the behavior of some who we had pinned as very serious and formal people. A very nice, but serious man that Audrey works with was spraying beer, making out with his wife, and dirty dancing throughout the whole party. We had a great time seeing a different side of many of the town's people. It was an awesome day.

And now… it is all over. Well, only for a couple months and then they will begin playing a new season. I imagine my weekends will be a lot less eventful these next couple months. I was lucky to have this past week off because of the National Census. I have been able to relax and rejuvenate after such a fun but exhausting weekend.

My town is amazing. The people are so sweet and fun. I am so fortunate to have such great friends to have fun with. I no longer feel like a visitor, I now feel like I am part of Pacayitas.