LION VOLLEYBALL IN NICARAGUA

Today's blog will encompass every activity we achieved today, as well as highlight our beloved libero, Kristen. The reason behind Kristen's reception of fame is due to one of her many hidden secrets. Prior to the trip, Kristen told us she knew a little Spanish. To me, a little Spanish means you've passed a Spanish class in high school. Apparently to Kris, it means being completely fluent. We would not have survived today if it weren't for her communication (and many other) skills. 1. Up bright and early for class, Kristen deciphered an excerpt from Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad , relieving the other nine of us from answering the question. This will be the team's last class until August! 2. For good luck, Kristen brought along her stuffed animal monkey in hopes we'd see lots of monkeys on our boat tour. We rode around hundreds of islands in Lake Nicaragua that were created by a volcanic eruption a thousand years ago. Most of these islands were occupied by

Goodbye San Juan Del Sur! This morning, we packed our bags and left our little beach town, but not before completing a "quick little hike." It was not quick, nor was it little, however, it was a hike! We basically walked directly uphill for 30 minutes. Okay, 30 minutes is not that long for a hike, but NOT KIDDING, we were going straight up. Sure, we are athletes, but no Dixon Plan workout could prepare us for the severity of a Nicaraguan hike. Once we got to the top, though, the view was well worth it. A 72 foot Jesus statue stood tall in the middle, overlooking the entire area. From the top, we could spot our hotel, the places we volunteered, and the mountain we zip lined on. The vast ocean took up most of the view which reached all the way to the horizon. If we were to travel on a straight line west off of Nicaragua, the next land we would hit is the Philippines, an 8 hour time difference. That's a lot of ocean. I can't decide which event it is from (the zip li

Today we had to wake up a little earlier than usual, because we had Mark Twain class with our professor here, KJ Peters!! Wooo summer class! For part of the curriculum, we are reading Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain. Twain actually traveled through Nicaragua on his way to Europe and wrote all about it. And when I say all about it, I mean ALL ABOUT IT. That dude loves to write... Anyway, it's pretty amazing to read about things he saw, and experience them 150 years later. After breakfast, it was time to zip line. The girls, coaches, and even some administrators geared up and headed to the top of a mountain outside of town. We completed 16 different zip lines overlooking beautiful scenery of San Juan Del Sur and its surrounding towns. It was so much fun to see all of our chaperones letting loose and being adventurous alongside us. If I had to pick, I would definitely say KJ had the best zip line techniques. After zip lining, we headed to Playa Hermosa (not to be confused with Pla

What a day... This morning started off with breakfast in shifts before we left for our two separate volunteer locations. Group 1 was headed to a nonprofit preschool to volunteer with children living in San Juan Del Sur. The kids varied from 19 months to 5 years old. This school helps teach young kids English to ensure a wide spectrum of opportunity in the future. The volunteers got to help out and play with the kids through various games and activities. I was a part of Group 2 which headed to a nonprofit center for adults with disabilities. At the organization, the adults were taught to make purses and bags out of bean and potato sacks. We started off by sitting in a circle and asking each other questions to get to know each other. This really tested some of our Spanish... Luckily, we had a tour guide who made a fantastic translator. All of the adults were extremely friendly and kind. They varied in age from 18-38. Then, we got to spend some one on one time with the adults. It was

Hello again!  Today began with a beautiful buffet breakfast at our hotel in Managua. After we finished, we loaded up our bus and headed back to the national training center for a morning practice. We worked on serving and passing and discussed our goals for the trip; to gain experience and improve every time we step on the court. For today's practice, we improved o ur game AND managed to dodge dead bugs and bird poop that covered various parts of the court. After practice we changed from our sopping wet practice gear (thanks humidity) into comfortable dry clothes for our two hour road trip to San Juan Del Sur. The drive out was beautiful. Once we got out of the capital city, we were surrounded by the greenery of Nicaragua's land. We succeeded in every aspect of the road trip trifecta: naps, snacks, and sing-a-long songs. When we finally got to San Juan Del Sur, the sun was beginning to set over the ocean and every jaw on our bus dropped. The town is directly on t

Hello all! I'm Tess Reid and I will be taking you through LMU Volleyball's trip to Nicaragua. Last night the team moved out of the Leaveys, ate our last American meal (Benny's of course), and departed for LAX.  To say the very least... we were ecstatic. We made our way through customs alongside our coaches, administrators, and foam rollers, and waited for our Red Eye to Houston. We arrived in Houston too early for any talking, so napping became the main event in gate E11. And once again, we waited. On our flight to Managua, I lucked out with a window seat, and as we descended into the city, my eyes were committed to scanning every last piece of the area. Everything below us was extremely green and lush. There weren't a lot of roads, instead, lakes and mountains covered the country. As we got closer to the ground, the colors of the city became extremely vibrant. Green, pink, blue, and yellow art pieces covered the city. It seemed like we were landing in