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Nicaragua 2005, “Selección Florida”
Volume 3
Day 4, Monday, July 11, 2005
By Leah Neubeck, M1, Golden Valley, MN
Our author (left) in Leon
Hello from Nicaragua! We just finished day four and have a lot to share! The team woke up this morning in the dormitories of INJUDE, the national center for youth sports development here in Nicaragua. Everyone was eager for a shower since the water had already been turned off when we got in the night before. We headed out to breakfast at eight where we met Roy. Roy is the caretaker of the dormitories and willingly greeted us with his accented English. Though we had plans to eat at 8:00, 8:30 rolled around and there was no food in sight. So Tim, being the great guy he is, saved the day and took us to Burger King!
Everyone was happy when we boarded the air-conditioned bus to begin our ride to Leon. The ride was under an hour and to be honest with you, I slept the whole way so I cannot tell you much about that! We arrived in Leon, a beautiful, cleaner, town with much to be seen. We were let loose in the square (in large groups, don’t worry parents they are taking good care of us) to do some sight-seeing and shopping of course! We wandered around central Leon for a couple hours, shopping in the markets, checking out the elegant churches, and purely enjoying ourselves. However, I have to let you know that it was a scorcher today! I may be from Minnesota but I know a hot day when I see one and it was today! So needless to say, everyone arrived back at the air-conditioned bus prior to the designated meeting time.
The main cathedral in Leon is the oldest church in Central America
We left the square and headed out to lunch. Cheeseburgers all around and then we were off to the gym to get ready for the matches. When we arrived, we were told that they were having some technical difficulties, later we realized it was with the ceiling, and told us that the match was postponed until five. The match was originally supposed to start at four. So we went back to the square to pass the time.
We were allowed another forty-five minutes to explore which some of us took the time to e-mail and call home and others went inside the church on sight. The group who went to the church took a tour of the underground tunnels, which we learned connected the eight neighboring churches. We were also invited to climb some quite narrow stairs I must say that lead to the top of the church and then onto the roof. From there you could see the whole city, all the eight churches, and the volcanoes in the distance. It was very breathtaking and a great photo opportunity.
After our tour we met everyone else and headed to the gym again. We arrived again at the stuffy gym to find three bats in the bathroom however only one was still with us. The younger team got dressed and was ready to play. But it was still another hour before their match began. So everyone spent a pretty hot, miserable hour in the gym. The match began and the first team came out with a three game victory, 25-16, 25-15, and 25-17. They played great once again and Coach Smith came out with her second international victory!
Seleccion Florida Juniors with their opponents from Leon
The older team warmed up and got on the line to exchange gifts and shake hands. The Mayor of Leon presented us with gifts and appreciation and said some things which nobody understood. He was still talking when the lights started to flicker and all of the sudden it was dark. The power had gone out because of the storm that had come in while we were playing. The gym was chaos but pretty soon everything calmed down and the Jacksonville teams had some quality time with the Nicaraguan team, in the dark. The lights came back on a little while later and the game began. Little did we know that this was just the beginning. Earlier on the younger team noticed some water from the storm was coming down near the court. Well once the game began more water began to drip faster from the ceiling, right onto the center of the court. The teams continued to play competitively with occasional wipe ups of the water. The crowd cheered when Meghan got on her hands and knees to wipe off the ground and when Kelly stretched her groin after slipping on the water. Both acts appeared a bit suggestive to the crowd. When we finally thought our problems were over, the rain came down harder and now in a new spot which had just opened up. Both teams decided to leave a sack on the court to soak up the water and play around it. The five game match ended with a USA victory 28-26, 21-25, 15-25, 25-17, 15-7.
We were all tired and sweaty as we boarded the bus to look for a place to eat. It was ten o’clock. We finally found a restaurant and everyone devoured their food. The excitement of the day was the restaurants bathroom facilities which were the nicest ones we have seen in a long time. The bathrooms were utilized by many in our group. We headed home sleepy and happy with the success of the day, both on and off the court. We arrived at our dorms, greeted by a snoring security guard who lets us in after a very long day.
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