{"id":2340,"date":"2012-08-17T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-17T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.accphotos.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/17\/samara-is-a-rural-beach-village-of-only-1500\/"},"modified":"2017-07-22T16:45:45","modified_gmt":"2017-07-22T20:45:45","slug":"samara-is-a-rural-beach-village-of-only-1500","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog.accphotos.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/17\/samara-is-a-rural-beach-village-of-only-1500\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A <\/a>
A youth in El Torito learns to play lacrosse <\/div> <\/div>
\"Brad <\/a>
Brad Iula painting a post at the field in the center of town <\/div> <\/div>
\"Nico <\/a>
Nico Ferrari (in white) and Steven Tynan during beach cleann up. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Gato <\/a>
Gato caught a new friend while we were painting <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The team photo in El Torito <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Eric <\/a>
Eric Scott tries to catch some waves <\/div> <\/div>
\"Dinner <\/a>
Dinner after a hard day at Soda La Perla. How is the food in a place with a pickup truck parked in the middle? Darn good, actually. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Eric <\/a>
Eric Scott (blue hat) with one of the youth <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Evan <\/a>
Evan Peller during one of the youth clinics in El Torito <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Shane <\/a>
Shane Doss (right) tries to score on Ian Grady during a game of lacrosse on the beach <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

S\u00c3\u00a1mara is a rural beach village of only 1,500 inhabitants on the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica bathed in both beauty and sunlight. Zephyrs from the Pacific tame the furious sun above. The town is unblighted by corporate influence. \u00c2\u00a0There are no McDonalds or KFC. \u00c2\u00a0You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d get a strange look if you asked for a Starbucks. \u00c2\u00a0Not even a Hilton or Hyatt in sight. \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

And the locals like it way. \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is as if an omnipotent hand vanquished the town of Western influence, keeping the charm and identity of this small surfing village. S\u00c3\u00a1mara is comfortable in its simplicity.<\/p>\n

And we learned to like it that way, too.<\/p>\n

On August 4th we converged in the Houston\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s airport to depart for S\u00c3\u00a1mara for one week of service, lacrosse and surfing. There were six students with us. Steven Tynan from Round Rock, TX;\u00c2\u00a0Eric Scott<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0from Basking Ridge, NJ; Shane Doss from Glenridge, NJ; Evan Peller from Melville, NY; Nico Ferrari from Buckhead, GA; and Brad Iula from Medford, NJ. \u00c2\u00a0They were joined by their chaperones, co-founders of Charity Lacrosse, Ian Grady and Jon Leonardo. \u00c2\u00a0We also had some amazing help in S\u00c3\u00a1mara. \u00c2\u00a0Tess McGrath, a 2009 graduate of Lehigh University and a member of the varsity women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lacrosse team, is an American expatriate working there. \u00c2\u00a0She, as part of her graduate studies in non-profit management, is working in Costa Rica doing non-profit work, and has previously worked in Africa. \u00c2\u00a0Finally we had Yofreth Quesada Rodriguez, or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Gato\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as he is known locally, as our local guide. \u00c2\u00a0He was born and raised in S\u00c3\u00a1mara, knows everyone in the town (no exaggeration), and owns more pairs of swim trunks than most people do shorts (also no exaggeration). \u00c2\u00a0El chico de la playa.<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0My goal after this trip was to become Gato one day.<\/p>\n

One of the largest projects undertaken by the team was to help renovate a soccer field in the center of the town. \u00c2\u00a0Soccer fields are frequently at the center of towns in Costa Rica, and this particular field will later be used for lacrosse as Fields of Growth works more and more in this town. \u00c2\u00a0The goal was to paint about 100 unpainted fence posts blue, white and red, the colors of the Costa Rican flag. \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

The work was fraught with tiny little dangers. \u00c2\u00a0Fire ants, to be exact. \u00c2\u00a0While we painted some of the posts they would come out of the ground like a tidal wave and attack the foot of the nearest victim. \u00c2\u00a0I heard Shane yelp a couple times as he threw off his shoe – he had 12 bits in total that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153felt like 20\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. \u00c2\u00a0Nico and Jon too became victims of these indiscriminate stingers.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stung feet aside, the field underwent an amazing transformation. \u00c2\u00a0From a monochromatic fence to a pied boundary that finally exuded the same vim and distinctiveness that this village does.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another outreach activity, which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll speak for the group and say was the highlight, was spending time in El Torito, a diminutive town – one so small it does not show up on Google Maps – just outside of S\u00c3\u00a1mara. \u00c2\u00a0Our goal was to go there and teach some of the youth how to play lacrosse. When we arrived there only three kids were waiting for us. We worried that there would not be enough kids to do much of a clinic. But Tess said not to worry. The kids would start showing up soon.<\/p>\n

And they did.<\/p>\n

They arrived on bare-feet. \u00c2\u00a0They rode on bikes down the dusty roadways. \u00c2\u00a0By themselves or with a mother or sibling. \u00c2\u00a0At least 20 youth showed up on the field. This little field in rural Costa Rica sprang to life with the chorus of children yelling and screaming, enjoying exposure to this new sport and their new American friends.<\/p>\n

Despite some language barriers we were able to play the international language of lacrosse with no difficulty. The kids were scoring goals and making checks in no time. One kid learned from Eric how to make a fake pass. \u00c2\u00a0It was as if they were born to play this sport.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

The kids also learned nicknames that had been assigned to everyone. \u00c2\u00a0Nico was called by the group \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Justin Bieber\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. \u00c2\u00a0The guys told a little girl that his name was Justin Bieber. \u00c2\u00a0Nico protested to the girl saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No soy Justin Bieber\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. \u00c2\u00a0The little girl was unconvinced though. \u00c2\u00a0Pointing to him with unstrained certainty she yelled, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No! \u00c2\u00a0T\u00c3\u00ba eres Justin Bieber!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153La pura vida\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is often used locally to describe Costa Rican life and culture. \u00c2\u00a0A literal translation would be the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pure life\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s closer to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the good life\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. \u00c2\u00a0It began also to describe our time there. \u00c2\u00a0Not becoming overly concerned with the retinue of schedules. \u00c2\u00a0Shedding ourselves of our watches.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

One can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go to S\u00c3\u00a1mara without enjoying the beaches of course, and why just go to the beach when you can surf them? \u00c2\u00a0One morning all the guys had surfing lessons at C&C Surfing School where our guide Gato works. \u00c2\u00a0For many it was their first time surfing. \u00c2\u00a0Imagine being able to say your first time surfing was on the beautiful shores of Costa Rica. Of course they won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be able to say they had Kelly Slater moments. \u00c2\u00a0I saw a lot of wipeouts. \u00c2\u00a0So, not everything is pura vida in Costa Rica. \u00c2\u00a0The youth also had the chance to eat at many \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mom and pop\u00e2\u20ac\u009d sodas (small open air eateries) that were off the beaten path and also had some of the most delicious food.<\/p>\n

In short, the trip afforded six high school youth from disparate parts of the country a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work in the community of a small rural beach town in Costa Rica. \u00c2\u00a0It also gave them a chance to grow emotionally, leaving the comforts of Western society, and experiencing another culture. \u00c2\u00a0And, of course, it gave them the chance to enjoy the beaches and amazing food of this verdant country.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

S\u00c3\u00a1mara is a rural beach village of only 1,500 inhabitants on the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica bathed in both beauty and sunlight. Zephyrs from the Pacific tame the furious sun above. The town is unblighted by corporate influence. \u00c2\u00a0There are no McDonalds or KFC. \u00c2\u00a0You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d get a strange look …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[207],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.accphotos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.accphotos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.accphotos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.accphotos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.accphotos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2340"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.accphotos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2351,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.accphotos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340\/revisions\/2351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.accphotos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.accphotos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.accphotos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}