University of Dayton women's soccer player Kelly Blumenschein is studying abroad in Costa Rica. She is writing to the UD coaching staff about her experiences in the Central American country. One of the Flyer captains, she will be a senior next year. Blumenschein, a two-time winner of the Stacey Martin Memorial Award, is from Beavercreek, Ohio. She goes into her senior year with 13 goals and 16 assists on her career total. She is a three-time All-Atlantic 10 honoree and also excels in the classroom, earning CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine All-Academic District 4 accolades in addition to being named to the A-10 All-Academic team.

Blumenschein is a double major at Dayton in finance and entrepreneurship with a minor in Spanish. She is a member of Delta Sigma Pi, a professional business fraternity, as well as a member of the UD and Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

 

Hello Tucker, Tania, Serg and Coach D.... FROM COSTA RICA!!!!

How are you all doing?? I loved reading about Mac's trip so far, so I wanted to send you guys an update from this part of the world :-)

We have only been here for five days and it feels like a month already! I left my house at 4:45 on Saturday morning in Dayton to catch my plane at 6:40 – we know how these early flights make for long days don't we?! My flight landed in Costa Rica at about 2:30 p.m. (4:30 Ohio time!) From the airport, we were picked up and brought to our school where we met our first host family. My madre y padre Tico (this is the nickname for Costa Ricans) were there to pick me up- we hopped in their car and were on our way!

On this first leg of the trip I am part of the Soto-Molina family. Hispanic cultures use both the father's last name and mother's maiden name combined to form their last names.... which would make me a Blumenschein-Blumenschine.... I probably wouldn't fit in would I?? My family is great - My host father, Jorge, is an accountant for the major beer distributor here, Imperial. My host mother works out of the house for the school that I am attending; she puts together assignments and makes copies for all of the students. There are two children in the house, Josie is 14 and Anferny is 10. Both are so nice and they all take their time to help me with my Spanish. They speak very little English, so I am learning so much! But they ALL love futbol! I brought them some great UD Soccer 'stuff' to leave with them :-)

Our house is only about a 10-minute walk from the school, and is so different than I could have ever imagined. It is actually connected to the mother's house and three other sisters! Each of the other sisters has an exchange student as well... so when everyone is home at night the crowd can get pretty big! (We are talking 18 people here!) They make me breakfast and dinner every night- I am trying a TON of different things! Lots of mangos, papayas, rice beans, and tortillas! The other students I am living with and I refer to our families as our Spanish soap opera because there is always something going on. (More on this later.)

I will give you a couple of the highlights of the trip so far! We visited a national park on Sunday where we got to walk around... (and almost under)... Waterfalls! Las Cascadas were beautiful –can't wait to show pictures of these! This park was a mini zoo as well – there was a butterfly garden, giant cats native to Costa Rica, frogs, and snakes. (Didn't really go inside the snake exhibit... too close for comfort.) We also got a chance to go to a market and walk around – it was so colorful with all of the different vegetables fruits and meats hanging. (There were lots of bugs too. Definitely didn't make any food purchases here.) Today we went to a LIVE volcano! Unfortunately it was really cloudy and we weren't able to see the entire crater, but all in all it is a mile wide. It was HUGE! There was smoke coming out of it which was very cool to see.

Last night, I went with one of the members of my host family to their soccer practice. His mom actually asked his trainer if I could practice with them! We ended up showing up to his practice at the wrong time and missed the whole thing! But I wasn't ready to give up yet :-) I actually stayed and asked a group of old Costa Rican men if I could play with them... and totally did!!! No big deal!! It was so much fun- ages ranged from 25-55... and maybe older. But I definitely will be getting my workouts in, don't worry about that!

One of the most interesting things this trip took place yesterday morning around 4:00 a.m. The Soto-Molina family is very religious – we actually built an altar on Monday to honor Mary for the month of May. Yesterday morning, about 30-40 people from the neighborhood arrived where the women of my family gave out coffee and different breads. I was half asleep, but let's just say there were two megaphones and a lot of singing involved. And then the group marched through the streets singing with the statue of Mary! (I did not partake in this, but it was very cool to see!)

The trip has been amazing so far. The country is beautiful and very tropical – I can't believe I am here! One of my favorite things I have learned so far is the saying "pura vida." When I ask someone how they are and this is the response, it means that life is good, or pure, and relaxing! Everything here is much slower and laid back – and I love it!

Hope all is great – I will send you all another update soon!

Adios,

Kelly

Ps. Oh yeah... almost forgot. I am taking classes too!! For four hours a day!! Hopefully when I get back I will be able to coach bilingual camps. :-) See ya!!

Pps. Another thing- there is a cat that lives in our roof that runs around at night. And our roof is aluminum... so it is really, really scary. If I don't make it back alive, more than likely the cat got me!!