| Valencia Cottom |
Hey Roadrunners fans, Valencia Cottom here and I'm going to talk about last weekend's trip to Cozumel, Mexico. We played against two good teams in a tournament called the Cozumel Cup and came back home with a win and a loss.
We left at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning and arrived to the island that same afternoon.
The minute we arrived in Cozumel, we were greeted by the friendly people who took pictures of the team and escorted us to our hotel. Once we got there, we were also greeted by the hotel staff with fruit drinks, conversations and room keys.
After getting settled in our rooms, the team went down to the beach (which was at the hotel) to eat. The food was great! There was salmon, chips with guacamole (mi favorita), desserts and so much more.
After the team ate, we all put on our swim suits and played beach volleyball. We are always competitive when it comes to sports, so we were really into our game. My team lost, but we still had fun. After playing a few games of volleyball, it got dark, so we played in the water a little bit before we went to our rooms for the night.
The next day, JaMorgan (Davis) and I had plans to go snorkeling after team breakfast. Some of our teammates changed their minds, so we decided to go together. We went down to the beach with our suits and snorkeled. We swam and swam until JaMorgan tapped me and pointed to a yellow and black fish. I was so excited because we had been swimming and were looking for awhile. Then, we began to see more and more fish. There were blues and blacks, and more. After all the excitement, I was tired and began to swim back, not realizing how far out we were. I could not believe we had swam out that far, but it was worth the trip.
After snorkeling, JaMorgan and I went kayaking. It was awesome and funny. JaMorgan fell off of her kayak and it took her a while to get back on. She finally managed to get back on, but hurt her foot (that was not the funny part). In the meantime, Coach Blair and Liz went on a little sail boat and we were following them with our kayaks. When they were finished, they sat out in the sun, but JaMorgan and I went swimming and looked for seashells.
The last thing we did before practice was shop downtown. I found a great spot to shop at the hotel, so I bought a real silver bracelet and necklace and a charm bracelet as souvenirs for my friends and family. The silver in Mexico is great quality and most people buy it because it's real and cheaper than in the States.
After that, we ate and headed to practice. The entire team then went to a team banquet downtown, where we had a chance to meet the other teams. There was a Mariachi band and a group of men and women who welcomed us with dances. A little boy and girl came up to our team and spoke Spanish, asking us if they could sing for us. I was the only one who knew Spanish, so I told the team what they wanted and our generous players listened to them sing and gave them tips. After the banquet, some of us went to eat pizza at the hotel and called it a night.
Overall, the weekend was amazing and I have so much appreciation for the opportunity to visit another country. The people were great, which makes it much nicer to be here. On the last day of the trip, all of us went snorkeling and it was a great team activity for all of us.
Now that we're back to San Antonio, I'm ready to get home and celebrate Christmas with my family. After a few days with them, it will be time to get focused again, as we host the New Year's Classic at the Convo. Until then, Happy Holidays and go Runners!