Sports Day and the Beach

Friday was sports day for the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Each group was led by two parents of the kids, and some of the interns and staff acted as parents for ours from the Home. I was a little nervous as I knew that I would be spending 3 hours listening for commands being yelled at me rapidly in Spanish and trying to execute them as quickly and accurately as possible. This did not, however, turn out to be the hard part. Throughout this time, I yelled, clapped, cheered some unknown chant about how proud I was to be an águila (the next day I found out this meant eagle), dug in the dirt, ate dirt (unintentionally), made pyramids, crawled through different types of obstacle courses, slid down poles, climbed rope ladders, chugged water from the same cup as hundreds of people, was blindfolded, threw water balloons, had water balloons thrown at me, threw balls, had balls thrown at me, had balls thrown at me while blind folded, did aerobics, danced, sang words that I had no clue of the meaning, popped balloons, ran, jumped, jumped rope, jumped in a potato sack, cartwheeled, stood on a tiny platform with 15 other people without moving for 5 minutes, answered trivia questions, and swung on swings. Being the ever clumsy person that I am, of course I fell trying to run through the tires (which several older kids who were watching nicely reminded me of throughout the day).

I literally have bruises all over my body, along with scrapes and stiffness, but it was worth it. My team came in second out of ten and, more importantly, I was glad to be able to represent some kids from the Home.

That night at dinner, 16 year- old Esdras sat next to me and spent dinner asking me about my day and telling me about his. He is one of the kids that craves attention, but holds back his emotions and never makes the first move. He and I were starting to get close when I left in December and between what I know of his past and his facial expression when he is spacing off, my heart hurts for him, so I was excited and surprised that he was making an effort. I found out the real reason for this when at the end of the meal he asked me if I was going to help him do the dishes (I guess he heard that I had helped the boys who did them a few nights before). O well, I'll take what I can get. Please pray for him and his three sisters, as they are having an especially hard time this year.

Yesterday, we spent a day at the coast, just us gringos (and Michelle), because one of the interns, who has been here the last 5 months, is leaving next week. We spent the majority of the time in a hotel swimming pool area, which sells day passes. This was because of a dangerous rip tide, but we got to walk on the beach and jump some waves. The sand is black, because it is composed of volcanic ash, which was a little disorienting at first, but incredibly beautiful. Michelle stole the show as usual, splashing around and laughing. It's hard to believe that she is one year-old and still has trouble fitting in pre-me clothes. I think that it was a hard day for some as this was the first time returning to the coast after the tragic death of 17 yr- old Chepe in September.

Words of the Day: bola (bowl- la) and pelota (pay- low- taa) both mean ball. The first is used for things like a bouncy ball or ball of paper. The second is used for a sports ball (like a soccer or football).

Paraguas (par- aww- gu- wahs (soft g)) and sombrilla (sahm- bree- yah) both mean umbrella, however, the first is used if a man is holding it and the second if a women is. This is true even if it's the same exact umbrella.

abeja (aww- bay- haaa)- bee

enjambre (N- hahm- bra)- more than one bee

No clavados (clah- vah- d O s)- no diving