Saturday, August 11, 2012
August: Last Month of Work with The Aldea
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
All Play Aldea Football Tournament
Some of the moms scored goals which was so much fun to see and my legs were literally sore for at least 3 days. There was great team work too. The teen boys that usually take over and dominate the game where giving the younger kids a chance to kick the ball and score goals as well. It is so much fun to just let loose and have good times with the Aldea community. I look forward to planning another tournament like this one.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Putting on my Rose-Colored Newcomer Glasses
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Brigada Verde Meeting Take 1...
As I mentioned before, I am passing on projects to my youth group as a way to make the work I have done with the kids sustainable. One of the projects I am working on is forming an EcoClub of interested teenagers. What my hope is that those who have an interest in learning about the environment can learn all there is to know and then pass it on to the younger kids of the Aldea. When those younger kids get older they will also have a base of knowledge and they will be the new participants in the EcoClub and they will teach the younger kids and so on and so forth the cycle of education continues.
a punch getting landed...smh |
Monday, May 28, 2012
In the Final Strech: Thoughts of going home
Monday, May 7, 2012
What´s Really Valuable...
Today I met a little old lady that’s been living in Sua for the past 63 years that I’ve never seen before. I was with a group of kids when we saw her and since she was having trouble walking, we decided to help walk her home. She invited us in and it turns out she owns a huge hotel. I’ve walked passed it many times and would never have imagined a little old lady lives there by herself. She has a ton of rooms with at space for at least 6 people in each. For every room me and the little girls were squealing “This would be perfect for a slumber party!” The lady was saying that she would love that. She kept going on and on how she has EVERYTHING she could ever want, a huge house to live in, a car, potable water, money, but she’s super lonely. She has all that space and no one to fill it. She has things to give and no one to give it to. It just made me think about what people say all the time about materials & money “you can’t take it with you”. That’s usually said when you’re on your deathbed, but even when you’re alive and well, materials and money alone don’t really serve you. It’s the relationships you have with your fellow humans, the love you can build between people and it’s time spent together that really matters. These experiences fill you up and add true Richness to your life. It was great meeting her and I will certainly going to visit to keep her company, if for nothing else to pay her back for reinforcing a lesson, I already knew, but cannot afford to forget.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Impromptu Swim Party
As life happens, you are best served not scheduling your day to a T...or really not at all. Case in point. I was washing some under garments before I jetted off to work. As I´m walking outside to hang my clothes on the line I hear two little voices yelling my name. I turn around to see two sets of eyes looking at me. Oh it´s my host sister and her cousin! They hadn´t been over in over a year I feel. It´s always me who goes to visit them! So I run to open the gate and we are talking about our lives and what´s going on. Life is interesting and full of mystery when you´re 7 & 9, let me tell ya.
It was a SUPER sunny day (and it was only nine in the morning). As the follow me around hanging my clothes up on my line by my pool they couldn´t help but think, it´s sunny, you have a pool we should make something happen. After reading their squinty, sweaty expressions, I did the inevitable... I offered to let them come over "sometime" and swim. Well in Spanish, "sometime" actually means today at around 2:00 (well at least if you´re 7 or 9 and on your summer vacation). I knew I had A TON to do that day, but I thought, cool, I´ll try to leave work early and stop by your house to officially ask permission from their moms to come over. Well as always, the day goes on longer than one expects and I was still occupied later than I thought.
That didn´t even matter they were at my house when I got home ready to go. The only thing we folks were waiting on was for me to get into MY swimsuit! Now, I thought two girls were coming over, well I guess they thought it was a +1 party, because they had brought +1s and their +1s had invited +1s. Well if "the more the merrier" was the theme, I called up my neighbors, loves and friends to come over and we had a straight up Impromptu Swim Party on a random Tuesday afternoon. It was so much fun. I made popcorn, we had soda and the day was a huge unplanned success. Although I was Exhausted at the end of the day, it´s moments like those that I love where it doesn´t take planning or forethought, just being Present, open and willing to have a great time.