A Weekend to Remember

Okay, so its been a while since Ive been on this thing. I hope no one is taking this personally, although holding me accountable is completely acceptable. I might be the worst blogger of all time.

After more than 3 months (I can barely believe its been that long!) my life is starting to settle. I am definitely not in the honeymoon phase anymore - the kids are used to me, Im nothing new, so now we are trying to learn each other better. In both of my jobs I feel like Ive moved out of survival mode and into a more confident and critical space concerning the places where I work, the jobs Im supposed to be doing, and how I can be better for my kids and coworkers. That means that weve started to change some things. Ive changed my methods personally . . . just the way I approach all of these boys is constantly changing, and especially at Semillas we are trying to find our own ways, trying to help the program grow outside of what was left to us. I hope that came out right --- we were left a great program and some awesome kids, but its time now for us to do a little tweeking.

Enough of that. Lets talk about my last weekend and how it was the best weekend Ive had here, and it is fair also to say it was the best Ive had in a long time. Lets start with Friday. Every Friday instead of going to our morning jobs, all of the volunteers who run afterschool programs meet . . . for between 3 and 4 hours. Right, it sounds intense, and it is, but it is so important for us to sit and talk about our programs so we can plan better and be better for our kids. This specific meeting surrounded for the most part planning for the first program-wide soccer tournament of our year. It was hosted at Semillas de Mostaza and around 20 kids from our other two programs (Valdivia and Manos Abiertas) came for the event. As volunteers we planned a ton --- we were ready for anything. The Semillas kids were pumped all week and the day finally came. Now, the kids from the other two programs were not as excited about a day of soccer. Apparently in the past Semillas has had some pretty hard hitters and so there was a lot of crushed spirits coming in. But you never would have been able to tell. All of the kids were so well behaved, were cheering each other on during the games, and were truly having fun. Manos Abiertas ended up taking 1st place . . . and well just say that they came in the underdogs, so the justice there is pretty cool. Valdivia took 2nd place - which was mighty impressive considering they are not, as a group, particularly fond of soccer. And then there was Semillas. Semillas didnt win a single game (out of 6) . . . but I could not have been any prouder of our kids. They lost with dignity. They were disappointed, of course, but they still cheered, they didnt make a big deal about third place, and they didnt let it ruin their day. They were so kind and sportsmanlike . . . like I said, I was glowing with pride.

That night, all of us along with the Ecuadorian volunteers who work with the programs had a huge dinner to celebrate the event, our 3 months here, and each other. The food was great, company even better. It felt like home sitting around a table, laughing, talking, joking in Spanish. The night ended with a sing-a-long --- guitar included . . . and I felt complete. I had missed that kind of thing in my life - that was to relax and enjoy time with friends. For all of my Casamates - we sang La Bamba and Twist and Shout --- you were all in my heart and I missed you a lot in those moments. All in all a perfect Friday.

Saturday was a whirlwind. I spent the whole morning and most of the afternoon at Jenny´s house - one of our neighbors. I helped her boys with homework, played, ate lunch, and talked with the whole family. One of my favorite parts about this neighborhood and my place in it is our ability to walk into someones home and feel truly welcomed. After my morning with Jenny I headed out again with the other ladies in the house to a party for a First Communion. It was held at Kíka´s house --- one of our more outgoing and hilarious neighbors. The party was a lot of dancing, lots of yelling and teasing the gringas, and so much laughter. That night, we also went to see James Bond in the theaters --- first night out of the house in a long time. If you are thinking of seeing it, I would encourage you to wait until the DVD, which magically I can actually buy right now in Ecuador. Oh, how I love pirated DVDs.

But my weekend doesnt end there. Sunday was also a huge day. So the older boys at my morning work site at Chicos de la Calle have a soccer team. The boys are technically in high school and are high school aged and like every boy in Ecuador are obsessed with soccer. And actually, they are really good. This weekend, they played in the city wide finals. I was there to watch them win the title. Remember that pride I talked about? Well, there it was again. We had quite a cheering section for them --- some of the other volunteers at the shelter were there along with a bunch of the boys. The team has a few rehearsed cheers that we all were screaming at the top of our lungs. For a while we were quiet, the first goal wasnt scored until the second half . . . by the other team. Oh, my heart was breaking thinking that they might not pull out the win. Well, they werent having any of that, and within five minutes Chicos scored a goal. To say that we got loud would be an understatement. We exploded. The kids on the field were so excited, trying to get us to be louder. Another two minutes later they scored their second goal. And we did not stop yelling. When the ref finally blew the whistle the kids went crazy. It brought me back to high school . . . which feels sometimes like a long time ago. But I just got to thinking that these are their glory days. When they are old and have their own kids, they are going to tell them all about the time they won the Guayaquil City Championship with their friends. Oh man, I was so excited for them and so glad that I could be there.

Gosh, I wish I had more profound things to say here. I dont have many insights or any wisdom to close this out. I have no comments about social structures, or personal struggles to share now. I could try to come up with something, but I think I just want to leave this with a statement. Its simple, not anything really outstanding to read. But here it is. Honesty for the world to read. I am happy. Yes, its true. I am happy. This weekend helped to me see what is right in front of me every day of my life in Ecuador. Its easy to see other things too - to see the hard stuff, to see the stuff that is missing, but this weekend I got to see everything that is good about where I am and what Im trying to do. I saw kids having good fun; I spent time talking, eating, singing, dancing with my neighbors; I saw kids that I love win the biggest soccer game of their lives. What blessings I have. How lucky I am to be here. The trick is looking for all of this and remembering it when the days are rougher - when my kids dont listen, when they fail my class, when I feel far away from home, when I let myself believe that I am not doing a good job. So that is the challenge in the year - to find the things that make me smile - to see the beauty that is right there in front of me and to choose to let that fill me. And oh, how it does fill me.

As always, thank you for the letters and emails. Ive received so much encouragement lately from all over . . . especially from people who I havent heard from in a long time. Know that your thoughts and prayers are more than appreciated. I hope that you are well and you are in my prayers as well. All my love.