Another church
Becoming a volunteer.
Day 1 = crap. (well for me at least). Actually it was only 90% crap, because the kids I will be tutoring are the cutest ever. Why you might ask? Well let's just say the helper at my school wasn't exactly helpful, and I had to fend for myself for the most part. At least I got to ride the bus there, whereas Matt had to ride a bicycle with only 1 gear (the hardest), no brakes, 30 minutes uphill, both ways, in the mud, and cow and horse shit, almost got hit by a car, and got many stares from the barrio locos... it's a good thing he's tough and stands 2 feet taller than everyone here. I on the other hand, fit right in for once in my life (height wise)!
Day 2 = awesome and a half. Matt got transferred to my school so he could be my bodyguard there and back.... and we both fell in love with the kids, and I think they did with us (They definitely love him, but it might be all the tattoos, but they basically think he's from another planet). I tutored my little 1st graders, Matt met his 2nd graders, and then we both went to a neighborhood home after school to help with some homework.
Our after school adventure consisted of:
Leaving school, Matt with a little boy on each hand, and getting led to see the backyard "pet"monkey. Then we sat at an outdoor table (houses in the neighborhood are very poor and consist of tin roofs and walls, outdoor kitchens and bathrooms, skinny ass, scabby dogs, baby chickens everywhere, etc. oh and the monkey!) with a group of 5 or so kids to help them do some math practice. However, first the moms of the houses brought us bananas, jugo de guayaba, tortillas with cheese, tomato, onion, and chili peppers. Amazing how the humblest of people are so giving. Then the kids made us balloon effigies with our names and faces on them, and made them kiss. One of the little boys, 5 years old, impersonated Michael Jackson for the "thriller" song better than just about most. Oh yes the fancy footwork, hat grab, hip thrust, and crotch grab were all included. And basically overall, they were just hilarious, adorable, and awesome.
We can't wait to go back tomorrow!
Today we did laundry for the first time. We weren't exactly sure if the laundry machine was going to work.... it did. And then I came out of the room and saw 3 men in our house, with the laundry machine on it's side and I was like "oh crap, Matt, there's 3 guys in the house stealing the washing machine and all our clothes!" Haha. They were just fixing it, and they were nice enough to take our clothes out first.
And last but not least, we went to an Irish bar tonight to play "geeks who drink" volunteer version with all the Germans, etc. Among the challenging questions were:
1. What's the closest galaxy to ours?
2. How many points do you have in Rugby if you win a Tri, miss the conversion, and then get a penalty?
3. What was the name of Hans Solo ship in the original Stars War?
4. What country is Damascus in?
Our team got the Rugby one. As Ricky Bobby says, if you're not first, you're last!
Life here doesn't mooooooooove very fast.
Bulls in traffic. I love that photo!
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