This past week as been filled with lots and lots of work, filled with conversations with people in the area, filled with craziness at the Greenhouse, and laughter from the kids. I feel like I haven’t had a break at all. Tomorrow is Friday and is my day off. I am SO excited to get to sleep in a little bit more that usual. So today I woke up at 7 and packed for the day and then biked to the office. After lunch I left to bike to the greenhouse. Thursdays are the pool day for these kids and it is their favorite day by far. We have a lunch program everyday for the kids in this complex from 1-1:30 and then after that we walk a mile to get to the pool. Last week the pool wasn’t open when we got there, so they were even more excited / anxious to go there today. I think that you can always tell when kids think you are really cool (or annoying) when they splash you constantly and dunk you under water. At least I hope that is what it is otherwise these kids just really like me getting pummeled with water. I had such a great time with them at the pool. It reminded me so much of the pools that I have worked at in the past, and just made me smile. The kids would explain how great today was by saying it was “hecka cool!” After we walked back I biked home for dinner and then biked to the near by school to watch a couple of friends in their Aztec dance practice. They meet twice a week and have live drums in the school and dance for over two hours. It was such a neat experience most of the dancers had these things that they would tie around their ankles that had little bells attached to them. They also had different little rituals that they did for any dancer that would want to join into the dance and you could only move one direction around the circle. They also all wore red bandanas which is supposed to signify that they are learning, but also “training to be warriors”…which I thought was funny, because I don’t think that I could be a very good warrior. At the end of the practice we all stood in a circle and prayed and I thought that it was really interesting; people gave prayer requests, and prayed for everyone that was there even if it was their first time. No one was overlooked. We went around the who circle and had a chance to say something. If we didn’t want to say anything, we just said “elosea” which I think means he is God. It was great to see a different part of the community and to have a chance to get to know the neighborhood a little bit better. The whole evening was a great cultural experience, and I think that I got better as the night went on. I have some nasty blisters to show for it. Ouch!
Blessings,
Kristen
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