Swimming

The kids were divided into 3 groups to go on special Christmas outings with groups or churches or something from town, but it only ended up working out for one group of kids to go, so there were still two groups needing their outing.  Today we took one of the remaining groups to a nearby pool, which was actually at the same place they went for camp last week.  Bryson, Ashley, Stephanie, Kelly, Alex, and I took Yuliana, Jennifer, Marita, Oriana, Cristina Grande, Miguel, Junior, Pablo, Jose Luis, Abel, and Paul.  We had a great adult to kid ratio!

The kids really enjoyed themselves and all wound up swimming,  They don't actually know how to properly swim, but this pool has a very large shallow end, so it worked well.  Even little Jose Luis came in after a while.  Alex bought some snacks for the kids.  One of them was ceviche, a fish dish, and Jose Luis asked for rice with his.  Oh, Peruvians!

The kids, or at least the younger ones, dress pretty raggedy around the albergue but are supposed to always dress up a bit to go out.  Today this resulted in Junior (age 11) wearing his church shoes to the pool with no socks.  It was so funny!  I'm laughing just typing this.  The other day I was wearing the jeans with the big rip in the knee from my fall off the bus.  The kids asked me about the rip, and I told them how I got it.  When they questioned me about the bus, I told them it was the bus to my school.  Paul was amazed that I could wear jeans to school.  They have uniforms.  He asked about my T-shirt, but I told him I wear other shirts.  Technically, I wear jeans and T-shirts sometimes on days when I don't have any teaching duties, but I wasn't about to try and explain that.

The water man made a delivery while we were out, and I am grateful.  The gringos are back in business!  Lunch was beef, broccoli, and onions cooked a bit like stir fry over....rice.  Too bad Jose Luis hadn't saved any of his ceviche.  I really, really just wanted to sleep after we got back from the pool.  The sun and water combination always takes it out of me.  After lunch and a shower, though, it was time to go to the little boys' house.  We played Candy Land for a long time and then let the little boys fake play.  I am becoming a big fan of Paul.  It might have something to do with the cool Spanish pronunciation of his name or his chubby cheeks or the fact that, at least around me, he's the best behaved of the boys in the 4-10 age range.

At one point during Candy Land, Jorge (age 6) and Paul (age 7) were both getting very close to the castle.  Then Paul drew a card that sent him way back down the board, and as he moved his piece, Jorge said, "Adios, Paulito." I loved it!  Thinking of that will have the power to make me smile for a long time to come.  Sure enough, Jorge won, but it took him a long time to finally draw the green card he needed.  Nancy, I think Jorge is even cuter than he was last summer.

One of my favorite things I've noticed this trip is when the kids call me "mi tia" instead of  just "tia".  I should explain that tia means aunt in Spanish.  The kids refer to all the adults around the albergue as tio or tia.  Sometimes they refer to other people that way, too, like the counselors at the day camp they attended last week.  I bet those people wondered at first.  Anyhow, today the little boys were in trouble for not listening to me, and Sam asked them, "Who is this?" Juan responded with "Tia Katie," but Paul said, "Mi Tia Katie." I love it!  I'm so glad they seem to remember me from last summer and that coming back is enabling me to really build relationships with them.  I hope we continue to build in July.  Yes, that would be correct, I'm planning to return again in July with the big group from my church.

I've been feeling pretty good about my Spanish, but I think I got put in my place today.  Jhon (age 3) asked me why I talk like a baby.  I'm pretty sure that was a commentary on my vocabulary.  Or lack thereof.

When my time in the Tesoros house was over at 5, I came up and crashed for a nap.  I discovered today that I can handle being dirty, and I can handle being tired, but I can't really handle them together.  I was able to power through the afternoon because I'd grabbed a shower, but I was pretty desperate for that shower.

Dinner was leftovers from lunch with some papas fritas thrown in.  Some of the volunteers are playing cards now.  Thanks to all who have e-mailed and facebooked me while I've been down here.  I love hearing from home.  Or maybe I should say homes since I really mean to refer to people from several different chapters of my life.

I love you, and I think you're pretty.