I Love These Kids!

Yesterday (Friday) was a great day - it was soccer, so ‘nuf sed…haha = )  Oh yeah…and when  got home we had lights out (I forgot that the power had gone out during the day at school…but we have a plant, so we still had electricity)…so I was so bummed that I wouldn’t be able to shower because I was SO sweaty and dirty!  But they’ve connected the water pump to the generator…so we had water!  I was SOOOOOOOO happy…I didn’t even care about the rest of the inconveniences of no power.  It’s actually nice, in a way.  Forces you to unplug and slow down.

Today, I woke up early and got some cleaning done, then went for a run.  Melinda and I didn’t finish our projects that we needed to this week…so  I had to go into school today to finish…so it worked out perfectly because I ran to the school, did part of it…ran around that area for awhile…and then went back to the school to finish (that wasn’t art of the plan, but I forgot about one part).  It ended up working out perfectly because while I was there the second time, I saw some little kids shooting on the goal.  I went out there when I was done, and they started coaching me on how to juggle…it was so cute.  Turns out they were playing with a basketball…and still they had incredible control!  I tried, and failed…and tried, and failed…over and over.  But it was nice to have a chance to work on ball skills because when we play soccer I feel like I’m getting worse and worse = /  Anyways…the kids wanted to play a game…but right then the laundry guy came to lay wet laundry on the pitch.  So…we ended up playing football on the basketball court with a basketball…haha (oops…sorry…I go back and forth calling it football and soccer).  It was so cute, too, because we had a bunch of girls playing with us.  They never get to play after school with the boys (which is kinda understandable because they’re not great)…but it’s sad because with no AYSO…that means don’t like get to play at all.  At first some were timid, but by the end they were all playing their hearts out = )  And the boys were being pretty dang patient…I was so proud of them.  I kept trying to cheerlead everyone on, especially when I could sense the boys getting frustrated.  I won’t be able to teach the boys soccer skills - they’re teaching me - but I guess I’ll be able to coach and encourage the girls a bit = )

Running here is such an interesting experience every time!  I thought it was annoying back at home when guys would whistle…but here I’ve had marriage proposals, guys running along with me, a semi holding up a whole line of traffic so that the driver could keep pace with me…it’s crazy!  Depending on my mood, I either laugh it off or get frustrated.  Either way it keeps my runs entertaining…haha - and the day that it was especially pissing me off, it gave me an adrenaline charge so I was able to run faster = )

Tonight I went back to the school again to help chaperone a dance that the boarders were having - it was SO fun!!!!  For the first hour or so, they had individuals go up and dance Azonto (sometimes two or three people went up at a time) and this interesting partner “dance.”  Pretty much a boy and a girl were called up…each one walked across the stage like doing a model or gangster walk…then they walked across together, holding hands or arm-in-arm or something…and that was it - over and over with different pairs.  It was so cute! = )  Then they had a performance of “Lighters” (is that what the Bruno Mars song is called?) - and the boys singing and rapping were SO good!  They also had a boy do like that dancing where it looks like you don’t have bones and where you move in slow motion - he was SO good, too!  The talent in those kids is incredible!  The last part of the “entertainment” portion was musical chairs.  And then everyone gathered on the dance floor and danced for like the last 45 minutes.  They were so cute, dancing with me and teaching me how to Azonto = )  Man…it was so fun to dance, but it was even fun just to watch these amazing little dancers!  I loved it! = )

The end of my night was a little taste of seeing my family for like 5 seconds before my computer froze and I couldn’t get back on Google Hangout = (  But seeing them and hearing their voices for that little bit was SO nice!!!!