You Can't Catch Me

Here are pictures of four of the kids. And I´m not ignoring your comments Jonathan, I just don't have any pictures of myself yet.

Top : Tutui (3) on a swing at the park, wearing a shirt that's both too small and is missing a button (which could very likely be a case of cause and effect).

Middle: Milagros (almost 2) in green and Nicole (1) in red. They don't care much for each other at all, hence the less than cheery faces. They constantly see eachother as competition--whether it be for toys, attention, or being held.

Bottom: Ezequiel (11) (the one I'm somehow going to bring home with me) presenting me with the day's flowers.

I'm enjoying my meals here, however I worry sometimes about my health as the staple food is beef. Beef cooked in the oven, beef on a grill, beef over the stove, breaded and fried beef. I don't think they really discriminate, as long as dinner at one point was a cow. This is all often accompanied by fried eggs and large amounts of salt. Luckily Raquel makes a mean fruit salad, though my immediate love for it probably has something to do with a more or less even fruit-to-sugar ratio.

Seeing a need to take action, today at the park I started a giant game of Tag. I still don´t know what it's called in Spanish. The kids, being used to "dumbing things down" for me, call it "the game where you run and touch people". Seeing an opportunity to teach some English that I knew the kids would enjoy practicing, I taught them to say "YOU CAN´T CATCH ME!". They taught me how to say the same thing in Spanish, and for the rest of the morning we passed the time by running around and taunting each other. I certainly got the exercise I was looking for--I haven´t played the game where you run and touch people for that long since elementary school. Much better than running laps or on a treadmill. They all thought it was hilarious when I got all flushed from the heat and the running around. (Unfortunately the temperature suddenly jumped up about 40 degrees today). None of THEM ever turned bright red, so they didn't see why I should either.

Leaving has gone from hard to almost impossible. When I start to head out they jump all over me and beg me to stay. Apparently they don't have school tomorrow, so I'll probably stay much longer. El Señor asked me what I eat at home and if I'd be willing to cook for them one day. I couldn't say yes fast enough... I'll have to get to the grocery store one of these days. I can't wait.

I went out browsing around the city this evening. I've been wanting to do a little bit of shopping ever since I got here, but I found I no longer had any interest in the pretty shirts and shoes I had seen while window shopping on Saturday. I came home with only a bag full of crayons, paper, balls, and building blocks.

I'm so excited!