Day 8- Terca 24/5/11

My goodness, the animals were throwing a party last night and I was not invited. I have never heard so many different animals, but they obviously did not want me to sleep. There are roosters, pigs, dogs, and other animals all making noise at once. Yes, there are random pigs walking the streets here, and they are huge. There is one animal I can’t name the sound, but it sounds like a little girl screaming. Ah.

Wow… I had an AMAZING time playing soccer!! It was dirty, tough, and filled with fun. My first day of work was today and I thought it would be a lot of coaching, but mainly I just play soccer on the beach. I thought I would be doing the teaching, but the roles are reversed because they were teaching me so much. Oh my goodnesssss did I have my work cut out for me or what! The first group was 16 year old boys and we had to run on the beach for a little over five minutes. Then we had to do a bunch of sprints down and then back pedal back. I dare you to back pedal through the sand. Sheesh. I played soccer with the boys with two of the other guy volunteers and I felt like I had never played soccer before because it was hard to adjust to the sand at first. I can’t rely on a quick pivot because the surface is so hard to play on. I started to get use to the surface a little bit and started increasing my play. The next group was the girls ranging in ages, but mostly my age. Right away they welcomed me and we were all laughing and messing around with the soccer ball. I have never in my life felt so welcomed by a team like I did with these girls; they were right away becoming my friend. Some of these girls are really good too! One of the forwards was a quick small girl that definitely gave me a run for my money, ah. These people are living off of very little, but that does not even slightly matter to them. They come to play for the love of the game and surround themselves with a fun environment. I admire everything about them. I surprised myself with how well I adapted to the environment. I made a good play one time, and the people watching were chanting “American” and it was an amazing moment. I can’t even put into words how amazing the first day of work was. The best part about it was proving me worthy enough to play. I could tell that the people running the program doubted me and I think it’s because not many girls volunteer for this. It gave me a push of motivation for sure. By the end of the night, the guy in charge of the soccer club loved me! He asked me to come play with them every single night. I was only supposed to work three out of the five days, but now I get to play soccer everyday! What more can I ask for?! J. I am still waiting to hear about the other soccer club I was going to work at, so I may even be working soccer in the morning somewhere else. I can’t wait to share more stories in the future because I can already tell that I am going to get attached to these people, if I haven’t already.

I would trade my life any day to live here off of nothing with these people, they left an impression on me.