One of my schools and their team.
Kids being kids. The shootout and one of the most intense goalies I have seen.
These are some of my students who wanted liz to take their photo with them. They wanted me to hug them for the picture and when I declined I was the only one left smiling. Here is the winner of the pageant.
Setting up the pk´s. Me and the men. Liz and the ladies.
Some of the many spectators. Dog in the field...its a typical sight. My other school and their team.
Me and the queen before the game. The constructed catwalk without decorations. Diego and Cruz setting up the field.
Setting up the pk´s. Me and the men. Liz and the ladies.
Some of the many spectators. Dog in the field...its a typical sight. My other school and their team.
Me and the queen before the game. The constructed catwalk without decorations. Diego and Cruz setting up the field.
Its been quite a week here in town and it was the first full week that we have been able to be here. I have been visiting my different schools and trying to get to know all the kids at each school. I feel very lucky to be working in the schools here and everyone from the students to the teachers to the parent groups have been very supportive and welcoming. This past Friday one of my schools was celebrating their anniversary of 5 years and to mark the occasion it’s typical to have a few days of festivities. I was there Thursday and Friday and Thursday we worked on setting up the soccer field that normally has livestock grazing on it during the week. We built goals and then hiked down to the creek to gather white sand to mark the sidelines and goal boxes. It was quite the production. At the same time the field was being put together, the town hall was being prepared for the Anniversary Pageant. They constructed an entire catwalk out of logs and planks in a matter of hours and decorated everything with handmade crafts and pine needles. I only stayed for a few hours and was exhausted, but after I left the students also did a 10K for their torch run in which they ran with a torch all the way to the bigger town of San Francisco el Alto…in the pouring rain.
Friday morning was the big soccer day. Before I left on Thursday one of the teachers asked me if I could be the referee for their game the next day. What I didn’t realize at the time was that the game was not one game, but a tournament consisting of 8 games. For the tournament my school had invited three other surrounding schools, one of which I work in and the other Liz works in. As the festivities began I again got to make a speech and stood in the middle of the field with the pageant winner from the night before. Then the games began. The boys games were very intense with students leaving it all on the field. A few of their games ended in pk’s with my school ending up with the 1st place trophy. Then came the girls games. It was pretty weird to see the girls in sports gear since every other time I had seen them they were in their traditional clothing. It was clear that none of them had ever played in organized sports but they ran as hard as they could and a few of them had legitimate skills. I did see some of the hardest hits during the girls games and all of the girls games ended with pk’s since not one team managed to make a goal during regulation time. We were there from 8-7 and were sunburnt and exhausted. After the games there was a school dance but we just didn’t have the energy to attend. We went home and crashed. The day was a lot of fun but I will seriously consider agreeing to be the referee next time.
Friday morning was the big soccer day. Before I left on Thursday one of the teachers asked me if I could be the referee for their game the next day. What I didn’t realize at the time was that the game was not one game, but a tournament consisting of 8 games. For the tournament my school had invited three other surrounding schools, one of which I work in and the other Liz works in. As the festivities began I again got to make a speech and stood in the middle of the field with the pageant winner from the night before. Then the games began. The boys games were very intense with students leaving it all on the field. A few of their games ended in pk’s with my school ending up with the 1st place trophy. Then came the girls games. It was pretty weird to see the girls in sports gear since every other time I had seen them they were in their traditional clothing. It was clear that none of them had ever played in organized sports but they ran as hard as they could and a few of them had legitimate skills. I did see some of the hardest hits during the girls games and all of the girls games ended with pk’s since not one team managed to make a goal during regulation time. We were there from 8-7 and were sunburnt and exhausted. After the games there was a school dance but we just didn’t have the energy to attend. We went home and crashed. The day was a lot of fun but I will seriously consider agreeing to be the referee next time.
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