Today was extra fun. I was thinking about why it was such a great day and I can't put my finger on it, but that doesn't matter.
Today was Belinda's day at the Breakfast Program. Things run smoothly with her there and it is calm and relaxed.
It was also Walter's birthday. Birthdays here are more casual than in the US. Not so many gifts, but a lot more phone calls and text messages and well wishes. I asked if he had any special plans for his birthday and he said no, but seemed fine with that.
I helped Veronica, one of the moms of the breakfast program, do pages and pages of English homework. I don't know how much she really understood. I tried to teach her but there were so many pages and her daughter was crying. I wouldn't call it a successful learning session. At least homework is complete and correct. I will sit down with her and work on it some more with her. (Changing verbs to past tense and pronunciation.)
The kids were well behaved today. I was in charge of shooing them off at the end of the day. It took less effort than usual.
When everything was clean it was time for Belinda to go home. Joss suggested that we all go with Belinda to watch a fútbol game. In Honduras, because the Honduran team is not very good, the people here are fans of either Real Madrid or Barcelona in addition to the Honduran team. Today Barcelona played. We rounded up a group from the church and went to Belinda's house for the game.
Everyone screamed and cheered. I was looking at the advertisements on the walls of the field. They were in Spanish, which is why when I saw "No to racism" I was confused. I was trying to understand what it meant in Spanish, not realizing that it was written in English. After a half hour of pondering the word "to" and trying to figure out what Spanish verb it was, I finally asked Belinda. I said to her in Spanish, "What does (I will write it phonetically) 'No tow..." When it struck me tow was not pronounced tow, it was "TO" in English. I started laughing so hard I couldn't finish what I was asking her. Finally I explained to the whole room that I was laughing so hysterically because I had spent the past half hour trying to decipher a sentence in English! "No to racism". Not so simple when you try to read it in Spanish. Joss and Belinda said, "Oh Mary Lynn" and shook their heads. Joss laughed about it all night. She said she will remember that for the rest of her life.
Belinda and I had a good ladies talk. It was nice. I always enjoy my time with Belinda. She has been without a job for a long time. We are praying that she will get a job she applied for at the private school in Olancho where some of the boys from the Breakfast Program are. It would be so good for her boys to live in Olancho and it is a job she would enjoy. We will miss Belinda if she moves, but it would be best for her family.
We got home kind of late tonight because Jairo is working on the marital conference he is giving Friday. I am so excited to go to the pool Saturday! Normally I would not be as excited because I am not feeling very fit right now, but instead I am exercising and well aware that I will not appear any more fit by Saturday. Oh well.
So, as you can see, there is no real reason that I feel so happy. But it sure feels good! Can't complain when you are full of joy and laughter for no reason. Better to be grateful and enjoy every second of it!
