Today began when I awoke from a nightmare. I had been driving and as I reached to top of a hill a biker came over in my lane and I hit him… he survived, but there were witnesses who were telling the police officer it was my fault. I’m not sure where this dream came from but I can only imagine part of it is from the crazy driving here. Swerving to miss the 3 foot deep pot holes or a stray dog, slamming on the breaks to avoid hitting a bus that cut you off, and getting stuck in the middle of an intersection where the light is out and everyone is trying to go at once and honking are not infrequent occurrences.
This morning I went to the first soccer session with the younger kids. Two more girls showed up this morning and so it was good to meet them. I felt like I finally started to get comfortable playing but it will still take a little time before I become acclimatized and don’t have sweat drenching me within the first few minutes of jogging. Maltez, one of the coaches walked me to the office after practice where Elsa was. I was able to hold a decent conversation with him in Spanish and he practiced a bit of the English he knows. I’m beginning to pick up a little more everyday (I think). Elsa and I read in the office for a while and then upon going downstairs to the medical clinic and discovering the microwave Elsa thought they had didn’t exist, we walked down the street to buy some food. We got a plate with arroz con pollo y una papa rellena (rice with chicken and a stuffed potato) for $1.60. It was tasty but pray I don’t get sick! The risk is a bit higher eating from places like that. After lunch and a short nap we headed back to the soccer field.
As soon as I sat down to put my “tacos” on it started to drizzle. We moved under the shelter and within 2 minutes it was down pouring. We had the devotional and then the younger group went out to play. The older group was given the day off because they have a game tomorrow morning. I was sitting and talking with Maltez and Elsa when one of the girls called me over. She and the three other girls began explaining that they wanted to play and didn’t care if they got soaked. With little to no convincing, we headed down to the field. Some of the guys started to come mess around with us and eventually it turned into a game. Once the other group had finished we took over the full field and had about 30 kids playing one big game. By this point the rain had slowed significantly. The game was full of laughter, the ball frequently stopping dead in the puddles that covered the field or people sliding all over. It was awesome to see the kids bonding. Unfortunately, in the process of scoring a goal I think I may have slightly strained my quad. You can pray that it heals over the weekend before I play again. Quad strains can easily turn into nagging injuries.
Soaked to the bone Elsa and I headed home. Windows down in the pouring rain to keep the windshield from fogging up because of the broken AC. (A little piece of home actually…haha). Keep El Salvador in your prayers the next few days. The government just issued a yellow state of emergency due to a tropical storm headed this way. I'm personally not in any danger but the poor communities are at great risk for getting washed out in heavy rain. That’s all for now! Got to go so Susy can teach me how to make paper boats!
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