GOAL!!!

Alright.. Alright.. Alright.. After 2 months of playing on the community futbol team, I have finally scored my first goal. I have learned a few things over my past couple of months of learning soccer, I can still run fast, I have pretty good instincts, and that I cannot score. This last thing is ofcourse the reason for my excitement, although my first goal didn't quite go exactly as I had imagined. Here's how it happened, there was a loose ball rolling around in my opponent's side of the field, I ran it down just as it got to the goalie who attempted to clear the ball with a sweeping kick, and I leapt in front of the ball just as he kicked it. The ball then proceeded to drill me square in the family jewels and roll slowly into the goal while I rolled around on the ground. It was very painful, but also very worth it.

Ok, so I havn't written in awhile because I have been swamped with projects. My PE classes are in full swing, keeping me occupied 3 days a week, the garden project has hit a few road bumps specifically the ground to way too hard and way too dry. Now we're not talking about your typical american garden in my backyard thing. This is a pretty good sized garden, and we have to "clean and clear out" a lot of brush covered land, and we have to do all of this with pick axes because the ground is like rock. My recycling project is in the planning phase, I have 9 schools involved around and throughout Apastepeque and we are waiting on the NGO to come through for training and the delivery of the recycling receptacles. I am also teaching an English Class two days a week, that is turning out to be fun. I have about 26 students, one of which is the director of the school I work with, he is one of my star pupils. Yesterday, we just had this special lesson on Valentine's Day, and it was a big hit. I was getting a ton of questions about words and phrases, all romantic stuff of course. They all got a kick out of it and so did I. I am also coaching a youth soccer team, we practice twice a week in the morning, they're some good kids. I am also coaching a women's softball team, and we just lost our first game last weekend, 32-22. And yes I typed that right, the score was 32-22 full of big hitting and horrible defense. So back to the practice field we go. I am also in the process of soliciting the American Embassy for lights for our basketball court, originally the mayor had said that he would install them for us, then he conveniently forgot when we called him on it. So in order to write a formal solicitude, complete with work plans and budget, I need to interpret 5 pages worth of work plans from the engineer to give to the embassy. Also might I mention that none of the plans include prices for any of the labor or materials, so I will need to journey around to hardware stores in the area in order to get price estimates on materials and labor, good times. I am also a member of the Projects Committee at the school I am working with and also the Athletics Committee, which are both keeping me busy. In conjunction with a teacher, I am currently planning a soccer tournament at the school as well as a basketball tournament, and we are preparing for selections for the school futbol team to compete in the municipality wide tournament in 4 months or so. So like I said, busy...

Alright now to sum up the rest of the happenings over the past couple of months or so, here is one of my patented "Sum-up lists": Dog hit by car, peace corps soccer team lost, we partied in Santa Ana with the mayor and many beautiful Latinas, still killing scorpions in my house, I NEED YERBA MATE, ignorant roosters, bravo chuchos, hand-made table, trip to La Posa Azul, recieving piropos at my school, and ofcourse the sun sets from my porch are the best in all of El Salvador. PEACE!

Buena Onda...