In The Swing of Things

Hi everybody,
It's just before lunchtime here on Thursday, and things have picked up pretty nicely. Not much ever happens in the mornings, because it's only the little kids here, of which there are only 3. Today though, the middle kids didn't have school for some reason, so everybody's here except for the the older high school aged kids.

I went to the mall yesterday and bought a small handpump to pump up the basketballs, and they were an instant hit. There wasn't a place to shoot on yesterday, but everybody was dribbling them around and having fun. I also brought out the foam/nerf footballs that I brought, and they had fun with those too.

In part of the grounds, they have an open concrete space with a simple hoop - metal support, plastic base, plastic backboard. So I played around with some of the kids today, all of whom are very anxious to learn between the legs dribbling and trick shots and stuff. It's all very fun.

The meals here are simple, but good. Everything seems to be a variation on a theme - tortillas, rice, and some sort of meat, along with a side of beans, egg or vegetables. The other day we had noodles with chicken, which was a nice change of pace. My only issue here is being the only English speaker that's here full time. The Canadiant student, Fiona, is here and she's nice, but she leaves by 3 or so every afternoon, and the other volunteer, Mia, is technically not a volunteer - her grandparents founded the orphanage, so she just visits for fun, but she has no set schedule. So it gets a little tiresome being the only English speaker here full time, but it's still fun. I've been trying to keep up with American events here through the internet. I was able to watch (albeit through a glitchy connection) the Celtics put a beatdown on the Cavs the other night, and I'll try to watch again tonight. I see that people are still upset over Arizona's immigration law, and that the oil spill in the Gulf is still an issue. I'll try and put up some pictures tomorrow of me helping the kids with work, and playing with them, etc. Until then, adios!