Fútbol!!!

Que un día!!! This morning, Rachel and I went to the artists market downtown. We headed back to school and had our usual picnic in the park. My class was canceled today, so Hope, Joey, and I were the only 3 in the park after lunch. There were three boys playing on the court. They kept on accidentally kicking their balls over, and we would throw them back, but eventually they asked us to play with them. Yes, you read it right, I played fútbol (soccer)..... Andres and his brother Kevin, and their friend Pablo (el jefe/the boss) against us three. It was fun to talk to them and try to understand what they were saying to each other. Some how I scored 2 goals :) but totally by luck because I am noooooo good. At one point, we jsut let them score to watch them celebrate. They would put their shirts over their heads, slap their bellies, and yell GGGOOOOAAALLLLLL!! Kevin would act like the announcer too.I am not sure why we were doing this, I think it was some kind of tie breaker, but one person would kick and one person would guard. Joey went to guard but they insisted that I go guard the net. We asked why and they said, Tu eres bien, ella está malo. (Joey) you are good, she is bad. I have come to terms with me skills though.

After futbol, we played basketball, another sport that I have no skill in. The only advantage was that we were taller. We were quite confused with their teams though. Instead of playing 2 teams of three, we had three teams of 2..... very interesting. The guy I was on the team with, Andres, seemed like the sensitive one. He would not get in the game much, and told me that he would be happy with second place. I would look back and he would be in the corner dancing by himself. He was doing disco, the moon walk, and all other kinds of crazy dances. After basketball, they wanted to play kickball. Luckily, Ben and Rachel were leaving school at that time, so they came and joined us. It was so much fun!! Ben and Joey were good with the boys too, and it was fun to watch them interact with them. I could tell that the ticitos really liked them.

I started calling Andres el hombre de paz, the man of peace, because the other two boys were always fighting. HE was my favorite. When I introduced my self to him, and said Kelsey, he said something like Aye Kelsey is so pretty, one of my favorite names. He would hit is chest put out a peace sign and say amor y paz, peace and love. Little hippy. Once the other boys started rough housing, Andre came to draw with chalk. Hope traced him then he traced me. I wrote his little nickname next to his, and he wrote Kelsey La mujer de sonrisas. The lady of smiles. He said I was always smiling. I do not know why, but I had a great time today playing with them. As most of you know, I am not necessarily a kid person, but I think the fact that they spoke Spanish made them cooler to me. Sad to say, but I think it is the truth.

I just made it home and am waiting for dinner. We are going to dance class tonight then out to a salsa club called Castro's. I am excited to go watch everyone dance there!