I was awoken by Moreno getting ready for work around 6am (normal) but then again by Dulce at 7am who was heading off to Villa. Once she left locking the front door behind her, I settled comfortably in my bed thinking I was alone in a house and could just sleep for a bit longer :) A wonderful idea. Until 7:30 that is, when I was shaken out of my bed by the screams of David in my window and Lili and Alex banging on the front door haha. They were sent to get me for breakfast arriba. But first we had to find leña for the fogón. We went up a hill where a ton of trees were cut down and machete in hand, started chopping. There were three piles so I took one despite Lili calling me crazy. I guess cuz I'm American, I don't know very much and am not strong. So to prove myself worthy of a campo-vida, I picked up a pile and carried it way arriba (including through a little river!). You know how it is ;)
When we made it, my host mom's mom and dad were going on and on about how incredible it was that I could do that. They laughed, fed us breakfast, and then had us go out for another set. This time upon returning, however, they demanded a picture of me holding it all. They took my phone, I reloaded my arms (since I had already threw it all down), and they took a photo. And later, raved to Dulce about it and showed her.
Next impressive Julie move was when we went to go help Dulce with all the things she brought from Villa. We met her by the thruway and she had four huge bags filled with groceries. Following Dabid's lead, I picked one up, threw it up on my shoulder and started walking. Twice Ducle made me lower it so she could take something out to help with the weight but they got a kick out of the fact that I was able to carry that too. And I thought I got stares from the community before? Hahaha oh no. Now if I'm feeling self-conscious, I'll just carry a big bag on my shoulder through town ;)
Next (yup, there's more!)! After lunch we were hanging out, bored, with no luz. Lili had a big stick and I said jokingly (but hopefully), "Vamos a jugar pelota?" And to my delight, she said yes! But was half joking because she followed up with, "Tú no sabes como jugar pelota." I laughed at her and said, "Let's go, then! I'll show you!" She and I were a team and David, Alex, and another boy about 10 years old (who's name I don't know cuz I haven't seen it written down yet...) were the other. Dulce, her mom, and her dad came outside to watch. We played till 10 home runs and Lili and I won :D I think I had 8 of those points Haha we used a thick stick for a bat and a ball made up of the strands you can pull from a corn sac. The last inning before we won, the boys were bating and I was pitching. They had two outs and the boy was up to bat. I pitched, he swung, he missed. I pitched, he swung, and hit it hard and fast just out of my reach on my left. I threw out my hand not thinking I would make it in time but just as he cracked the ball, it hit my hand. I stood there arm extended for a second, not believing myself that I had just caught it. The boy took one step towards first base and as soon as he realized I caught it, stopped, and his jaw dropped. Hahaha soooo funny. That was the talk of the next twenty minutes. I can't tell you how good it felt to finally be good at something in front of all of them and to actually do something active!
To celebrate we went to a river, swam, wrestled, and ate mango. I was very happy. I may sound like I'm boasting but seriously, I really did nothing spectacular. But it was so funny how I impressed they were. And don't worry, my head shrunk back down later when I went to go visit Linda. She, another woman, and I were chatting on the porch and they noticed the ugly cosas on my feet. They were talking and I thought the lady was asking me about the sugar I put on them. So she asked, "¿Azucar baja or alta?" Not really understanding, I answered, "Crema" because I had put brown sugar on them which is called Azucar Crema. Well. They just about died laughing. In fact, the lady was laughing so hard that she farted. Twice. Hahaha what she was asking was whether I had low blood sugar (baja) or high (alta). Oh man it was the best. But despite them laughing at me so much they were kind about it. Once they settled Linda said, "It's nothing, Julie don't you worry. You've already learned so much so fast. You'll keep learning everyday." :)
And for the rest of the night I just listened, understanding hardly anything (except for the twenty minute speech about how something is coming to the US, the DR, and Puerto Rico (why only those three? I don't know); a huge wave sent by god; and everyone needs to proclaim aloud that Jesus Christ is their Savior in order to be saved from this wave... including me because she doesn't want to get sent to heaven without me because she cares about me so much, and it will save my family too, and... Yea haha), and watched the sky light up pink with lightning and daydreamed back to this morning where I was finally seen as a capable human being who could also play baseball ;) And I was content.
Buenas noches.
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