pobre gatito

I woke up a little late today but got to orientation just fine. On the walk over I noticed a lot more earthquake damage. I'll get some pictures tomorrow I forgot to get some on the way back. We got to orientation and heard a few speakers and some really cool violin players. I am really impressed with my university here. Apparently tuition is about $2000 USD a semester here (a little cheaper than SJU) but they still treat their students very well. We had a nice little ceremony and lunch was provided.

Esteban was there with his basketball propeganda trying to get some players for the team. There is a two on two tournament tomorrow at the school. I signed up with a random partner I'm really looking forward to it! I am going to be playing basketball for the university if I make the team. There are four days of tryouts that start on Monday. I'll be sure to keep you posted! After hanging out and eating lunch, the gringos went to Santa Luciana. Santa Luciana is a place for underprivileged children to go after school. Most of these kids do not have parents and live with older brothers/sisters/relatives. We toured Santa Luciana because it is a possible location for weekly service. After my visit I may choose it! It was really nice and the kids were absolutely great.

When we got there some kids immediately ran over to us and offered hugs and kisses right away, they were very friendly (some of the boys were a little TOO generous with the kisses to the girls). A boy ran over to me with a soccer ball and said something very quickly that I couldn't understand. Old people and kids are the hardest to understand for me but hopefully after I spend some time with them I'll get better. I followed him out into their poor excuse of a soccer field (dust with some metal poles), but evidently they don't need the best equipment to be good! The put a whooping on me. Because you barely need any gear to play soccer, it is very popular especially in the poorer sections of town, and these kids got game!

We had a good time playing until the raggedy ball popped after a goal (while I was goalie). We went back into the classroom to introduce ourselves. The kids were really funny with their questions. I asked them who the most famous American was and most answered Michael Jackson. After introducing ourselves, a little girl suggested we play "pobre gatito", which means, poor little kitty.

We sat in a large circle and Diego started as el gatito (little kitty). He crawled around the room on all fours and sat down right in front of me. The object of the game is for the gatito to get the other person to laugh. The gatito sits down and has to meow three times. After each meow, the person they chose has to pat them on the head gently and say "pobre gatito". The gatito has to do their best to do a cute little meow with puppy dog eyes. Diego got me with the third meow and we all started cracking up.

It was my turn so I crawled over to Cynthia, but instead of the cute little kitty approach, I tried the abandoned disabled street cat look. I crawled over to her crosseyed and let out a soft noise of a tortured dying kitty. It didn't take a second meow and she had to take my place!

The game went on for about a half an hour and we were all laughing. After everyone had a turn the tios (all of us) said our goodbyes and headed back into the city. I really liked the location and I'll keep you guys informed of my decision on where to do community service.

I had a nice night hanging out with the family and I'm about to watch a movie (I found a way to download them down here-Boondock Saints tonight) and continue with my second day of orientation tomorrow!

nos vemos