Futbol

Living in Honduras, you would think that by now I would have been playing futbol (soccer) all the time.  But today after school was the first time that I have actually played since I've been here.  I went with some of the teachers downtown to a little turf soccer field to play with some of the street kids.  It's a ministry put on by Micah Project, a house and school for boys who can't afford to otherwise get an education or even have a place to live.  There are about 12 boys who live at the Micah House and its really cool to see how they have turned their lives around from living on the streets and sniffing glue, to being able to get an education and experience a relationship with the Lord.  So anyways, Micah Project also does Friday afternoon soccer with some of the street kids (who don't live at the Micah House).  We get to just go and love on the boys and play with them for a while.  Then they present the Gospel and we feed all of the guys.  Usually I think they wash each boys feet, but we didn't do that today.  It really is a great ministry and it was a good way for me to really see some of what Honduras is really like. Most of the guys that come are high the whole time so the soccer game is a bunch of kicking it as hard as you can and just going from one end of the field to the other.  But while the guys are there, they have to give up their "sniffing glue" in order to play and eat.  Some of the kids were so great.  One little boy, Jorge, was simply adorable.  He looked like he was about 12 or 13 years old.  He was on my team and even though I am not very good at soccer he kept smiling at me and telling me "bien"! 

When you picture where we played soccer, you should really picture a fenced in area that is only a little bigger than a basketball court.  Not a huge soccer field like we are used to playing on at all.  Like I said earlier, these guys are pretty high when they get there and so they are playing full force, and absolutely killing the ball.  Well, while we were playing today I gained quite a bit of respect from all of the street kids because of my "toughness". Here's what happened; I was standing right behind another guy while our goalie had the ball and was about to kick it down the field.  Well, I couldn't see the goalie so as I turn around to face him,  the guy in front of me suddenly ducks and WHAM!  I had about .01 seconds to think to myself, "This is going to hurt!" and before I knew it the ball slammed into my face.  Of course everyone stopped (for about 10 seconds) to make sure I was okay, and when I successfully stood up and said "Muy Bien" the game continued.  Of course, it really did hurt, but it's not like I haven't been hit in the face with a ball a time or two.  Apparently, they all kept talking about it even after the game was over and several of the guys came up to me afterwards with huge grins on their faces and they would just put their hand up and hit their face.  I guess since there isn't usually a ton of girls who play, I proved myself by getting nailed in the face and not crying.  I guess if that's what it takes to "get in" then I'm okay with it.

After soccer, we went to the market downtown by the futbol stadium.  It was pouring the whole time as we walked and Laura B. couldn't have said it any better, "Doesn't get better than this!" Welcome to Honduras! 

So by the time we got to the market we were drenched, but that was okay because apparently the baleadas (which I had never had) were definitely worth it.  Basically it was a tortilla (which really was delicious) and you could put beans, eggs, cheese, some kind of meat, and avocado in it.  I'm not going to lie,  it wasn't my favorite food.  I'll keep searching until I find something I really love.  But after we ate we walked around the market a little bit and I bought a fresh pineapple (which made me think of you Jeremy)! 

Overall, it was a wonderful, soggy, tiring and beautiful Friday afternoon!

Oh wait I forgot to tell you about the pigs.  You know how you always hear about pigs living in the mud and eating the garbage, but you never actually see it.  Well today, after we played soccer, I looked behind the field where we played and sure enough there was a dump.  There must have been 12-15 pigs just walking around and eating the garbage.  It really did open my eyes to how different things are here.