Goodbye and Hello
Well the week before last was bitter sweet because the first wave had to come to an end and Brad, Kristina, Kyle and I had to say goodbye to our original crew of Kim, Danielle, and Randy. The month I had with them was soo great and we learned so much from each other and just worked really well as a team. So many incredible memories made and friendships that I hope will last for a long time. The week was pretty normal with them we did our typical projects at Cornerstone and Octavia Waight, volleyball and such. Thursday night was Randy's last night so we went to Fuego, which just barely opened and they give you FREE water! It was amazing! I really missed not getting water at restaurants, we then went to Cayo Twist to get the ice cream everyone craves about. It was indeed everything we hoped for. After that we just went back to the house and chilled and got the house ready for the new wave of girls to arrive friday.Friday morning Brad and I headed out to Belmopan at 7:30am with the St. Andrews Volleyball team and standard 6 class so my girls could compete in the district finals to hopefully make it to nationals! We got there and we had to share the court with the boys. There were two boy matches before a girls match so Brad and I headed to the immigration office to get our passports stamped so we could stay another 30 days legally! Brad then caught a regular bus home while I got a taxi ride back to the tournament. This was the beginning of a very long day! The girls played around noon against St. Margaret and these girls were HUGE! Honestly looked like high schoolers and they were supposedly 5th & 6th graders? It was ridiculous. They were not that good, but my girls got down and had a horrible attitude (surprise) and lost the first game. I gave them a pep talk about not getting down on themselves and picking each other up and the second game they killed them!! Third game we switched back to the side we were on first and it was a tight match and they couldn't get out of their negative mindset to pull out the win. I was upset with them and their attitude so we had another long break and I gave them some space to cool off. Our second match was against a green team and they were AWFUL! All except one player who had a killer serve. She was taller than me and seemed like a legit player, but the only thing she could do was serve. The girls figured it out that if they return the ball right away the other team couldn't get it back and they would score and break the serve. I was proud of them for that. I'm pretty sure we won that one in two games. We had another long break and we had to play St. Margaret again. If we beat them we would play Howard Smith for first. If we lost it was over for good. The pressure was on and I pulled Kellsea (the captain) aside and told her how critical this game was for them and that I really needed her to take the lead and act like a captain, encouraging her teammates and provide upliftment and hope even when they are down and may be losing. I think she liked hearing that I believed in her and took on the responsibility of a captain more seriously. Quick background info, the wind had picked up tremendously by now which to one side was an advantage and the other side nearly impossible to play on. We picked the easier side and killed St. Margaret the first game. The girls were pumped and believed they could beat them again. Second game we had the tough side and I am not exaggerating at all, they would serve the ball or pass it over and it would go over the net and the wind would push it back on our side before it dropped. What can you do with that? It was impossible! We lost that game and the third game we had the advantage side at first but got down a couple points and then when we switched sides half way we had the wind pushing against us and St. Margaret was able to win. The girls did give up on themselves which was sad but it was so frustrating for them because they were serving good and passing good but the wind would literally push the ball back on our side. I mean that happened with every team when they were on that side but it still stinks that it had that much affect on the game :/ So 5:00pm and it was finally over. We received our trophy and headed back on the bus to go home. I was proud of the girls for how far they came and for taking 3rd out of the whole Cayo District :)
Once I got home I had 30 minutes to chill and then the 4 new girl volunteers showed up! They were all so happy and excited to be here! We didn't let them really get settled in and took em out to see the town and get Cayo Twist again!
Saturday we said goodbye to Kim and Danielle! What an awful goodbye that was :( We then headed out to Xunantunich which are mayan ruins about 15 minutes away. Our Taxi driver let the 7 of us squish in his car and then once we got there we asked him if he wanted to do the ruins with us as well! He said sure why not, I have never done these. Taxi driver Orson just tagged along and became our photographer. The ruins were spectacular! The main one was so huge and the top view was breathtaking.
I can't wait to go to Tikal now because that is like 3 times this size. After that we did some shopping and I got a Hammock! It's so beautiful. We then got some lunch groceries and headed to Hammock Bridge where the rope swing is! The new wave of girls loved this and we had a blast jumping off the bridge and such. One incident that I will replay in my mind over and over again is Kyle had the GoPro in his hand to get his view of swinging. When he jumps off, the end of the rope gets caught and the rope obviously doesn't go forward so Kyle fly's forward and I can't even explain what his body did but he looked like a rag doll flying back and forth, and then he unravels out of the mess and I see my GoPro go flying onto the side banks. It was the scariest/funniest thing I have ever seen. Once we saw he was okay we all busted out laughing because we could not believe that just happened. We got it on film from his angle, which is hilarious but I so wish we could of gotten it from our view as well. After that we headed home to get cleaned up and go out for food. Having 1 bathroom for the 9 of us took a long time to get everyone through but 8 o clock came around and we finally were okay to go out. The welcome center was having a concert/fashion show and that place was hoppin! I have never seen so many people out at once. It was way fun soaking up this culture experience and seeing 2 of my volleyball girls dance. It definitely was a fun day and we broke in the new girls real fast and showed them what San Ignacio is all about. Sunday was great and at church Michelle and I got asked to teach the 12 & 13 year olds. We had no preparation and just winged it about the Priesthood and the kids were actually really respectful and participated a lot. For the 3rd hour I just had to go to Mama K's YW lesson again and she taught another amazing lesson. That afternoon consisted of video making and facetiming friends! :) I still can't believe I am here sometimes and just wish my whole family could move here and be with me! I love this slow paced, chill, riding in the back of trucks, everyone knows who you are lifestyle.
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