Go Tigers!

“I hate the SEC.  Alabama football be damned.  Nick Saban needs to hurry up and retire. Dude’s getting old.”  These were some of the thoughts running through my head as I was watching the final seconds tick off the clock of the national championship game.  But even louder than these thoughts were the feelings of pride that I felt in being a Clemson Alumni.  Usually one to get angry after any Clemson loss, I was surprised to notice that where anger and loathing would have normally been, there was mostly pride and hope (and yes, still some anger).  During the national championship, I feel like the Tigers proved something to the national – they had arrived and were here to stay.  As the third youngest team in the FBS, no one had expected them to make it as far as they did.  Even during the game, everyone expected to see Clemson get trounced by Henry and Alabama’s elite defense, but I really believe that if it wasn’t for three major special teams blunders, Clemson would have won the game.  Get that fixed and Clemson, returning loads of starters and bringing in the seventh best recruiting class in the nation, not only has a chance to be right back in the national championship next year but in years to come as well.

Watching the game with the other team... Miraculously, we didn't kill each other 

When I made it back to the village, I let the kids know that Clemson, just like the San Vicente Volleyball team and, more recently, the Carolina Panthers, had finished second in the nation.  They had become slightly invested, possibly as a result of my constant updates to them as soon as I received my text updates from my dad during every game.  It could also come from the fact that approximately 75% of my t-shirts and even a pair of my shorts refer to Clemson in some way.  The conversations typically went something like this:

“Yeah, bwai, Clemson lost…”

“Huh?! Who beat them?”

“Alabama.”

“Oh, I hate them!”

I taught them well.

In January, school got back up and running.  The first order of business for the teachers was to find the two students and the alternate that would participate in the zone spelling bee.  The kids, remembering the blunder that was cucumber last year, told me that I was not allowed to be the pronouncer, so instead, I got assigned the role of time keeper.  I’m happy to say that one of the two students and the alternate are both student leaders!  It’s always great to see them doing big things!  In fact, the student leaders are currently fundraising like crazy to try and go on a trip up to Cayo.  We’re planning on going to Xunantunich and to visit some of the leaders of the country, but first they need to fundraise about $500 USD.  To do this, the girls have been making and selling bracelets to students, while the boys have been helping to sell popcorn.  They are also interested in starting movie nights at the school on Fridays and potentially even a football marathon.

 

BRO Club is also going well with the Standard IV-VI boys.  There aren’t a huge number of boys that come out (about 5 is normal) but they are dedicated.  They are especially looking forward to going to BRO Camp, a camp where all the BRO clubs from around the country get together for a week and do different activities as well as build friendships with other boys from different backgrounds.  I’ve also begun getting more help from my counterparts in this endeavor.  I’m going to continue to encourage them to come out and help with lessons over the next few months.  Hopefully, that way, once I’m gone, the BRO Club will still be strong. 

Sergio practicing football before BRO Club. One of the kids took the pic, hence the quality

The running club, probably the project I enjoy the most, is still going strong.  The numbers have dwindled some, but I had expected that.  Running isn’t necessarily something that youth naturally enjoy doing.  They’d rather be playing football or slinging birds.  Still, though, there’s a pretty solid group of about 10 boys that come to most of the practices. 

To try and make running more exciting for the boys, I’ve planned a track meet every month until June, when district and nationals will take place.  We had our first meet in January, and it went pretty well until the men’s football team showed up.  Then, all the boys cared about was playing goalitos in a far off corner of the field.  Still, though, the meet was a good starting point and gave me ideas as to which boys will be more distance focused and which boys are sprinters.  The next meet is scheduled for mid-February. 

Workouts are also set to begin this week, so I’m hoping the boys find that more exciting than just running down the road and back.  The only downside to this running club is that sustainability is going to be difficult; however, I’ve begun talking with a teacher who seems interested in joining the club.  This would be a huge step toward a more sustainable running club. 

After each run for the past few weeks, we’ve been doing strides on the field.  Typically, football practice for the men in the village is also beginning around this time.  When the men see me striding with the boys, they decide they want to race me.  They trot over and say, “Let’s go. Make I race you,” and, being pretty competitive, I oblige.  This has happened on a few separate occasions and, though I’m not the fastest person in the world, I do have long legs, something many Q’eqchi people lack.  This has proven to be a major advantage as I’ve managed to win every race, even if it’s after a 6 mile run.

While I was getting back in the routine of going to school, my host nephew was falling out of it.  Manuel is my extremely bright host nephew who is now in high school, but for the first few days of school in January, he wasn’t going.  He told me that he had dropped out.  This, naturally, caused me an overwhelming amount of anxiety.  On the third day of the ordeal, I finally spoke to him.  I didn’t try to hide the fact that I was extremely disappointed.  The kid has loads of potential and I hated to see him waste it.  I told him that he had potential to do big things but that he was wasting his talents.  I also stopped letting him use any of my electronics, telling him that without an education, he wouldn’t be able to afford such devices.  I think this was the kicker.  Next day, he was back at school, and I’m happy to see he hasn’t missed a day since.

Aside from the work at the school, I am still involved in the village.  The latrine project has been going well.  I believe that three or four new toilets have been constructed over the past month.  It’s a slow process, but the number of people with access to a toilet continues to move upward.  Hopefully, by the end of March, the first group of ~30 will be finished constructing their latrines.  More lessons are scheduled for February for the next group of ~30.  My goal is that by the time I leave, everyone not only has access to a latrine, but they know why it’s so important to use one.

Oh, and I adopted a dog. Meet Pishwit!

So, with nothing much else going on in my life, there’s only one thing left to say: Go Tigers!