Day 20

Today I noticed how much my Portuguese has improved since I arrived! I spent most of the morning just in the office at Free Flight working on a book report for one of my courses. It was a little after 11 when I decided to put my brave face on and go say hello to some girls who were playing clapping games nearby. We talked a little bit, said our names, and I asked them if they were going to take any courses at Free Flight (they said no; I think they’re too young), and then we stood in silence for a little while. I said that I was going to go over to the ice cream store (sorveteria) and that they could come if they wanted to, they said yes, so we made our way over to the grassy area near the sorveteria and met up with some other kids who I know and ended up playing some games until lunch time.

The first game was very much like capture the flag, with the safe zone marked off in a circle of flip flops, and the flag being a leafy branch that the kids picked near Free Flight. That was pretty fun, although most games were really short because each side was probably not longer than ten feet, so if someone got a good run then it was over.

The next game was basically Octopus, except that instead of everyone running at once, the kids made teams of two and the person in the middle called them by the name of their team (usually a fierce animal lol, shark was very popular!). Both of these games had been taught to the kids by Canadians who came with former mission teams. Once I understood what was happening, I got to be the lucky It in the middle, and I tagged a few kids before lunch =)

After lunch, I went into the music room with a girl named Michelle – the daughter of Free Flight’s Director, Ivan (whose wife works in the sorveteria and who also has a REALLY cute although also sometimes whiny four year old). Michelle (which sounds like Mishelly) showed me some of what she could play on keyboard, and we both hung out in this unbelievably hot room for probably fifteen or twenty minutes.

(This picture is Michelle and her brother Ian)

In the afternoon, I helped to make ice cream again, had a decent amount of conversation/small talk with Adilho in Portuguese, and then I had my Portuguese lesson and came home. A great day!

(Happy Birthday, Mom!)