3/19/09

Cole got a new best friend today....a fuzzy caterpillar that he found in the deadbolt hole of one of our side gates. He named him Stevie. Cole said that he can't put his slippers on because he's afraid Stevie might be in them. If Stevie manages to get into the house and crawl up the stairs, down the hall, and into his room, I will be amazed!!
I got an email from my older sister saying that she's proud of me for immersing myself in the culture. Today I would have made her especially proud. I went to a baby shower for two girls at our church. When I got there, there was nobody that spoke English. I muffled my way through things and met a few new people. I was extremely relieved when Lily came and could help me out! I thought It was pretty funny that they played the same baby shower games here as they do in the states. We played the game where everybody has a clothespin on and if you cross your legs you loose your clothespin. We also did the game where you try to guess how many squares of toilet paper it would take to go around the expectant mothers belly. Once they started opening presents, I started to panic a little. A gift would be raised and the person who brought it would start saying something. I was so worried that they would want me to say something when it was my turn. Everybody seemed to be understanding when I just raised my hand and didn't say anything.
After the shower was done, a group of girls grabbed me by the arm and literally pulled me into another room for an exercise class. Let the fun begin!! Nobody spoke English but it didn't matter at all. I was able to follow along to the most interesting exercise/dance class that I have ever been to!! Let me set the scene....a small church classroom with freshly cleaned tile floors....hispanic music played on a portable CD player.....me wearing the tightest pair of jeans that I own.....and everybody packed in so tight that I can't even lift my arms all the way out to the side without hitting somebody. All during the class I just kept laughing thinking of something else to write about. I sure wish I had taken my notepad to write them all down!! When we first started I thought it was an exercise class but then they started doing some dance moves with hip actions that my body doesn't quite understand how to do! I started to think it might be a salsa class or something. I'm sure everybody was getting a kick out of the tall white girl trying to keep up with them!! At one point we were doing a version of squats. I was cringing as everybody's knees were protruding out over their toes. (One of the many things not to do that was pounded into my brain during college) They went so low that their bums were almost touching the ground. After the class was over my new friend Lily was there to talk to me and to help me communicate with the other women. It was pretty cute when we were walking out and one of the children (the kids came with their mom and played outside) came up to me and asked if I would bring my kids next week. Lily's boys helped translate for me!!
Even though every joint in my body is hurting right now (even my toes from my jumping contest injury with my family back in December!!), it was definitely worth going to get some exercise and to start making bonds with the other women here.