As you know my team has fallen in love with the women here
at Teen Challenge. What I haven’t told you is what we’re up to outside the gates.
Our first introduction to the community was through our evening runs. It’s finally “cool enough” (about 95 degrees with almost 100% humidity) to exercise by about 5:00 pm, just before the sun sets. My favorite time of day. We are on the outskirts of town, so we’re jogging along dirt roads and cow trails. Sounds blissful, right? Wrong. There are guard dogs of all shapes and sizes around this joint, and they come out of nowhere, barking ferociously and nipping at your heels. My greatest defense is to look as non-threatening as possible by avoiding eye contact, and bracing for impact. So far nothing has broken the skin :).
The
rest of our time spent out there is playing football with the neighborhood kids. We met them on our first week, when the boys peeked over the wall yelling out in broken English, “Hello! Play football?” Turns out one of the little boys that stays with his mom at TC, Jam, (in the red shorts) is the owner of the football, thus the need for our involvement. We gladly agreed and now have a schedule held up strictly by our new friends. “Five – three – zero?” they ask until it’s finally game time.
These kiddos are N
OT messing around either, and school us daily. Even when we are able to pull a fast one on them, our bubble is quickly popped when we remember what we’re up against: ten year olds. Haha. I’m not sure all their names but I’ve given most of the big players nicknames. My go-to guy is Big Blue (he’s in the striped button-up in the pics. He’s quick on his feet and obviously the leader of the pack.They don’t speak a ton of English, and I certainly don’t speak Khmer, but once again we default to body language to communicate. Strangely enough, it works out.
Then there is Weenie. He is this little three year old boy that loves to go streaking across the field during our games. Sometimes he gets distracted and stops in the middle of the field, grinning from ear to ear. The players give him a little boot in the bum to encourage him to ke
ep moving, which just makes him giggle as he runs off again. Maybe you have to spend ten months the third world to appreciate the humor in this, but we find it hilarious. One day Weenie finally found some trousers, so I got to snag a picture with him. What a doll!
My favorite part it whenever my team scores. The kids go wild as they scream “gooooaaaall!” and give out high-fives chanting, “Olay, olay, olay olay”. (Okay, I usually initiate this but it’s still cool, lol). At the end of the game (clock runs out at 6:00) Big Blue calls for a team huddle, all hands in, and one last cheer. Seriously, how cute are they? Then it’s all over for the night. “Tomorrow? tomorrow?” Is the immediate question as we walk away. You bet buckos!
