Moms are really important here (and everywhere else!!)

                 On Friday morning we had chemistry class in the kitchen; all the tables were taken out of our classroom for the big Mother's Day event happening that day. The whole class was about decomposition and fermentation of foods and probably bored the people who were not there for the class (Miguel and Jonathan (Maya and Tilo's cousin)). After that, Maya, Tilo, Miguel, Lorena, Mafer, Paola, Jonathan and I went upstairs, hooked up the guitar and bass and we started singing the song that we had been rehearsing for over a week: Hey Jude. We sounded pretty good all singing together; the biggest part that gave us trouble was remembering all the lyrics. Remembering if it was "under your skin" or "into your heart" was confusing. We practiced a few times and then we took a break and laid or sat on the floor as the sun came through the windows while Miguel and Tilo played songs together.
              After our break, we went downstairs to toss a frisbee around. Lore tossed it onto the roof of the swimming pool and Miguel climbed up onto a blue thing that goes around the "cancha" and with the help of a broom got it off. We tossed it around some more before Lore and I were recruited to help in the kitchen. We made orange juice (fresh-squeezed, mind you) and separated forks, knives and spoons. We helped out some more and went back upstairs to goof around on the guitar. When my mom came, I went downstairs to eat with her. We ate some heavenly watermelon with honey on it (which is a lot more delicious than it sounds and some orange juice to start out. After I tried a bite of the tamales from Honduras, I went inside to get two more, one for me and one for my mom. I ate every single crumb and then went back for more watermelon with honey. After that very enjoyable breakfast, I went and practiced some more but this time with just Lore, Miguel and Tilo (we couldn't get the rest of the people to practice again).
              We watched the younger kids do their show for Mother's Day. Primary's was a song where the only people who really sang were some girls with fake glasses decorated in rhinestones from third and fourth grade. It was sort of over-the-top but cute and we all cracked up when Ulrich (one of the kids from Canada) break danced at different parts in the song. Then it was time for the boys from secundary to sing their song about moms. It was super cheesy and the girls just stood there for moral support (we weren't supposed to sing anyway though some felt bad for them and sang a bit). Then it was our turn. I think the song turned out really well with no major slip ups.

              After a raffle for the mothers, we started throwing the frisbee again. One time when Miguel threw it way too hard it went really long and was going for the moms. My mom was standing up and it went directly to her, she caught it and it was awesome because I had just been explaining to him why she didn't play anymore. We then divided up the people who were throwing it and we had a little game. It was really fun, even if my face turned beet red!

             As we left, Karla told me the importance of wearing sunscreen when going to the "Canyon del Sumidero" which is where we went after. We went down to Chiapa de Corzo to get a boat. It was so stickily hot and humid, I think I would have melted had we not been going on a boat. While we were waiting, we watched some cheesy Mexican talk show called Laura where it is pretty much a show where she invites some person on the show who is really sad and then she has the person (or people) who made them upset come on and then she "mediates" a discussion between the two sides but they always end up yelling at each other. It is a sad excuse of a television show.
            All sunscreened up and with our hats, we got on the boat. It had no shade so we were grateful for out hats. We pulled out of the crowd of boats and started going sort of slow. I was already sort of disapointed, not knowing that we were going to go a lot faster than that. We then took off and the wind felt wonderful. Occasionally the guide would stop and shortly explain something interesting about a part in the canyon and then we would move on. My favorite part for sure was just going and going super fast, it was sort of lulling almost, and I almost fell asleep on the ride back. I just sat and daydreamed about stuff pretty much the whole time. Once it was over, I was glad I went.

            In my last few soccer games, I have been trying to work on not being scared of the ball. It is hard for me because these guys kick hard and it is hard for me to throw my body into the line of the ball. The second to last game I played, Profe told me I needed to work on it, so, the last game I had (on Friday at 5:00) when I went in on the second half I tried to focus on that. I think it really made a difference. I stole the ball from some people (which is always a morale booster) and got in the ball's way. A kid from the other team was being followed by a kid from my team and the guy from the other team was winding up. As much as I didn't want to, I ran forward and got the ball in my stomach. It was uncomfortable but I am really glad I did it so I can get used to it. People said good job when I did it and when I did other things during the game, so I think they noticed that I had been playing differently. We ended up winning 3-0 so it was a nice victory!!