La Playa es Hot

What more can I say? It’s hot. After four years of playing soccer in the grueling Memphis humidity and heat, you would have thought that I would have become almost immune to hot weather. Well, I’m not. I’m going to even go out on a limb and say that I think it was even hotter and more humid in Memphis. Although, it seems two times warmer here due to a couple of things. One, the houses here are made of cement which can give the feeling of being in an oven with windows. Two, the majority of the people have an AC unit in their bedroom and the rest of the house is cooled by the river breeze or strategically placed fans. Third, tin or concrete roofing can heat the house up even more. In conclusion, the United States’s hottest places are made ever so comfortable because people only exist between air-conditioned environments. Even Memphis in August, which peaked the heat index at around 115, was more manageable simply because you only had to suffer the wrath of mother nature while outside and exposed to her warmth. Once inside, whether it be a car, office or residential building, there was plenty of AC, which made living more than possible. However, on the caribbean coast in Barranquilla, Colombia - I find myself sweating while reading a book, shaving, brushing my teeth, eating, typing on the computer, falling asleep and waking up, and any other activity that forces me to expand any kind of energy. Basically, my sweat is sweating.

Aside from the heat, I live in a small neighborhood called “la playa”. I haven’t gotten out to see much of town, but it, like any other barrio in latin america is very lively throughout the day with buses, cars, motorcycles, and people always passing. My host family is made up of a mother, father, and their precious three year old daughter, Haruko. My host mother, Yurkio, is of Japanese roots and had all the say in the naming of her first daughter, Haruko. Haruko is three and a half years old and as cute as a button. Aristides, the father, is a soft spoken man who compliments Yurkio well as she is more outspoken and seems to make the decisions around the house. Yuriko is currently 5 months pregnant, so her and Aristides are talking daily about Japanese baby names, as once again Yuriko will have all the say in her second daughter’s name.  I’ve now been here for about 5 days and feel right at home. Today will be my first official day with FCC and I can’t wait to share my knowledge, passion, and love of the game with the kids. 

FCC’s methodology is impressive to watch. The kids, before the game, give their definitions of the four pillars of FCC which are tolerance, respect, solidarity, and honesty. Then the game is played. During the game there is no referee, so the kids must solve any problems that should arise like a foul, out of bounds discrepancy, or any other infraction that could arise among themselves. It’s this part of the game that will be most impressive to watch. After the game, the kids gather with a mediator or FCC coach and go over the game. Adding onto the score of the game, the kids and the mediator give hearts, or merits, to each team that exemplified the pre-game definitions of tolerance, respect, solidarity, and honesty. It’s at the end of this post-game discussion that you find out which team won based on their accumulation of hearts. In my first day in site, which was  this past Friday the 22nd of June, I sat in on the pre-game meeting, the actual game, and the post-game as an observer and was more than blow away by the whole process. 

I look forward to learning more on the FCC methodology. I can’t help but think that if this program has been so successful here in the caribbean port of Barranquilla, Colombia. Why wouldn’t it work in a place like Guatemala? I hope to find the answer soon and also adapt to the heat. Until then,  la playa es hot!