My Coaching Debut

Its official, my high school girls basketball team has a winning record. Out of 5 games, we have won 3 (one in overtime by 1 point)! I absolutely love these girls. It is probably the most culturally diverse team you will ever see. Their countries of origin include Bolivia, USA, Switzerland, Taiwan, Japan, China, and Vietnam but all have grown up or at least lived here several years. They all know English quite well, but for most of them it is their second or third language. Their attitudes towards me and their teammates are 100% positive, and the only learning barrier that we sometimes encounter is when I use a basketball term that they have never heard before, such as 'block out', 'v-cut', 'turnover', or 'take a charge'. I am thankful to get my start as a coach in a country where basketball is NOT the ultimate sport (obviously that would be soccer). Here, we are lucky to have one practice and one scheduled game a week. The picture below is actually during the first game that we won. We set and accomplished some major team goals in that game...

...and thus, the girls held me to my bargain of having an ice cream party as a reward. Because our shindig fell just two days before my birthday, and because they are a thoughtful bunch, they surprised me with my very own birthday cake and signed the back of a Bolivian soccer jersey as a gift. Mike collaborated with them and put up decorations using balloons and toilet paper. That was a great day and birthday to remember!

Pinchy, Stingy Things

We encountered a scorpion a few nights ago while having some friends over for dinner, and learned that standard scorpion-encounter protocol in Bolivia goes as follows:

1. Photograph the intruder.

2. Obtain an instument of distruction, preferably with a long handle. Snuff the punk.

3. Pay respects with a short ceremony, followed promptly by disposal of the corpse.

March Sadness

This is the first time since we've been in bolivia that I've really, truly missed television. The NCAA tournament is taking place, and alas, I am with out a TV set. I find myself wondering why I haven't made more friends here with cable access... who's house can I invite myself to and park on their sofa for 10 hours?

Thus, I am reduced to checking ESPN's website with much frequency, torturing myself with photographs of all the scintillating fantasticalness I'm presently missing. On the bright side, however, I am very amused to find (as per epsn.com's banner ads) that Dick Vitale is now endorsing Hooters (???!!). This I find hilarious.

General Synopsis of Bolivian ER

Yes, my (Aileen's) latest adventure was a trip to the ER at around 3:30 Monday morning. What started out Sunday morning as a typical day of stomach pains and more frequent trips to the bathroom took a turn for the worse the next night as I tried to sleep with a constant cramp and burning in my stomach. I was feeling by this time that it wasn't just a normal pain associated with diarrhea so, as I sat on the bathroom floor, Mike went to a website my mom recently made known to us, healthline.com and started evaluating my symptoms and possible causes for them. The pain would come in waves and centralize right around my belly button. It was when Mike saw these symptoms under the category of appendicitis that we decided to call our mission's field director whose wife happens to be a nurse. They were gracious enough to come right over and after a quick assessment and a prayer for the Lord's protection, we were off to the ER. The doctor and two nurses that were at my side made me feel calm and at home. Bonnie, the field director's wife, followed closely the doctor's examination and we were all relieved when I didn't respond to classic tests to affirm appendicitis. Thus, the next logical answer was a stomach infection caused by a bacteria I probably picked up in something I ate. They administered two drugs into an IV, one was an anti-spasm drug and the other to help the nausea, during which they took blood from the other arm to run through the lab. I was sent home to rest until later that morning when I could pick up the results, which would indeed confirm an infection. Now I am resting, taking the needed antibiotics, and feeling much better. All in all I give a shining A+ to the hospital and staff, but do not intend on giving them another evaluation any time soon.