Round 2

Round 2
Today was the day we begin our 2nd and final week with the boys. It's just Tim and myself, and with 20+ boys to handle, from ages 6 to 14, we knew there was no way the two of us could handle it on our own. So, calling in the cavalry, the Bouchers and some 5 friends heard the call and came to our rescue!
The days always seem to start off a little rough for me during the mornings. I'm tutoring the grade 4 boys, and though there are only 3 of them, they are quite the handful! All of them are bright, smart boys, but they lose their motivation and I lose their attention quicker than the cats at Dar el Awlad run away from Thad as he chases and roars at them! And considering that it was a Monday, I tried to be a little more lenient with them (even though I'm a pushover to begin with).
After a break, we sang songs and had a Bible lesson. Tim and I are switching off days to give lessons, and though I've preached before, I quickly realized that I could not address the boys like I address rural Central Texan farmers. And boy, were they out of it! I could have put on a clown costume and made balloon animals and I'm sure a good number of them would have paid me no mind! It truly was a Monday.
The afternoon was much better. We played games with them for 3 hours, and by then end of it, they were still running around like they had just started playing. Oh, to have that amount of energy again! Tim and I then ate dinner with the Bouchers, and visited the boys in their units. I'm not sure what Tim did, but I was busy playing Uno and the card game War. I played with Mohammed yesterday, and I might have convinced him that I was once the best player of War in all of America! He was so proud when he beat me, and that was all the guys wanted to play with me. Though it was kind of hard for me to stay focused as Hassan had his hands and chin on my shoulders, unknowingly having control over a significant portion of my body needed to beat Ali and Mohammed at War! 8:30 came around, and that was the signal that it was time to go and let the house-mothers put their boys to bed.
Walking back to my place of rest, I cracked a smile. For me, this smile represented the good times I have had with the boys here, and how I've grown closer to them each day. To me, they aren't just boys. They are friends.
TC