Soccer

Here in Ecuador soccer or I should say futbol is a way of life.  People of all ages and skill levels play soccer everywhere.  I even noticed this fact when I was here in Ecuador in May of last year.  Everywhere you look there is a soccer goal or a soccer field.  Even in the poorest of communities they have found ways to make soccer goals out of sticks or old pipes.  There are soccer goals on the beaches too and they are always being used.  We went to the park by our house again today and everyone had soccer balls and families were playing all over the grassy areas.  There was a constant stream of games being played back to back on the field next to the park with players of all ages and skill levels.  Lucas and Matt played for a long time taking turns being goalie.  I think we may have a goalie in the making!  He loves to dive for the ball and is actually getting pretty good.  He is kicking a lot harder now and he still thoroughly enjoys the game.  As soon as he finished playing soccer with Matt he went over to the fence to watch the game being played.  I had to pry him away from the game when he had to leave for dinner.  Also as soon as we get back to the host family's house, he asks us to put on a soccer game.  He LOVES every minute and seeks out a game or even just replays of goals constantly.  He even picked the restaurant for lunch in the mall today based on if they were playing a game or not.  He cracks me up.  I think Ecuador's love for soccer has gotten into his blood.  Melayna on the other hand, has taken to running.  She loves to run around the track, around the lake, around me or Matt, do races or just run to one place and run back.  She is quite fast too for such a little thing.  Almost the entire time she runs, she giggles.  Her run is like a prance too which makes it even cuter.  When she does join in the soccer playing, she can actually kick quite well and she always yells, "GOAL!" if she kicks it.  It is a joy to watch them play with such enjoyment of their activities.  The thing I take from today is to love what you do and do what you love, and don't give up on anything that makes you happy even if others tell you that you are not good at it.

Lucas took this one

He also took this one

The view from the park is like this on all sides

Me and my girl

Another view from the park

She stopped running just long enough for a photo

A cool waterfall at the park

Soccer with a mountain to look at in the distance

My little soccer fan