Today begins the start of my last full week here. This week, like all weeks, has gone rather fast. I was at Tesoros all week, except for Thursday afternoon, when we went out to eat for my host sister's birthday. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to get to Volcan Masaya, because I'd like to visit there before I leave. I'm not so sure I'll have many opportunities to visit a volcano again once I'm back.

I'm not sure I've mentioned David (Dah-veed) yet. I might have. But anyways, he's a 15 year old boy with cerebral palsy. He goes to NCA Nejapa every day, and then on tuesday and thursday afternoons he comes to TdD. He's the boy that I play soccer with all the time. And that's kind of the point of this story. The other day, we were playing soccer together. I get a ball out... I usually surprise him with it when he's not looking, just because it's funny. David sits in his chair- it's just a rolling office chair, and I'll stand a ways a way from him and we'll kick the ball back and forth. And the other day it got so intense! It was a workout- basically any kick that I would give him, he would return to me, and he was keeping me on my toes. I would pick the ball up sometimes and toss it at him and he would head back at me. And yeah- it was just kind of cool... I was getting tired, hot and sweaty, and David was still going. Ha, it's kind of hard to tell about, but David was so focused and intense, it was a good competition between us.

I always feel like there are catch phrases in Christianity that we use... abstract phrases that have become cliche without us meaning them to be. And I notice it in conversations with people, classes. I noticed it when I was in orientation for this trip. And the cliche that got brought up so often then was "building relationships". I wish there was a better way of saying that. Not because I think it's bad or wrong or anyways, but because to me it just seems so abstract. What is that really? And what does it look like? So I would become skeptical and brush it off every time I heard that phrase. The books I've read about missions- essentially, you aim to build relationships with people. And don't get me wrong, they're right. It's what your goal is. And thinking back on this trip, I have not built anything tangible. I cannot point at something and say, this is the fruit of me being down here. No building, no food for the hungry, nothing to make someones life easier, that I know of. But what I have done, and I know this to be completely true, is build relationships with people, and now I understand that phrasing. I've built relationships with so many of the kids here, and with their mothers and staff. With David, Melissa, Claudia, Javiera, Nayeli, Lot, Reynaldo, Brayan, Moises, Moises, and Moises... I hope that it has been used as part of something greater.

Derek