funny moments this month

Hiking in La Tigra national rainforest: I’m walking on the muddy trail and slip and almost fall, but I catch my balance. “Be careful Tina”, warns Amec, who is walking right behind me. No sooner do I hear the words come out of his mouth than I hear a poof.  He slips in the same muddy spot that I just did, only he managed to fall on his butt, with his guitar his hand.  His timing is impeccable, this is the same guy that upon seeing a stray dog on the path tells us not to worry, he learned from the Dog Whisperer that dogs only bite when they’re scared, and if you show them who’s boss, they’ll stay still and let you pass. As he is saying this, the dog suddenly runs away crying.

Walking from the orphanage to the hospital at night, when there is no electricity in the entire town. There are three girls,  none of us have a flashlight. Carla gets out her umbrella and pulls out the handle and holds it like a riffle. “Now people won’t mess with us because it looks like we have a gun” she says. “I’m just worried about stepping in dog poop," I respond. As we walk through town as quickly as our legs can take us without going into a full on sprint, we hear random voices. By the time we get to the hill leading up to the hospital, which under normal circumstances is dark and scary, the girls are freaked out.  “Ahh,” what was that?”, squeals Carla. “That would be a speed bump,” I say.  “Oh, ok”.  A few minutes later they both jump, and scream. “Girls, chill out. You just stepped on a rock.”  I respond half disgusted and half laughing.  It reminds me of a few months ago when I was walking back to our house on a dark night, by myself, sans flashlight. I saw a dark mysterious figure slowly walking towards me. I clutched my laptop closer to my chest and speed up. Is it a man? A woman? A dog?

Ah man, I don’t want to get bit by a dog, I like dogs. Why didn’t I bring my flashlight tonight? Why am I walking alone?! Stupid! Ok, just be cool, say ‘buenas noches’ or something, I think to myself.  My heart starts to race and just as I’m preparing for the worst and trying to remind myself what I learned in that 2-day self-defense class I took back in high school, the two of us finally meet.  It’s not the boogie man, it’s not a dog, it’s not even human, I have come face to face with…a donkey.  She keeps wandering slowly, going on her jolly way while I laugh to myself and walk the rest of the way home.  

Working at the church’s daily breakfast for school kids. One of the women is telling her sister and I about her recent trip to Ecuador and different words they use. She tells us that the word bolsa, which normally means bag in Spanish, is offensive and vulgar in Ecuador. “What does it mean? ”Alba and I curiously ask. “It’s a masculine anatomical part” she responds respectfully and maturely.   Alba and I think for about 3 seconds and then we burst into laughter as it clicks. Marlin says she made the mistake twice and she was mortified, someone from the church even corrected her. I felt like I was in middle school or high school and was chatting with a friend who always had her mind in the gutter, only this time I’m hanging out with two middle age women, both of them old enough to be my mother and we’re giggling like school girls.   

Here's to more funny moments! 

quote of the day:

"The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter"

-Mark Twain