november 4

So I never thought I’d actually ever be threatened by a kid before, but today changed that. There’s this one boy named Carlos and he’s always had a big attitude problem. He doesn’t listen very often and gets angry when things don’t go his way. I was playing with one of the girls and then I turned around because kids started tugging at me and yelling. That’s when I see Carlos grabbing Isabelle’s son and slugging him as hard as he could over and over again. I immediately got up and started yelling at him to stop. I told him to stand against the wall and I started scolding him in the Spanish that I know. Isabelle came and yelled at him some more (she can be super scary when she yells. She used to be a radio host and so she talks fast and loud). She made him face the wall and then she went into the office. So there I am outside watching all the kids and the boys around him start playing soccer closer and closer to him. Carlos eventually starts kicking the ball and trying to play along with them. That’s when I put on my angry face and tell him to stop. He then proceeds to laugh and does it again and again. I firmly told him to come sit by me and after a few times of telling him to come, he finally came murmuring angry things about me. He kept reaching for the ball if it came our way (it’s a small playing area and so it came our way often). I told him to stop and told him to look at me when I’m talking to him (a line I never thought I’d say… sounds like a mother). I picked up his hat so he would look up at me and then he got up extremely angry and started walking away. I had already taken away his dinner for the day and I was ready to take away the dinner for the next day. I told him that he had to come back. This is when he picked up a rock. It wasn’t a little pebble either. I looked at him and I could tell in his face that he was ready to throw it at me. I freaked out on the inside. I couldn’t believe he was actually threatening to throw a rock at me. I pushed aside my shock and fear and gave him the angriest look I had. I tried to be as threatening as I could saying, “Que?! Que va a hacer?!” (What? What are you going to do?) I quickly went up to him and grabbed his arm… and the nice sized rock of course… and dragged him into the office. Isabelle and Nelson talked to him and asked him what he was going to do with that rock. He said very confidently that he was going to throw the rock at me. Isabelle told him that he had to go home and she wouldn’t let him come the next week. She kept the rock in the office to show to her mother. That was not so fun.

Random note: Today someone asked if I was from Spain. The question surprised me because I’m always expecting them to guess somewhere in Asia. People have guessed my homeland to be China, Japan, Korea, and now Spain. I just want to ask… do I look Korean to you (hint: no I do not)? There obviously haven’t been very many Asians in Honduras in a long time.