B.E.S.T. Boys Go Global: 2018

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Sleep over at Alex’s house

Once leaving Demetrius’ house we walked back to Alex’s place. Dr Malik’s twins were waiting to escort her the 45 steps it took from the school to her house and I took a few pix of the BEST Boys and their friends.

By then I sent everyone home for dinner and told them to come back at 8. Jordan left us right before volunteering. He and his family were going to a movie and dinner at the mall. He was doing a very good job of communicating with me about his whereabouts and well-being. So thank you Jordan!!!

At 8pm the boys started showing up at AlexMs house with their suitcases. They invited themselves over for a sleepover... poor Rocha family!!!!! Rashad’s entire family walked with him and his host brother "boo-hoo" cried from losing his new Big brother.

Once I got the boys settled in at Alex’s House , Dr Malik walked with me to my house to buy some last minute gifts from my host dad who sells T-shirt’s and the cruise ship docks. 30 minutes into buying her shirts the 5 boys (minus Jordan because he was at the movies) walked in. They wanted to buy shirt with their left over pesos too. My host dad gave them food prices and appreciated the business.

My dad and his new clients

Once they were done shopping, we made a quick snack run and we walked the boys and Dr Malik back home. We will meet at the school at 10 and leave from there to the airport.

Demetrius’ sweet goodbye surprise

On the way back from the volunteer site we passed Demetrius’ house and as we did when we passed earlier going to volunteer we once again popped our heads in and we spoke to his host sister and her friends who were at the table studyjngnand chatting. This time when we popped in they told us they had a surprise. They made a goodbye sign for Demetirus it was so heartfelt and sweet. Demetrius made sure we knew that he wasn’t crying it was just sweaty eyes caused by the Cartagena heat.

His host sister is in the far right in the flower romper

https://youtu.be/hFKLSnZA7w4

Just the sweetest thing ever!!!

Afternoon volunteer assignment

Everyone met up at Alex’s house at about 3. Me and my sister, Zenaida came at around 3:45. While the boys played Dominos in the classroom we sat in the main area with Dr Malik talking.

While there is saw that one of new Colombian friends tagged me in a FB post. A video of me, big baby, and Rashad dancing had started going viral. On the day we visited Rocha while they were doing the stage sound check before a festival we just started dancing and having a good time. The video somehow got to the artist, he posted it and people started liking it and sharing it.

https://youtu.be/oZa5MXyJj4A

A little after 4, we all walked over to the other side of San Francisco to play with the children and pass out snacks.

Neighborhood mural honoring Alex

Once in the neighborhood the boys played soccer with the boys, and the little girls game over to us to ask us 1000 questions the eventually led to a hopscotch game. After about an hour we handed out drinks and crackers to the kids.

Last day love fest

Today was our last full day here. When I arrived Big Baby was washing his clothes. O love how he’s jumped right into a new way of doing many things.

Shortly after spanish class started.

While everyone was in class our friend Joiser escorted me downtown so I could get pictures printed as gifts for our host families and friends

Here are a few pix of our taxi ride back home.

By the time I got back classes were wrapping up and it was lunch time. I sent everyone home at 12:30 or so. I told them to eat take a siesta and come back Alex’s house at 3.

Before I end this post please let me ask for a moment of silence for the delicious lunch I murdered!!!! OMG you have no idea how flavorful it was.

Downtown sunsets

Once we got off the boat we walked to the downtown area inside the city walls. The walls served as protection from attack hundreds of years ago when the city’ only consisted of the cobble stoned colonial district. The walls and forts were built by slaves. Just like our country was built on the torture and forced labor of Blacks, so was the city of Cartagena and many more places around the world.

While there we exchanged money and bought small gifts for our host families. Since the walled city is a main tourist attraction there were plenty of street performs telling the story of the people and the country that so many had come to see.

Video1 to performance: https://youtu.be/OxDNcqj9V4Y

Encore performance: https://youtu.be/uhYl-L9j9po

After walking around for about an hour we walked to a nearby mall and also caught a beautiful sunset. The boys have a better pic that I’ll try to get them to send to me.

After shopping and snacking at the mall we caught taxi home. The boys ate their dinners and met up at Alex’s house afterward to play Dominos with each other and with their buddies. Tomorrow class starts at 9am.

Returning from Rosario Island

Coming back from Rosario Island we had to take a different route due to rough seas.

The new route added 45 minutes to our hour long ride. We cut through a fresh water canal then exited there to the main Cartagena harbor where the main port is.