But for some reason, maybe because I'm calm, kids seem to like me. So do animals. Maybe I appear stable because I don't seem to vacillate between happy, sad, angry, etc. Maybe they dig the even keel thing and feel safe with me. You hear that, ladies? Or maybe they see that I'm actually kind of a pushover, and I'll let them get away with crap without getting upset or punishing them. Who knows?
Whatever the case, kids seem to like me more than I like them. Although some of them can be cool. And maybe if I have some of my own someday I'll warm up to the little buggers a bit more.
That being said, I did enjoy getting to meet the girl I sponsor in the Dominican Republic. She was shy and calm, and probably a little awkward, so I could identify with her. She wasn't annoying. But she was extremely quiet and I wasn't sure what to say to get a timid 8-year-old talking, so she mostly just held my hand as we walked through her village.
A lot of the kids in the Dominican Republic seemed to love holding hands with white folks. We would go to the schools run by the organization I work for, and kids would flock to our van and claim us as we got out. "Este es MI Americano!" (This is MY American!) they would shout, if they were the first to grab one of us. They would push the other kids away.
But Perla, the girl I sponsor, wasn't like that. She was calm, not pushy. Maybe she was too timid or unsure of herself to get into the scrum. Or maybe she's just got a good, even-keel sort of personality. I like people who can be quiet; extroverts talk too much and don't listen enough. But then again, I'm biased. Whatever the case is with Perla, she seems like a sweet girl and I'm glad to help her out.
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| Swarming around the "Americana." |
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| Basquetbol |
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| Perla, just chillin' |
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| Interviewing Cristian, another calm kid. |
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| Whatchoo lookin' at? |
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