The best game I have ever played

 On Sunday we hauled our team and members of my community an hour and a half up and through the mountains to arrive at a small town named Candelaria. There we met a fabulous group of young girls who were excited to play. They reminded me of my team when I first arrived in site. They showed up in sandals, no gloves, no ball, no umpire. As I looked at my team, I began to see how far we have come in a year. With the help of a fabulous team in Chico, CA and my sister-in-law we were able to equip my team in El Salvador with uniforms, balls, gloves and bats. They have worked hard, and learned to play as a team. We have 12 members on our team, assuring that we have nine at any given time for a game.

This last game I was so proud of my ladies. They showed me that they learned how to play as a team and not fight amongst themselves, they left with smiles on their faces. Success.

...and we lived up to our name, Las Aves Chucas (The Dirty Birds), got dirty. Diving into second base, sliding into home. We have battle wounds to prove it.

Our star pitcher Kenia, serving it up to Carmelina our catcher

Me running after what I'm sure was a fly ball out of the park :)

My old host family and I, Cenia and daughter Kenia

Star Pitcher Kenia, rounding first

Both teams, all smiles. That is women's empowerment

Las Aves Chucas
The Dirty Birda

My homegirl Evelyn on the truck ride home

The rough truck ride home, full of players and fans

Me about to eat it in the bakc of the pick up. Typical

I only have a few of these left, aprovechando cada uno

El Salvador, from the back of a camion, on a beautiful afternoon