My Father

My dad always taught me how to be strong and resist pain. It actually does have some advantages. He is pretty rough with anyone. He knows a lot about chemistry and technology and finances. But he doesn't want to work any other country because he wants to stay with his family. It looks like he doesn't feel anything but I actually, deep inside of him he cares about us, the family. He's always so quiet and calm but not when he comes back from his jobs. He never has time to rest. He stays up all night designing architectures and all those kinds of things. He never gets hugs or kisses because by the time he gets home my mom is already at bed. I think tonight I will make him feel good.

Gear Up

We finally got our gear for football. Everyone has been waiting for this day and me as well. We get to hit people and get hit by other people and suffer. Which if you think about it, it isn't fun but when you do it not to say that its fun. It took the team a while to get all the gear on and discover the secrets of how easy it really is. Well I was lucky that I knew, so I helped other people. I already had my own helmet so I was one of the two people in the whole team with a black helmet which makes me an easy target. I wasn't knocked around as much as I thought It would be but I did knock some heads around. I guess it was really fun.

After Birthday

The day after a birthday doesn't really have a name but that's when I open gifts and receive more gifts and everyone starts saying "oh you're getting old" or "how do you feel know that you're a teenager. Those things really get old and annoying. But obviously no one would tell them that's getting annoying because they would probably take the gift back or wish you a bad birthday. I don't think any one is so smart to do such thing. I got 50 dollars from an aunt and 80 from another uncle. And also some other money. I got into my room and counted my earnings. But well this day should really have a name.

My Birthday

Today was finally my birthday. Everyone greeted me and hugged me even people I didn't know. It was actually kind of funny that I came through the school door and someone came and hugged me and told me happy birthday. Then two other people came and all the people in the table I was at. Then as time passed the word started to spread and soon many people came to me. Then the word progressed through the hallways and classes and soon everyone knew. It spreads like an infection. Many people thought I was 14 but know I am 13. I am still very small. many things happened the day of my birthday. There was the BIG MAMA test everyone is afraid of, the music concert and probably the most tiring day of football practice. After football practice my mom had to go to a meeting in the gym and wait until 7 so the meeting could end. But we went to Pizzaiolo, a restaurant down across the street.

The meeting was finally over and we got on my mothers car. There was a lot of traffic especially around my house. We managed to get through the catastrophe. I got home and took a bath. But when I got out a bunch of cousins and uncles and aunts were at the door step of my house. My mother dragged me to sing happy birthday to me. When everyone was singing I think I fell asleep I'm really not so sure. My cake was a gigantic cheese cake and maybe while I was eating I almost fell asleep as well. It was already 9 and I hadn't even had time to start my homework. But my mom told me that theres some guests. But my mom kind of told them to go away like at 10 because I had to do homework. So I did.

A Rainy Day

After school I went to football practice. It was cloudy and somehow it felt humid like if you were out of a hot tub. But it wasn't hot it was humid. I was really early to the practice, I thought I was late because when I was crossing the street the buses were leaving and I had to wait for all the big and slow buses to pass. And I remember once the coach told me when I was on my way to the practice he told me that if you were in a race a turtle would beat you. But actually everyone else was late. I got their early and the coach told me to bring the big ice-cooler to where we practice. The ice-cooler is really heavy but you know me. But first I had to bring the ice-cooler about 40 yards to a pipe and fill the cooler until its full. Then it gets heavier because first it had ice, now it has water. Then I had to walk with the cooler even farther. Until I finally got to the end and set the cooler down.

I sat down, wiped my face and dranked water. After a little rest everyone came to the practice and the coach told us to do the stretches and all the same boring routine. The clouds were getting darker and it started to rain. Rain fell harder and harder and the lightning started to intensify. We finished are stretches and next we had to bear crawl. In bear crawling you crawl in a series of obstacles with two hands on the ground as well as both legs then crawl like a bear. Most people were going so slow they fell. It was finally my turn and I was going so fast I slipped and hit my eye while eating some mud. Which apperently tastes horrible. I was wearing my school uniform because I forgot to bring other clothes so the school clothes was all muddy ans smelly after practice. Then it started to thunder hard and thats when we ran to the bohio. The coach made us do pushups for 30 minutes without stopping. That was some real big pain. But when the time passed I went to Alejandro and walked to him glad that the practice was over. Well actually I'm not sure it was over because the coach said to go get your bags and come back. I realized that when I was on the car. And I really did smell bad.

Man of the House

Today I was left alone again because my parents went to the beach with my sister and I couldn't play because I had to rest. This time I had a bell, but now one to listen to it. I was the Man of the house. Well the only man in the house. I was incharge of the dogs, feed the dogs, clean up every single kind of dog waste. From little brown balls to large yellow puddles with food on it. That was all my job. And also when it started to rain hard I had to close all the windows and curtains and bring in all the clothes that were getting dried. Once in a while I got bored and I went to Popeyes and bought chicken and soda. Then I went back to the house and my dogs were barking. It was until 5 more hours and my mom came.

Room Service

I had to rest my foot today and I couldn't go anywhere and couldn't do anything involving my legs. First I went to watch TV for a very long time. My room service was ringing a bell. The bell is gold and not so shiny because it is a little rusty. But it still makes a lot of noise. My mom told me that her grandfather had given the bell to her. With the bell, I felt powerful, king-like. I called for ice cream, soda, chips, well its a good opportunity to get fat. And my mom told my sister to also help. My maid was gone to buy some things at the grocery store and that meant my sister had to take care of me and do all the room service. I could take advantage of that. And my mom was going out across the street to the bank. Well I couldn't do anything to my sister and there was no reason to argue with me because she would get in trouble either way. I told my sister to do my homework, just kidding. But I did make her do a lot of stuff. I hope my sister never gets injured, which she probably never will. If she does I'll just have to escape to a friend's house.

The Man

Today I went to Extreme planet to watch the movie called the "Blindside". I guess I really liked it and it was funny and inspirational. I liked the parts of football. It increases my motivation of things I can do, an oppurtunity. Any man, not depending on your past, can do anything. Any man, with hopes of making something happen, will succeed. You will always be important to someone, atleast someone in the world. Man can change. Man can change the world. Man can change the way of living. Man cannot give up the way of the man. And man will never. Despite all the poor or the rich and all the wars and different types of government it all falls into the conclusion. The Man.

The End

I was eating my sandwich at lunch. The sandwich had cheese and ham with butter it didn't taste so good but well, I have to eat. I looked around and some teachers were looking around as if they were expecting something to happen. Then the intercom made a beep and the teachers told everyone to keep quiet. The announcement was that we would have to be dismissed by 1:00 because of the demonstration the SUNTRACS were going to do. Everyone was happy and cheering and stomping like maniacs. Actually kind of funny. I was glad they announced that there was no football practice. We still went to P.E. and it was very exhausting.

In P.E. we played football. I guess today I did a really good job. I felt proud of myself. I remember yesterday that Sean and I went to watch the high school field day but a teacher caught us and told us we have to run 4 laps. Luckily today they didn't remember.

Walking Trouble

After I finished my homework my mom and I went to walk in the Cinta Costera. It was 7:30. I remember when I was on the bus on the way home that I saw about 20 police cars and 100 men stationed around the streets. Others were near construction sites. That's where it usually starts. And they were armed. They were preparing for the SUNTRACS. It is a group of syndicates that are angry of the government because the government raised the taxes for everything so if you want to buy food you can but it will cost you more money. Its just an easy way for the government to make money.

I decided to jog a little bit because my mom was power walking so we split up. I had my cellphone in my pocket. I started to sweat so I sat in a seat and rested. I heard a whistle from a police officer and I think he was chasing someone because there was this bright yellow jacket guy that was moving I guess it was him. I received a phone call from my mom.

"Come back to where we started." said mom strictly. I tried to talk but she hung up. Her voice was deep and she was breathing hard. It must have been from exercise, I thought. I got up with my mom and she told me that a man came up to her and told her to give him the cellphone. My mom said she refused and she started walking a little to the light post and luckily a police officer saw them and started chasing the guy that harassed my mom. Now my mom brings pepper spray. I thought it would be a joke to bring pepper spray but it really works.

Leaving Alejandro

Finally, football practice is over for today, I thought. Brian, Alejandro and I were making car pools because one mom couldn't do everything. So today is my mom's turn. Brian comes with me on the car and and we buy soda at the store. We chill out, drink and eat until my mom told me to hurry up because there is a lot of traffic where we live. We were on our way home and we started to talk about what position would Alejandro be in the big league and what we have for homework and all that stuff.

"Hey w... wait the little league has practice today right? Oh no mom we left Alejandro!" I said. (crossing my fingers hoping she wouldn't get mad.) "Coño carajo JUAN DIEGO JIMENEZ!!! How could you forget." Screamed Melissa. We drove back and picked up Alejandro. "JUAN DIEGO, JUAN DIEGO(his voice started to escalate) whats the matter with you"!!!said Alejandro. But then I just hung up on him. We picked him up and he was on a bench with his head on the palms of his hands. He was lucky I started talking about him.

Science Munchee

Monday was the science munchee. No one remembered that it was today. I just ate a bag of goldfish. We were watching a video. The video was about some animals living in the cold mountains and the Himalayas. For example the Pumas. It was really impressive. I started talking to some girls and telling jokes because sometimes its so long it gets boring. Suddenly I felt a weak feeling of my body. I felt I couldn't move my muscles and my hands were shaking struggling to move. My head suddenly rushed downward to my arms, I felt I didn't have the energy to move. I couldn't lift my foot up and it was shaking too. My eyes closed and I just wanted to sleep. But I thought I can't sleep because I have football practice and I will just sleep all day.

I felt a shove on my back and I quickly reacted so I lift my head up. My body was working again. I scratched my head and thought wow that was weird. I cant sleep during school time I thought.

Chef

This week was my family's turn for every family member to eat in my house for 4 weeks. That's how we rotate. We spend some time cleaning the rooms and floors to make everything look neat. My duty was the chef. I made chocolate chip cookies, brownies, organized plates around the tables, and organized the different plated of chips on the table where we chat, and I made lasagna. The people started coming around 8. Theres some people that eat a lot so I made lasagna and went to buy pizza acroos the street. True that I have a lot of restaurants around my house, walking distance but you can always make food.

The Movies

Paulo called me to go to the movies with him and Alejandro. So I said yes. I went to Paulo's house until it is the right time for us to go. But when we got their it was full. Paulo's mom left us at one of the entrance's of Multi plaza. We quickly worked our way up the first flight of stairs. But then the second one there was big group of Americans (who were probably lost) that just started talking and chatting and others on a cell phone. Big mess. Paulo just stood their as if we had to wait for them to move. But then I kept on walking and he just followed me and I pushed through the crowd. It was funny, everyone was saying "hey" and looking back at Paulo as if he was the one pushing, but it was me moving forward so much they didn't have time to look back and see the real suspect. After that they just walked and chatted farther away. As we got up the stairs I saw the place was full. Then someone shoved me on the back. It was Dyvon. I knew Paulo wanted to get him back after the fight so I started looking at their eyes and examined them. Paulo was acting nice just because it was the football season. Dyvon was full of confidence. He was standing close to Paulo as if he knew Paulo was helpless against Dyvon. I pushed Dyvon aside and asked him what movie are you going to watch. I can't remember what he said. But I was keeping an eye on him.

We wanted to watch blindside. But when we got to the ticket center there were no more tickets for blindside, not for VIP not for normal. So we watched "La Isla Siniestra".

It was a long movie. Especially when Paulo and Alejandro spill their popcorn all over the floor. Luckily no one came in and said pick it up. It's a mystery movie so it's hard to explain.

Doctor

I was sitting on a chair with my mom waiting to be called because I had a doctor's appointment. I hate that aroma of the "doctor smell". The plastic strong-smelling gloves. You could smell it all over the building. And everything white... It's always the same thing. It never changes. Also the plants kind of added something else of a smell. I have a really good sense of smelling due to my lack of eye vision.

I sat on that chair and waited an hour because there was this kid who didn't want to do something. The doctor called and said it was finally my turn. But then the kid was given a lollipop and he just looked at it and started crying. Later he threw it to the ground and stepped on it. I think he did understand what he was doing, he was tall, two inches lower than me. Or he was a gigantic cry baby. Finally it was my turn. The doctor told me to get on the bed and he examined me. The doctor told me I had a series of pulled ham srtings, pulled muscles, and a pinched nerve. No wonder I had so much pain. He said "this isn't so bad ok just take a hot tub and immediatly after you are out put on an icepack." (Basically what Iv'e been doing.) But I wanted to know what was the problem.

Hot Tub

After football practice all my muscles hurt as usual and the leg that I had a big pain on(the left leg)was still hurting. I think that I have been doing so much exercise that I haven't let my leg get a rest. So the coach told me to take a hot tub.

"First put an ice pack and immediately after the ice pack is no longer ice make a hot tub." said the coach. I hadn't really thought of making a hot tub. I started thinking back at the days when I was younger. Everyday making a tub wasting a bunch of water and throwing around the house. Playing with little boats and them throw them to the toilet. Watching the rubber ducky float across the "sea". I asked myself what would I do in a hot tub at this age? Play with a bigger rubber ducky? Obviously not! Well all I did is sleep and didn't even notice what time it was. As I got up it felt like if I had been knocked down. With struggle I stood up and reached for my towel. But their was no towel. Not even a hand towel. And my clothes was stolen by my dog. My sister had 2 tutors and they were talking with my mom at the dining room(Which I could see from my room.) But to get to my room from the bathroom all I had to do is walk right. The door was closed and really it isn't fast to open the door without being seen or heard. My door is directly in front of the hallway which leads to the dining room. I breathed deeply and started to think... I didn't know what to think in this type of situation. Inside I was just laughing. I heard my mother say something smelled like fire. And everyone went to the kitchen and I made a run for it. I quickly skidded to the door and opened it and as I was closing it I swear I saw a tall woman with high heels and a business suite. I inhaled deeply and put my clothes on. As i was putting my shirt on I heard footsteps, which to me it sounded like heels. It got closer and closer. It opened the door and said, "The food is ready."

Pain

It's field day. Everyone has been waiting for this day. A test of speed, intelligence, team spirit and how to peel bananas. Just kidding. I started with the station called capture the flag. You had to get to the other side and grab the flag. But if you cross the middle line and they tag you you're out. So the point is strategies and think tactics. But the other thing is go to the other side whenever you want and get caught which is not smart.

I had a pain under my buttocks and I couldn't run well. I ran with one foot dragging it and the other running normally. I looked weird. And I couldn't run my fastest. But I had to go because the football coach told me to go because it involves running. "I want you to feel the pain, make it hurt, pain is your brother." said the coach. So I did. I was waiting for all the fast people to get out and the person in front of me that was just ridiculously following me to go away but that took a while. I was already sweating and I was searching for open spaces to get the flag. And the worst thing is that my coach was watching me. Until I couldn't wait no more and just ran towards the flag. I was a horse because I was kind of galloping. As I got closer the pain started to increase and I kept on galloping. No one was in front of me and I could get the flag. Until the pain came up to a point like Mount Everest. I stopped and they tagged me. That was my end.

I Don't Understand

Sometimes(maybe always,) my mother explains things to me because I dont agree with it. Sure everyone has their own opinions, yeah express them. I will understand once she explains. But she just goes offboard and starts screaming at me. She doesn't even notice it sometimes. She gets cranky and most of the time she is in a bad mood. But later she screams so much she randomly punishes me. I can't do anything about it; she IS the boss of the house. Like today. My mom had to pick me up today from football practice at 3:30 according to my opinion. She came at 2:30 thinking it would end at 3. So she got mad at me and punished me but she didn't say anything. And again I was doing homework and she asks if I need help, I say yes. We had a big dicussion over a math problem. There is this math problem that she thinks is wrong and she checks in the calculator and its right. She just said "You know what I'm tired of you I'm going to take a bath and rest!"

I understand its been a long day. I understand she teaches all sorts of little kids. I understand she has to check tests and homework. But I just don't understand why she is so cranky.

A Hot Day

Today in football practice Their were almost no people at all. There was 17 out of 40. 4 people were injured but still playing. I was one of them. I told the coach that I can play but I can't run the hardest. He accepted it and besides everyone was tired and beat up. I forced myself and well the more I stretched the better it got. The sun was burning us and we ran out of water instantly. Everyone was complaining that they didn't eat, drink water or stretch well. I just stood silent even when everything hurt. Just didn't feel like talking. And imagine with gear on,(which they give us gear in 2 weeks) that would be terrible. You never know what can wait.

Robbery

On Sundays I go to uncle's houses and we take turns every 4 weeks we change house. My turn was like in 2 months. My dad made a turn and parked the car to go in the house. Just when I got off the car a man with a black mask came running down the street and in front of him were 2 cop cars with the red and blue flashing lights. He turned around and ran as fast as he could towards a fence and just jumped it as if he had done it before. "I wish I could do that". I said. The fence was about the size of my mom(4.9ft.). One cop car went around and the other one got out and it took like literally a minute for him to get up the fence he was small and fat. And obviously his partner was a skinny one. The skinny one just kept looking at him like"should I help or should I let him burn some calories.?" Then my mother shoved me and made get in the house just in case.

Couch Potato

Today is just one of those days that you sit on the couch, put on the TV and eat some ice cream. Well it's called laziness. These are the days that I can take advantage of eating a lot and gain some weight and be couch potato. I really did have a good rest. But still my muscles kind of hurt. Then my parents punished me just because I ate a pretzel which was supposed to be my sister's. I mean I wake up like at 12:00 in the afternoon and just grab a snack, so I decide to get a big pretzel. And how am I supposed to know it's my sister's. I mean we share the food in the house the no my mom just has to punish me just for this. Now I can't watch TV or do anything. It's actually kind of funny. You wait all week long to rest, enjoy your free time and I blow it just by one little mistake. It's incredible how things happen so fast.

Lights Out

I was working on my math work in class until suddenly the light came back on but then zapped right back out then came back on. It made really dizzy because I was looking at a fly that was flying around me. The whole day I felt really tired and weak. I remember my mom told me I had to get some rest or else you won't be able to play football. Also said that if you feel weak you are sick and well today I just couldn't move. All my muscles hurt and I was in football practice the whole week. I also stay up really late on homework and chat with other people. My friends and I are trying to convince the coach to not put practice on Wednesdays because that's one of the days where we have a lot of homework and a lot of time to do it.

Today I was so tired and weak I didn't even feel like laughing. It felt kind of weird actually. I just thunk I need a big big rest from the whole week.

The Boom Box Machine

We were in math and we had to to some work. We quickly finished because well I had a calculator. It was changing decimals to fractions and stuff like that. I had a really bad pain in the neck and I was thinking how it was going to be in football practice. Mr.Lloyd promised us if we finished are work fast we could play a game called seven. In seven you tap your hand on your shoulder on any side indicating to which side you want the other person to count, so you have to go like 1 you tap a shoulder on any side and then the other person ahas to say 2 and so on until the person says 7 they deserve a punishment. I am really good at that, I never got confused because I was always concentrated. Class was almost over and we stated singing random things like if we were a DJ and making jokes. Until Mr.Lloyd told us he can do that. And surprisingly he started making sound effect noises and boom box things and singing too. It's really impressive we all clapped and cheered for him. "Do some more"I shouted. He explained to us he made competitions and he had his own studio and contracted people to work for him. He's from Panama. You never know what can come out of a person's mouth.

Dentist

Finally, schools over I thought. I have a lot of homework but at least I don't have football practice. imagine what it would be if I did. Well my mom would hurry me up and tell me to go like a bullet but I'm tired. I'd have so much homework and probably stay up really late. And I wouldn't finish all the work but you know. When I think of doing homework I think of it as progression. If you finish one then just have to keep on going and advance don't stop. Well that's as far as i know. I just remembered that I was supposed to go to the dentist to get two teeth pulled out. And really I just wanted to sleep. I was really tired. I got off the bus and my mom was already waiting for me so I got on and rode on to the dentist. We got there and the place was full so my mom looked for a parking place and I got out of the car and walked up to the dentist. My mom got mad at me because she thought we got late to the appointment but by the time she walked up the stairs to get to the dentist they already put Anesthesia on me. And the taste was horrible, it stings a little, tastes bad and my lips felt like a balloon with a tongue on it. The dentist grabbed this tool that looked like a screwdriver and just sticked in my mouth, twisted my loose teeth and it just popped out. It was no pain at all, really.

Slice of life #1

When I woke up today I felt sore and pain in my muscles. I didn't want to wake up, well like every other day of my life. Sean's birthday party was yesterday. It was awesome, we had a lot of fun. It was just boys party. We played tackle football, soccer, the pool, and hide and seek around the whole neighborhood. We didn't sleep at all, we just played and played and played some more. Until we decided to sleep but it was 6:00 in the morning and I was in the bathroom with a bad stomachache when my cell phone's alarm blew and they had to wait until I came out of the bathroom to turn the alarm off. Then people were just farting and being nasty, the room smelled great. It felt endless, on my opinion.

I Made it

I can't beleive myself. I made the football team. I didn't think I was going to, but I worked hard and forced myself even when it hurts the most, even when I sweat the most, even if the sun hits me hard on the back and face. I succecced. This is the big league. I am one of the smallest and youngest kids there but will try my best. I didn't think I was going to get in the team because I weigh really low. And now I don't have asthma. It makes a big difference. I'm proud of myself.