Olimpiadas: Chapter 1

Since I arrived almost two months ago, I had heard talk of Olimpiadas, and that they are THE event of the year. A couple weeks ago, we had a big meeting to announce the theme for the year, and to allow each team to assemble. The night before, I had to look up my name and see what team I was on. I learned that there are typically about 1-2 kids from each hogar on a team, along with a tío, tía, employee, and volunteer, so there is a wide age range on each team. I looked up my name on the massive team roster, and discovered that I was a member of Equipo 2. First is the worst, second is the best, right?

This year, the Olimpiadas theme was insects, so each team picked a specific insect. When I heard this, I started to hope for one of the more likable insects, although frankly, I’m not a fan of any creepy crawly creature. But I figured if I had to be an insect, butterflies or ladybugs would be great, lightening bugs, bees, or even ants. But unfortunately I wasn’t so lucky. When they pulled our bug out of the raffle, I couldn’t hear the name of the bug, but a collective laugh/groan from everyone. It wasn’t until later when I met with my team, that I learned I was a member of Las Termitas: the termites.

There was a lot to do for Olimpiadas. Each team was expected to choreograph and perform a 7 minute dance, create a flag and mural, which had to include a “central theme or main idea,” along with information about termites. We needed to make tshirts to wear for the games and find costumes to wear in the dance. We also had to choose a mascota, who would dress up as a termite and represent the team. I was told the mascot is typically one of the little kids, though my little friend here kept insisting he wasn’t going to do it, until about 5 minutes before performance time when he was wedged into the termite piñata he had to parade around in.

We rehearsed for Olimpiadas 6 hours each week, 3 days for 2 hours for about a month before the actual event. If you went to Augie with me, and had the pleasure (or displeasure to perhaps many of you, sorry about that) of working with me when I co-ran Sing, you understand how I like rehearsals to go. I start on time, I end on time. We work hard, we don’t talk, we are efficient and productive. It’s challenging and tiring, but rewarding because each meeting we move step closer to our goal.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t running these rehearsals. As a volunteer who had never experienced Olimpiadas before, I did not often have success when I made a suggestion or offered to help. I was asked to participate in the dance, but when I came up with choreography ideas, it was clear that my ideas of dance were quite different than what the girls here wanted. When I tried on my skirt for my costume (even girl termites like to be pretty,) I was told that they used the same skirt length for all the girls. As a 5’7” American dancing among Honduran pequeñas ages 12-15, let’s just say if I had to do the classic “fingertip test” to see if my skirt length was long enough to wear to school, I would have failed miserably. I have never been more thankful for my leggings which had made the cut into my 49.8 lb. suitcase.   

I was hesitant to blog about my frustration, because I didn’t intend for this blog to become a place where I talk about the negative aspects of my experience. But in the end, I decided it’s worth posting, because amidst all the hip shaking and arguments over skirt length, I had an important lesson in flexibility and patience. I had to consciously take the time to remind myself that this isn’t about me, or my Type A need to have perfectly synchronized hands and feet in the dance. I was one of many, many people working towards Olimpiadas, and I needed to do my part to help make this year’s event a success for the kids. Despite my frustrations, Olimpiadas was going to happen, so I did my best to make the most of it. I smiled during the dance, I proudly wore my leggings, and let the girls enjoy performing. By the end of the weekend, everyone was exhausted, bruised and sore (you’ll understand why when I talk about the games,) but smiling. It has now been a week and every time I see a fellow Termite they run up to me and talk about last weekend.

My next post will be about game day and how the events turned out. The prizes were actually pretty great (translation: involved food that is not rice and beans,) so everyone was very motivated to do their best. Sorry for the cliffhanger friends, but you’ll just have to wait for one more post to know how things turned out for the Termites. In the meantime, if anyone needs to borrow a skirt and leggings, I’ve got you covered.