Running with the Cows

Junior on Family Day

Today I am having a bit of a dilema about which kiddie I should write about, so I am going to include a short note about two different ones! First we have Junior, the second oldest of the children here at 17 years old so not quite a kiddie. In the past month or so he has become one of my best friends out of the kids, partially just because we chat often and as he is older it is possible to have more real conversations. We have shared a lot of past stories and future hopes for life, as well as constantly joking around. Junior is currently the equivalent of a freshman in high school, and with three more years to go will finish at an age of 21. But he realizes how lucky he is to have the opportunity to stay in NPH with all his needs covered to finish school and wants to do exactly that. He hopes to be an engineer when he grows up, but his real passion and favorite passtime is music. He writes hip hop songs and sings them, and was even going to a studio a little while back to record a few things! But he doesn´t want that to be his career, because he wants to be a responsible father who gives his kids a hug everyday when they come home from school. A really great kid that one.

Antony - Looking rather angelic! (and with a pretty normal look on his face!)

The second is Antony. A boy of 6 years who arrived at the home just before I did with his 3 bothers and sisters. To put it simply, Antony is an animal, in the best possible way. I am always referring to him as a monkey because he can generally be found swinging himself all over my body as if I were a tree. His second animal like talent is the ability to make the strangest and most amazing of faces and noises. I am constantly amazed by him and we are always giggling together. A great example of how I can have good relationships with the younger kids but need some real conversation to balance it out.

Although telling you a bit about my kids is a tradition, the real inspiration for this post was to share a funny story with you. A few days ago I was headed home from hanging out with some kids as they were headed to the chapel to say the rosary when Yan Carlos, one of the older boys, came riding up on one of our many recently repared bikes.

“Who is in charge of the cows?” he asked.

“Well technically I suppose I am” I told him.

“Bueno, four of them are on the baseball field.”

And that is how an evening of chasing cows began. We went to check out the situation: which in all reality was four very content cows eating some tasty plants that don´t grow inside their fence. They had escaped through a small hole in the fence, I honestly would love to have seen them escaping because I can´t imagine them getting through the hole! The decision was made that we needed reinforcement, more people. So I conspicuously removed about half of the oldest boys house from the rosary (for which they were all eternally grateful) and we headed off to herd some cows. This section of the night was rather simple, walking/running behind and to the side of them yelling and they head away from the noises... right into their pasture. What began as me wondering how we were going to herd cows ended rather uneventfully.

Or so I thought. We returned to the chapel for the last 10 minutes or so, and while leaving with a different herd, that of children, there were a few shouts of “las vacas las vacas!!” (the cows the cows!). I turned to see the cows had not been content being returned to their grand pasture and had simply headed out again (as we sillily thought it was about to be dark and we could fix the hole in the morning). But this time they weren´t wandering to the far end of the property... they were headed towards the houses. After a bit of commotion, trying to get the kids to head home, Guzman (a man who helps in the farm by day and works at the door by night) came running rather frantically. I looked over to see the cows jogging along through the entrance to the farm... ready to move on to vegetables! This is where the hilarity of the evening came into play. Whoever happened to be standing nearby, from kids of 10 years to Guzman who is probably close to 60, all went running after the cows. Through the squash plants. Through the orchard. And in winding maddness into the pasture of the sheep! There they stayed for the night, as it was easier than moving them back to their home on the other end of the property, and we were able to rest easy, knowing there were no holes in the fence.