Quiere Jugar Futbol, Gen?

I enjoy spending time with my Tico brother and sister, Fabian and Jimena. One of my favorite routines in the morning takes place when I’ve just opened my bedroom door and I’m about to start studying. Almost without fail, Jimena promptly sees that the door to my room is open and toddles in. She makes a beeline straight for my bed, where I’m studying on my stomach. Cocking her head, she smiles and exclaims questioningly, “Popó?” She promptly turns around and makes a dash for the doorway. She hides.

Sl-o-o-o-o-o-wly her curls peek out from behind the doorway, until her entire head slips out. My face makes a round “O” in surprise, and she giggles and hides again. We repeat peek-a-boo a few more times before she comes running back to my bedside, her face just a breath away from mine.

“Besito?” I ask her. She puckers up her lips, closes her eyes, and kisses me on the cheek before I scoop her up and take her to the living room.

With mischievous nine-year-old Fabian, I play “soccer” (I say “soccer” in quotes because my less-than-stellar footwork couldn’t in a million years be considered soccer). After setting up the goals, we take the usual routine of picking teams.

“Yo- Costa Rica, y usted- Estados Unidos,” Fabian says assertively. Usually he represents Costa Rica and I, the US. We play pretty fairly, although at times I forget and foul, at which Fabi promptly flashes an imaginary card in my face and yells, “Tarjeta amarilla!” Thanks to Fabi and our daily soccer matches, I have now picked up a fair amount of soccer lingo in Spanish.

Just last week, we played a Copa Oro (Gold Cup, which is currently taking place in the US) match with Fabi’s cousin Francini, fondly nicknamed “Mini”. Because she was a girl, she and I were on the same team, while Fabi roamed the concrete field solo. Mini was amazing; while she was a bit shy to confront her cousin head on, she had no problems making straight shots goal-to-goal. In the end, though, we fell short, as Fabi made the 20th goal to win the match. Afterwards, I comforted Mini by letting her know that she had pies de oro—feet of gold—which I mentioned to sports reporter Fabi in a post-game interview.

With these “breaks” from doing my homework, it always takes me just a little bit longer to finish for the evening.