Amigos de Jesús: AMIGUITA OF THE WEEK ~ Bianca*

Blanca is an energetic little girl. She has a mind of her own, an independent spirit, and a feistypersonality—with a silly side—that cannot fail to endear her to those who meet her.

Blanca and I ended up on the same soccer team for the Torneo Navideno this past holiday season. However, I could never convince her to actually play a game with us. Towards the beginning of the tournament, we were standing at the door to the comedor looking at the game schedule. “Blanca”, I asked her, “Are you going to play this week?” “No!” she answered. “Why not?” I asked. “We need you!” “You weren’t here last week when we played!” she said accusingly. And she was right. I had been on retreat the weekend before and missed a game. I tried to explain to her that I had been out of town and hadn’t missed the game deliberately, but it was to no avail. Blanca had made up her mind, and that was it. Later I would see her happily running around on the field before the start of a game and call out to her, “Blanca! Are you playing?” “No!!!!” she would answer emphatically. Blanca plays on her terms and on her terms only.

Blanca’s spunkiness is apparent in her interactions with the other children at Amigos. One evening I was eating dinner in Blanca’s hogar. We went outside behind the hogar to wash our plates at the pila. One of the boys from the neighboring dorm, Oscar Omar, had climbed a tree. Once he spotted Blanca, he began calling down to her in a teasing voice, “Blanca Nieve! Donde están los enanos?” which means, “Snow White!” Where are the dwarves?” Blanca promptly and succinctly informed Oscar that she did not appreciate being called Snow White, nor did she know where the dwarves could be located. I think she did manage to forgive Oscar, though—I saw her hugging him good night after prayer circle one evening.

Another of Blanca’s charming qualities is the silly, goofy side to her personality, which often appears in the company of her twin brother, Jose Alexis. On a recent walk to Posas Verdes, the village down the road from Amigos, the twins could be found laughing and giggling at everything. From their sneaky sprint ahead of the adults in the group to the hilarity that ensued after someone knocked over the (luckily closed) bottle of refresco, Blanca and Alexis were thoroughly enjoying being chiflado (wacky) together.

Further evidence that Blanca is truly a livewire exists in the following anecdote. After a rather enthusiastic prayer service, Blanca got so excited during the last song that she stood up on the bench she’d been sitting on and began to dance animatedly to the delight of those sitting near her. Blanca is a bold, bright, young girl who will without a doubt become a vivacious, self-assured young woman.
~ Genevieve Volpe, 2015-16 volunteer