Village soccer.....

Today didn’t start very well, but at least it ended with a humorous event!  I’ll tell you about the funny part of my day and leave the depressing part out….not much sense in telling that in any case, who wants to listen to a depressing tale??

The tall white boy is mine!!

My eldest son wanted to go and play soccer in the upper part of the village, so I went with him to see where, who and so on….I was thinking that they might have a soccer field a little way out of town, but of course I was wrong!

Our village is built along a small road – houses one row deep, literally built on either side of the dirt road.  As we neared the top part of the village, the boys stopped, decided on teams and started playing!  The soccer field was right there.  This with acres and acres of field right around us!!
With the road forming ¼ of the one side, houses kind of at the other side (but still inside the perimeter) and people and babies all over the “field”.  What a weird place!  But this was not all.  Included in the soccer field (not counting the people and babies) were pots and pans, firewood, a tin cup (later quite flat!) bicycles, stones and little ditches for the rainy season where every now and again someone, not surprisingly, would trip over!

The weirdness continued as the young adults also formed a team and started playing – their “field” overlapping the younger boys’ field!!  So every now and again there was a small dust cloud and lots of confusion as the two teams entered the shaded area where the two shapes overlapped!!  Haha!!

The grandstand (as my one son put it) where I was sitting with a bunch of ladies with babies, was also inside the field perimeter, which made it quite dangerous at times!  I was showered with dust, grass and ground as the ball hit the grass roof directly over my head and twice running legs nearly tripped over my long white ones!  I also had quite a following - none of which watched the exciting games but stared shamelessly at me!

Then to top it all, fast driving motorcycles zipped through followed by some pick-up trucks, one taxi and bikes – all going at breakneck speed with their horns and bells peeling loudly!!  I was sitting ready in case someone was hit by one of these field-intruders!  (Always the medic!)

I think that if these players (some quite good) were ever to play on a real soft green and quiet field they will be totally awed and shocked – and might not even play well, but go and lie down on the green grass and take a nap!  I know I would!

So, that was my Friday afternoon, just a normal mom cheering on her son at the side (and the inside) of the soccer field.  ;)

Bella, always surprised by Africa.