Netball

Yesterday Katie and I had our first net ball experience. And wow… was it a treat. First off, we met James at Faraja and he led us to where we would be playing. Once we got the field, what are the chances that school was just getting out. So here came over 100 wide-eyed children screaming Mzungu, pointing, and running towards us. So as James set up the court ( by attaching metal rings to giant sticks, digging a whole into the group and ramming them into place), we were swarmed by children looking at us as if we were on display at a zoo. We were in Chamwino which not many foreigners ever venture off into so we were being examined from all angles. Once James set up the court and some girls trickled in, we were to be begin. James put us on opposite teams and told us to start. Neither Katie nor I had any idea what netballs was, never mind how to play it. James doesn’t speak English, none of the girls do either, and we were unable to use the little Swahili we knew to communicate that we didn’t know the rules. But, the show went on. With the lines drawn in the dirt and teams made, we began running around, unsure of which direction to go or if we were even supposed to be running. Well, having Mzungu’s in Chamwino alone was an exciting event, now picture Mzungu’s running around with no idea what they’re doing. Our crowd (of say close to 150 people at this point) was roaring with laughter and screaming cheers when we did something right. We continued to play for about an hour and I think we have the basics covered now.

The language barrier was immense but it didn’t prevent the game from going on. This was definitely the toughest situation to date that I’ve had to face in Africa. It’s in times like these where you both panic and have a freak show because you have no idea what’s going on, or you just laugh and take it like it is. In my opinion, the only way to survive here is to live each day and laugh it out. Once we were finished the girls all came up and “nipe tano-ed” us (give me 5) and all asked when we would be playing again. I guess we made the cut. The following Thursday, since we play every Tuesday and Thursday, the girls showed up with their version of jerseys. They were blue skirts that had nice watermelons and mangos for decoration. Oh, did I mention that it is mandatory to play netball in skirts? So Katie and I were each given a uniform and… well, lets just say we were too fat to fit. The only way we could wear them is if we hiked them up to almost right under our boobs. We looked great.