Long overdue, but this goes back to when i was in Tanzania. ( i am trying to catch up blogs before i forget everything that happened.)
This is more of a lesson learned and a relay of fun i had with the people i worked with.
Right now i am in macedonia heading out to a weekend retreat with some college kids i am working with.
What a different life God has brought me to in just 4 short months…what a trip
Playing on the Pitch (day of honor part three.)
The last part of the day today was just plain exciting and everything i had hoped would happen while i was in Africa.
They guys at the construction site are a part of a soccer league, and they asked me if I knew how to play.
I told them I used to play in middle school, and next thing I knew we were headed to the pitch.
They shouted to other people “Ricardo Ca Ca”
( i was told it meant i looked like some guy on the Brazil team, but i think they were just hoping if i thought i was him i could bring home the trophies.)
I look 20 times better than this guy. =) ( ai am assuming he is the white one)
Anyways
It was insain.
The guys took me to the pitche where there were tons of african’s gathered. They tried explaining to me in Swahili that i would be playing number 5. I didn’ t know if they were talking about position five, or guarding the other teams number 5. Thankfully someone right before we started ran out and told me i was defense.
The game began and all the nerves that i used to get playing sports came back. It was wonderful.
“ok,
concentrate
find key players.
Give them space.
Here comes the ball.
Attack.”
It was so fun. Yeah it was confussing without being able to speak, but it didn’t matter.
The only downside was that we ended the half at 1-1 and it was my guy who scored. This wouldn’t be a problem, except he was certainly the cocky person on the team. The kind of guy who knows how to get under everyones skin, even when speaking different languages. The worst part is that the guy is a good 8 inches bigger than me and at least 50 pounds. So I am just trying my hardest to stop him from walking over me.
At half time I got moved up to forward.
This is when i really began to hold my own, but my team was falling apart.
Even though i got moved up, no one moved back, and so the other team scored three times really quickly. It was bad, and the guy i gaurded the first half had most of their goals, and every time he would shout “musungo”. Then he would run accross the field to where ever i was and would try and scare me by being a tough guy.
Gosh my blood boiled. He was insulting me, he was taunting my team, and i couldn’t do anything about it.
But then just like a great high school movie the tide turned in my direction for just one minute.
There was loose ball that came straight to me. I turned, dished it wide and ran far sid.
The other team crashed on my teammate and the ball escaped to me.
It was me, two other defenders and the keeper. I took two steps to the right, fired a shot. The world slowed down. ESPN cameras zoomed in close as my ball curled past the keepers hands. The crowd screamed. I saw cameras flashing and confetti from the heavens fall down to crown me as the hero of the day!
BUT. As my team cheered the other team complained.
Unfortunatly in africa they play with just posts and no cross bar.
So my goal got taken away due to lack of unity on decision.
But it didn’t matter in the least. My team went ecstatic at their “token white player” doing something good. Even the whole other team gave me high fives on my shot except for the big guy who tried scarring me again. But the game wasn’t over.
Our team was way past the point of winning, much less even tying.
The other team was big. They were talented, and just much better. But my guy was getting cocky and he had the ball and i was just a few steps away. He was facing the opposite direction and so I sprinted right at him, reached out for the ball with my shoulder down and every ounce of me leaning into the tackle.
I am not sure, but I think the commentator on ESPN came back and laughed at the white boy who just awoke the sleeping giant.
But sometimes when you do something so dumb and daring it pays of in complete suprise.
First, it was a clean tackle.
Second, there was only one person on our team who could even come close to matching this guy physically, and so when I went in for the kill, both teams just paused in sheer shock. But not me. I WAS RUNNING with the ball and every ounce of strength I had. I WAS TERRIFIED. But my team was cheering, my knees where bleeding, and my heart was racing.
I was certain that I was going to turn around and see the big guy gunning after me. But I didn’t.
He had gone to the side of the field and sat out the last 10 minutes of the game.
And even though I didn’t score the rest of the (game, we didn’t even have a shot), my team had a blast.
But the guy giving me a hard time sat out the rest of the game, and after the game ended started picking on my again.
He was talking to his team, saying “Masungu this, and Masungu that.”
This was the highlight of the day.
I went over to him, ready to make amends. I stuck out my hand to shake his hand, and as he reached out, i suprised myself as i put my hands up and shouted boo like you do to a little kid. The big guy covered his face like i was about to punch him. Both teams were rolling on the ground laughing. I was able to shake his hand, and leave the pitch his equal even though he outscored me three to zero.
What a game. We lost terribly, but my team had smiles and cheers that dwarfed that of the winners. We were esxcited because we had fun. For the first time this month, i wasn’t a musungo, i was their teammate.
That equality isn’t something you can wait for or simply expect from someone. Equality is something you have to earn through humbling yourself from your own “norms” and cultural expectations, and become a member of their world. It is something you ahve to earn. I am ever so blessed to be here with these guys. It will be hard to say good bye, but I know i will be leaving as their friend, and not as their american.
IT was the best feeling ever.
