The 2nd Summer of 2009

Last weekend was a big weekend of reading, clubbing, and sport.

On Friday after work, I went to play soccer with some of the kids that Zach works with and Perminder and Elisa joined as well. Not a single kid was wearing shoes and they ran up and down the sandy and sometimes rocky field with ease. They were all pretty good at soccer, but I managed a bit of glory as I scored a goal. I mean, come on, I can’t let a bunch of 12 year olds make me look bad no matter the sport. Shoes or no shoes.

After the game, I found some kids playing basketball nearby so I stopped and played with them for about an hour. They play everyday in the evening, so I think some of us guys are going to start playing a couple times a week. There were a couple of decent players, so we should be able to get some good games. I think many of them were surprised to see a white boy on the court when they walked up. The ball no longer had any leather on it, the backboards were wooden, and the rims were made by a local metal worker. Pretty rough conditions, but it was good to see that basketball is being played.

All day Saturday and Sunday was spent reading. I nearly finished two books which is probably more than I’ve read in two days in my entire life. We just never get days like that back home. Instead of watching 10 hours of football, I got to spend that time reading. It might be ok to change it up for a few months, but I will be very happy to have football back when I get home.

Saturday night we had a big night at the Orion Hotel and then headed over to Club Royale for a long night of dancing. Club Royale is the big hangout and dance club for the young people in Tabora. It was actually not as shady as I imagined and our taxi driver Freddy escorted us there and gave us some credibility once inside. We had a blast dancing and it was funny because they played terrible rap and dance music from probably 5 years ago. It was a flashback to the table dancing in 26 sophomore year. All the beer here is pretty poor quality malt beer, so a hangover the next day is guaranteed even after only a couple beers.

Sunday was a big day for me. I finally had to get a haircut, so I had Elisa buzz it off for me with some clippers that they brought. We have some before and after shots from the haircut that I will post shortly. I think it looks better than expected, or at least everybody is saying it doesn’t look too bad…too late now.