Volleyball 1/25/13

I haven't gotten a lot of physical exercise lately, although I do stay pretty busy, and I'm on my feet most of the day.  Tonight I had the opportunity to play volleyball...so I took it!  Our school's volleyball court and basketball courts have been repaired, and the kids have enjoyed playing on them.  Hanna teaches the girls' sports clubs the same time I have Arts and Crafts club.  Yesterday, she got a number of questions from people wondering why she had a big streak of red dirt across her front, a scuffed up arm, and a skinned knee.  I've gotten the impression from traveling that women don't really play sports. 

Since I'm not able to play when the girls play, I ended up playing with the boys.  I joined about forty boys on the basketball and volleyball courts.  One of the house father's was playing volleyball
too, so that was good.  We didn't keep score while playing, but there were some rules they followed: the ball was considered out if it bounced outside the lines, the ball switched sides when appropriate,
and double hitting was not allowed.  Other rules we might have in the US were not followed: the already too low net was pulled down for most of the game, and using your feet and kicking the ball was allowed (a plus for me), including during serves.  Every hit, the boys cheered, and
I learned it's ok for Burundi boys to squeal and scream like girls.  We managed to hit the ball over the wall twice, and thankfully we got it back. Sometimes, there are boys on the other side of the wall that
will either take the ball and runaway, or try to bribe people to give them money to give the ball back.  In between volleys, the boys would juggle the ball, and show off their latest soccer moves.  The ball would slowly work its way to the server.  A couple of the boys even figured out a foot greeting, similar to how some people have special hand shakes. 

I had a good time, and although it's been raining a lot today, I managed not to get too much red dirt on me.