In Ecuador, basketball is just called "basket". You know, leave out the "ball" and just forget that entire other word that you learned in school, "baloncesto". What does that mean anyway? Nothing here.
Alausi has an annual city-wide tournament that spans several months and includes all the city institutions and companies that can field teams. The men play indoor soccer (indoor), volleyball (Ecua volley) and basketball. The ladies play basketball. Theres been no explanation why women don't play the other sports too. It's not much, but I guess we'll take it. Machista much?
Anyway, games are 4 days a week, and there are 4 games a day. Since there are so many teams, my team (the hospital) has only played 2 games, the second one tonight. It seems like we'll be playing once every 1-2 weeks or so. We've won both games so far, but I've heard that the teams from the municipal government and the "artesanas" (not sure exactly who they are) are really good and play hard. Like, as in, they hit a lot. I will have bruises probably.
Despite the fact that it's hard to watch some of my teammates travel, double dribble and foul like crazy, and then have the cajones to tell me to "be careful because you have 2 fouls", I'm so happy to be playing an organized sport. I forgot how much I missed it. While sports have always produced a good amount of stress for me (and these past games have been no exception), I love playing. I love team sports. I have been playing on one team or another for probably 20 years now (DAMN), and I think it is an incredibly valuable and important experience. Lots of life lessons, lots of friend-making, lots of good old fashioned exercise to get those endorphins flowing. It's also good to take my mind off myself and work on something that feels bigger and is more important in the moment.
Actually the entire Peace Corps experience is really about that...
Lesson One: IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU.
Lessons 2-10: It's STILL not about you. Sorry.
Lesson 11: You're not that awesome. Well, at least not in the ways that you want to be. Sure, people come to watch you play basketball, but here's the break down: 30% are people you actually know, 30% are people you don't know who are curious, and the final 30% are the creepiest guys in town. Congratulations. Feel special.
Lesson 12: You don't know anything about anything. You thought you knew how to play basketball? Oh, thats cute. Ecuadorians (particularly the men) will give you tons of advice about basketball, and some might even explain to you that "In Ecuador, you have to dribble the ball first before you can walk anywhere." Um. Right.
Oh well. Those are just three lessons off the top of my head. Fortunately, when I'm feeling down because I don't know anything and I'm not awesome, I can just walk down the street and inevitably some creep-o will say something like "You're the most beautiful gringa in the world." Should that boost my confidence? Probably not. But unsolicited comments from random strangers work in mysterious ways.
Ok well thats all for now! Soon I'll update on my dry latrine project and other work things. Also, I went to the beach and got the bejesus burned out of me. Yeah, thats like a really bad burn.
