Musoma Soccer Insanity

While the eyes of the world were riveted on the games of the World Cup, here in Musoma we had another soccer game with high stakes and emotions: the Weupe Stars versus Wabongo. You’ve never heard of these teams? Let me give a brief history:

Every Sunday, a group of us get together for a friendly soccer match, mostly missionaries. This is low-key soccer with plenty of breaks. Some are quite good, others not so much, but we all have a good time playing. Even I have learned to love the sport again after so many years away (haven’t played since high school). I also discovered that I play exactly the same way as I did when I was 10, aggressively and with minimal skill. This means every Sunday I get injured in some way (anyone who wants to send shin guards, knee pads, or cleats you are very welcome).

Anyways, getting to the main point, some of our Tanzanian colleagues at the office had been giving Michael, a missionary here, endless amounts of grief about how we would get whooped in a game versus the Tanzanians. So Michael decided we should take them on, and we did. The date was set for the big game.

The week preceding the match was filled with trash talk and hilarity. One of the translators informed me that if I was in goal, he would score 10 goals against me.

Last Friday the day of the big game arrived; you could smell the excitement in the air at the office. During chai time our team even had a secret strategy planning meeting complete with a chart of the field. At 3:30, we all headed over to the field (aka Michael’s front yard, which he has actually done up very nicely. It’s probably the nicest pitch in Musoma). It was beautifully mowed with center line, penalty boxes and everything.

Everyone from the office came out for the game, wives and kids too. Mama Vanessa, Alison, and Rukia all painted their faces half white and half black, or at least they tried to (see pictures below), in order to demonstrate their support of both teams. Kelly made signs out of a box for the 2 teams "Wabongo" and "Weusi Stars." Others made signs of support as well. Mama Sophia (who works for Michael and Kelly) made horns from a papaya tree and stuck leaves in her hair. Kateti, our partnership officer, was our self-appointed referee. He had a whistle as well as a yellow card and red card in his pocket.

To begin the game, we lined up and entered the field. The ref invited up the special guest (our team leader’s wife, Chris) to start off the game. She said a few words and greeted us all. Then the real insanity ensued.

The game was crazy, partly because people I usually see in work clothes were wearing athletic gear, or the Tanzanian version of it in some cases. Please look at the pics below for an amazing jogging suit as well as the purple pants/sweater vest combo. I played in goal the whole time wore goalie gloves, which I loved. The Weupe Stars scored 3 pretty quickly, but after that it was a pretty even match. Wabongo had much better ball handling skills over all, but we still held our own. As goalie, yes I did let a few in, but I stopped way more than I let through. The crowd was wildly impressed (partly because I was also the only girl on the field). I did smack quite a few away, sometimes one after another. One of the translators told me I was very “kali” (fierce). And that was even before I dramatically threw my body between his foot and the ball when he was about to score. Scared him a bit I think. But I must say, even today I’ve had people at the office coming up to me and telling me what a good keeper I am. I’ve earned some new respect here, as well as bruises on my knees.J

Anyways, toward the end Wabongo totally dominated and our defense couldn't hold them off. Still, the game ended a 5-5 draw, and I think everyone was really satisfied with that. So, all said and done, it was a lot of fun, and I think did a lot for good old team spirit, all the way around. Chris presented both teams with a trophy cup (some kind of glass wrapped in foil) and there's a pic of everyone "holding" it. I almost blacked out from the stench when everyone raised their arms to get a hand on it.

Now that was a fantastic day, probably one of the best I remember here. Everyone was really happy, and I'm actually still smiling about it 3 days later. I think one fun game like that does more for team unity than endless hours of “team building” activities. And yes, there has indeed been talk of a rematch.

Teams lining up before the game

Mama Sophia in cheer gear

Adoring Fans

Happy Goalie

Referee Kateti

Dunno who these people are, but they wanted to watch

Samson and his mad ball skills

One happy Futakamba

Getting ready for the game

Chris and Tirzah practicing their cheers

Wanse in shorts

Head in the game

Our white/black cheer squad

The Mgeni Maalum presents the trophy

The Shared Victory

My Month in Bullet Points

So I kept holding off on writing a post, for what reason I do not know, and now the month of June is almost gone. That truly is amazing, for it has been quite a month. So I'll just pick out some "lights" (both high and low) from the past month.

• Training sessions with our translators: At the beginning of these sessions, I was quite literally in a cold sweat. Full blown freaking out nearing on anxiety attacks. Yet as the month has proceeded, it's gotten worlds better, thanks to God alone, for I am fully certain it has nothing to do with me. I've started to really enjoy teaching, and I feel like my Swahili is slowly improving, at least to the point where most basic communication isn't traumatizing. Praise the Lord!
• Earlier this month, around the time of my freak-out sessions, I was struggling with the fact that I didn't feel any hope, and I also saw people around me struggling with this same thing. One morning, I was lead to read the first few verses of Romans 5: that suffering leads to perseverance, perseverance to character, and character to hope. I've never considered anything I've faced as worthy of the title "suffering," but I decided that I was in pain, so I would count it. I also realized that I wanted the hope first, in the midst of the suffering, but I see that God builds our character through the suffering and persevering. When we go through it, and trust God with the results, that's when we have true hope. I also looked at Hebrews 12, where we are told that the discipline of God is proof of his love. If he didn't discipline, it wouldn't be love. And it says that discipline is painful, but that it doesn't last forever. For the first time in my life I think, I really felt like God was saying to me, "Ellen, I love you enough to put you through this. And trust me, the work I'm doing in you is worth it." So now the new fight is to view the pain in my life as evidence of God's amazing love for me.
• I've been working through a prayer journal that goes through the names of God and invited you to pray using those names. I've done things like this before, but in this case, a friend of mine wrote a prayer for me at the beginning of each week in the journal. Every Monday I look forward to reading what she has prayed for me. What a great way to start the week.
• I teach several guys at the office English, and my favorite word to make them say is "rarely." Tanzanians have difficulty distinguishing l and r and don't use that first vowel much either. I seriously want to record there attempts for when I need a good laugh.
• Alias and Lost and Doctor Who: aka my evening entertainment in the month of June
• My first experience with amoeba. Yes, I had an amoeba living in me and was well aware of the fact. I got to experience a local clinic, where you bring your personal "sample" in a matchbox to the lab. I walked in, gave the man my matchbox, he took a little blood (malaria test), and 45 minutes later learned I had amoeba. And let me tell you, that antibiotic is strong. I don't think I got out of bed for 24 hours.
• After having amoeba all weekend, I returned from work early in Monday to find our househelp wearing only my blanket while her clothes were drying. I said nothing, but went right to bed.
• I baked oatmeal bread for the first time, little sketchy, but turned out pretty yummy

Well, that's my month in a series of bullet points, and I'll add a couple pics, so it can be my month in bullet points and pictures, though the pics are older than that. Oh well. Happy June!

With great friends on a big rock


Cooked a pumpkin for the first time. Made roasted pumpkin, roasted pumpkin seeds, steamed pumpkin, and a rather unorthodox pumpkin soup. Yum.

Tips for Driving in Musoma

1. Supposedly you are supposed to drive on the left side of the road here. This is arguable. I typically find that on the main road from my house into town, the safest place to drive is down the middle of the road, thereby avoiding pedestrians, pikipikis (motorcycles), and bicycles with massive loads of sticks, coal, or occasionally poultry
2. Take special care on rainy days. In order to avoid puddles, the bicycles and pikipikis will randomly swerve in front of your car.
3. Be aware of bicyclists carrying long pieces of lumber. You won’t necessarily see this until the lumber is about to go through your windshield.
4. Large buses hurdle down the exact center road at extreme speeds. Move as far over as you can without hitting anyone and pray.
5. Honk early and often. The horn is a useful tool, especially if you drive a “small” and “silent” Rav4. The honk lets people know you are there. Occasionally when you honk, a bicyclist will actually move over. But this comes with a warning attached: they might turn their head to look at you and in doing so swerve directly in front of you.
6. When preparing to make a right hand turn, check to make sure you are not in fact being passed on the right by a pikipiki. This can cause problems.
7. DO NOT assume that when you are passing a vehicle you will not in fact be passed as well. This includes passing large vehicles on narrow roads, it can always happen. So I would like you all take a moment to picture yourself attempting to pass a slow bus in town only to realize that you are in fact being passed by a daladala (15 passenger van used for public transportation) on a narrow road with oncoming traffic. Experience the joy and terror.
8. Demonstrate extra caution at the town’s roundabout. Rules vary, and pedestrians sometimes ignore the whole situation.
9. Start your car with a prayer every time.
10. Have fun and enjoy the insanity!

Oh, and enjoy this video of my roomie driving in Musoma
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxAbhi8LsQw&feature=related

OK, so this isn't actually in Musoma, but going to a village and trying to make sure we get through. Fun though.