6/19 How it was meant to be played

Today’s class focused more on reading, fortunately the short vowels were included. We had lunch at the center, and afterwards had a lecture on the Virgin Mary (who is still a virgin) in the Koran. Apparently, Mary is the only woman mentioned by name in the Koran (the rest are just wife of so-and-so, daughter of such) and her name appears more than Mohamed himself. There are a lot of parallels drawn between her and Hagar, as well as her and Mohamed – both of the latter being “conduits of Allah’s word.” We had quite a discussion on the differences between Jesus in Christianity and Islam; there are three main points of contention. First of all, Jesus is not considered divine, nor was he crucified (probably as a result of the arguing going on at the time over ‘who killed Jesus.’) Secondly, there is no trinity (Muslim’s see this as creating a polytheistic religion, which they don’t approve). Thirdly, there are no different names given Mary (like Our Lady of the Guadeloupe), which is mainly a Catholic contention. Interestingly, there is no Joseph in the Koran (any mention of him would immediately draw nonbelief to her virginity apparently). Mainly, the point of Mary in the Koran seemed to be to be a bridge for the three major monotheistic religions, as well as prepare for the exodusing of Mohammed to the Medina.

Surfing lessons today consisted of all baby waves, so we decided to paddle out to the tip of one of the outlets. Worst day ever to grab a short board. The lack of buoyancy caused me to drag more in the water, and Sam and I were the last ones to get there. Before reaching the edge of the peninsula, the water crests were huge (comparatively), which made paddling even harder. I made it halfway back before having to switch with the instructor to a longboard, but it was necessary. Once back to shore, we tried practicing catching waves and jumping up, but as soon as I got up my board would catch in the sand, so I could only practice the former.

After returning from the beach, I grabbed Hemsa and returned. This time, we played soccer for almost 2 hours. Playing soccer at the beach consisted of the same variable rotations as before. We would start out passing and juggling amongst ourselves, and while doing a kid joined in. For a while then, Hemsa and the child practiced playing goalie, this time between two paper rolls (like those found at the core of wrapping paper) stuck in the sand for posts. With set boundaries it was easy to score, which gave me some credibility with the locals. After we returned to juggling, gaining one more, before our assembled team decided to challenge another. A field dragged in the sand had already been marked out, and we used mini-metal goals (which didn’t stop a goalie from sitting to block it when times got rough).

Playing on the beach there I realized this was how the game was meant to be played. The game ran smoothly, with everyone trying to keep the play going. Players came off and on the field to join as their schedules allowed, and everyone was cool about everything. Each called there own fouls, it’s make-it take-it, and when the ball was kicked off the court, others would kick it back on the field. These onlookers would even stop mid-conversation and walk to where the ball was, almost as if they were going out of their way just to be a part of the game. Also, there was one occasion where the other team basically cherry picked a goal, but instead of shooting it in, the forward stopped the ball short, turned around, and kicked it back to his side to restart a run. I’m still getting used to playing in sand, though me and Hemsa hooked up on some awesome assists and across three defender passes. I’ve noticed Hemsa is more of a peacekeeper, as when disputes arise he would always go over and settle them in the humblest manner (usually by giving the offended party the ball). After the game everyone slapped hands and said good game (in Darija), and we all went our separate ways. To top it all off, we ran into Shay and Zacharia on the way back. Zacharia asked me if the game was good, and then asked Hemsa in Darija whether I was good. Fortunately I knew enough Arabic vocab to catch this, and Hemsa definitely agreed that I was. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring!