Handball
It has been the most amazing anti-stressor and a wonderful way to be embedded in and learn Cameroonian culture. And I get to know all the wonderful women who work here!
The original desire to set up the team was that a match had already been scheduled, so we needed a team to play it. (This seems very much in line with my understanding of Cameroonian culture). So they dragged in a collection of women from the staff representing a range of ages, fitness levels and experience with the game (I personally didn't know any more than it is a game sort of resembling football). We just get thrown into the students practice, sharing a coach and trying not to get run over by girls half our age.
A week after our first practice, we had our first match. It was quite a lesson in Cameroonian culture.
Part 1:We showed up to find out that it was only women in the trainings, but they didn't really expect women to play and in fact there was a whole collection of men all suited up to play handball, and maybe we would play a little bit *if there was time*.
Part 2: The women went on strike. It was absolutely unacceptable: we wouldn't play with men, and we wouldn't give up the field. And after an hour or more of negotiations, a friar came in and pointed out that the women were adamant, and the men may as well leave. The friars are definitely in charge, so at that point the discussion was over. So in the photos you will see me wearing a random man's shirt because no one thought to get me one and the men had to take them off anyway...
The match was wonderful. Not just because we won, but because it was a brilliant celebration of women. All the men were jumping up and down and screaming to support us from the sidelines, and we were having a blast. I won't say we were perfect. Essentially all of us had just started playing a week ago (including the other team), so there were quite a few times the ref blew the whistle because we had done something wrong, and he had to explain the rules because none of us had any idea what was wrong.
After that match, we continued to play, and we have actually had our second match already. Although for this one my photographer (Christophe) completely got into cheering and forgot about the photos. But maybe that is for the better because this one was against the young students who absolutely crushed us. At least a few times, I mean this literally, and they had to be taken off the field for fouls. But don't believe that we can't defend ourselves. Our team members got thrown out of the game for aggression, our fair share. So like I said -not exactly a pretty match....
Before this, I had heard of handball as just like football with your hands. But after playing it a few weeks now, I have learned it is so much better, and I have absolutely fallen in love. It is such a clever game! I'm just getting started, though! And as long as we keep practicing with university students, I'm going to be getting a great workout!
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