I recently finished reading, no that’s not strong enough, devouring “Pacific Rims” by Rafe Bartholomew. As another American experiencing living in the Philippines for an extended period of time there was a lot in the book I could relate to; cultural oddities. Jollibee, jeepneys, balut, dinuguan, daytime soap shows, pumping eyebrows, group mentality, lip pointing, endless calls of “Joe”, South East Asia’s smothering tropical weather, street children, and of course the point of the book, basketball. The book itself is entertaining, Peace Corps volunteers actually make two appearances within it, and if you want a glimpse into what it’s like living here I highly recommend it.
Instant Sugar Cain literary classic award winner, lite on the literary perhaps but heavy on Filipinos ballin in flip flops
But that’s not the point of this post, or rather it’s just a primer and shameless plug for something I truly enjoyed. Some sort of cosmic synergy shifted and sifted into my life when I purchased that book. Suddenly I was on course for basketball in the Pacific. During PST I played a couple games with Sean, a fellow volunteer, and our related host families but here at my permanent site there’s been scant opportunity. I’ll rephrase, I haven’t created many opportunities. I’ve had a couple of failed trips to a neighboring volunteer’s site about an hour away to play games on Fridays but for whatever reason (volleyball practices, tiring players) I’ve only gotten to play about 15 minutes out there. Yet, since picking up Pacific Rims things have changed. On Thursday I’m playing in a faculty vs. students basketball game for High School Day. My school’s opened the gym up for me at night to practice my game…solely for the purpose of not air-balling or getting crossed over by a 14 year old on Thursday. I’ve commissioned the welding class at my high Agro-Industrial school to craft a rim for me so I can racket together my own hoop in the backyard of my new crib (more on that in a future post). I’ve discovered that buying 2 peso rolls for the street kids in my new neighborhood and playin some hoops with them is a great way to spend an afternoon after class…going back to what Rafe said in Pacific Rims: “Share the rock”.
A bit about this basketball game on Thursday at my school: one of my good friend’s mother (and really my pseudo-second mother) once made a comment during a baseball game that her son must be so nervous that, and I quote, “you couldn’t get a needle up his ass with a sledgehammer right now”. I fully expect a similar clinching of the bowel regions on Thursday. I fully expect 1000-1500 spectators at this game. My school enrolls 1800 students and Thursday afternoon is when they receive their grade cards for the 3rd quarter. So if 2/3 of the student body shows up then I’m playin in my first 4 digit spectator sporting event. Hell it might legitimately be my first 3 digit spectator sporting event. On the hierarchy of my skillz at sports basketball is probably in the 2nd to 3rd tier range. Hence my relentless practice this past week…yes we talkin’ bout practice AI, not a game, practice.
Finally, this faculty/student basketball game gave me a fund-raising idea for future projects. After spitting texts around the Western Visayas I’ve managed to coordinate a loose group of basketball playing PCVs into potentially playin a PCVs vs. faculty basketball games. Hold it after school, charge 5 pesos a head, and use the proceeds in a project at the school. The idea’s popular enough to happen all that’s required is scheduling and planning…and jerseys. Currently the leading idea for our PCV team is the “Average Joes”…recognizable for those who have seen Dodgeball. It’s appropriate because we’d be a hodgepodge group of varying abilities and legitimately average skills. Also, it’s a great pun on the fact that all Americans here are called “Hey Joe” constantly. I’m hoping this will work out to maybe a couple games over the next year of PCVs vs. locals for fundraising and charity. Anyways, tapos na with this post. I’ll catch ya’ll later!
Peace Corps "Average Joes" logo perhaps?
No comments:
Post a Comment