Recess

Most afternoons, when the weather gets a little cooler, I put on my well worn sneakers, say goodbye to my host grandma at the compound gate (she makes the best gestures when I tell her where I am going)  and head to the local middle school for what is often my favorite part of the day, volleyball.

The games are good not only for a workout to burn some oily rice calories, but also for brushing up on pulaar/wolof phrases such as: "try harder", "get the ball", and "where did you leave your game cause you sure as hell didn't bring it today".  That last one may be a loose translation, it comes across more in the tone/gestures.

When we're not ripping on each other, we sometimes play against other teams such as the police force, firefighters and other youth volleyball associations in Kolda. Below is a very happy set of kids after crushing the local firefighters 2 sets to 1.

After beating the local firefighters