July 26th is the USA equivalent to the 4th of July, except the kids get money as if its Halloween (the money is the candy (I’ll explain later)). The 26th is anticipated for days/weeks in advance. Auntie Maya bought a huge load of clothes (I think they come from Ghana, and are like goodwill clothes) for Princess to sell in anticipation for the 26th, as to have some extra cash to throw around for the holiday. The week of the 26th Princess was in the market every day selling. They got clothes for 0-6 years old, but here that means nothing. You never really realize how “big boned” America is until you see a 20-year-old pick up a pair of shorts for a 6-year-old, have them fit her perfectly, and you think... shit that doesn’t even fit half my thigh.
Model school, at this point, is still in session, and being it is a national holiday everyone has the 26th off, so Peace Corps had planned a trainees’ vs staff volleyball, soccer, and basketball game at BWI. This is something they did the year before as well and LR6 beat them in everything but soccer (football as they call it here). Soccer is more than a sport here, it’s an obsession, it runs through everyone’s veins as if it is part of them, the hierarchy of things here goes: soccer, god, and family.
I get to BWI (it’s a 3- THREE- mile walk to get there) I had signed up to play basketball along with Reid, Gabe, Taylor, Josh, Nate, Crawford, and Rachel T. We played full court, 8 min periods, and a 5 min “half time”. I was feeling confident when we started the game thinking there are not a lot of places for staff to play basketball here, so we got this. Well let me tell you there were staff members coming out of the shadows with some pretty damn good basketball skills. Our tech guy and our acting county director (CD) came out as if they were pro players, not to mention the CD has like 5 inches on all of us! HA. SO I change my approach thinking ill cover the other girls. I was covering Yamaha (cook), she wasn’t a huge runner, so I was like I got this, at one point I ran into her, it felt like I hit a brick house, she didn’t budge at all. Not to mention Abel (he is a tech trainer) was literally like a brick house, I was blocking him and giving it all I got, I felt like to him I was a pesky fly, he could swat me away by pure strength/force with just one step! I would run into him, be all up in his face, he would just steam roll over me without even trying. We were close the entire game, they would score and we would score, they were up 1 or 2 we were up 1 or 2, until the last minute they scored putting us down by 1 point, just like that we lost!
Volleyball apparently was an embarrassing game, they went first while we were warming up so I didn’t even see it. We had about 15 people signed up to play, they would rotate in and out, anyone who didn’t start on the court didn’t get to play because they beat us so quickly. The game didn’t even last a full 10 min. When they finished the game, I asked Sam (he is a training coordinator) if they had played yet, his response was like yeah, we beat them, we aren’t wasting time beating you guys- HA.
The last sport to play was the most important one yet, soccer! Staff came in full matching uniform, cleats, and shin guards, no one was messing around. We played a full game on a full field. We had a Liberian referee and the staff team even had a “coach”. We played well but unfortunately, we lost in the end by 1 point. My understanding is that our not bias (hmm...) ref would call a lot of off sides for us trainees, but not for our Liberian staff members, and that maybe we were on Liberian time, meaning if they were down a point or so that quarter would be a little longer until they were able to catch up and then they would call it. Now none of that is official... so as Liberians would say... chi chi poley will lead you to palava- meaning rumors or gossip will lead you to fight... I’m not trying to fight with anyone—I’m just saying… it’s something to think about ha-ha. Well that and I need to justify staff kicking our ass on all 3 sports!
After the shame of losing we put our tail between our legs and started our journey back home to hang out with our host families. In Liberia, it is customary that you give small gifts on the 26th, so I had decided I would make no bake cookies for my family, along with giving them a new serving dish, and a couple Michigan pens. I got home, gave them my gits, sat outside with Auntie Maya and watched as little kids would come over and say to her, “where is my 26th?”. Her response to this would be reaching into her bag and giving them 5-10LD! This happened with every little kid who came over to talk to her! It was amazing! She said that on the 26th its customary for kids to ask for their 26th and you to give small money! I told her it reminded me of Halloween in the states, how you go house to house asking for candy, except this is so much better because you get money. I mean, you would make bank in America on Halloween if they gave you a buck each house you went to!
This little girl came over and asked for her 26th, Auntie Maya gave her 10LD, then Princess came up (she had been selling) and asked the little girl for her 26th. The little girl dug through her purse and handed Princess the 10LD that Auntie Maya just handed her 20 seconds ago! HA! I yelled at Princess, said you give that little girl her money back (and she did)! The entire thing was hilarious, because even after she gave it back (as if it was her gift to the little girl), Princess asked for her 26th again, and the little girl dug through her purse to give her 10LD! HA! It is also customary to “be bluffing” on the 26th, meaning you wear your nicest clothes, typically lapa. While we were all sitting outside this little boy who they call grandpa (age 6) was outside playing, Auntie Maya called him over and asked where his nice clothes were, and he said, “my ma doesn’t have money to get me nice clothes”. Auntie Maya told Princess to go in the selling clothes and get him a pair of trousers/shirt, and she gave him new clothes so he could be bluffing with his friends. It was heart breaking and the best moment ever all wrapped up into one moment.
We ended the night all together with cookies, beer, and Lion King. It was a fantastic day and a great reminder of how great my family is here in Liberia and how much I truly care for them.
Model school, at this point, is still in session, and being it is a national holiday everyone has the 26th off, so Peace Corps had planned a trainees’ vs staff volleyball, soccer, and basketball game at BWI. This is something they did the year before as well and LR6 beat them in everything but soccer (football as they call it here). Soccer is more than a sport here, it’s an obsession, it runs through everyone’s veins as if it is part of them, the hierarchy of things here goes: soccer, god, and family.
I get to BWI (it’s a 3- THREE- mile walk to get there) I had signed up to play basketball along with Reid, Gabe, Taylor, Josh, Nate, Crawford, and Rachel T. We played full court, 8 min periods, and a 5 min “half time”. I was feeling confident when we started the game thinking there are not a lot of places for staff to play basketball here, so we got this. Well let me tell you there were staff members coming out of the shadows with some pretty damn good basketball skills. Our tech guy and our acting county director (CD) came out as if they were pro players, not to mention the CD has like 5 inches on all of us! HA. SO I change my approach thinking ill cover the other girls. I was covering Yamaha (cook), she wasn’t a huge runner, so I was like I got this, at one point I ran into her, it felt like I hit a brick house, she didn’t budge at all. Not to mention Abel (he is a tech trainer) was literally like a brick house, I was blocking him and giving it all I got, I felt like to him I was a pesky fly, he could swat me away by pure strength/force with just one step! I would run into him, be all up in his face, he would just steam roll over me without even trying. We were close the entire game, they would score and we would score, they were up 1 or 2 we were up 1 or 2, until the last minute they scored putting us down by 1 point, just like that we lost!
Volleyball apparently was an embarrassing game, they went first while we were warming up so I didn’t even see it. We had about 15 people signed up to play, they would rotate in and out, anyone who didn’t start on the court didn’t get to play because they beat us so quickly. The game didn’t even last a full 10 min. When they finished the game, I asked Sam (he is a training coordinator) if they had played yet, his response was like yeah, we beat them, we aren’t wasting time beating you guys- HA.
The last sport to play was the most important one yet, soccer! Staff came in full matching uniform, cleats, and shin guards, no one was messing around. We played a full game on a full field. We had a Liberian referee and the staff team even had a “coach”. We played well but unfortunately, we lost in the end by 1 point. My understanding is that our not bias (hmm...) ref would call a lot of off sides for us trainees, but not for our Liberian staff members, and that maybe we were on Liberian time, meaning if they were down a point or so that quarter would be a little longer until they were able to catch up and then they would call it. Now none of that is official... so as Liberians would say... chi chi poley will lead you to palava- meaning rumors or gossip will lead you to fight... I’m not trying to fight with anyone—I’m just saying… it’s something to think about ha-ha. Well that and I need to justify staff kicking our ass on all 3 sports!
After the shame of losing we put our tail between our legs and started our journey back home to hang out with our host families. In Liberia, it is customary that you give small gifts on the 26th, so I had decided I would make no bake cookies for my family, along with giving them a new serving dish, and a couple Michigan pens. I got home, gave them my gits, sat outside with Auntie Maya and watched as little kids would come over and say to her, “where is my 26th?”. Her response to this would be reaching into her bag and giving them 5-10LD! This happened with every little kid who came over to talk to her! It was amazing! She said that on the 26th its customary for kids to ask for their 26th and you to give small money! I told her it reminded me of Halloween in the states, how you go house to house asking for candy, except this is so much better because you get money. I mean, you would make bank in America on Halloween if they gave you a buck each house you went to!
This little girl came over and asked for her 26th, Auntie Maya gave her 10LD, then Princess came up (she had been selling) and asked the little girl for her 26th. The little girl dug through her purse and handed Princess the 10LD that Auntie Maya just handed her 20 seconds ago! HA! I yelled at Princess, said you give that little girl her money back (and she did)! The entire thing was hilarious, because even after she gave it back (as if it was her gift to the little girl), Princess asked for her 26th again, and the little girl dug through her purse to give her 10LD! HA! It is also customary to “be bluffing” on the 26th, meaning you wear your nicest clothes, typically lapa. While we were all sitting outside this little boy who they call grandpa (age 6) was outside playing, Auntie Maya called him over and asked where his nice clothes were, and he said, “my ma doesn’t have money to get me nice clothes”. Auntie Maya told Princess to go in the selling clothes and get him a pair of trousers/shirt, and she gave him new clothes so he could be bluffing with his friends. It was heart breaking and the best moment ever all wrapped up into one moment.
We ended the night all together with cookies, beer, and Lion King. It was a fantastic day and a great reminder of how great my family is here in Liberia and how much I truly care for them.