reason, well it's because he wants to show me off i am sure, the
principal insisted i attend. i had no reason to give that would allow
me to stay in the village, so i caved and went to the track meet.
getting there was just as expected. 38 students were participating and
9 teachers would accompany them. 1 teacher would stay with the rest of
the kids at school, probably only until 1030 would be my guess. we
were to be transported by 1 taxi. they would take 2 trips. i made sure
to be on the second taxi, for i would not make that mistake twice of
being the first ones there at 830 for the hopefull 1000 start time
like last year. i piled into the 15-seat van with 18 kids, 4 other
teachers, and the driver. the music was turned up to deafening and the
whole taxi bounced as the kids jumped to the beat-the whole way there.
we arrived to the hot and sunny, shadeless field around 930. i applied
another layer of sun screen as the kids all watched in curious
fascination and waited for event announcements.
the hosts of the event walked along the rocky, red dirt, unmarked
soccer field with a tape measure and a wheelbarrow of what looked like
black dirt. they sprinkled lines with the black stuff to form lanes
along 1 edge of the field and then as a guide around the corners of
the field for the longer races. when they finished, they started
calling groups. all the kids shed their shoes, traded their shirts for
school jerseys, grabbed their birth certificates from the teacher, and
set out for the start line. they must show their birth certificate and
a passport photo to be eligable to compete. i sat on the side line,
umbrella
in hand, guarding the school lunch and shoes. i was probably watched
just as much as the athletes. the kids ran hard and some of them did
very well. it still amazes me that they run barefoot and a lot of the
girls run in what look like cheerleading skirts. placememts are
recorded at the record table. at the finish line, 3 women wait. they
each grab a kid as the first 3 cross the line and run them over to the
record stand in order, so they can give their name to the recorder.
around 1230, i applied my third layer of sunscreen as the crowd around
me watched again. this time i tried to explain why i was putting on
lotion again, that the sun burns my skin and it hurts very much but
the sunscseen helps protect me. i went for a walk to get away from my
captive audience. around 2, it was lunch time. i imagine this was hard
to wait for since lunch at school is at 10. the kids got 4 slices of
bread, an apple, and some guava juice. then the winners from the first
races competed in the finals to determine who will compete next week
at the district meet. there was also long jump and triple jump, but i
must have missed those when i was walking. i stuck around for another
round of sunscreen then finally gave up and took a public taxi home
around 5. i have never really cared much for the running part of track
meets and do not know the inner workings well, but i found today quite
different from what i have experienced in the states. part of me is
curious how these kids would do at the field events, although i would
not be the one to introduce them here. and i can not even imagine them
running hurdles on this rocky ground. i am glad it is over and i am
working on my excuse to pass on next weeks meet. what a long day.
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