Friday of Fun

Two blog postings in one day... I know, it's crazy. But today has been a really fun and unique day, so I just had to share :) This morning was school as usual - but as soon as recess began, so did the fun-tivities for the day!

First was the sports tournament: old boarding students vs. new boarding students. The schedule for the day was set to include girls kickball, boys and girls football (soccer), and boys and girls basketball. However, it is still rainy season, and it certainly was rainy today! There was a break long enough for one complete game - girls kickball. Now this is not your typical American schoolyard variety kickball. This is competitive kickball. The rules are totally different. All the players are on the infield of the diamond created by the base paths, but the bases are all very far apart, so it's a pretty big field. The pitchers still pitches from the mound, balls and strikes are called, and the ball is actually a soccer ball. There are many rules, and I don't pretend to have figured them all out! But let me tell you - it was intense! And none of the girls wore tennis shoes... I don't know if this is a rule or a practical constraint. But the girls are out there kicking a soccer ball barefoot! They were all much better than I anticipated (after sitting through a "how to play kickball" session just before the game), and the new girls were the winners!

Just as the boys soccer game was getting started, the sky opened up... although not before I got to do the ceremonious kick-off to start the game :) I admit to feeling like a wimp when I wondered if it would hurt in my Chocos...

After a tasty lunch in the cafeteria (rice with some kind of red bean and meat of some kind in a red spicy sauce) and a relaxing few hours at home, it was time to head to the "Back to School Jam." I didn't know what to expect really, but I'd heard this even was some combination of a dance and talent show. Basically, all the boarding students come to the auditorium, and then the show begins. Acts - both teachers and students - are called up on stage to perform. The performances range from singing to dancing to rapping to lip-syncing while dancing, to just walking around strutting (a girl would just walk around like she was too cool for school, posing and walking... awesome).

While this is happening on stage, the audience is not just sitting there! Often they were dancing by their seats or running to the middle of the auditorium for a quick dance break. Many would run up on stage with their friends and dance with them. But there's also a tradition for the students to throw money at the performers... to literally ball up a Liberian $5 bill ($70 Liberian = $1 US) and chuck it at the person on stage... or even to tuck it in their pack pocket of their pants! The money often just falls to the ground, so several of the teachers would walk behind the performers picking up the bills (we think they go to student activities funds). Yes, it was bizarre at first. But the students love it, and even give money to the older French teacher who we learned tonight is clearly young at heart!

In all this, Ann Elizabeth and I both ended up on stage about 3 times each. No really. The first time we taught everyone the cupid shuffle, a dance we both do often at camp. The second time I was asked to be a "strutting girl" with another girl on staff while one of the teachers "sang" (aka, lip-synced and danced) a song. Finally, there was an all-teacher dance song where we busted a move on stage. No really. I danced in front of the whole school, on a stage, 3 times. The staff member I "strutted" with even told me I had good African rhythm. I'm pretty sure she was humoring me :)

Anyway, it was quite the eventful Friday, in a very good way. Check out some new pics, including some from tonight, on Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/holly.wegman

Also, in case you're interested, Ann Elizabeth has a blog too! You can see it at amcinvale.blogspot.com She'll tell you how to get to her pictures from there too!