Fresher Games 2010

Let the games begin. And they have, actually they started on Monday. The Fresher games are competitions held on the campus here that pit the first-year students against each other, broken down by dormitories. From what I can tell there are four blocks that the students belong to, House 1 through 4. After classes each day this week they get organized into their team colors and bring along their respective cheering sections to the playing field. It is a lot of fun to watch to say the least.

I have been prone to sitting by the basketball court which allows for the volleyball net to be set up and watch the games there. The students set up a canopy for people to watch under which proves useful in the late afternoon sun. The games are run rather professionally as there is an up referee who sits on a chair and sees the action from on high, and there is a down ref on the opposite side of the court who makes calls too. I got to be the down ref for the women's game on Tuesday but I failed to make a few calls. So many lifts, but fortunately 80% of those plays didn't make it over the net to be of any consequence.

That is volleyball, but there is also soccer. Yes, here it is called football and that is very hard to correct when I tell someone that I don't play soccer, err, football back in the states. Today there was a fairly large dispute on the field due to a call not made by the referee and one of the teams walked off the field in protest. They were losing 1-0 at the time and I highly doubt they would have done the same thing had they been leading 2-1, but that is the way it worked. People take football very seriously here.

One enjoyable part of each day is that after the volleyball match is over (best of of three games) then there is a pick-up match where I can play. My timing is severely off and many of the people on the court are not used to playing 6-2 offenses, let alone having a setter dedicated to taking the second ball, but it is fun just the same. I haven't hit one hard yet, but I have used a block to my advantage on a couple of occasions. Good times here still. I gather that I will be playing outdoors for about twenty-two more months in Ghana. Lucky me!

I have sunscreen at the ready and knees that might just last that long.