The Land of Dust

            It was just a random Friday afternoon in early summer, and the joys of the warmer weather could be felt all across town. People could be seen all up and down the road enjoying each others company and soaking in what was left of the fleeting afternoon sun. As I myself sat out on the front porch enjoying some of the beautiful weather, a large commotion broke out not far down the road. I couldn't quite tell what was going on from my position on the porch so I decided to do further investigating. As I moved down the lane the noise of the commotion grew and so did the numbers of people who appeared to also be investigating the disturbance to our peaceful afternoon sun. The closer I got to the source of the noise the harder it became to see. There was dust flying everywhere. "What on Earth could be causing so much dust to be flying up all over the place?" I thought to myself. Yes, it was the dry season and it hadn't rained much at all lately, but still this was something I had never seen. I found myself navigating my way through the mass of people that had formed desperately trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on from within the crowd, but this was no easy task. Whatever was happening in there was exciting, because the crowd kept erupting in cheers and whistles.

            After what seamed like ages I finally was able to move my way up to the front of the swarm of cheering, whistling people. I was finally going to get to see what was causing all this commotion. Just as my vision became open to see what was happening I was grabbed and thrust right into the middle of whatever it was the crowd had surrounded. The dust was even more intense now that I was at the heart of the disturbance and it was even more difficult to orient myself and see what was going on around me. THUD! Something, I don't know what at this point, hits me right in the chest and falls to the ground in front of me. "What in the?" I thought to myself as I stared down at what appeared to be a ball of some sorts, still trying desperately to understand what I had stumbled into. Shouts came from all around me, "Malome! Malome Keen!". I lift my head as the dust around me started to settle. It was then that I finally realized what I had been dragged from my comfortable seat on the front porch for.

 

And that's how I became part of a pick up football(soccer) game, in the middle of a dry dusty road, in Lekubu, South Africa on a random Friday afternoon.

 

*written September 5th, 2013