Bola Voli {volleyball}

Ever since moving in, our neighbor has been talking about volleyball. He asked us if we play. None of us do. But we said we would be willing. He took that as a green light and told us to get a group together from the school. Everyday he pestered us, wanting to know when we could do it. We finally agreed on a Sunday afternoon. He said he would get a local team together to play us. Everyday he would stop us on the way in or out of our house and ask again about volleyball. The Saturday before we were set to play he caught me in the driveway. "Can we play this morning?" he asked. No. "How about this afternoon?" No. "Sunday morning?" No. I reminded him again that we agreed on Sunday afternoon. I recruited some of our female staff at school and we gathered at our house, then our neighbor led us to the court. After walking a ways down a small road, he led us to a dirt court on the edge of a different kampung. There we found a team of local woman as well as a small crowd that had gathered to watch the game. We knew we were in trouble as they started warming up. These woman were serious. They play every afternoon, just for fun. We on the other hand had a whole team of bules (white people) who were willing to play but had no skills. After one game of us vs. them, it became obvious who the reigning champs would be. They beat us so quickly and so badly, that the next round they decided we should mix up the teams. This provided a more well matched competition and we played half a dozen games like this before calling it quits. Perhaps one thing I will gain this year is some new skills in volleyball. I have no doubt we will play again many times before the year is up.

Our bule team

The local competition

Not prepared for what we are getting ourselves into.

I am so bad at volleyball it's pathetic.

Some new friends look on.

Everyone gathers for a group shot.

We stood around talking and laughing afterward, mostly at how bad we were.