After a long day hanging out at one of the three beaches. Heading back towards our bungalows to shower, we noticed there was a lovely sunset. Enjoying the moment, out of the corner of my eye I saw older men playing soccer. The field was dependent on the low tide, everyday was different so some nights they played at 5 other nights at 5:30. The goals were about 5ft tall and wide made of little wooden branches and netting.
After watching them for a while we noticed our resort manager named Ann was out there. It was very educational for me to watch them play. The field was not long but it was wide so it didn’t have as many players running down the field dribbling, but give and goes towards the goal. Lots of the men had good foot work and could do all the different moves to get around you. The men would just randomly come from areas when ever and join the game. They would come as soon as work was over and just jumped right in. In fact, not only can you show up when ever but you can take a break or leave at anytime all so.
We left right before dark to get to the other side of the island while we could see. Walking back to the bungalows the manager passed us and I asked him if I could play with them tomorrow. He asked me if I played soccer. I said yes, thats my favorite sport. He replied, show up tomorrow around 5 with tennis shoes and sport clothes and we will figure out team. How do you guys assign teams questioned Jeff my moms boyfriend. One team is shirts one team is skins.
following afternoon…………
I showed up all ready having butterflies in my stomach thinking how am i suppose to comunicate with my teammates if i dont even know thai. as well as noticing ann wasnt there yet. turning around seeing ann running towards me grabbing my hand and dragging me out there. pausing the game telling the guys i was going to play with them and deciding which team i should be on to even it out. the first impression i had with them was they wanted my to take off my shirt and play on the skins team. as i was slowly taking it off they all were laughing because it was a joke. they ended up apologizing and having a guy from the shirts team change to skins so i was on shirt. i was not used to there game so it took me awhile to get used to it. the final score was 4-9, sadly I was on the team that did not win. but winning wasnt what it was all about. it was the fact that i could communicate with thai men that didnt speak english by knowing the basics of soccer and how they played. as well as being the only white american 13 year old girl to have the guts to get out there. Towards the middle of the game some other americans came but I got the feeling they only came because I was out there first. I am glad i did nit miss the chance and chicken out to do it. it was an amazing experience and i would recommend attempting to do a hobby of yours in a different country if you get the chance. Even if you look weird or crazy maybe stupid just remember you will probably never see these people again.
(see photos on “How i see it” page).
