I now play football every Monday and Friday and possibly every Wednesday too but that could be annoying and expensive to get to every week. We play in an Mzungu compound (like a guarded estate of houses). We play on a small pitch but is plenty big enough for up to 8 a side. We usually get about 5 or 6 a side. There is grass is some places but its mostly red clay which gets in my nose and throat and can be annoying by the end. And after each session, my legs are covered in this red clay that they look like a 20 year old Irish girls face on a Saturday night. (Fake tan jibe there for anyone who didn't get that !!)
I'm definitely the youngest Mzungu there and usually there are 1 or 2 Tanzanians but I'd say they are a bit younger than me but I could be very wrong. I'm about average on the ability scale. There are a few guys alot better than me, most noticeably Joey (Irish) and Erick (Norwegian). It is mostly Irish, some English and 2 guys from some Latino South American country. Some other countries too. Oh, and obviously the Tanzanians are better than me because they can be annoyingly skillful, most of them.
Not only does it benefit my fitness and social aspects of life, it also is an excuse to leave work early ! I leave work at 3.30pm and cycle home. When I get home, I only change my t-shirt and put football shorts in a bag. I have designated a pair of socks to play in as they are already completely destroyed. I play in my runners which can be annoying as most of the guys have boots and I skid a bit more than they do, but I get by. I get the dala dala to Msasani and a taxi to Valhalla compound which I just say 2,000tsh(€1.20) and they always accept. Considering it costs about €4 to put your bum in a Dublin taxi, I don't have an issue with haggling the price down. I always get him to stop at a shop near the compound to buy water.
After the football, I walk down to the shop and buy a Pepsi and a small bottle of water to cool down and walk to the taxis that are always at this certain tree. One will always come up to me saying "Taxi". I use Swahili so they will not overcharge me (contradicting above point but by this stage, I'm tired, before I'm just excited to play football) but these guys seem fair anyway. I say "Mambo vipi, naenda Magomeni, elfu sita", which means, "What's up, I'm going to Magomeni, 6,000". They reply 7,000(€4.20) and I say "sawa sawa" (cool cool). I would say 7,000 but the Swahili for 7 & 9 have a hard time staying in my head. But at this stage, I think they know me because when I say Magomeni, they sometimes say "Fundakira?" which is where we live exactly and one taxi driver asked me whats days I play football on. I then get driven home while I try and sit forward, due to common curtsy, I don't want to layer his seat with sweat. When I get home, I wash the red out of my hair, off my face, arms and legs and pretend I'm in a murder film.
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the new thing to pass my time in Dar es Salaam.
I'm definitely the youngest Mzungu there and usually there are 1 or 2 Tanzanians but I'd say they are a bit younger than me but I could be very wrong. I'm about average on the ability scale. There are a few guys alot better than me, most noticeably Joey (Irish) and Erick (Norwegian). It is mostly Irish, some English and 2 guys from some Latino South American country. Some other countries too. Oh, and obviously the Tanzanians are better than me because they can be annoyingly skillful, most of them.
Not only does it benefit my fitness and social aspects of life, it also is an excuse to leave work early ! I leave work at 3.30pm and cycle home. When I get home, I only change my t-shirt and put football shorts in a bag. I have designated a pair of socks to play in as they are already completely destroyed. I play in my runners which can be annoying as most of the guys have boots and I skid a bit more than they do, but I get by. I get the dala dala to Msasani and a taxi to Valhalla compound which I just say 2,000tsh(€1.20) and they always accept. Considering it costs about €4 to put your bum in a Dublin taxi, I don't have an issue with haggling the price down. I always get him to stop at a shop near the compound to buy water.
After the football, I walk down to the shop and buy a Pepsi and a small bottle of water to cool down and walk to the taxis that are always at this certain tree. One will always come up to me saying "Taxi". I use Swahili so they will not overcharge me (contradicting above point but by this stage, I'm tired, before I'm just excited to play football) but these guys seem fair anyway. I say "Mambo vipi, naenda Magomeni, elfu sita", which means, "What's up, I'm going to Magomeni, 6,000". They reply 7,000(€4.20) and I say "sawa sawa" (cool cool). I would say 7,000 but the Swahili for 7 & 9 have a hard time staying in my head. But at this stage, I think they know me because when I say Magomeni, they sometimes say "Fundakira?" which is where we live exactly and one taxi driver asked me whats days I play football on. I then get driven home while I try and sit forward, due to common curtsy, I don't want to layer his seat with sweat. When I get home, I wash the red out of my hair, off my face, arms and legs and pretend I'm in a murder film.
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the new thing to pass my time in Dar es Salaam.
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