Friday night was a free dinner buffet for all the players! The four-on-four didn't start until Saturday, but I was still able to eat at the buffet. I was afraid it would be awkward not being able to communicate very easily with the Filipino guys, but it was fine. The buffet was just for the players so they had some games planned with give-aways and it ended up being pretty funny :) The only bummer about the buffet was that I really wanted seconds (and thirds), but none of the Filipinos went for seconds so I didn't either. I didn't want to look like the "typical American." Guess I could have swallowed my pride... I guess I picked the healthier option, but I mostly just didn't want to embarrass myself.
Anyway, another "perk" of being in the tournament was a players' party every night with free drinks. I knew going in that this would also probably be awkward for me. Friday night, the party was right next door to where we ate, so I went and it wasn't bad. My Filipino friends gave me a hard time (in a funny way, not a rude way) about not drinking, but the last thing I would want is to risk one of my students walking by and seeing me drink, or just risking the reputation of the ministry. I stayed for just a little while and left.
Friday night, there was no buffet but there was a party at 9:00. I really didn't care to go, but part of me thought it would look unappreciative in this culture for me not to. When I got there, I wasn't really seeing any of the players around right away so I decided to sit by the beach (my preference). There were some kids playing and they kept looking at me and smiling while they were playing. I finally asked them their names, and then we started playing in the sand. That was my favorite part of the night, as more kids started appearing and playing. One girl asked me if I was a teacher at Agape and told me she has a friend that goes there. She said, "The Agape teachers are so nice." Another little toddler came barreling through our tunnels and roads we had built in the sand and while one of the kids was yelling at her to stop, it was just so funny to me. It was fun, and definitely worth getting sandy even after I had already showered.
After a while, I did leave and go into the party. I went for about 30 minutes, and there was loud music and it was just a bit difficult because I don't really have smooth conversation with the Filipinos as it is, much less with music blaring. There were a couple of people dancing, and I actually have fun dancing sometimes when I'm just goofing off which is what they were doing (they may have been drunk already), but I was way too shy to dance without having a good friend with me! I did have an excuse to leave because the Johnstons were having us all over for games, so even though I could have gone to bed right then after being tired from playing that day, I went on my way to the Johnstons (I can't pass up games with friends!). My teammates probably had more fun after I left anyway because they could speak in Tagalog with each other and not feel like they had to have conversation with me. In their minds, they were probably wondering why I even went if I wasn't going to drink, which is pretty logical in hindsight.
Sunday night was the big party. Games were over, so everyone was excited to be able to drink as much as they wanted. I knew it would be crazy and I went back and forth in my mind as to whether or not I should make an appearance. Again, I definitely don't want to put the ministry's reputation on the line. I was exhausted, the party didn't start until 10:00pm, and I was going to have to wake up at 6:00am the next morning. Finally, I decided to take a nap from 8:00-9:00pm and then decide how I felt after the nap. Well, I honestly don't even remember if my alarm went off. Maybe it didn't go off. I may have slept through it. I may have turned it off and accidentally fallen back asleep. I may have even intentionally decided to fall back asleep. I was so out of it I don't remember! I woke up at 11:00pm, and by then there was no way I was going to the party, so I put on my pajamas, brushed my teeth and crawled back into bed. Ten hours of sleep with some crammed lesson planning Monday morning was great. Maybe it was God's way of telling me I shouldn't go.
The tournament itself was fun! All games were just one game to 21 unless you made it to the final, which kind of stinks because one game to 21 flies by. Still, any time I get to play volleyball is a good time! We lost in the semi-finals to a team we had beaten the day before. They were killing us and we were playing horrible, but we finally got our groove and had about a 5-point run but by then it was too late. Maybe we could have beaten them if it was best 2 out of 3, but oh well. They're actually our friends and ended up winning the championship, so I'm happy for them!
Side note: Before one of our games one of my teammates was smoothing out the sand in front of him. Then he looked at me and said, "You have to clear your runway!" SO hilarious! I have no idea how he came up with that.
Here are a couple pictures from the tournament.
My missionary friends were so supportive throughout the weekend! True to the Filipino way, I never ever knew when we would be playing. It would get pretty frustrating and I had to keep asking for the sake of my friends who were wanting to watch. Even when I was told when we'd play, it would get changed and/or they would tell me wrong and/or I would misunderstand. Sunday morning, I got there at 8:30 and the tournament was supposed to start at 9:00am (of course, they ended up starting games at 10:00). First thing I asked was when my team would be playing because I was hoping I could go to church and come back if there was time. I understood that we would be the second game, but, alas, we ended up not playing until noon after several games had been played. Oh well.
I felt so loved that I had people there to watch every game except my morning Saturday game and my noon-time Sunday game! I had people at 4 out of 6 games! My missionary friends weren't my only fans. My favorite voices to hear cheering me on were the kids that Carla brought!
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| AJ, Kathleen, Angel, and Shane. It was sunny! |
Sunday afternoon my team received our consolation prizes from a couple of the sponsors: a Rubbermaid cleaning caddy and some snacks.
Here are some of my other Filipino friends (except the guy crouching next to me or the girl. I don't know them.), some of whom beat us in the semi-finals...
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| Top: Alex, Hans, Gerald, Raf, the girl I don't know, and a friend whose name I've never learned (oops). |
All in all a fun weekend! And a great lesson in being flexible and dealing with language barriers!
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