The only one in tennis shoes

If volleyball lingo bores you, part of this blog may not be very interesting to you :)

Today after school, we had our staff meeting from 3:00-4:00.  After that, I had told one of the people that I play volleyball with that I wanted to go watch them play indoor (although it's really outdoor, but is on concrete and played by indoor rules), so I headed out to find the court.  I just wanted to watch because I didn't know what it would be like and if I'd be good enough to play with the guys.  They had also planned on starting at 4:00 so I knew I would be late.  However, I went prepared in my tennis shoes just in case.

Mark is the one that originally invited me to play beach volleyball a few weeks ago and he now plays indoor a lot of days.  The other guys on the team that were there were people who I've played beach volleyball against once or twice.  Besides not knowing if I'd be good enough, another reason I wasn't sure about playing was because no one really invited me (ha), so I invited myself to watch :)  Another reason, like I've said in a previous blog, is because they play for money...gambling, basically.

I got there today and they were still waiting on the other team to show up.  I asked Mark if they still play for money every time.  I didn't know if that was a one-time deal or if they still do it.  He said they do.  He also said I could play.  I told him I didn't want to play for money and that I would just watch, and he said not to worry about the money.  I'm not sure how that works...hopefully the others don't chip in to cover me!

I could tell by watching them warming up hitting (with their one volleyball they had to chase every time) that I could definitely play with them.

Something else I noticed when I got there...I was the only one in tennis shoes.  Everyone else had on flip flops.  Silly me.  In Kenya, kids who owned tennis shoes would always take them OFF to play, I guess to keep them in good condition.  Here, the locals are pretty impoverished but I guess I forget that sometimes.  I felt embarrassed, but then I thought it would look silly of me to show up in tennis shoes and take them off.  My "rich" spoiled self (by Filipino standards) was also afraid of how bad it would hurt to land after jumping!

So here I am, the only girl, the only white person (Caucasian = money), the only one with tennis shoes...

...and the one who doesn't want to gamble 500 pesos (about $12).  The irony of it all.  Oh well.

So, I played!  It was kind of confusing at first.  We played five on five.  I quickly learned that no one really rotated.  Between beach and indoor, there are different rules about how you can take the ball or send it over.  In those ways, we played by indoor rules.  As far as rotating goes, we didn't.  There wasn't a front row and back row.  I just plopped myself in left front (Mark had taken the middle blocker "position") and stayed there for the entire match, hoping I wasn't taking someone else's desired spot (I would have asked but, as is the Filipino way, they would have just told me I could stay there).  The court, with boundaries marked by a rope that was held down by rocks in each corner, was very short.  The setter usually always faced the way he was going to set (at least we had a designated person as a setter, though).  The sets were always inside and not pushed out to where the antenna would have been if there was one.  The fact that the court was short meant that you had to really pound it straight down or give more of a controlled shot, hopefully aimed to an open spot.  Even though I hit the whole time, we all passed in serve receive except for the setter.  For some reason, though, I literally didn't get the ball served to me one single time.  I don't know if they thought a girl wouldn't be able to pass the ball and they wanted, in their mindset, to keep a more competitive game or what, but after they saw that I could hit it seems like they would have realized I could have passed okay, too.  I really have no idea what the deal was with that.  It was all definitely a learning experience!

We played four sets to 25 and won two of them.  I think they determine the overall winner by points, and I don't know who that was.  I did realize, though, that I'm not a huge fan of playing on a team and risking making mistakes and costing us points when my teammates might end up losing money because of them, while I just have a grand ole time playing for fun.

It was serious volleyball, though!  Filipinos are some of the nicest and friendliest people I know, but there were no high fives and there was no smiling or laughing!  When there's money on the line, as they say, "This is a serious game.  It is not for fun."

I guess I broke that rule, because I had fun!  I really did!  But if they continue to play indoor I don't think I'll go very often.
1) It's awkward and unfair for me to be the only one in tennis shoes.  I also don't really want to play without them.
2) Filipinos are so nice that they are happy to tell me that I don't have to put in money.  But, I also don't want to take advantage of that.  Filipinos are very much all about making sure they don't hurt other people's feelings, so I know they won't ever tell me I can't play.  Maybe they legitimately are fine with me playing, but I'd rather not risk it.
3) I don't like having the pressure of other people's money on the line!  I played with them just fine, but I also had my fair share of mistakes.  I felt guilty every time I messed up.
4) A white girl that can hit a volleyball harder than several of the Filipino men, who had training themselves when they were in school, shows that I've had better coaching and the resources for that coaching and training.  It almost seems like just another way to show off wealth.  That was something I felt a little bit in Kenya, too.  We played the national volleyball team, and they are so athletic but just lack the resources for really good training.

Soooo anyway, that's my volleyball story!  I'm finding out more and more about this culture all the time!