to Dads, Grandpas, and all the other fathers!
Anyone keeping up with the World Cup? We've watched a bit on community TVs here and there. Ghana beat Czech Republic last night, crazy. People here are pretty excited about the various African teams, but also have favorites like Brazil or England.
We bought Juma a kid-size soccer ball--football, excuse me--so he's pretty popular with the neighborhood kids. Earlier, so many kids were playing that it intimidated him a bit, and he decided to be coach. He'd sit on the sidelines (a porch) and call in orders. "Pass it!" But the kids don't know English, so we'd have to translate and then tell Juma how to say it in Swahili. Every once in a while he'd jump into the fray and call out "One point!" or "Zero points!" in a very commanding voice and demeanor.
It seems that everyone recognizes us (it's hard to forget the little white boy who speaks Swahili), and pours out the greetings to catch up on two years of our absence. "Has it been two years already! Wow! How's Juma? Does he remember Swahili? No? He'll learn, he'll learn."
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