A Time to Play . . .

It was a beautiful day on Wednesday when we went to Bingham Academy. After threading our way through Addis’ city traffic (vehicles from huge trucks, public transports to the smallest cars all spewing black clouds of exhaust, all manner of people jaywalking everywhere and docile donkeys as beasts of burden) we found the alley that led to the gates of the school. It felt like we were entering another world. A protected place of mowed green, grassy space. A school building that looks more like the schools we know (although the layout is closer to southern schools like Sarasota Christian, where students walk outside from one building to another between classes). A new gym that is said to be one of the best gymnasiums in East Africa.

Here we met the headmaster (principal), Mr. Murray Overton, with a broad Australian accent. Mr. Overton had invited us to meet with the teachers during morning tea. We met with Miss Root, the new Grade 4 teacher for Amani and Abigail. Miss Root is like many of the newly recruited teachers, young. She is from California and had a sunny disposition. She kept saying how much she is looking forward to having Amani and Abby in her classroom. It just so happens that she will also have two other sets of twins in her classroom as well (identical twin boys and fraternal twin boy and girl). We met with Miss Long, Sophia’s new teacher for Grade 3. She is from Suffolk, England and she was also quite friendly and eager to get started. Perhaps Sophia will acquire a British accent.

Soon enough the tea time was over and the teachers had to return to their orientation. I had brought the whiffle balls and bat and gloves as well as frisbees for us to play with. After all, one cannot waste a warm, sunny day with blue skies in the middle of rainy season! First we explored. The soccer field is well maintained. There are moss-covered cement stands around part of the field. There is a running track that follows wall all around the compound, almost 1 km in length. And there is a swing that attracted the girls instantly. A swing with a rope almost 30 feet in length, chained to two towering Australian Eucalyptus which, when you pull the swing up on the ridge and let go, it sends the swingee far over a small ravine. Amani, Abby and Sophia couldn’t get enough of the swing. Wanda couldn’t look (typical mom, it looked dangerous). Time and again I pushed them as hard as possible and they soared far out over the ravine.

Eventually Sophia and I made our way to the ball field. We set up a mini diamond with the frisbees as bases and I began pitching to Sophia (Amani and Abby went with Wanda back to the library to check out more Nancy Drew books). To play the familiar in an unfamiliar place felt good. We enjoyed the light breeze in our faces and sun on our skin. We watched a large hawk land on a nearby water tower. We saw vultures soaring high in the air. The rest of the family eventually came to join us and we all played ball. Then Frisbee after that. I look forward to spending Saturday mornings there playing pickup basketball with some guys or running on the track or playing with the girls on the field. After all, none of us are getting much exercise.