This is African Basketball

You know how there are some things you cant really explain in words, you have to see them for yourself? Well the rain in Africa is one of those things. Today it started raining, then it started pouring, then it started to literally feel like someone was pouring buckets o water on my head. The raindrops here aren’t like those thin droplets you get in England. No, the raindrops here bear a much closer resemblance to hmm… horse druel: lengthy, heavy, and above all else, something you do not want all over your body. It just so happens that I was playing basketball when it started raining today.

                I had arrived at the courts around 4. As is becoming a common occurance, there was some sort of meeting going on thatprevented us from playing until about 5. A minor inconvenience. As is also becoming quite a common occurance, the coach did not show up today, so we went straight into matches. All the younger age groups play first, so I had to wait yet another hour before I could start playing. But another minor inconvenience. Just as the last game was finishing up, however, it started raining. My first thought was well this sucks, I’ve waited two hours to play, and now I have to go home! Just as I was taking off my shoes, however, I heard a “hey Lamine aren’t you gonna come play?” I was skeptical at first, but then I thought well hey, im here, I’ve been waiting 2 hours, TIA, why not? I played one of the most entertaining games of basketball in my life.

                It started out fine. It was raining, but because the court isn’t really, well a court, it wasn’t too slippery. As the game progressed, however, water began to build up on the court. Soon there were spots that you couldn’t dribble through, and eventually dribbling turned into rolling. At one point, I felt like I was walking through little puddles. The game soon regressed to netball with nobody really dribbling/rolling the ball, just passing and shooting.  After about 20 minutes of playing in these conditions, I asked one of the players on my team if we were even playing basketball anymore. He chuckled and replied “This is African basketball”.

                We continued to play for another 10 minutes, but by now I literally had to wade through water to get from one end of the court to another, so we stopped. I went home absolutely drenched in water, and I don’t think my shoes will be dry for another week. Regardless of the little inconveniences, playing “African basketball” is probably one of the coolest things I have ever done.