Even though I haven't truly played soccer since about 5th grade I LOVE playing. I also am a strong believer in the importance of sports in connecting cultures... I mean the World Cup for one, but really when you can play a friendly competitive game against foreigners, even if you are not speaking the same language, it bonds you. First we played just against the 12 of us and then some local boys came into play as well. Of course they were incredibly good and made it a difficult game. It was so nice to finally get out and play soccer. Down the streets from our apartment is a soccer field yet unfortunately we were not allowed to play there because we are half girls. So about half the trip in we can finally play soccer at a private place. For the first time ever I realized one of the simplest lucks of being able to play sports, It never crossed my mind what if I couldn't play sports. Additionally, the Jordanian boys we were playing with from about 12-16 year olds have possibly never played a girl in their life, which seemed pretty weird. Occasionally as girl would pass by and honestly my heart would ache, it seemed so wrong that they couldn't participate in such a basic pleasure in our lives. By the way, is that these Jordanian boys did not go easy on me at all (I twisted my ankle and landed a hospital trip), but it truly made me feel equal to these boys because I could play competitively against them when the girls in their own country cannot do that. It felt bizarre and honestly saddening that just because my passport says a certain nationality that I can be treated that way. All in all, it was an extremely fun afternoon, yet also eye-opening.
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"Speaking with someone in your own language creates conversation, but speaking with someone in their language creates understanding" |