SOCCER SUNDAY

This morning, the Brokopp family picked me and Kirsten up and brought us to Central Church.  Pete actually dropped us off on the side of the road because he had to go to another church and didn’t want to go into the church and leave.  Church this morning was great.  I love singing in French and More.  There were no translators with us…so I pretty much zoned out for the sermon…I tried to follow along with the passages that were being read but it was hard to draw a ton of connections.  After the service, a few of the youth came to talk with Kirsten and me.  Francis invited us to come to the soccer game that the Central Youth were playing in.  The Brokopps picked us up from church—on the way home…we sang and danced to Big House by Audio Adreneline with Sammy and Charity in the back.  My favorite song to sing with those 2 is Eye of the Tiger—it is adorable to listen to Sammy sing all the lyrics.

When we returned to the Hub, Kirsten and I read and napped before lunch. We usually go to the Rec for lunch on Sundays but today Alice and Pete had  a lunch to go to.  Since we were missing out on our French Toast at the Rec, we decided to make pancakes.  Each time we make pancakes, they taste worse and worse.  We must have had beginners luck! We salvaged these pancakes by spreading peanut butter (pate d’arachide) on them. After lunch, we napped again and then walked down to Dr. P’s house to say goodbye to him—he left for America this afternoon.  We talked with him and Marc (his friend/clinic technician) for a little while.  We found out that Dr. J might be coming to America to study cardiology—one of the partner programs that Dr. P is working with would like to help him get training.

When we got back, Francis and Adama came to pick us up in a car. On the way to the game, we found out that Francis used to play professional soccer (as a goalkeeper) but decided to stop playing so that he could work for Compassion International.  Francis asked us to bring identification cards so that we could get photocopies for the game.  We were really confused but it seemed like the viewers needed to be registered to watch the game…well…when we got there…Francis asked us if we had our shorts on under our dresses because we were playing on the team (which was why we got the photocopies of our IDs—to register with the team…not to register to watch).  Well, we thought we were just there to watch…and we pleaded with Francis not to have us play…but he had Adama take us back to the Hub so that we could change into shorts to play in.  When we returned to the field (which was solid dirt with sidelines, goal boxes, and a midline circle carved into it) we started to warm up with the team.  I gave Adama my camera so he could take pictures for me.  Warming up was fun!  We basically played keep away.  During the warm up, Francis noticed my promise ring.  He asked me if I was engaged and I told him that the ring was a symbol of my promise to God and my future husband to remain pure until marriage.  He then looked over at Kirsten and asked if she had one too…and she told him that she made that promise in her heart but not on her finger.  Francis jokingly responded—“So Jennifer made that promise on her finger but not in her heart.”  It was pretty funny.  We had a bag of red jerseys that we played in…mine was #23 and size XL.

The EAC Team

This was actually a tournament, so the teams had to line up and one of the sponsors does the opening kick—kinda like baseball.  Kirsten started at forward.  She played pretty well—the Burkinabe were so encouraging and told her how good she was.  Our team scored one goal in the first half and our opponents didn’t score.  During halftime—there is an evangelists that preaches the gospel.  In the second half, I waited for the team to tell me to sub in…but they never did…so I didn’t play at all.  At the end, they told me that I was supposed to just tell someone I was going in for them.  I told them that I was waiting until the score was 2 to 0 to go in…so it was their fault that I didn’t play.  We ended up winning 1 to 0.  We talked with Francis for a while after the game because we had to wait for Adama to return…he had to run the car back to his uncle and bring a moto back to the field.  So—I got to ride on the back of a moto with a Burkinabe to get back to the Hub—it was soo fun!!!  Kirsten rode with Francis and I rode with Adama.  Moto is by far my favorite means of transportation!

On the Moto with Adama

Back at the Hub, Sarah and Jess were busy in the kitchen preparing dinner.  Sarah made parmesan biscuits, applesauce, and lasagna for dinner.  Jess made fresh squeezed lemonade and sweet tea. Sarah also made apple pie for desert.  Lorinda came over to eat with Jess, Sarah, Susan, Kirsten and me.  It was a lot of fun…eating, talking, making origami with our napkins, and watching youtube videos.  After the food finally settled in our stomachs, Kirsten, Jess and I did a Rock Your Body—hip hop.  I took some video of it on my camera—pretty much HILARIOUS!

Kirsten and I return to the clinic with Dr. F tomorrow…so it will be an early day!!

Gnight

-JK

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