While school was suppose to resume today, no students showed up. Instead break was extended another day. After rearranging my desks back into groups (they were in rows for testing week), I headed back home.
While I was reading a book, my phone buzzed with one of my best Ethiopian friends calling. Answering in Tigrigna we had a quick light-hearted chat, before she invited me over to coffee. I asked when, she responded “Hih-gee” or now. I smiled, quickly finished my chapter, put on shoes and headed out. Her house is a quick two minutes away through I had to stop to twirl multiple kids on the way making it more like a 10 minute walk.
When I arrived at her house, I was also met by her, her 8th Grade daughter and her other young friends who were playing a card game. The Coca-Cola cards were so worn there were more wrinkles then flat surfaces, but they didn’t seem to mind. After catching up with my teacher friend about her break, I was invited to play with the girls. Playing with them, I realized there are many ways that children pass the time, that I take as normal, but that I don’t expect. While I have written about “dama,” (checkers) there are many other games that kids play for hours. So here, are some Ethiopian games, starting with the cards game I played today.
“Karta” (Cards) When I first observed this game, I thought it was like rummy where you try to get runs or pairs; however, I was quickly shown otherwise. The first couple rounds 13 cards were dealt. Players took turns either drawing from the top of the deck or from the top discard pile. Jokers were used as wilds. You didn’t lay anything down until you went out where cards needed to be runs and you needed to discard. Girls also played for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place. The last couple games we played only 10 cards were dealt, jokers were still wilds, and everything you laid down had to be matching sets only. Because we were playing with two sets of cards, it was okay if some cards were duplicated in the sets (ex. 3 of clubs, 3 of spades, and another 3 of clubs would be fine). You had to lay two sets of three and a set of four to go out (two sets of five were against the rules).
Jumping Rope Loop While I have jumped some awesome rope while here, this is a game I watch, mostly girls play, with amazement. A long rope (made of various things) has the ends tied making a giant loop. Sometimes one end is tied around a sturdy pole, but most of the time two girls loop their legs through so the rope is suspended at various heights from knee to waist levels. The third girl puts one leg inside the loop and the other outside. Everyone starts singing a chant while the jumper has to do various changes so that one leg is always outside and one inside the loop. They go higher and lower while counting how many switches she can do. It’s seems like lots of fun and I am amazed very very few of them have ever stumbled or fallen doing it.
Kick Tether Ball While I grew up playing tetherball in our backyard with brothers and friends, this takes on a unique twist. Any pole or sturdy tree is fair game to be laced up with a rope that has a small padded ball at the end. Instead of using hands only feet are allowed to kick the ball. Once it has wrapped all the way around the winner is announced.
“Endomino” While waiting in the shade of a large tree before going out to a funeral, three of my teacher friends started playing this game. They gave me the money, but all took it back at the end so I don’t really know how the betting part of it is suppose to go. Anyways, each teacher picked up three small pebbles. They hide their hands behind the backs or knees and then put one hand out in the center of the circle. Then, they each took turns trying to guess how many rocks were being held. The person who got the exact number, or closest to it, got the price. It was a pretty fun game to pass the time. Stacks I’m not sure what this game is called and have seen it being played in various ways with the same premise. Bottle tops, marbles or stones are stacked up. Players take a few steps back so their feet are behind the line drawn about a meter or more away from the stack. They then take turns throwing rocks at the stack. The goal is to break apart the stack before anyone else does.
A little competition and a lot of laughs are international motivations for games!
While I was reading a book, my phone buzzed with one of my best Ethiopian friends calling. Answering in Tigrigna we had a quick light-hearted chat, before she invited me over to coffee. I asked when, she responded “Hih-gee” or now. I smiled, quickly finished my chapter, put on shoes and headed out. Her house is a quick two minutes away through I had to stop to twirl multiple kids on the way making it more like a 10 minute walk.
When I arrived at her house, I was also met by her, her 8th Grade daughter and her other young friends who were playing a card game. The Coca-Cola cards were so worn there were more wrinkles then flat surfaces, but they didn’t seem to mind. After catching up with my teacher friend about her break, I was invited to play with the girls. Playing with them, I realized there are many ways that children pass the time, that I take as normal, but that I don’t expect. While I have written about “dama,” (checkers) there are many other games that kids play for hours. So here, are some Ethiopian games, starting with the cards game I played today.
“Karta” (Cards) When I first observed this game, I thought it was like rummy where you try to get runs or pairs; however, I was quickly shown otherwise. The first couple rounds 13 cards were dealt. Players took turns either drawing from the top of the deck or from the top discard pile. Jokers were used as wilds. You didn’t lay anything down until you went out where cards needed to be runs and you needed to discard. Girls also played for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place. The last couple games we played only 10 cards were dealt, jokers were still wilds, and everything you laid down had to be matching sets only. Because we were playing with two sets of cards, it was okay if some cards were duplicated in the sets (ex. 3 of clubs, 3 of spades, and another 3 of clubs would be fine). You had to lay two sets of three and a set of four to go out (two sets of five were against the rules).
Jumping Rope Loop While I have jumped some awesome rope while here, this is a game I watch, mostly girls play, with amazement. A long rope (made of various things) has the ends tied making a giant loop. Sometimes one end is tied around a sturdy pole, but most of the time two girls loop their legs through so the rope is suspended at various heights from knee to waist levels. The third girl puts one leg inside the loop and the other outside. Everyone starts singing a chant while the jumper has to do various changes so that one leg is always outside and one inside the loop. They go higher and lower while counting how many switches she can do. It’s seems like lots of fun and I am amazed very very few of them have ever stumbled or fallen doing it.
Kick Tether Ball While I grew up playing tetherball in our backyard with brothers and friends, this takes on a unique twist. Any pole or sturdy tree is fair game to be laced up with a rope that has a small padded ball at the end. Instead of using hands only feet are allowed to kick the ball. Once it has wrapped all the way around the winner is announced.
“Endomino” While waiting in the shade of a large tree before going out to a funeral, three of my teacher friends started playing this game. They gave me the money, but all took it back at the end so I don’t really know how the betting part of it is suppose to go. Anyways, each teacher picked up three small pebbles. They hide their hands behind the backs or knees and then put one hand out in the center of the circle. Then, they each took turns trying to guess how many rocks were being held. The person who got the exact number, or closest to it, got the price. It was a pretty fun game to pass the time. Stacks I’m not sure what this game is called and have seen it being played in various ways with the same premise. Bottle tops, marbles or stones are stacked up. Players take a few steps back so their feet are behind the line drawn about a meter or more away from the stack. They then take turns throwing rocks at the stack. The goal is to break apart the stack before anyone else does.
A little competition and a lot of laughs are international motivations for games!
No comments:
Post a Comment