We don't move in any particular direction. And we don't make no collections

July 12, 2008
(Frisbee)
From the Journal of Derek Rury

Frisbee. There is no way that I would have anticipated that one word would create such a smooth transition from one culture to another and have such an effect on my service. I mean, people here have a new word in their language because of this small plastic disc. The kids here love Frisbee so much, that I now have a posse that follows me around just waiting for me to break out the disc and start a game right then and there. Kids that I have never seen before know me name, and there re times when I am walking though town and I hear a child’s voice whisper the word “Frisbee” and when I look to see who said it, it takes me a minute to notice the small, smiling faces hiding behind a door. Ever since the Frisbee made it’s first appearance here in Alarobia, I have been king of the soccer field, or at least that’s what it seems like at times. Little kids pop their heads around the corner of our training center and smile when I catch their eye. They then mime throwing a Frisbee trying to get me to come out and play. I hold up fine fingers and say “dimi”. They nod, smile and scurry away. I don’t’ even need to say a word as I leave the center. I merely have to walk the 40 or so yards to the soccer field and kids pop out of every crevice, hopping and skipping in anticipation. It feels good to be appreciated. Even though it’s only as a liason to a piece of plastic.
We has another intense game today. I have always been on the same team as Rina and Fetrasou because I want to connect with them, since they are my host brothers, and we have been. It is incredible to see how good they are at Frisbee now. I see them playing catch here and there, because they have become used to asking me to use it while I am at class, and to describe what I see as impressive would not even come close to doing it justice. They are incredible. And only after a couple of weeks. I even asked Rina the other day to show me how the throws a certain way so well. I am very proud of my brothers and, in turn, I hope they are of me. As we all left the soccer field after the game today, I asked a fellow volunteer if he wanted to play tomorrow. “Yeah!” he said, as if we were two kids going home for supper after a long day of playing baseball at a neighborhood park. At dinner, I asked Rina and Fetrasou if they wanted to play tomorrow as well. They said “yeah!”, as if playing ultimate Frisbee made them happier than any other game. Fetrasou’s eyes squinted as he smiles. But Rina couldn’t keep his from growing, like a reaction to some sort of astonishing enlightenment. Maybe it actually was. Maybe it actually was for me.
I was sitting in a C.E.G. classroom, observing a fellow trainee teach a 5eme class about “games” and one of the most astonishing things happened. When asking what some examples of games where, amidst the well know football, volleyball and basketball, a student called Frisbee, a word that did not even exist in Madagascar just weeks ago. We have already left our mark on this culture. And so what if it’s just a Frisbee.

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