I dont like cricket... So we play a different version of it...

This morning I could feel a long and drawn out day where nothing was really achieved and nothing was really done. In many ways I was right. Two of Laura's friends arrived to have lunch here although God knows how they knew each other. One was a 22 year old Indian girl who lives here and the other a 75 year old French man called Michelle, (as in the girls name, LOL). Strangely they often acted like a married couple, it was a strange relationship. I slipped away pretty easily as I could see that the boys were starting to take some interest in the football. I had tried to talk to them at length that volleyball was not the way forward and I think it's got through. We played in the field at the back of the house. I can assure you that the 2022 World Cup is never going to work. The heat was incredible and I don't think I have sweated so much in my life, I'm not even sure if Anna Higgins' fitness could have stood up to the task. I battled through as I hadn't been able to kick a ball around for so long, and I also felt like the star. Something I don't get to have back at home. After 45 minuets of noncontinuous football we took halftime, but we all knew that it was finished. I looked like I had just stepped out of the shower and as I dragged myself back to the house I found David waiting for me. A little surprise visit before he went. I tried my best with AntonySammy to get out of it but I was forced to go with them to visit one of the villages. For obvious reasons I wasn't put in the middle this time. We got back and had lunch, I was so hungry and so unimpressed with plain rice that I could have cried. I really needed something to refuel me from the heat and football.

After lunch we proceeded to do the polite after lunch talks. We sat round in a circle chatting about the work being done out here. I was yet to have my shower and I was more than aware that I might not be smelling of roses. The talk was whittled down to AntonySammy, Laura, the French man and myself. He was old and was a stubborn as his age would suggest. He had a good heart but I really didn't agree with a lot he said and I was actually praying for David to be there to fight for his charity. Michelle didn't really agree with the Ecosan toilets and thought that pits toilets and septic tanks were better. (I'm not going to go into this, don't worry). He frequently stereotyped all Indians and I could often see AntonySammy get very worked up, yet he remained clam, collected and more importantly silent, the perfect host. He talked like no other man I have ever seen. At one point I am sure he talked, uninterrupted, for 20 minuets. My nodding was on autopilot with the occasional agreement thrown in, so I felt that I could let my mind wonder. I was caught out only once but I think I regained control. I was snapped back into the conversation when he was struggling for an English word and was promoting me to suggest one. I scrambled through what he had been talking about and managed to come up with "repeat?", he liked it and this allowed him to ramble on for another 10 minuets and allowed me to think about other things. In my wanderings I was watching how people react when a plate of biscuits are presented in front of them. Its funny. Everyone helps themselves to the first few with out hesitation, but there is never a scramble for the last one. It is always untouched, out of politeness. Its the second from last one you have to be quick for. Despite saying this, when the talking and nodding was over I took it as a reward. I really thought I deserved it.
A cricketish match was set up in the afternoon and it was pretty fun. They don't play how we do at home though. The pitch is about twice the length for some unknown reason, despite my protests, and everyone throws the ball rather than actually bowls it. I was run out by a suicidal run by my partner and although I laughed it off, I was pretty pissed.

Good guy but probably not the next Ronaldo

Well, Lord's isn't perfect either