Petit Poteaux

               Petit poteaux – or “tippy toe” as some elementary kids call it – is a game we play a lot here at Dakar Academy. I wrote this last night in a notebook after having just finished playing and had the notion to write. I don’t know why I am posting it on my blog, but I thought it was appropriate.

               The words “petit poteaux” are French for “small goal.”It has a special court which has walls about 4ft high – which the guys (and some girls) can just fly over! The actual game is very similar to soccer. I don’t really know what the technical differences are since most of the time I have only played for fun. On any given night you will see students and staff members alike playing the game.

               So why am I talking about this? When I got back last night I started thinking about the role it has played in my life. We have not always had the court. It was built in 2003 soon after ICA became part of DA. For those of you who are unaware, ICA was a sister school in the Ivory Coast until they had to be evacuated due to civil war. When the court was first built, I was not excited. This ugly mass of concrete was another example of the ICA invasion. ICA had to evacuate in September 2002 and in doing so they brought 90 students to DA. That was a difficult year. I was not happy. I did not like the ICA people: they were too sporty, I thought they were snobs, and they just changed everything. Then my family went on furlough and I kind of became fine with everything. For the next two years after furlough I carried a resentment of the ICA-ers. Finally, my junior year, I had these AMAZING dorm parents – who were originally from ICA. But God had done a work in me and I told them about my resentment and asked their forgiveness. With their help I was able to do the same with other ICA people who were just as gracious to me as my dorm parents were.

               Once again, you are asking where I am going with this. The petit poteaux court was once a visual reminder of my resentment toward a group of people who did not deserve my treatment of them. But now it is a reminder of my thankfulness to God for bringing those people here. They are wonderful people who are here to further God’s Kingdom – wherever he places them. I am sure that first year was difficult for them, too, but many of them stayed. Those people have now been my friends, classmates, dorm sisters, mentors, teachers, dorm parents, and more I am sure. They brought music, petit poteaux, outreach campaigns, and God’s love. Sometimes, Satan gets hold me and I get frustrated when I hear them talk about ICA: “Remember how it was green” “Remember how many soccer fields we had” “Remember the cafeteria” “Remember we had grass on the field?”etc. But then I tell myself that if the same had happened to me, I would still be remembering DA (but not the grass on the field part, haha!). They loved ICA just as I love DA.

               So now petit poteaux has wonderful memories associated with it. My dorm first started playing it once a week in 9^th grade and continued until I graduated, and even till now. Those first two years of high school were not easy and I had 4 things I looked forward to: tutoring, mentoring, handbells, and petit poteaux. My junior year has exceptionally good memories associated with petit poteaux – two stand out. Frequently throughout the year we have sports tournaments, including a petit poteaux one. I was sitting in study hall one day when a senior came up to me and asked if I would play on his team. He was asking because he needed another player on his team but I was shocked and touched that he would ask me: shy, insecure, behind the scenes, non sporty, socially awkward/inept me. I was looking for something in my diary today and found out that I said no and he put my name on the list anyway. So I showed up. I ended up having a really good time and my team actually won the tournament! The other memory makes me smile and laugh when I think about it. If you know anything about me, you know I don’t like hugs - J - except for special occasions: when I haven’t seen you for at least two weeks, if I won’t see you for at least two weeks, if you’re a guy I feel comfortable around (I know, I didn’t need to put that in there, but I am not nothing if not blatantly honest!), and (this is a new rule) if I feel like it. So one night I was playing petit poteaux with my dorm sisters, dorm parents, and four “brothers,” just having a blast when all of a sudden one of my dorm sisters yells “OREO!!!!” In my head I’m thinking, “What??” Suddenly everyone is running toward me, my brothers tackle me to the ground and everyone else piles on top in a giant hug. (Big smile on my face as I write this :D) This is a memory I cherish. That they would plan “Operation Oreo” so that they could give me a hug, wow.

               So in the last two weeks I have played petit poteaux about 5 times, each lasting 1 ½ to 2 hours. At the end of each night, one of the other players (our librarian) says “Already?” Which is exactly what I am thinking: “Why (stop) so soon?” Each time has been so much fun. I hope I continue playing during the school year for several reasons. 1) It is fun! 2) It is better exercise than walking around the track for half an hour. 3) I get to be around people which, I know: shocker, I enjoy. 4) It is an easy way to socialize (I dislike small talk – like the kind after church – I prefer “big talk,” aka meaningful, deep talks). Related to 3, 5) it is not as lonely as walking around the track alone listening to music even I can get tired of. And many more reasons I am sure. I am thankful to the dorm parents who kindly let me join in their dorm’s weekly game last year. And I am thankful to the person who invited me to play the game two weeks ago when I was to shy to ask to join in.

               What is my conclusion? Even though I have several bruises, have never scored a goal, I smell at the end of a game, and sometimes my mediocre defensive skills fail and the other team scores, I love petit poteaux. Thank you, ICA, for this gift.

P.S. I would post a picture but my camera is missing. Word says this is approximately 1,200 words, so this is worth a little more than a picture.

P.P.S. If there were any ICA people who I did not ask forgiveness of 6 years ago, I do so now. Y’all are wonderful people and I am grateful to have you in my life.