Volli-bhall

I think I'll learn most of my Tamil (the regional Indian language, spoken only in Tamil Nadu and northern Sri Lanka) from the pick-up volleyball games played here every evening on the resident dirt court. The court is a new addition since last summer; I remember mentions of a plan to build a court, but I had taken it as a joke. Well, now it's here, and it's the hot spot to be in the early evenings, about an hour before the sun sets so that it's actually cool enough to move a muscle without breaking a fierce sweat. It's located amidst the exotic acacia trees, which have more or less "become native" to this area because they're so successful as a pioneer species. They grow quickly even in heavily degraded soils and then provide a cover to allow other actual native plant species to take root.

Here's a picture of the court. It was getting dark, so it's a bit hard to see, but try to look closely!:


Anyway, a few of us went down to hop in the game. I touched the ball a couple times, and sometimes it went where it was supposed to go! But most of the time, some guy would jump in front of me to receive the ball, just as it seems most competitive men do worldwide. My feet were covered in dusty orange dirt by the end of it all, but my forearms less so.