A few weeks ago Miranda and I were at the Ace Club having dinner and one of the guys we have met since we've been here started talking about a softball league he had joined. He said that they still needed a couple more players for the team. After some consideration, and a kick in the butt from Miranda, I am now playing for a softball team in Cairo. We are called the Oilers. It is a legit league. We have about 2-3 games a week. We are not doing great so far, but we have also been playing the "A" League teams and we are in the "B" League. It has been a lot of fun since I started playing. I forgot how much I love to swing a bat and just play in the outfield. I love it!! We have plenty of sponsors for the league and our team. Coke sponsors the fields we play at and BP Inc. is the sponsor for our team. It has been another way for me to meet more people. Every week we are here, we manage to meet at least 1 or 2 new people and expand our circle.
Playing sports in Maadi on the other hand is not like the states at all. First of all, the first game I played in some of the areas of the outfield, the grass was higher than my ankles. For those of you who play sports, you may understand why it is complicated to play any sport in long grass, except maybe golf. The fields have improved over the last few weeks of play. I guess there was shortage of diesel for several weeks and diesel is what powers the lawnmowers. So the grounds have improved, but there is still another problem. The dirt they use for the infield is filled with little pebbles and rocks, which makes sliding into a base very painful!! I have done it once and will not do it again. Another problem is random cats running onto the field, mainly kittens. So we may have to pause a game just to remove the little furballs in order to continue playing. I thought joining the team would be a taste of home, but again it is not. While it is a small taste, Egypt finds a way to put her mark on it. Not meaning in a bad way, only that no matter what you do, Egypt is all around you no matter what you try to do.
Below is some pictures of my jersey.
We have played a total of 8 games so far. I missed the first game because I hadn't heard about it yet. Since then I have played in every game as a full time right/center outfielder. About 5 games in, I pulled muscles in both of my thighs but I was able to pull through it and keep playing. Since then, they have healed and are feeling better. My stats so far for the season is Batting average .500, 8 Runs Batted In and 5 runs scored. The batting average means I have hit successfully 50% of my at bats, which is good for as many at bats as I have had. I had 2 really bad games with no hits at all. I will put monthly updates on the softball league instead of doing one for every game. We are currently 2-6. For my non-baseball friends and family, that is 2 wins and 6 losses. Hope you enjoyed this update, if you want to follow our league here is the website....
http://www.caslegypt.com/index.html.
Playing sports in Maadi on the other hand is not like the states at all. First of all, the first game I played in some of the areas of the outfield, the grass was higher than my ankles. For those of you who play sports, you may understand why it is complicated to play any sport in long grass, except maybe golf. The fields have improved over the last few weeks of play. I guess there was shortage of diesel for several weeks and diesel is what powers the lawnmowers. So the grounds have improved, but there is still another problem. The dirt they use for the infield is filled with little pebbles and rocks, which makes sliding into a base very painful!! I have done it once and will not do it again. Another problem is random cats running onto the field, mainly kittens. So we may have to pause a game just to remove the little furballs in order to continue playing. I thought joining the team would be a taste of home, but again it is not. While it is a small taste, Egypt finds a way to put her mark on it. Not meaning in a bad way, only that no matter what you do, Egypt is all around you no matter what you try to do.
Below is some pictures of my jersey.
We have played a total of 8 games so far. I missed the first game because I hadn't heard about it yet. Since then I have played in every game as a full time right/center outfielder. About 5 games in, I pulled muscles in both of my thighs but I was able to pull through it and keep playing. Since then, they have healed and are feeling better. My stats so far for the season is Batting average .500, 8 Runs Batted In and 5 runs scored. The batting average means I have hit successfully 50% of my at bats, which is good for as many at bats as I have had. I had 2 really bad games with no hits at all. I will put monthly updates on the softball league instead of doing one for every game. We are currently 2-6. For my non-baseball friends and family, that is 2 wins and 6 losses. Hope you enjoyed this update, if you want to follow our league here is the website....
http://www.caslegypt.com/index.html.
No comments:
Post a Comment