Yeem-ka Update

With each visit to the YMCA here in East Jerusalem comes new stories and new friends. Over the last few weeks I've come to know a high school kid who exercises at the same time in the afternoon, and on this past Friday I saw him in the (men's) locker room and said Hello. He walked over and asked if I knew how to play volleyball, and I said, "Yes." Of course, I was tempted to add that I had taken Beginning Volleyball as one of my mandatory PE courses at Carolina and proudly earned an A for proficient hitting and teamwork skills, but I kept my answer a simple yes.

It was a four-on-four game, and I'm sorry to say that the other team would have scored low in teamwork skills.

Instead of passing the ball to each other for a higher percentage shot, they came from the school of slapping the ball over as soon as possible. This school has produced very few victories, and my team won all of the games handily. It helped that the other team insisted on serving overhand, as if the underhand serve is wimpy and second-class, even though the overhand serve rarely made it over the net.

After we finished volleyball, a kid from the other team asked if I played ping-pong. "Yes," I said. (Unfortunately, Carolina didn't offer a Beginning Ping-Pong class, which I would definitely have taken. As it was, my other PE class was Beginning Weightlifting, which wasn't exactly life-changing.) This kid had his own paddle, and once I got one from the front desk, we played a few games. I tried to go easy on him, but his ping-pong was as bad as his volleyball. For one thing, he played around his backhand, which may work in tennis, but not so much in ping-pong. He was a nice kid, though, and when we were done, I was happy to have made some new friends at the Y.

My other exciting news is my attempt to learn a new sport: squash. Squash is like racquet ball, except the ball is not blue; it is also smaller and less bouncy. When it comes off the wall, you're lucky to get one good bounce. Since you can't borrow racquets from the YMCA, my friend John and I went halfsies on this one:

At the end of the year, he said he'd buy out my portion (a whopping $25 -- I can't wait!), because I don't want to carry it home. It doesn't matter anyway, because there is a 99.9% chance it will be broken before the end of the year.

The actual purchase of the racquet is itself an interesting story because it is a typical example of how things are bought and sold here. I went to the sporting goods store on Salah ed-Din, where the guy showed me three racquets. The most expensive cost 350 shekels (= $90) and he handed it to me saying, "You should buy this one."
"It is too expensive," I said. "I am only a beginner."
"Yes, but you will be expert with it. Where do you play? Yeem-ka?"
"Yes."
"Everyone is using this racquet."
"I don't think so."
"With it I will give you free balls."
"Hmm," I said. "How many balls?"
"Two. They are 25 shekels. Each one. But for you: free. With this racquet."
"How many free balls with this one?" I asked, reaching for the 195 shekel racquet.
"That one is not as good."
"Yes, but how many balls?"
"None. Not for that racquet."
"OK. Maybe I will come back," I said, walking away.
"Ah. OK. This racquet plus one ball for 200 shekels."
"OK."
"You need a basketball, too?"
"No. This is it."
"Ping-pong?"
"No."
"Band for arm sweat."
"Nothing."
Finally, I paid him, and he thanked me. Now I learned today that my friend, Bob, wants to buy a racquet, so I'm going to take him to my new friend at the sports store. Since I'm a repeat customer, I think we can get him down to 150 for the racquet and the free ball!