Volleyball.... Water is to a fish as volleyball is to Samoa.

I just wanted to write a quick post about volleyball since this is what I have spent the majority of my time doing over the last two weeks. Before I came to Samoa, I enjoyed volleyball about as much as the next guy-- a pick up game at church here or there is fun, but that was about the extent of my love or appreciation for the game. However, after just a few months here, I am not what one might call a "volleyball freak!" I love it!! If a day goes by without playing (which only happens on Sundays or days where I'm traveling) I resemble a drug addict who has just ran out of their stash. It's very scary.

Everyday, except the Sabbath, there is a least three games of volley going on at any given time in my village. Around 5:00 however, that's when it gets serious. Every court in the village is occupied by intense players. There is generally 6 players on each side, they play to 15, and then which ever team loses gets kicked off by the next 6 people ready to play.  Everyone in the village plays volleyball. Including, toddlers, teenagers, and 80 year old women (this is not a joke).  It's a very serious thing. Also, most of the people in Samoa would put people on college teams in the US to shame (this may be an exaggeration, but they are pretty freakin awesome!).

Some of my favorite things about volley are that whenever someone makes a mistake, everyone yells at the person, even if they just made the same mistake (or a different mistake) 2 seconds before. This starts from a young age, for example my 5 year old neighbor says this to me when I mistake. And she only makes it over the net a little more than I do.  I also really love how when the ball goes out of bounds everyone sits down or runs to the shade while they wait for someone to go get the ball and bring it back to the game.  I pretty much love everything about volleyball, but I love most that no one gets tired even after they have been playing it for 6 hours (which is the case during the holidays because of the tournaments). Its my favorite thing about samoa!