Sport Event

I think my life is crazy sometimes. Monday night I was sick in bed, and then Tuesday night I was sharing a king size bed with a lady whom I just met….

The Union where I work was organizing this big national sports championship in other region, and I was originally committed to go with office staff and executives. Although I was not 100% myself on Tuesday, I decided still to go on this trip. The event was held in Region 6, and we stayed in a city called New Amsterdam. I got a ride with one central officer along with a few other administrative assistants. It was a comfortable two hour drive until we got to the ferry port. They were supposed to have this document of priority crossing, since this was an official event partly organized by the government. However, they did not coordinate the document well, so we had to wait in line over 3 hours to cross this not-so-big river. We left Georgetown at 3:30 and didn’t get in until 9:30. I stayed in a hotel with two office ladies and a female teacher (and I had to share a bed with her.)

The sport event itself was nice. There were several districts across the country, competing in track and field, cycling etc. Kids from primary and secondary schools were participating. It started with Opening Ceremony where there were Christian, Hindu and Muslim prayers (!) and a couple of speeches. I saw Prime Minister of Guyana! The children were running in a very hot sun, and girl athletes were passing out one after another after completing their run. Despite the weather and running bare footed, they were quite impressive. I think in Guyana where the education system is poorly managed and the quality is questionable, even when athletes have potential, they may not have opportunities to further develop their athletic ability. I thought of my father, who is a track and field coach in Japan, and he would love to watch things like this. I saw a VSO who works in the area at the event, so I spent almost the whole day with her and had a nice chat.

People were trying to convince me to stay until the end of the event, which was Friday. I was so tired and wanted to do some work, so I took a minibus on my own and came back.

時々、なんて私の生活はクレイジーなんだろうと思います。月曜の晩は食中毒で寝ていたと思えば、火曜日には初めてあった人とキングサイズのベッドで並んで寝ていました。

私の仕事先である組合が大規模な体育会を催すということで、私もそれに同行するになっていました。火曜日は体調がまだ今ひとつだったけど、思い切って行くことに。これは６の地方で行われており、私達はニューアムステルダムという町に滞在しました。私は事務員数名と一緒に組合委員の人の車に便乗。2時間のドライブは快適だったけど、それはフェリーの港に着くまでの話。このイベントは政府も関与している公のイベントなので、私達は優先的にフェリーで川を渡られるはずでした。でも書類の不備か何かで、結局3時間以上待たされ、3時半にジョージタウンを出発したのに9時半まで到着しなかった。事務員の女性２人と教師、私、合計女性4人で同じホテルの部屋が割り当てられ、私はこの先生と並んで寝たわけです。

陸上競技会自体はとても楽しめました。参加者はガイアナ全土の地域から選りすぐられた小学生から高校までの生徒達で、陸上競技、競輪などで競い合うます。開会式はキリスト教、ヒンズー教、イスラム教のお祈りから始まり、主賓のスピーチなどがありました。そこでガイアナの首相を初めてまじかで見ました！

子供たちは炎天下で競技していて、特に長距離の後は女の子がバタバタとゴール後に倒れていました。この暑さと皆裸足で走っていることも考慮に入れたら、選手のレベルは低くないんだろうと思いす。でも教育制度、教育の質の整っていないこの国では、良い選手の素質はあっても残念ながらそれを伸ばす機会はあまりないのでしょう。競技を見ながら、陸上のコーチをしている私の日本の父親は喜んで観戦するだろうなと考えたりもしました。たまたま周辺のエリアで働いているの女性も来ていたので、彼女と話したりして楽しく一日過ごしました。

金曜日まである大会の最後まで滞在するように皆勧めてくれたけど、体調もいまいちで終わらせたい仕事もあったので一人でミニバスに乗って木曜日に帰ってきました。