{"id":628,"date":"2015-02-11T15:41:06","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T20:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/?p=628"},"modified":"2015-02-11T16:54:19","modified_gmt":"2015-02-11T21:54:19","slug":"playing-for-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/2015\/02\/11\/playing-for-relationship\/","title":{"rendered":"Playing for relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-628 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/2015\/02\/11\/playing-for-relationship\/downsized-and-landscaped\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/files\/2015\/02\/downsized-and-landscaped-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-658\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-658'>\n\t\t\t\tSome Manj\u00fai men in the Chaco\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/downsized-sign-2\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/files\/2015\/02\/downsized-sign1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-606\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-606'>\n\t\t\t\tBe sure to check out our photos where you can see some more photos of the Chaco Rally!\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/105_0823\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/files\/2015\/02\/105_0823-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>The sweat poured from my face and my heart pounded in my chest as if it were a trapped wild pigeon in a cage. People cheered and dust particles flew up from the cement ground amidst the scuffle of quick feet and commotion. There I stood awkwardly feeling out of place in a context that I was unfamiliar with. I stood between two posts on either side of me, and one across the top near my head. I ventured out a few\u00a0steps and yet cautiously looked over my shoulder to make sure I was still in position. <em><strong>\u201cHere he comes, get ready\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/em> I thought to myself. My muscles tensed, all time seemed to stand still and <em><strong>WHAM!<\/strong><\/em> the ball was smashed into me as if Mike Tyson himself were delivering a body shot to my gut. Everyone shouted and screamed, <em><strong>\u201c\u00a1Arquero!\u201d<\/strong><\/em> (\u201cGoalie\u201d\u2014which is common to yell and say during a game). <em><strong>\u201cWhew, I blocked that one.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> I thought to myself again. <em><strong>\u201cOh wait! I only have four seconds to get rid of the ball!\u201d<\/strong><\/em> I quickly released the ball and gameplay resumed\u2026<\/p>\n<p>My former three year goalie career in middle school (between the ages of 12-14), did nothing to prepare me to play futsal (a lightening version of regular soccer with significant rule changes) with Paraguayans. These guys are faster, have more intelligence about the game, and have some of the quickest shots off the cuff of anyone I\u2019ve ever played with before. Playing arquero is not an easy task for an outsider like me.<\/p>\n<p>Now listen, I\u2019m a sports guy. I\u2019ve always been a sports fan and I hope I\u00a0always will be. There\u2019s something about the excitement of each game that I\u2019ve loved from the time that I can remember. And playing sports? Oh man, don\u2019t get me started! One of the reasons why I love it so much is because you build relationships with people in a completely different way. There\u2019s something about playing alongside someone that bridges a gap and builds a bond much quicker than you otherwise would have. And you don\u2019t even need to use words! That\u2019s been one of the biggest advantages I have in playing soccer with these guys. Because I can say very little, and yet gain ground on a relational level faster than most can sitting down and talking. But sports here in Paraguay are different\u2026<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-628 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/2015\/02\/11\/playing-for-relationship\/downsized-3\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/files\/2015\/02\/downsized-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-632\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-632'>\n\t\t\t\tPlaying volleyball at our church.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/2015\/02\/11\/playing-for-relationship\/soccer-1\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/files\/2015\/02\/soccer-1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-631\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-631'>\n\t\t\t\tMe playing at a community court. Sorry for the poor quality, but this was taken on a cell phone!\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/2015\/02\/11\/playing-for-relationship\/playing-soccer-2\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/files\/2015\/02\/Playing-Soccer-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-630\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-630'>\n\t\t\t\tPeople Matter!\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>In the United States, the word \u201csport\u201d means any number of things ranging from baseball, basketball, football, and track and field, just to name a few. Here in Paraguay, the word \u201csport\u201d is almost synonymous with soccer. Of course there is a high interest in things like volleyball, piki volley (volleyball played ONLY using feet), etc. But soccer is definitely the favorite. Therefore, when you first get to know someone and they ask you if you play sports and you say, \u201cYes.\u201d You\u2019re automatically asked if you\u2019ve ever played soccer. I wish I could have said no (I obviously don\u2019t mean that!)!<\/p>\n<p>Playing soccer here hasn\u2019t been easy for me. First off, my physical qualities don\u2019t necessarily lend to that of a star player like Lionel Messi of Argentina. Secondly, let\u2019s get honest here, I\u2019m slow as molasses! Even playing baseball in High School, the coach would line me up with another slow guy and the whole team would joke about needing sun dials vs. stop watches to clock me! Therefore, whenever someone says, <em><strong>\u201cVamos a jugar futbol mas tarde.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> (\u201cLet\u2019s go play soccer later.\u201d) joy isn\u2019t the first thing that enters my mind. Instead, I normally reply with something witty like,<em><strong> \u201c\u00a1Me encanta futbol Americano!\u201d<\/strong><\/em> (\u201cI love American football!). And thirdly, I\u2019m just not good at the sport. I genuinely enjoy soccer in the sense that I love to watch it, I generally understand what\u2019s taking place, and I even LOVE going over to friends\u2019 houses to watch Club Olimpia play. I want to be good at soccer. But I\u2019m just not!<\/p>\n<p>At any rate, I think it\u2019s safe to say that playing soccer, though difficult, has proven effective and even important to my language study. Why? Because Paraguayans <em><strong>value<\/strong><\/em> the sport of soccer! Having gone through the physical torment of playing in community leagues and church leagues has built new relationships with believers and unbelievers alike. Whenever I see members of the community (all unbelievers who get together and play weekly) that I only know through the \u201cafter work soccer world,\u201d they all refer to me as Arquero. Even at church the next week after playing, three different people referred to me solely as Arquero without using my name.<\/p>\n<p>As I\u2019ve thought about this some more I&#8217;ve come to realize that this is significant. Why? Because I\u2019m not that stereo typical foreigner to them anymore. You know, the guy who shows up for a month or two, never shows in an interest in what they care about and then leaves. In their minds, I\u2019m less of a question mark now. In fact, after playing soccer, I\u2019m more a part of their community in some ways than I ever was before. Because I\u2019ve just taken part in one of the most valued parts of their entire culture without even needing words! At the end of the day, playing soccer with Paraguayans can be hard because of the difference in skill levels. But that doesn\u2019t matter. Because while they\u2019re playing to win, I\u2019m <em><strong>playing for relationship<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The sweat poured from my face and my heart pounded in my chest as if it were a trapped wild pigeon in a cage. People cheered and dust particles flew up from the cement ground amidst the scuffle of quick feet and commotion. There I stood awkwardly feeling out of place in a context that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jared-haynes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}