I never thought skating was quite a job until i was in the shoes last sunday. The only game in my childhood that would come close to skating is what we used to call "mtelezo"(sliding on slippery mud barefeet). The difference is that we used to slide barefeet because then you move so fast without friction and a little water acted as the lubricant. However in a country like Norway where you have snow and sometimes you might mistake it for manna (at least from the movies), you can't slide bare feet- you will freeze, therefore there are special boots for the purpose.
Caro (Team mate) being helped to put on the skating boots. All this time i was waiting for mine to be sharpened(the blade below the shoe) and you can be sure i was dying to get into the field. Is seemed so easy for the Norwegians on the field and i thought i would being sliding like magic when i get in.
Immediately i got my boots i was so eager to be in the field and use my childhood mtelezo experience. The difference being that i had boots and it was not mud but ice. Although i convinced my self that i could maintain balance and that i needed no help, that was yet to be proved.
As you can see here, this was my first moment in the field. Instead of standing still (Like Caro) i lost my balance and as though i had dropped it to the ground i had to look for it.
Well, i managed to get my balance now i was ready to do my first lap round the field on skates. But was i do it a lone? Elli one of my bible study member dicided that it would be disastrous letting me by myself. Therefore she had to hold me close as she taught me how to do it. Hold your balance, then make a small step to the right and a small step to the left alternatingly She explained. Now let's go Leeeeft......Riiiiiiggght, Leeeeeft.....Riiiight honestly i felt like a toddler who had to be taught how to write the alphabets. Anyway patience pays and i am grateful she was hold me. For there were a number of times i would have fell very bad on the hard ice and i don't know what would have happened.
On the other side Caro was being helped by my room mate(Vegard) and she did quite good.
After two rounds of being toodled i decided that i was grown enough to be let go. So i embarked on the first lap without support. Men, it isn't an easy thing especially when this form of excercise is foreign(Exotic) to the muscles.
Before i went out i was told that falling was inevitable, though i was a little scared i developed the courage of peter when he asked Jesus if he could come to Him walking on water. It was a risk but worth trying. I was impressed by my skill until the first quarter of the field, then my boots slide backwards instead of forward making me land on my stomach. Falling is not bad you only have to fall intelligently and land on the part of your body with generous proportions of flesh. By the time i was finishing my first round i had registered three falls.
My confidence grew and it became interesting after every successfully completed round. Thhe team got tired and it was time for a break-Hot kakao, chocolate, mandarin and banana break.
The break was really timely. I was very tired from the swinging and dancing of an amateur skater, but i kept wondering why the break was taking so long. We should be back into the field and do as many rounds as possible.
Finaly we got back to the field so that i could register more falls. I kept falling intelligently except for one that made me feel some pain. I fell on my back and landed on the side of my sitting apparatus- that wasn't so good but i managed to collect myself up and finished the last round having registered Six falls in total (In the Bible a rigtheous man falls seven times). That was a very fantastic day and one of the days i wish to remember " on the skating boots"
I hope we look like skaters do we?. See you next time although i don't see you now!!!.
