What kids do here…

There really isn’t any place for kids to play in the old city, no good fields or open spaces to speak of. So they play in the streets and alleys. It usually involves some combo of a ball, rocks, various pieces of garbage, and lots and lots of yelling. Soccer is of course the most popular sport of course, so whenever there is a group of kids and a ball, a game usually breaks out. Strangely enough, the ball is ALWAYS slightly deflated. I had always assumed that it was a poverty related thing, but it might have more to do with playing in an alleyway. Maybe it makes for a better game if the ball doesn’t come off the wall so hard…

I have also seen kids playing marbles. I’ve never actually seen this in person before, it had always been in the movies or TV shows. The kids draw a circle with chalk on some relatively even pavement and then try to knock marbles out of the circle. I haven’t seen any of them with “shooters”, they just use regular marbles to hit the other ones. Another difference is that I don’t think they play “for keeps”, that would be a little too much like gambling. Let’s see, if we go by the marble measure, it means that kids in Yemen today are at about a level with kids in the US in 1950 or so… Not sure how accurate that is, but I think it’s about right…

The kids here seem to be very fond of dragging things on the ground. If they find some string or rope, they inevitably tie it around some refuse and pull it behind them. I have no idea what that’s about. I’ve also seen a fair number playing with broken parts of strollers or kid’s bikes. The most prized part is a shaft with a working wheel on an axle. They push this in front of them for hours. I guess imagination is a kid’s best friend all over the world.

Isaac

yemen middle east kids