Classic Gaming

During a time-killing trip to the local tuck shop for milk yesterday, I stopped to watch some neighborhood kids (Tapelo, Fundzo, and Tsako) playing in the street. It’s a scene I see every day: a bunch of boys clustered around a small pile of bricks. I never really looked closely at what they were playing before. Turns out they’re taking turns trying to flick marbles through the gap between the center bricks.

First shot.

I had been watching for a few minutes when Ngoni, the Muzenda’s eldest son, strolled by. He stopped to join me, amused that I was watching the children’s game. I asked him about the rules, and he mentioned that men also play it — but usually they play for money.

Me: What’s the name of this, anyway?

Ngoni: Ah, people just call it marbles.

Me: Oh, what’s the Tsonga word for that?

Ngoni: says some word I haven’t heard before, that I promptly forget.

Later I pulled out my Tsonga-English dictionary and here’s what it said, with my translation underneath:

Marble: ribye ro saseka

Marble: a rock that is beautiful

Sometimes I get the feeling my dictionary is just making stuff up. I still don’t know if it’s talking about marble the stone, or marble the toy. Talk about phoning it in, either way.

Lining it up.

This isn’t the only old-school, creative game that kids play. Children here  are awesome at entertaining themselves using few resources. Some play a version of jacks with pebbles:

All you need to play.

Primary school learners playing jacks after school.

While others race old tires and bicycle wheels:

This looks so fun!

Champion.

Many boys make toy cars out of wires and bottle caps; I’ll have to get a picture one day because they are ridiculously cool. Many girls play jump-rope games with random ropes and strings. I always enjoy seeing how much fun mileage children here get out of little things they find around. It makes me feel rather silly about the redundant heaps of toys I had growing up.

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