Waka waka for Dhaka

A brief timeline of my introduction on Friday to the wild world of (Jimeny) Cricket. 

2PM: The opening match of the 2012 world cup, which we are hosting, opens with the India-Bangladesh match.  I am still in my office industriously working away.

2:20PM: I get kicked out of the office because the support staff that can’t leave until I leave want to watch the game.

5PM: I get myself to a coffee shop to watch my first ever cricket game.  I can’t even figure out what the score is!  Or how one scores. . . .

5:15: I determine that we are down by 250 (it says: India 250, 2).  That seems bad.  People keep yelling “this game is fixed!!!  I can’t believe it!!”  I’m still not sure how one scores, except that  “home run” seems to result in 6 points.

6:00: My friend arrives and gives me the 2-minute explanation of cricket.  I’m relieved to learn that we haven’t had our turn at bat yet.  Turns out that “2” in the score is actually the number of wickets (which I think is a funny word.  And never really understand what it means or why one would say “sticky wicket”.  But I do anyway).

7:40: Half-time!  We are now down by something like 367 (hard to keep track).  I learn that the Netherlands are in the Cricket World Cup, which seems pretty random given that the rest of the countries seem to have a British flavor.  Maybe South Africa is the connection?

8:20: My stomach is grumbling and despite the fact that the crowd now seems happier (we’re on offense for the next 3 hours, I can see why!), 200 more points seems like a lot to wait.  I head home and get a cup of tea on the way.

10:10: I eat dinner.  The game has not ended.

8AM:  I see the morning news and learn that we lost by 87.  In the history of the game, we are 21-2 with India.    Indian papers are full of glory today.  People here are sticking to the green and red jerseys.  I’m in my red pants for solidarity (the red/green on my feels very Christmas-y, although others pull it off quite well).

I think I’m going to stick to basketball.  I don’t have the endurance to be a cricket fan.  But I think I get a point on the acuity scale for trying.

Tonight: decided to take a break from Bengali food and have. . . .Indian food.  Hoping for dosa!  And maybe gelato if I play my cards right!

Also--article in the NYT mentioned BRAC's TB program.  Raising the bar for what I have to write. . . .