Judo (and Food-oh!)

The heart and soul of cultures have many external faces.  From foods, to celebrations, to recreation.  Sports, being one of those faces, has a unique appeal to many people here.  It's the only country I know of where volleyball seems more popular than soccer.  Recently as a part of our NGO work, we funded a Judo tournament for the village.  Approximately 60 kids, ages 7-17 came to test their talents.  Judo is a sport that people here thrive in, even on an Olympic level.

Despite the sub-freezing temperatures inside the gym, a four-hour power outage, and crowds that could hardly fit in the space provided, it turned out to be an amazing event.

Here are some pictures:

Facing off.

Lunch for the organizers.  Amazingly tasty.

Osh!  Notice the garlic bulb. Oh so Yum!

Exciting.

Judo is centered around throwing moves.

I had the honor of giving out some of the medals.

A good day to get to know faces in the community.  People
have already come up to me since, saying they'd seen me there.
I mean, do I really stick out that much? :)