Night in Tunisia

marbles in the road

Every day that I head on into AMIDEast to teach my English courses I pass a group of four or five young boys playing marbles. A lost art? Certainly not so in Tunisia.

In any district, from the richest to the poorest, they can be found focussed with knuckles in the dirt and huddling around a dirt marble pitch. Eyes intent and totally sucked into their micro-world, their knees are dirty, their hands caress the marbles' surface, their talk is animated, and they play the game.

It's incredible to me coming out of Canada and our pre-fab existence. The magic of the tiny crystal in this world evokes Bradbury's world of Dandelion Wine and its endless days of summer. I cling to it, and I hope never to lose it.

posted by Loren @ 3:56 p.m.