How to know you're at a soccer game in Senegal

For the past two nights in a row I’ve gone to the big stadium in Dakar to watch soccer games. I have complied a list of events that indicate that you are at a typical soccer game in Dakar:

1. The lights go out mid-match.

2. Women are selling plastic baggies filled with water or ice cream. To consume the contents of the bag you have to bite the end off to the bag and suck on the plastic.

3. Teams do not necessarily have water bottles, those without use above mentioned bags and litter than on the field. I am pretty sure a player slipped on a plastic bag during the game.

4. A fight breaks out in the stadium because of a spiritual fetish. The goal-keeper of one team had a gris-gris or amulet to protect the goal and insure that noone scored. When the lights went out people in the stadium rush the field and try to steal the gris-gris. A big fight erupts on the field and the gendarmes, who are present to keep the peace, run to break it up. They unabashedly beat people with their batons and escort whomever they can catch off the field.

5. A player gets hurt on the field and medics wait to see the seriousness of it then out they run with a backboard to take the player off the field. After the player is off the field he, without fail, rolls off the backboard and sits up.

6. There is a male to female ratio of 50:1.

7. There are fans playing the drums throughout the entire match keeping the mood up and rowdy.

8. Brothers who live in the same house are on different teams even though the teams are split up by where you live. It just doesn’t make sense.

9. When you go with your host brother he introduces you as his wife and says your name is Ruby.