During lunch recess, with soccer played in a more organized fashion, Bijan and I took to commentating the games. We used many of the names we had assigned to students the previous year. There were some new ones as well. We upgraded our previous year’s window sill seat to a more prestigious looking location. Behind one of the goals was a two-story building previously used for English classes. The ten or twelve steps on the side brought you up to goal/crossbar height and then before the entrance to the building was a terrace filled with old chairs and desks. On this terrace and almost directly above the goal were two columns with enough space in between them to fit two chairs.

We would normally rush back from lunch to make sure we would get our seats. We had become such regulars there that often times other students would intentionally sit close enough to us to overhear our commentating. While at first some of the made up names would sound foreign to them but before long everyone was able to identify all players and their nicknames. Of course not everyone was happy with our antics as some considered it ridicule but at times we still managed to make everyone chuckle. During one game, as the supposed stronger team was a goal down and attacking in waves trying to equalize, the intensity of our commentating matched the action on the field. We rattled off name after name as the ball got closer and closer to us. Finally the team captain feigned one way, passed the ball the other and dashed into the penalty box. With only the keeper in front of him he finally received the return pass and swung at it with all of his might. We weren’t even able to finish our sentences as we barreled over with laughter as we watched his shot from just a few yards out shoot up at an almost 90 degree angle and clear the roof of the building. Even the mostly reserved Khosropanah couldn’t help but laugh at loud at the conclusion of this play.