I don't think it's a Latin American phenomenon...
I'm talking about the neighborhood court...
I am not sure that it is imported either...
I believe that it is the natural consequence of a badly planned system...
The cancha is an important part of the ecosystem of the neighborhood, it is like the watering troughs of the zerengueti,
You can stand there in a 24-hour cycle and you're going to have tragedy, drama, a lot of action and also comedy...
Starting from the morning where the local homeless people stop by...
Meeting us passers-by on our way to our terrible jobs as we walk along...
Always being careful not to step on one of the dumplings that at night some homeless person has left us, or maybe it belongs to one of the respectable neighbors of the neighborhood]....
I don't know, the truth is that they are always there, and with their aroma they always remind us of the reality of our community...
At midday after lunch it is time for the children... the few that their mothers risk giving permission to go there... and many others whose mothers don't know where they are, or don't care...
And that's the sign that you've arrived in the neighborhood and things are rough....
If you see a child in the street unsupervised and dressed in rags, congratulations, you've arrived in the neighborhood.
The irony is that no matter how careless he is you dare not touch him....
Because woe betide a mother who's a fright
Out of nowhere appears attacking you with a jumping kick....
But it's in the afternoon where things get more interesting... the adults start to arrive...
Many are genuinely going for sport...
Others go to sell or consume the last cut...
And it is that in the economy of the neighborhood the court is very important....
I believe that more than one jibaro has died for the control of that plaza....
I believe that if taxes were charged for all the businesses that take place in it,
It would be enough to give a roof over the heads of all those who have no home...
Or maybe it would be enough to give the mayor a new Ferrari...
But I find it very difficult to ask a jibaro to give you a bill...
And as the afternoon progresses... the hardcore chirretes start to appear...
They come and go, and they are quite a sight....
You never know what they're going to come out with, whether it's talking to a pole or wanting to bite a cat....
They're champions of abstract thinking
And trying to make sense of the things they do or say would require at least making a pact with the devil....
As the evening progresses and it gets dark, there may be a fight or two... and it's not too hard to see a stabbing....
And once in a while there may be a last-minute change of administration, executed with the subtlety of a hitman...
But nothing stops life in the neighborhood...
And as an important part of it, the show can't stop on the court...
At nightfall there may still be some soldiers guarding the square, but it becomes dangerous to move around...
You never know who is going to be a victim of delinquency...
You come home from work tired, because this one is not interested in you
On the contrary, it makes you the best prey
Maybe you come with what you did during the day...
Or at least you can't resist because of lack of energy
Danger lurks in every dark corner and nook...
Making graffiti and bizarre drawings on the walls look like an ineffective warning....
But as we all have to get on with our lives... the court will always be an active part of it, an ecosystem within a larger ecosystem...
Where the drama of life is constant...
And the politicians every day make more courts... as if that was something too important...
Sport is not only encouraged with places to practice it, it also requires education and art...
But who explains that to people whose only banner is robbery?
Anyway, I should stop complaining...