Essay 1

Larry TCHOGNINOU

ESL 100

February 26, 2019

The Stadium of Friendship

Three days after moving to a new country, newcomers may feel empty. They miss their home country. I know that situation. When I came to Chicago from Benin, I was really depressed. All things here made me sad, and I needed to go back to my country. Thus, I forgot how to enjoy life. However something saved me in that moment of depression: remembering “Stade de l’Amitié”. In fact, it is a big stadium in Cotonou, Benin. That place has a plaza, a lot of soccer fields, basketball courts and restaurants. That stadium was certainly the most important place of my life in Benin. I spent many of afternoons there with my friends. Chicago is different and not easy for me, but thinking about my favorite stadium helps me.

Foremost, playing soccer in Stade de l’Amitié was one of the best experiences of my life. There a lot of field and people to play with. My friends and I loved that sport. In Chicago, young people prefer basketball and football, which are very different. Sometimes Chicagoans play soccer but not how I like it to play. In addition, in Benin the fields are not synthetic grass. My friends and I played on the sand, without shoes. That feeling was incredible. I felt the ground, the ball and all the elements of the place. My body became one with the stadium. It was like a symbiosis. In addition, the game became more interesting when it started raining. We felt the water on our bodies. The heat of the long days disappeared with the rain. My friends and I stayed there until the end of the rain. We have a relationship with the nature. In Chicago, when it starts raining during the game, people start to go home. I never understand why. Maybe they was scared of getting wet.

After playing, friends and I were sometimes hungry my. As a result, we bought food in the stadium. In my country, there is not many fast food. In a big city like Chicago, people need to go to find a place to eat like a worker going to take his salary. In Benin, the food comes to you. Women called “Noussato” sold food. They had a big basket on their head. We called them, and said we need some Adowè. It was a delicious food from Benin. They made it with black beans and we ate it with bread. The bread is crispy, the beans juicy and the tomato sauce tasty. It is one of my favorite food. People could find Adowè everywhere in Cotonou. However, the Adowè of the stadium was really different. I preferred that Adowè than my Mom’s. It is also organic and fresh food. People made it with safe and durable ingredients. It is different of Americans fast-food Burger’s with GMO. I think that miss the found of the stadium.

Lastly, Stade de l’amitié was the place where all friendships began. The first day of new semester, when everybody was shy, an afternoon in stade de l’amitié helped each person of my classroom become friends. People felt better there. They played soccer, talked, told stories and became friends for life. There, I met Levis, Lewis, Lerys, Jerry and bunch of people. They are my best friends, and we are still friends today. The stadium had a mysterious capacity to connect people like a colony of bugs turning around a light. We all formed a community of young kids that loved sports and joking. In Chicago, I think it is hard to have sincere friend without school. I can go to a bar or clubs.  However I don’t really like it. Some people are in their box. In fact I need to do a big effort to approach them. As a result, I just stay at home and live my life alone.

In conclusion, I can say that since I came in Chicago my life really has changed. I walk alone, take bus alone and play alone. When I am really depressed, I think about the amazing afternoons in Stade de l’Amitié and that gives me a smile. I am dreaming about going back to Benin for vacation. That will make me happy. If I go back in Benin, I will go to search for  my friends in Stade de l’Amitié, and I am sure that I will feel better. I will figure out my roots and all the things that make the person that I am today. That is what I need.