During the past few months, I have been mistaken for the same famous person on two separate occasions. Both times it was by kids, but it was in two different locations, once in Tera and once in Niamey. The first time, in Tera, I heard two little boys in the street arguing about my identity as I walked by. One said I was the famous person. The other one said, "No way." So, they asked me, "Are you ______?" To throw them off, I said, "Yes." (All this conversation was in Songhai, by the way.) The first little boy turned to the second and said, "See, I told you."
The next time it happened, I was running in Niamey, and I a heard a young boy yell out to me using the famous person's name as I ran by.
Now, who is the famous person, you ask? His name is Zinedine Zidane, one of the most famous footballers in the world. For those of you Americans who are not up on the world sport of football (or soccer as it's called in America), you may not have hear of Zizou, as he is affectionately called in France. He is one of the greatest footballers of all time. He led France to a FIFA World Cup victory in 1998 and has played for European teams for many years. This past year during the final of the World Cup in which France challenged Italy, Zizou committed an unpardonable foul by butting one of the opposing Itialian players with his head in the last minutes of overtime. He was red carded and some believe he lost the cup for France. Be that as it may, he still won the most valuable player of the tournament award. He is getting old for the sport now (he will turn 35 this year), but he is still recognized as one of the world's top players.
But the weird thing is that he bears a striking resemblance to me. Or at least s
ome kids think so at first glance. What do you think?
The next time it happened, I was running in Niamey, and I a heard a young boy yell out to me using the famous person's name as I ran by.
Now, who is the famous person, you ask? His name is Zinedine Zidane, one of the most famous footballers in the world. For those of you Americans who are not up on the world sport of football (or soccer as it's called in America), you may not have hear of Zizou, as he is affectionately called in France. He is one of the greatest footballers of all time. He led France to a FIFA World Cup victory in 1998 and has played for European teams for many years. This past year during the final of the World Cup in which France challenged Italy, Zizou committed an unpardonable foul by butting one of the opposing Itialian players with his head in the last minutes of overtime. He was red carded and some believe he lost the cup for France. Be that as it may, he still won the most valuable player of the tournament award. He is getting old for the sport now (he will turn 35 this year), but he is still recognized as one of the world's top players.
But the weird thing is that he bears a striking resemblance to me. Or at least s
ome kids think so at first glance. What do you think?
1 comment:
Well, you look like a famous man, if one uses plenty of imagination. Funny! Loved your explanation and photos of harmattan. Good stuff.
Carol (I have to sign in as anonymous because blogspot has my account all mixed up.)
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