Walking up a back street in Dushanbe on the way to the Hostel I came across these girls playing “elastics“.
It made my heart absolutely sing to watch them 🙂 I have such fond memories of playing this game back in primary school – we were totally obsessed with it! It seems things have not changed in over 30 years, and it is not just an Australian thing (I didn’t actually realise it originated in China).
If you aren’t familiar with the game – watch this YouTube video, which demonstrates/explains it quite well. I remember we had heaps of different routines, though can’t for the life of me remember any of the details.
The other reason it made my heart soar – it is so rare these days in developed nations to see kids outside playing without any electronics in sight. However, along the Silk Road, and in much of Latin America where I traveled last year, this is far more common and, in my opinion, much healthier. I’d like to believe that we’ll return to this mode of play one day soon…
