Page - 49 - in Hanadi & Christian - English

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 49 “And do we have to follow a ritual when we eat it too? How long is this explanation going to take? I’m getting really hungry and to keep my soul calm I vote to start eating!” We all laugh at José’s little joke. Episode 12: To buy or not to buy, that is the question A few days after Mohamed’s birthday I went to the sports center, where I knew I would find most of my teammates. “Hi. What are you doing? Shall we play a match?” I ask. “Okay, I want to try out my new football boots.” says Mohamed. “Well, if they are Zike, they are rubbish.” says Juan Carlos, who uses every opportunity to shoot off his mouth and bother us. He never really accepted having to share the courts. “And how would you know? You’ve never had a pair.” I answer. “What do you mean? My brother had a pair and they didn’t last a month. Those boots are rubbish; all Zike shoes are useless. And they are really expensive.” says Juan Carlos. “Just because a pair of Zikes didn’t work out right, that doesn’t mean they are all rubbish.” I say. After one year I think I have caught onto the way Elena and Bochdan speak. “Don’t you think that if they are so well known, they must be good? If everybody buys them, does that mean that everyone is stu- pid for buying rubbish shoes?” says Bochdan, as if he knew that I was thinking about him. Hanadi says “Well, I am not sure if they are well made, but my father told me they’re made in India or Pakistan in factories where kids our age work. They have no training or experience and they are very badly paid. In fact, they are exploited!” “And we are accomplices right?” says José. “I don’t think it’s that bad. And anyway, if we buy the shoes, the kids and their fami- lies get money and then they can buy food, right? They also have the right to eat.”