There is an 9 hour difference between here and Arizona. The first day we finally go to shower and catch up on sleep a bit. When you have been traveling for 2 days and have long layovers in several cities, it is amazing that a shower is what makes all the difference. We got up and went to a picnic with all of Marco's friends. We played an hour of soccer.. the teams were a bit skewed as Cammi and I's team lost... We stopped for a while to eat.. And that is where we realized that we didn't have any food.. All three American's were not worried but the South Afrikan, Marco was a bit distressed. There were 25 other people there and as soon as we sat down, they shoved food in our face... in a good way ;-). Everybody shared everything that they had. There was no talk of money or paying back. It was very chill and honestly, it is what caught us off guard. First of all, in the states, I feel like when you do something for someone, people keep score or tally what is owed. It was not the case. South Afrika has much more of a community feel than the US. I mean, honestly, when is the last time you went to a park and had a picnic and played a game of pickup whatever. It was such an awesome feeling. People here I feel are much more open and inviting than back home. People want to share. Everybody brings stuff and if you forget to bring something, it really bothers them that they didn't. As opposed to the states, we are much more possession oriented. We like what is ours and don't like other people taking what is "Mine."
We had a blast with all the our new friends we met. In fact, later that night before the Bafana Bafana game, we played a couple of group games that were very fun. We played a game called 30 seconds which is a combination of charades, taboo, pictionary, and hand puppets. It was a blast. Then the Amerikans stepped in and taught them the classic game of spoons. If you don't know how to play, you aren't a true Amerikan... jk. It is a game where intensity, sacrifice, and passion is encouraged, required, and necessary for success. Needless to say that there were a few injuries! Your's truly placed 1st and 3rd and now has a broken arm... jk... We left the flatt and went to the fan park called sandton for the Bafana Bafana game. We arrived and there was at least 5000 fans/people from all over the world. Dan and I immediately started taking pictures with anyone that wanted to take one! There was air of celebration! The South Afrikans were so proud to be hosting the first Afrikan World Cup. Fans were cheering, dancing, singing, blowing the vuvuzelas, waving flags, sharing drinks... Just celebrating! It was an amazing feeling. "Ke Nako" means "It is Here" and yes.. It was. There was only 2 things wrong with the night... It was balls cold... 25 degrees in fact. And the Bafana Bafana team could not score a goal to save their lives and lost 3-0 to the dismay and tears of the crowd. Other than that, it was amazing!!!
The feeling of a World Cup. The Aura of the greats past. The rising of the new. The tears of joy... The tears of pain. The pride of playing for ones country. The shame in failing. Incredible
Friday, June 18, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
South Afrika... Round 2!
Today was our first day in South Afrika... Before we even landed, all the stewardesses had Bafana Bafana jersey's on (South Afrikan Jersey's) and the plane was filled with people who had tickets to see the world cup! After we got through customs, it was an obvious and exciting feeling in the airport as the vuvuzelas were going and jerseys from every country were being represented. I came to South Afrika with my sister, cammi, as well as my friend Dan. Dan and I immediately went to work taking pictures with different groups of people from different countries. Chants and songs and banter on who's country was better, this was going to be a crazy time.
The culture is very different than the US's culture. As soon as we got off the plane, we heard the South Afrikan accent, all the businesses were different, the food, and the currency. Everything is totally new and exciting. I had actually lived in South Afrika for 11 months before this, but to the first time visitor, it would be a bit of a shock. In South Afrika, the food serving sizes are much smaller compared to the US. The coke is much sweeter and much less carbonated. The cars are smaller and easier on the gas. All the mileage is actually in kilometers and the gallons are in liters. Milk is sold in a orange plastic. The trunk of a car is called the boot. Houses are called flatts. Stop lights are called Robots. The pizza is terrible. HD TV just got here. The differences in speech came crashing back as as well. I heard a lot of the lingo I had learned previously. For example, when you ask "Whats up?" is actually "Howzit?" and to respond (if you are white) you say lakker or (if you are black) you would say "sharp sharp" (but it sounds like shop shop). It is balls cold and there are no heaters! The internet is bought through airtime and is very limited.
We got picked up by a couple of my friends who are brothers, Marco and Dino. Dino actually plays professionally with a PSL team (MLS) called the Platinum Stars. One cool thing that he recently got to do was play against the English National Team. He stopped one of Rooney's shots! (But also got scored on by Rooney off a sick volley and by a breakaway to Joe Cole!) We had lunch and were exhausted from the flight so we went back and just caught up and watched some footie... It is awesome being back! more to come soon... and hopefully some more thought from Dan and Cammi...
The culture is very different than the US's culture. As soon as we got off the plane, we heard the South Afrikan accent, all the businesses were different, the food, and the currency. Everything is totally new and exciting. I had actually lived in South Afrika for 11 months before this, but to the first time visitor, it would be a bit of a shock. In South Afrika, the food serving sizes are much smaller compared to the US. The coke is much sweeter and much less carbonated. The cars are smaller and easier on the gas. All the mileage is actually in kilometers and the gallons are in liters. Milk is sold in a orange plastic. The trunk of a car is called the boot. Houses are called flatts. Stop lights are called Robots. The pizza is terrible. HD TV just got here. The differences in speech came crashing back as as well. I heard a lot of the lingo I had learned previously. For example, when you ask "Whats up?" is actually "Howzit?" and to respond (if you are white) you say lakker or (if you are black) you would say "sharp sharp" (but it sounds like shop shop). It is balls cold and there are no heaters! The internet is bought through airtime and is very limited.
We got picked up by a couple of my friends who are brothers, Marco and Dino. Dino actually plays professionally with a PSL team (MLS) called the Platinum Stars. One cool thing that he recently got to do was play against the English National Team. He stopped one of Rooney's shots! (But also got scored on by Rooney off a sick volley and by a breakaway to Joe Cole!) We had lunch and were exhausted from the flight so we went back and just caught up and watched some footie... It is awesome being back! more to come soon... and hopefully some more thought from Dan and Cammi...
Build out of the Back...
So the first couple of days getting to afrika were a little crazy... I need to start 2 weeks before in order to build it up a little...
2 weeks ago, life was crazy running around arizona trying to put together 3 teams and get ready for my other part time job.. ironically the hardest one were the older boys. haha normally im chasing senior girls around for my womens college team trying to get them to come to the campus and check it out, but this time it was a little weird chasing junior boys around trying to get them to play on a good team! it was exhausting trying to figure out the age group and all the players in less than 3 weeks.. the crazy part was I had to get everything done and settled before I went to a coaching class in Rome, GA...
A week ago, I did soccer for 8-10 hours a day for 9 days straight.. i am a soccer junkie and that was even a lot for me.. haha it almost took away my ability to sit and watch the world cup without psycho analyzing the game! but it was a lot of fun and really cool to meet people from all over the world who have that same passion for the game, playing, and coaching. I got through it and am pretty sure I got my C license which is a good step career wise for me.. but it was exhausting mentally and physically because of all the training/playing/homework we had to do..
Finally, got done with the coaching class and headed for the airport.. got ready to take off for a short layover in philly and then head to new york only to sit on the runway for an hour because of a delay. Then after we finally took off, we had to fly around philly for a while because of the storms. In fact, on the landing, it felt like I was in a fighter jet flying in and around the storms to land! I got off and already knew I missed my flight and had to get a new one quickly.. philly is probably the worst airport ever in terms of service and organization. US Airways sucked too because I sat in the customer service line for over an hour missing two potential flights. There were 3 agents working and when I got to the front, 2 of the 3 went on break at the same time with a line of 20 people behind me. Finally, I got a ticket and "confirmed" for a flight at 830 which got moved to 930 which got moved to 1010 then to 1030 then finally took off at 1130. I landed around 6 and sat in philly for about 5 hours in a frenzy trying to make sure I didnt miss my South Afrika.. I got to new york about 1215 and got to JFK about 130. Got 4 hours of sleep and got checked into the South Afrika flight. luckily, there was the dutch game going on. My favorite part and I will leave you with this was when John Harkes said that "the Dutch were putting a lesson into how to play 5v2." already adventures getting here... this is gonna be a crazy trip..
2 weeks ago, life was crazy running around arizona trying to put together 3 teams and get ready for my other part time job.. ironically the hardest one were the older boys. haha normally im chasing senior girls around for my womens college team trying to get them to come to the campus and check it out, but this time it was a little weird chasing junior boys around trying to get them to play on a good team! it was exhausting trying to figure out the age group and all the players in less than 3 weeks.. the crazy part was I had to get everything done and settled before I went to a coaching class in Rome, GA...
A week ago, I did soccer for 8-10 hours a day for 9 days straight.. i am a soccer junkie and that was even a lot for me.. haha it almost took away my ability to sit and watch the world cup without psycho analyzing the game! but it was a lot of fun and really cool to meet people from all over the world who have that same passion for the game, playing, and coaching. I got through it and am pretty sure I got my C license which is a good step career wise for me.. but it was exhausting mentally and physically because of all the training/playing/homework we had to do..
Finally, got done with the coaching class and headed for the airport.. got ready to take off for a short layover in philly and then head to new york only to sit on the runway for an hour because of a delay. Then after we finally took off, we had to fly around philly for a while because of the storms. In fact, on the landing, it felt like I was in a fighter jet flying in and around the storms to land! I got off and already knew I missed my flight and had to get a new one quickly.. philly is probably the worst airport ever in terms of service and organization. US Airways sucked too because I sat in the customer service line for over an hour missing two potential flights. There were 3 agents working and when I got to the front, 2 of the 3 went on break at the same time with a line of 20 people behind me. Finally, I got a ticket and "confirmed" for a flight at 830 which got moved to 930 which got moved to 1010 then to 1030 then finally took off at 1130. I landed around 6 and sat in philly for about 5 hours in a frenzy trying to make sure I didnt miss my South Afrika.. I got to new york about 1215 and got to JFK about 130. Got 4 hours of sleep and got checked into the South Afrika flight. luckily, there was the dutch game going on. My favorite part and I will leave you with this was when John Harkes said that "the Dutch were putting a lesson into how to play 5v2." already adventures getting here... this is gonna be a crazy trip..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)