Differences... Day 2

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

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...

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..

Build out of the back...

There is a guy in my C License class that just does not get it. We were talking about team management in certain situations. My group that included this guy (who ironically was named uncle kellar by some of the other guys in the class just to piss me off). He is a super nice guy but just has never played the game and just doesn’t get it. Basically, we had to make up scenarios where our team was playing in a tournament in another state and had games at 9-am and 2=pm. We had to talk about what we would do at halftime for the 9-am game. I give the scenario that we are up 2-0 at half and have to do certain things to keep the lead to give us a great start going into the next game. He cuts me off and says.. NO NO NO, we need to talk about oranges and gummy bears and... we were in shock! what is this guy talking about! This guy is a riot.. he doesnt have a clue but is one of those overzealous dads who just tries too hard..

Anyways, the real thing that i wanted to talk about is Football. Im talking the real football that everyone else in the world plays. In this class that I am taking, emotions run high, people from all over the world are in it, everyone has a different style and everyone is worried about not passing this class. I don’t want to get cocky but from what I have seen, I believe I am at least in the top half.. we went through a long hard day of nothing but football. We had 2 classroom sessions intermixed in with 4 field sessions. After that, we were all tired... sore... cranky... and what do we do? we play! But what amazed me was the mix of people and how all of a sudden, people who were jacks during the day transformed and became part of our team. Soccer is a passion, a love, an obsession. It is easy to be drawn into it and fall in love. Go to a World Cup and you will know what I am talking about. Soccer is something that transcends countries, races, genders. It doesnt care if you are gay, black, white, male or female. It is amazing to me how the game of soccer is such a universal language and brings people together. I mean, if you get down to it, it is a retarded game. The purpose is to stick a little white circle in a big white rectangle. However, the passion that is shown and the glory that it brings is priceless. And the relationships made all the while could have more of an impact on someone's life than you know..

Moral of the Story: Get stuck in

Strong and Courageous

Currently, I am sitting in a bedroom with a complete stranger.. Objective is last man standing.. oh wait.. We are both in the C license coaching course trying to further our careers. Today was a real long day. It started at 7 am... oh wait 4 am for the west-coaster and it is ending here very soon.. This whole week is about soccer.. how can it not.. its a coaching course designed to teach you to be able to teach 11-14 year olds on how to play the game.. technique/physical/mental/tactical sides of the game.. we watched the USA/Australia game and had to break it down.. offensive and defensive sides of the game for both Australia and the US (both of whom just sucked!) I can talk about it all I want but to no avail because you will stop reading.. if you have even gotten this far.. but never once is there a mention of the 5th side.. soccer in the us is in a rut.. we think of the game as having the 4 pillars i mentioned earlier.. but that just makes it boxy.. and things suck when they get put in a box. I believe there are at least 6 things that make soccer great.. passion is an obvious one.. the game is full of passion.. just go to any game in europe or the world cup and the passion will speak for itself.. However, another side that never gets mentioned is the spiritual side to it.. there has to be a spiritual side even if you dont believe in a God.. in my world, I play/coach/work/jump off bridges/get tattoos for God.. obviously that is different for everyone but even if you dont believe in God, you have to believe that you are playing for something bigger than yourself. If you don't play for something bigger than yourself, then the game is an epic fail and you lose even if you win. winning solves a lot of problems for teams like that but as soon as losing occurs, the players have no foundation to fall back on.. i am talking about the ability to lower yourself in your own eyes and put teammates and their desires first above anything you want.. ultimately if you do just that, you are playing for something that is bigger than you and thus you are playing for something that will last longer than the here and now.. great teams are forged by togetherness and selflessness and by having a common goal, a single heart, mind and spirit.. "be strong and courageous for I will be with you wherever you go!"