My 2010 World Cup

{ 10/07/2010 @ 09:59 } · { Uncategorized }

I know that this is a wee bit late, what with the final game tomorrow, but the World Cup has arrived in South Africa!! It has been impossible not to catch World Cup fever with the whole country going crazy!! Well before I arrived there were countdown’s in every McDonalds/ KFC/ airport etc for the opening game. As time passed, the excitement grew. Flags were put up all over, construction was hastily completed, and excitement was practically graspable in urban centers.
For the opening game, I stayed in my village. Vuvuzellas (now infamous) were heard for weeks (at all hours of the day and night) for weeks beforehand, but opening day they started at about 6 AM. I went to work and me and the women there sorted vegetables and parcels to be given to orphans in our area. For the game I went to a friends house where four or five of us sat around blowing our vuvu’s, and cheering on Bafana Bafana (South Africa’s team). The spirit in the air was electric; you could feel that the whole country had stopped and was cheering for Bafana with all their might. We didn’t win, but the vuvu’s still went mad, and there were parties all over my village that night. I had to take sleeping medicine to drown out the noise of the vuvuzelas!
For the Bafana v. France game (in which Bafana won, but was still knocked out of the tournament), I was at a small bar in another volunteers town. The game was shown on a projection screen, and the bar was so full to packed that people crouched on the floors in order to get a glimpse. The game was awesome to watch with such a crowd, and the amount of cheering and vuvu blowing was deafening. We sang Shosholoza (a black freedom song) and generally had a grand time. Despite us being knocked out, everyone was very happy at Bafana’s excellent game (although many wished they would have played like that earlier. Shame).
All in all, I attended three games. I paid about $15 per ticket, as I qualified as a South African resident. The final game was a round of 16, so I paid about $37 for it. I would say that all in all, the world Cup was a wonderful experience, and it was amazing to watch South Africans and international fans come together at the stadiums. I hope that the world watched in wonder as all the problems people saw attached to Africa’s hosting the cup melted away. Yea, people were robbed…but seriously that would happen anywhere! I am so happy that I was able to be a part of this.
The final game is tomorrow, and despite some scheduling mishaps at Shaka airport in Durbs after the Spain game, there have been no major concerns. Congrats South Africa!! And I think it’s amazing that there will be a first time World Cup winner tomorrow! So excited!