Sorry for the Delay…Lots to Say!

Okay, title is terrible but that’s what first popped into my head so we’re going with it.

I cannot believe I have already been here for more than a week! Time has been just flying by. The Project and the Matches make quite a hectic schedule, but I’m really enjoying the whole experience.

So to begin, Thursday I managed to find a ticket via a facebook group to the Argentina-South Korea match at Soccer City in Soweto. Ntokozo gave me directions to the stadium and I did drive there. Unfortunately, I did not realize that you needed a ticket for the park and walks, so I had to pay R50 (which I now know is the price of a normal park and ride/walk ticket, about $7) to park in a recently burned field across from the official park and walk. Considering the number of cars these enterprising guys managed to get to park in the unofficial park and walks, I think they are making quite a healthy profit. I was not able to get out of them who exactly owned the field we were parking on (government?) and whom the money was going to (…), but after the match my car was still there, safe and sound. There were quite a lot of police handling traffic and protecting the cars as well.

Walking the couple km’s into the stadium (maybe a mile and a half walk) I passed by numerous street vendors selling all sorts of wares. I counted more than 20 different types of vendors between the park and walk–where they closed the roads to all but the VIP’s and the park and ride buses–and the exclusion zone starting about a half km outside the stadium. There were face painters; vendors selling all sorts of caps, scarves, vuvuzelas, and flags; “officially trained food handlers” (what their bibs said) selling chicken peri peri and boerewors; and smaller vendors selling chips, biltong, sodas, and beer from ice buckets. They were doing such a brisk trade that I couldn’t stop and speak with them and still have time to pick up my ticket to the match. I hope to go back via park and ride or another means when I do not have a match ticket and speak with the traders while a match is going on.

The match itself was quite an enjoyable one. I was very lucky in getting a category 1 ticket at face value, not cheap but not a rip off. And the seat location was excellent, along the sideline lower level right even with the penalty spot. I was in an Argentinian fan section with the Korean goalkeeper on my side for the first half. I have the first goal on video and the celebration of the second goal as I failed to both watch the game with my eyes and keep the camera trained on the action. I hope to post the video soon here, and you can find photos from the match here.

The next day, I went to work in the morning and wrote up my observations from Soccer City the day before and planned how I was going to get to Ellis Park for the USA-Slovenia match.I found a ticket for the Park and Ride from Wits University and thought I should try out some of the very limited public transport options. The park and ride (not to jinx it if I use it again) worked relatively smoothly, had to wait a bit to catch the bus back after the match but nothing horrendous. In fact, FIFA says budget 4 hours to get to the match. I left 3.5 hours before and made it to the stadium with 2 and a bit hours to spare. So early I even spoke to Rob Stone while ESPN was filming B roll for its coverage of the match later in the day. If you go back you might see me taking a photo of the camera-man when he pointed the camera right at me.

I also met and spoke with the US Soccer Federation’s lawyer. A really nice guy who actually is the godfather for a recent Davidson graduate who I know. Small world right. Anyway, he said they don’t pay him much but he’s at a point where it does not matter and he gets to experience all these really amazing

places. That sounds like a pretty cool gig, even though he has to be the jerk who might file proceedings against some lovely young Dutch women who all happened to be wearing the same orange outfit…tradeoffs. Haha.

Anyway as for the game, my actual ticket was located in a very good position, towards the top of the lower level (Row C) between the penalty spot and the 18 yard box; however, I saw the couple from San Antonio who were on the bus with me to Rustenburg and they had an extra ticket where they were sitting in Row V. Well, I said I would come find them in the second half because they were in the section next to mine, but as soon as I walked out onto the stairs for the stadium proper, I knew I had to go find them right away. The rows were lettered backwards Z–A, and I sat about 8 rows from the field!!!!!! (There were rows closer than Z).

The match itself was terrible, than wonderful, and then left you with a somewhat empty feeling, which soon developed into boiling rage when I read the post-match commentary. Even the staid BBC confirmed what my eyes had seen…we WON 3-2. At least we salvaged the game and put ourselves in the best position possible (thanks to England-Algeria 0-0), we control our own destiny and it is win or go home for the rest of the tournament.

Later that evening I went down the road with my hosts Hilton and Caroline to a local pub called the Jolly Roger to catch the Algeria-England match, ugly but good for the USA. Hilton and I had an interesting conversation with a fellow American from California…didn’t believe I was Jewish, Hilton offered to prove it for $200, the guy didn’t understand but he didn’t take the bait.

Saturday I went to the gym with Bongani (Bongi for short) and we had a good workout, helped clear my head a bit because I’m battling a cold. When we went to sign me up for a month membership on thursday night–where I was royally extorted by planet fitness–we ran into the great Ruud Gullit. That was pretty random, but quite cool. If I see him again I just might ask for his autograph.

Then last night Jean invited me to go with her and some of her friends to see Africa Umoja, a musical about the evolution of dance and music in South Africa. The show ticket included dinner at the restaurant that also calls the Victory Theatre home. The food was traditional African cuisine from all over the continent and was not bad. I especially liked the Rice and Shrimp fritters from Mozambique. The show itself was high energy and well preformed. The traditional Zulu dance and drumming that started the show was electric and this carried through to the Shoma’s ritual, the 20’s Jazz at the Shebeens, the Miners’ gumboot step routines, the anti-apartheid gospel, and the hip hop of today. I’ll try to post a little video here. I did not know this until I looked them up online after the performance of the show and the restaurant are clients of TEP. I guess I will classify them as a medium business and they seemed to be benefiting from the World Cup as there was a large Adidas tour group from Venezuela in the audience. I was wondering why all the clothes hats and shoes for the hip hop number were so blatantly and completely Adidas branded. Much of the audience appeared to be foreigners, except for the small contingent of locals I was sitting with.

That’s all for now. More to come soon. Switching host families tomorrow so I need to wake up early to get some things done.