June 21-22, 2010
Happy (late) Fathers Day! So much to update!
I went to a friend’s site for the first USA match, against England. We decorated anything we could turn into something to wear – hats, medals, glasses, … you name it, it had red, white and blue all over it. Thanks to a poor move on the England keeper’s part, we tied. Woo!
The next day, several of us went on one of the longest, most excruciating runs I have ever done. By our best guess, it was at least 9 miles, probably more. The first two or three were relatively flat, but the next part (until we turned around) was a MASSIVE downhill. It was all so scenic, running down into a big mountain valley, arriving at the river and looking around… then the reality struck: we had to run back up it all too. Due to my recent general laziness, my fitness is, well, lacking. We ended up walking up much of it, but still, my running timer said something around an hour, fifteen minutes by the time we made it back. It was one of the most beautiful runs I have ever gone on, but my hip flexors were sore for days…
The next day, I headed back to site to help out with some of the winter classes, specifically Form E Math, more specifically: statistics. Ugh. I love math, but statistics has got to be one of the driest topics. Nonetheless, I took them through a crash course (for both of us – I hadn’t prepared enough) in means, medians and modes, making up some data and going with it. My brilliant in-class example was to ask the students how old they each are. This is usually not a problem for me, but then again I teach form A and B. These was form E. The first three students I asked were older than me. Turns out, their ages range from 17 to 27 (the range is 10)… which means at 22, I’m right around the middle. I made the class guess how old they thought I was before I gave that bit away, but they were still pretty surprised.
What else is new… oh yeah, I went to a World Cup game. No big deal… We saw Greece and Nigeria and it was definitely a highlight of my life. We got to Bloemfontein plenty early to take in some sights (aka get delicious non-Lesotho food at one of their two malls), buy some fan gear and get pumped for the game. By 2pm we were heading to the stadium, all decked out in Nigeria (or Greece) gear, anxious to start face-painting. Most of us painted something on our faces, though I had the entire Nigerian flat on my face. And it was awesome.
The game was so much fun – we were actually pretty close to the field, maybe 15th row back about 3/4 of the way down the field on one side. The vuvuzelas (loud, obnoxious horn things that, yes, I admit, I bought) dominated all sound, but it was SO much fun. The whole feel in the stadium was absolutely electric and all vuvuzelas were absolutely silent for both national anthems. In case you haven’t seen any matches on television (first of all, shame on you, but second), the players are escorted out by children who then stand in front of them during the national anthems. These kids are absolutely precious – grinning ear to ear as they stand with their heroes. It’s worth flipping on your tv, if only for the last few minutes before a game.
Nigeria scored first. Then came the red card, and unfortunately, it was mostly downhill from there. Greece scored twice over the course of the game and beat Nigeria 2-1, with 11 men to 10. We were situated in the middle of a predominantly Greek fan section, and there was a family down and to our left, who kept hollering things at us whenever Greece did something right or Nigeria messed up. At one point, looking at my friend’s American hat, one of the men shouted, “What do Americans know about football anyway?!” From then on, we chose to ignore them as much as possible.
The game was absolutely incredible (in case you hadn’t picked up on that yet) and I had so much fun. Our group of four is very much looking forward to our second game, which will be this Saturday. Cross your fingers that the US can pull off 1st in our group – then we’ll be cheering for them in Rustenberg! In order for that to happen, they need to beat Algeria by 2, ideally. England needs to beat Slovenia by 1, ideally. Let’s hope they can do it!
Tonight, Tuesday, Bafana Bafana plays France and I’m pretty sure they’re going to be absolutely thrashed. It’s going to be slightly depressing watching with my students and other teachers (who all support RSA), but at least a French win will help my bracket. Ha. Selfish much?
As I was walking back to my site from the junction (my solid 45-minute walk home) after seeing the game, there were some men in the field who started calling me. Normally, I greet the farmers and harvesters and keep moving; I’m usually not sure exactly what they’re saying and I usually have some place to be (or am running). This man though, shouted very clearly, “’M’e, the maize is ready! Come!” I hesitated a bit but he kept yelling at me, so I eventually headed into the fields where he and several other bo’ntate were, hovered over a small pan and cooking individual maize kernels. He insisted on giving me some, but since they were too hot, he opened up my fleece jacket pocket and stuffed some inside. I tasted a couple, and they were pretty good… like popcorn that was not completely popped, just opened up a bit, but still very warm. “Is it nice? Are you satisfied?” I nodded and thanked them profusely as he stuffed several more handfuls into my pocket. It was such a pleasant change from being harassed for money or sweets to receiving maize. As I walked away munching, he yelled one more time. “’M’e! You can take us the photo! Or you have no camera?” I apologized, telling him that my camera was at home, but next time I would definitely “take them the photo.” He flashed the thumbs up and went back to harvesting. Cool stuff.
Unfortunately, my battery is dying, but fortunately, I’m going to play soccer with some students before France dominates Bafana Bafana.
Peace, love and FOOTBALL from Africa!
-Katie
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