Tales of South Africa
When Zinedine Zidane drew a red card for head-butting an Italian in the World Cup Final today, L. and I were at the Northampton Brewery with our friends Ross and Emily, who have spent the past year and a half in a small village in South Africa. We were partially watching the game, but mostly talking. The Italians won in penalty kicks and probably it served Zidane right for the dumb stunt he pulled. Ross told us that in South Africa, they are very excited for World Cup 2010 and hope that an African team can make it to the final. The commentators there spend a lot of time talking about what African teams like Ghana, Angola and the Cote D'Ivoir need to do to become top flight World Cup competitors. Set plays seem to be key, in their eyes.
Our friends were in the states for Emily's brother's wedding this week. They'll go back to South Africa for another few months, returning stateside for good in November. Ross said he thought they might return to South Africa in 2010 to take their host mother to a World Cup game. They said they get used to waiting in South Africa. The buses don't run on a schedule, for instance, they wait until they are full to leave. So it's not uncommon to sit on a bus for an hour or so, waiting for it to fill up.
After the game, we ate dinner at the India House on State Street. Ross and Emily said there is a significant Indian population in South Africa. I had the Chicken Vindaloo, pronouncing it vin-DAH-loo, like Shahid used to. I think I'm paying for it now, sweating, bloated and sleepless. But it was a good visit, ZiZu's antics or no.
Our friends were in the states for Emily's brother's wedding this week. They'll go back to South Africa for another few months, returning stateside for good in November. Ross said he thought they might return to South Africa in 2010 to take their host mother to a World Cup game. They said they get used to waiting in South Africa. The buses don't run on a schedule, for instance, they wait until they are full to leave. So it's not uncommon to sit on a bus for an hour or so, waiting for it to fill up.
After the game, we ate dinner at the India House on State Street. Ross and Emily said there is a significant Indian population in South Africa. I had the Chicken Vindaloo, pronouncing it vin-DAH-loo, like Shahid used to. I think I'm paying for it now, sweating, bloated and sleepless. But it was a good visit, ZiZu's antics or no.