Alone in Africa

Mike had to go back to his cubicle in Minnesota so i am now on my own, without a car, without a companion, without an idea of what to do next.  so it goes.  I'm staying with Suz and Tony in Joburg for a couple more nights before 'running solo' will really set it - riding buses, walking around aimlessly, maneuvering stadiums, etc.

Before he left, we went back to Ellis Park to watch perhaps the best game of the tourney thus far.  After the game, Suz congratulated us on a US victory.  When Tony got home he lamented a tough loss for the US squad.  In fact neither was true.  Tony apparently just watched the first half, when Slovenia stunned the US with 2 goals.  Half of their population of 2 million appeared to be in the stands.  Suz must have stopped watching when the US capped an amazing comeback with a last minute goal to go ahead 3-2.  With beer flying everywhere, strangers hugging each other, and vuvuzelas reaching unprecedented levels, we noticed that Slovenia was taking a goal kick.  The ref called a foul on the play.  no goal.

On a different note, we got a glimpse of south africa under apartheid over the last few days.  At a bar in Graskop we met a chubby middle-aged white man with apartheid still flowing through his veins.  The first red flag was when he said he wanted any result that would be bad for bafana bafana - unheard of in these lands.  Then, as the French team was introduced, he was disgusted that so many non-French players were on the team.  "they should all go back to africa."  I responded in my head, "you're white, perhaps you should go back to europe."  i remained tight-lipped.  Then he argued with Mike about the vuvuzelas being a 'cultural thing.'  He insisted they were a 'black thing,' apparently unaware of the realities of his country.  He left before the Mexico-France game was underway, and everyone in the bar seemed relieved. 

Two days later, we went to the Apartheid Museum outside of Soweto, which was amazing, chilling, and overwhelming.  I can't help compare race relations here to those in the US.  Perhaps more on that later....