Bafana Bafana!

Some quick random thoughts about South Africa:

• Contrary to popular belief I was not at the America - Algeria game in person.  I am staying with several people who were and definitely watched the it at the house in person.  I am looking into their game against Ghana!
• Germany - Ghana at the main Stadium (Soccer City Stadium) in Johannesburg was an incredible atmosphere and an incredible game!  So many German fans there and many Ghana supporters as well.  Spectacular stadium!
• Dribbled against Christiano Rinaldo at a fan zone thing at the game
• Some German girls tried to paint a German flag on my face which I promptly refused (I was completely supporting Ghana!)
• I have indeed acquired my own vuvuzela.  At the Germany - Ghana games, every time Ghana got close to doing something, all the vuvuzelas got much louder and much more exciting
• Saw S. Korea and Nigera on the corner flag 4 rows back in a S. Korea jersey (Thanks Scott Lee!)
• S. Korea fan have this strange thing going on with Devil Horns
• Many Nigerians live here and they are considered to be "shrewd" buisnessmen.
• Bafana Bafana is the name of the South Africa team here which means "The Boys" in Zulu.  Saw the Bafana Bafana - France game at a Church in Durban during yet another braai -- they love their meat here!  Great time!  Great win by the boys.
• People of all colors here have been wearing the Bafana - Bafana jerseys and supporting the team.  This is a big deal.  The blacks have always fully supported the team as that is their sport here.  But the whites (generally rugby supporters) and Indians (either Cricket or supporting our Countries) have also been wearing the jerseys and supporting the team.  Great to see so many jersey everywhere!
• America fast food chain count:  I have seen something like 8 KFC's and not a single McDonald's.  I guess they really like their fried chicken!
• Soccer is the World's game right?  But most of the big sponsors are American companies: Budweiser (official beer and only beer served in the Stadium), Visa, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Vitamin Water (yes, Vitamin Water).  Money talks!
• They drink sodas out of the can with straws here
• Some local foods / traditions: Braai, Pop and sauce, milo, samosas, curry, Cream Soda (different than ours)
• They use the Queen's English (alough 11 languages are spoken here)
• Went to get one of my tickets at the ticketing center in a Casino (right next to the Stadium)
• Durban has a fanfest zone on the beach and is defintely the warmest city in South Africa
• Joburg on the other hand is freezing cold at night (probably low 30s)
• They also have a really nice water park / Sea World that could rival a few in Florida and is certanily nicer than Wild Waves in Federal Way
• Witnessed a really great Zulu tribal dance group in the bazaar there -- they were having way too much fun! 
• Had a group of waitresses perform a zulu song and dance for me at a restaurant (a little like the birthday song at Red Robin without the bird)
• Security is much more lax here at the airports.  Don't have to take off your shoes and they don't check your ID
• You can't pump your own gas (You're not the only ones Oregon)
• Unemployment rate is high here and everywhere y zpeople are trying to some job for you to get money like watching your car for you at the store, washing your car at the beach, or building really elaborate sand creations at the beach for donations
• 1Time Airlines is a great way to get around
• Drivers are crazy here and you better not get in their way.  They also like to talk on their phone and drive a stick at the same time.
• Country flags for the World Cup countries everywhere here
• They speak 11 languages -- notably English, Zulu, and Afrikaans
• Phil Collins and Backstreet Boys are both alive and well in South Africa
• I have the simplest (but sweetest) phone that I picked up for soemthing like $15
• Incredible contrast between poverty and upper middle class here
• And finally, GO USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's like Eastern Washington -- except with monkeys

One day into this crazy adventure and it is already an overwhelming success.  I touched down in Johannesburg in the middle of a beautiful sunset.  I quickly jumped on another flight (after picking up my tickets and realizing I may have lost one of my games) to Durban.  I was picked at the airport by Trevor Francis who drove me an hour and a half to his beautiful home in Shelly Beach.

We had much great conversation.  He shared with me how he courted his wife Cindy (who was my contact) despite her being a South African that had lived in Seattle for 9 years.  It was a very moving story and showed how God had been working in their lives to make an unlikely marriage happen.

He was also very candid with me about the history of South Africa.  He and his wife are both white South Africans and he spoke of the bigoted racism of the Apartheid Government in South Africa.  He explained how there was still significant racism by both whites and blacks although progress is slowly be made.  There is much goodwill with the World Cup, but who knows what will happen after the Cup.  The whites are still the most well off and best educated although a black middle class is beginning to emerge.  There is corruption in the current government and there is a need for strong black leaders like Mandela and Tutu.  We also talked of the Church's role in both the Apartheid Government and in a new South Africa.

Cindy and Trevor have been the most amazing and gracious of hosts!  There was an amazing variety of South African treats waiting on my bed and I was a served a warm cup of Milo, which can only be described as a sort of chocolate malt drink.  I stared at the clear stars and learned of constellations that are only visible in the Southern Hemisphere.  It was interesting to learn of the Southern Cross which can be used to point to true South, certainly a little backwards for someone used to the Big Dipper and the North Star.

This morning Cindy cooked us up a delicious breakfast.  We then took off to a stunning game farm where we saw the likes of zebras and antelopes roaming free.  The scenery reminded me of Eastern Washington and Oregon -- except with monkeys which are apparently as common here as squirrels in the States.  I saw some gorgeous views of a gorge off a high suspension bridge and we wrapped up our tour with a nice outdoor lunch at the lodge.

As I write this, I just witnessed a breathtaking sunset from the house.  I have a sloppy and physical Chile / Switzerland match on in the background and I am savoring at the prospect of this evening's braai!  More to come on that later :)

Here at last

Have you ever felt that something will completely change your life before it happened?  I mean of course besides the obvious events of marriage, birth, and death.  I am feeling that way now.   This is a moment that has been building up with anticipation for four years since I was in Belfast.  Smitten by World Cup fever and the chance to go to Africa, I set out with reckless abandon to make it happen.

And here I am two days before departure, two days before I board a 17 hour flight to Johannesburg and a place that seems like a dream.  I tell people of my plans and they tell me they're jealous.  And why wouldn't they be?  It's the World Cup after all!  There's sure to be a lot of fun sprinkled with exotic foods and the kind of stories you tell until the day you die.  I'm here for all that.  I plan to take crazy photos, cheer until I am hoarse, and even acquire and play my very own vuvuzela!  Much fun will be had.

But that's not all this trip is about.  Amid the hysteria and the grandiose stadiums, there is another South Africa -- a South Africa of AIDS and poverty and reconciliation.  A big part of this trip will be experiencing and learning from these things.  I am planning to encounter various ministries throughout both South Africa and Malawi.  I'm not sure what I expect.  I don't expect to be shocked.  I've seen  the aftermath of serious conflicts in both Sarajevo and Belfast; I've seen poverty along the border of the Dominican.  No, there is something else...

I hope to be spoken to -- to encounter the living God.  I don't really know what that means.  I have ideas of course, but if I've learned anything in life, it's that God seldom works the way you want him to.  That's one of the things I love about the Chronicles of Narnia.  Aslan is a wild lion and he never appears as soon or as often as you want him to; he of course never does things the same way twice.  What am I looking for?  I feel like my life is kind of like a puzzle.  I have ideas about how it is all going to come together, but I can't quite make the pieces fit. I don't expect to solve the puzzle, but to maybe fit a few more pieces together.

Anyways, I plan to take lots of pictures and to blog about this crazy adventure, so I hope you can join me for the ride!