USA vs. England.

Yesterday was a pretty low key day, and thankfully so. Ever since I have come down here, it has been a very fast paced life and I needed a little time to recover and relax. We woke up, ran, and meandered ten minutes down the road to a food market that is held every Saturday. This place was a smorgasbord of delectable morsels. There was too much food, and all for a very good price. People were selling homemade lagers, fresh beef smawhichs, smoothies, waffles, honey, spices and much much more. As soon as we had eaten our fill, we went back to our apartments for some down time before the big game: USA vs. England.
Eventually the time came around, and we headed to a bar down the street to watch the game on the big screen. We pulled out sharpies and our red/white/blue shirts to display our American pride. I sharpied on both of my forearms. On my right it read: DON'T TREAD, on the left: ON ME. Also I wrote a letter on each of my knuckles so when I rapped my fists together it read: AMERICA! We were, like any other fan, rambunctious. We sang our national anthem before the beginning of the game and sang chants periodically. At halftime we took a break, went to the jukebox, and played Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus. The game continued, and I believed that everybody in the bar was cheering for England just to spite us. At either rate, we ended up in a tie, so our group started to play the jukebox and dance the night away. Well that happened for only a half hour before some intoxicated local wanted to join. While his enthusiasm was applauded at first, he took it too far and began get rough with a few of our women. A few of us saw that the girls were starting to get panicky (rightfully so), so we pried him off one of the girls tld him to stop and left shortly thereafter.

Orientation: Day II

It was the second and final day of orientation, after some boring information session and a 90min workshop on AIDS and how to avoid it, we boarded the bus for another township named Langa. Langa is similar to Soweto in terms of economic standing-in fact, I have found that township usually refers to a poor area. We toured around the area and got to know this migrant worker township. At the end, we had our IES orientation welcome dinner where we met some families we would be living with for a weekend.
Today marked the opening of the World Cup. The first game to be played was no other than SA vs. Mexico. While the match took place in J0-burg, I traveled downtown to an event called fan fest, an area to watch the game on big screens. This was an experience! I boarded the train that runs into downtown, and it was standing room only in the trains. Every single person sported a yellow shirt and some sort of Vuvuzela (a cheap plastic horn that makes an impressively large noise). It was so crowded, people had pried open the doors of the train an were hanging out them. The whole train roared with cheers and their national anthem (which is probably one of the coolest I have ever heard). We got to the Fan Fest, and it had long ago filled up with 15,000 people and the were many, many more. More than 200,000 people flooded streets playing their vuvuzelas and cheering. The atmosphere was ecstatic and unlike anything I have ever experienced before. This game wasn't even in this city! Finally, I had to get back my flat for a run before the game, then watch the game (1-1 draw). I wonder if this goes on for a month or if this is just a one day celebration. I purchased tickets to a game: Netherlands vs. Cameroon. The tickets were more expensive than I had hoped, but I would definitely regret not taking advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Orientation at University of Cape Town

Yes, I am officially a student of the University of Cape Town. I got my student ID to prove it. To understand the rules (which are pretty common sense), we had a two day orientation. The first day consisted of a few speakers on safety while in Cape Town. Last semester there was one student studying abroad that was murdered, so they are being extra cautious. Interestingly, we study abroad student are covered by a security company. Down here in SA police are shrimped by the size of protection agencies. It is a huge business down here. When you get in trouble down here, you call the security agency, and they send their armed guards. After lunch, they loaded on board a bus. We didn't really know where we were going, but the view was breathtaking. We were driving along the cliff sides that bordered the oceans and gave a spectacular view of Cape Town. We drove for a hour or more along these windy roads. While beautiful, it didn't work very well with the 8 members of our class that have been puking profusely-some of which had gone to the hospital the night before. IES required them to go on this orientation trip. The bus pulled to a stop and we jumped out at the point of the Cape of Good Hope. We got out, looked around at the gorgous sight and boarded again to head to Cape Point, the second most souther point on Africa. In effort to give a little more prestige, the government decided to call it the most southerly point of South Africa. While prestigous, it might not be as prestegious as Tontogany: the most north-western-ohio-little-townish-middle-of-nowhere-with-a-highshool-named-the-knights-and-a-store-named-JT's-with-some-big-grain-elevators-and-trains-that-go-by-very-slowly-and-surrounded-with-many-cornfields-and-where-the-Miller's-live-and-own-a-d4-bulldozer-and-use-to-be-home-to-a-dog-that-pooped-out-socks-and-when-joe-was-cleaning-the-poop-up-he-would-find-his-pricy-running-socks IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. That's pretty special if you ask me. In all seriousness though, it was a sight to behold. There was a cold breeze that get carried off the coast and comes right from Antarctica. Many scientist test this air because it is boasted as some of the World's purest. This a a view of Cape of Good Hope from Cape Point. We boarded back onto the bus and made one more stop. It was a small town known for having penguins, one of the only places Penguins can be found on Africa. These penguins were sports, and would get pretty close to you. They were loud little things too. They emitted a sound that resembled that of a donkey bray both melodiously and in loudness.We finally returned late and ate dinner at a pizza place called Debonair's. It was delicous, and I had too much to eat. A little money goes a long way in terms of food. I nice hot large sub- 18 inches- is about the equivelent of $6.00. Delicious.

Kruger Park: Part II

The next morning we got up at 3:30am for a 4:30am departure and a 5:30am arrival at Kruger to wait for the opening of the gates at 6:00am. This was probably the most miserable time for me thus far of my journeys. The safari jeep we were in was an open air jeep. This was miserable because in the drive that took us to Kruger took an hour of highway at a temperature roughly 35-40F. Yeah, I could have bundled up right? Nah, my stuff is still in Amsterdam, so a t shirt an a light sweatshirt had to do. Once we arrived at Kruger, we were allowed to get out and stretch, and a few of my buddies successfully pried me out of my fetal position to get warmed up. I eventually did, but there was a chill in my body for the remainder of the day. My worries were quickly forgotten when within an hour of our arrival, we saw our first: a rhino. It is important to know about the BIG 5. Thi Big 5 are the animals that make up SA currency on the bills: Water Buffalo, Rhinos, Elephants, Lions, and Leopards. People can easy spend an entire weekend in the park and only come out with a sighting with 1-2 of the five. It is difficult to see all 5. So, as a personal goal of mine, I challenged myself and our group to find the 5. We spent most of the day searching and we finally parked at 3:00pm with 3 of the 5 (Buffalo, Lion-far far away, and a rhino). We ate, rested, and then returned to our Jeeps for a night safari. Many of the predators are night hunters, so that was the best viewing time. Usually, as our guide told us, it is a sighting for a fews second, and usually the scamper back into the bush before you can get a good view. This was not so for us. We saw two male lions on the road, and they laid in front of us for about8 minutes before walking away. We saw elephants, lions, hippos, hyenas (one of the tougher sightings), and two leopards. By the end of day one, we had seen all of the Big 5.
Getting up the next day to go on a safari didn't seem to have the zest we had before because we had seen all of the possible animals that the park had to offer, except for one: a cheetah. Cheetahs are an endangered species and in Kruger Park, there are less than 150 of them. To put that into perspective, Kruger covers roughly the same area as Isreal. This park is massive and harbors less than 150. Low and behold, an hour into our safari, we saw a cheetah stalking some impalas. Pumped, I took some pictures for proof, but zoomed up so much that you could harldy make out the cheetah. It was equivalent of one of those pictures you see of the Loch Ness, of Big Foot. There was no evidence. I settled just for watch as the cheetah waited patiently for its prey. It sat in the grass watching them for more than 20min before it got up an scared away the impalas. We were disappointed because we wanted to see a take down, and now, surely, the cheetah would disappear. Instead, two more cheetahs jogged out about 80yds away and began wrestling with each other. Their banter and playfulness eventually migrated closer. How close? This close.

Yes, they are within feet of our car. Our guide was ecstatic. He said that in the 15 years he worked in the park, he had never seen a cheetah so close to human. He and the other guides agreed over the radio that this sighting was all in their top 5 sightings of all time. As you can image, we were going crazy at this sight, and the rarity of it. We were very lucky. Feeling fully satisfied we drove back to Old Vic's tavern with our guide, Crazy Dave. We played pool, ping pong and relaxed. It was a great day.

Kruger Park pt 1

After waking up extremely early, we boarded a bus to head to Kruger Park, a park roughly 5 hours drive away from J-burg. Instead of going directly there, we stopped at different areas for some sightseeing. We first stopped at a Happy River Canyon, the world's third largest canyon. We stopped here for only 30min and did not walk very far, but we got to a viewing point and were able to soak in the beauty of the valley. I can best describe it as a bushy Grand Canyon. There were not trees, but bushes about ranging 3-9ft tall. Surprisingly, this is the composition of the land that we saw over the following days on the safari. Personally, I always expected a wide open grassland where you could spot animals a mile away, but that was not the case on this safari. This misconception on my part can be largely attributed to Gary Larson. Anyway, we loaded back into the bus and traveled to a water fall.
This picture doesn't quite put the waterfall into perspective. The drop of the water is just a bit over 60m. It was odd to see the river snake through the dry bush and turn into something so spectacular, then continue on without anymore event. It truly was in the middle of nowhere. Next we drove to a peak of a mountain that overlooked Kruger Park. At the top of this mountain, the hot winds of Kruger were pushed up the mountain and cause a growth of a small rain forest on the top. It was a nice little lookout.
Finally we traveled to one more spot, an orphanage. We stopped by because our safari guide wanted us to see the organization he supports. We befriended the children (some of whom were dismissed by their families because of disabilities or AIDS). Although we didn't stay for more than twenty minutes, I could tell our groups presence really brightened the children's day. After a day of traveling for more than ten hours, we kicked up our feet and rested for the evening.

Soweto

On the outskirts of Johannesburg is arguably one of the most famous "townships" in South Africa. Although the natives refer to it as a "township" , the 2.5-3 million people seem to have me searching for a different word. If Soweto is a "township", I don't even know where to start in finding a description of Tontogany. This particular area is completely black and is comprised mainly of the Zulu tribe, with a little !Xhosa mixed in. Since this is the place with the #2 crime rate in SA, we were given an extra safe hostile covered in barb wire, and locked up at night. How unsafe? The average woman in Soweto averages two rapes in her lifetime. Inside, to my surprise, was a little paradise with a sandy backyard, a hammock, a fire, a bar, a pool table, and a foosball table. Not exactly what I expected right way in this very poverty stricken area. I was almost ashamed of being there because I felt like the classic rich, pretentious American. Honestly, it cost only 20-25$.
Once we got settled in, a park right outside the house was filled and waiting for anxious kids. As soon as we stepped onto the park, we were mobbed by kids screaming in their native language, and sticking their hands down our pockets in search for digital cameras for pics. They knew little english, but the do know, "Shoot me." While I was wondering at the emotional state of these children and the poverty that had driven them so crazy as a need for someone to kill them, I was informed by my RA, Moses, that they simply wanted me to shoot a picture of them, not to kill them. I obliged. Finally I had to put away my camera, but these children did not bore easily. Since we are so tall compared to the natives, they lined up asking us to pick them up and thrust them skyward. Again I obliged, but unfortunately, my arms are not used to run, thus are not used at all. I left the task to those stronger in arm and joined in a nearby soccer game. The soccer field had a 15 degrees slant to it, so one team would have the distinct advantage. I was on such a team. I truly enjoyed myself. While each child moved with the ball fluidly and with finesse, I powered down the field in the typical American way. These 50lb-100lb children were no match for my power. I defintly pulled some moves deemed in need of a red card, but they knew it was all in good humor. Maybe they didn't understand the humor as much as my need to compensate for my define lack of skill. Playing with these kids made me feel as if I had not played a day of soccer in my life.
After an enjoyable night in the hostile, we woke up, ate breakfast, and mounted bikes, as a group, and began our 3.5hr bicycle tour of Soweto: both the good areas and the bad. Here we really saw poverty up close and personal. We saw houses that were the size of two twin beds put side by side and would sleep roughly 8 men. Children ran through the streets and scavenged through piles of trash gathered alongside the streets in search for food. This picture to the right is the local butcher making deals with the locals. We would see him dissect an animal before our eyes, sell them, and wrap them up in newspapers. From this very shop we tasted the delicacies of Soweto. The first was a homemade corn beer served in a large white bucket which we shared with some locals. It resembled brown milk and was very sweet. The second thing was a drink of curdled milk which I could best decribe as sour yogurt, and finally the cheek of a cow. While they only use cow cheek because richer butchers do not fully utilize the heads of cows, they also hold the meat as sacred and call it "Brain meat." It was not to different from your normal beef. We biked by Nelson Mandela's house where he lived for many years while working in J-burg.
We biked back finally, and got into our hostile. There I got into a discussion with one of the locals and an obvious drug dealer. He spoke of the ease of using weed. He was right. Although the drug is illegal, you would see policemen pass by people smoking weed and not even hesitate to stop for even as much as a reprimand. He told me where to find my own weed. About 400m away from our hostile, past some railroad tracks was a secret field of pot that he told me about, just in case I wanted to steal some. I told him I was grateful for the tip, but I wasn;t interested. Again he said he could sell me some, for about 5 rands a joint (70 cents). I was blown away. A single joint in the state runs at least $50 dollars more. Drugs are an obvious problem. I fear, and almost got the sense that most youth in Soweto were involved in drugs. Drugs are a root for most of the violence in Soweto, so it is a sense of helplessness to see a problem, but have no idea how to even go about starting to fix it. Regardless, the dealer and I sat under the night sky by the fire exchanging stories and huddling closer to the campfire. He smoked at least 1 joint per 10 minutes. I could see no way he could ever make it past 50. I finally retired to my bed, ready to make a trip to Kruger Park.

Jo-burg

Well, welcome to Jo-burg. I flew here the day after I arrived in Cape Town. With my backpack filled with spartan supplies, I ventured out of the airport and into the biggest city in South Africa. Above, you can see the premier stadium of Jo-burg. This is where many games are played, and the eventual host stadium of the World Cup finals. Despite many beliefs the World Cup is not held in one place like the Olympics, but in several places all over South Africa. This place, however, it the golden child of Bafana Bafana Football (soccer for all unknowing Americans). Bafana Bafana? It literally means, "the boys, the boys" It is the name of the South African national soccer team. From the airport to the city, streets were lined with flags, ridiculous decorations, and other tributes to the Cup. This place really is (despite what the critics say) ready for the World Cup. Once we got to our hostile and settled down, we got back on a bus and spent the day going about the city seeing sights such as parliament, the city hall, and going to the top of the tallest building in SA which is 20 or so stories shorter than the Sears tower in Chicago.
At the base of the tower was the official display of jerseys (by Nike) to be used in the Cup. We were informed by staff on the science between the jerseys and the cleats. Nike created about 4 different cleats for football players just to serve different purposes to different players. One was created for speed, one for control, one for accuracy, and one classic kangaroo skinned shoe. The one I am pictured by below is to be worn by both Drogba and Messi. This place lives, breathes, and talks soccer non-stop. The only sport that compares would be Rugby, but it is overshadowed, and rightfully so.

Yes, this is a statue made of Coca-Cola crates. SA is sponsored by Coke. You would not be in SA if you did not see a Coke ad always in view.
Below is a statue made completely of yellow soccer balls. This was hanging right above the Nike station and had banners around it displaying the teams competing in the World Cup.
Our visit was not very long at all in Jo-burg. We soon went to the outskirts where we lived in our hostile for two days and leaned about life in Soweto. That is to come in the next issue. But while we learned a bit about Jo-burg, I found something a little more interest in the culture around sports in this place. I would say 2 in 5 people are wearing their Bafana Bafana shirts and others in support of other teams. This city really is supportive of sports not only in the Cup but culturally as well. Much of the countries unity can be attributed to sports (see Invictus). I can see it even happening now. Tribes and nations of Africa are coming together and looking to fight a good fight. People are together, jobs are being created, and their economy who has been having difficulty lately, is seeing benefits.