Bafana Bafana!

Last night Alfie, Leigh and I went to see the SA team defeat Colombia in an international friendly a Soccer City.



The stadium was absolutely amazing. I took a million pictures and shot video, but nothing does it justice. It's just amazing. It reminds me of the Bird's Nest in China.





Bafana Bafana (The Boys, The Boys) won 2-1, so the entire game was ridiculous. If there's only one game I got to see, I'm glad it was this one. Things I learned:

1. Everyone uses vuvuzelas the entire time. Vuvuzelas are those long, skinny plastic horns. The sound is deafening. Don't even try to talk to anyone because you can't hear, even in the upper bowl, because the vuvuzelas are going the entire time. Seriously. The entire time. Before the game, during the announcements, during half time, during substitutions, when bad stuff happens, when good stuff happens, after the game, all the way back to their cars and even while inching back home through awful traffic. I didn't use the bathroom, but I'm pretty sure vuvuzelas are used in there, too.

2. After the game, parking lots turn into disorganized parking lots. There isn't really any driving for about an hour.

3. After a goal, you will be hugged by everyone around you, whether you know them or not. Just be careful that you don't accidentally go to second base.

4. You will be smacked on the head/shoulder/back/legs with flags/vuvuzelas/flailing fans throughout the game.

5. South Africans call "the wave" "the Mexican wave."

6. Beer costs $2 in the stadium yet people weren't ridiculously drunk.

7. Pockets of people start dancing randomly and everybody knows the moves.

It's hard to describe the energy in SA this time. Everyone is so keyed up by the World Cup, and signs are everywhere. Everyone has SA flags on their cars. The stadium rumbled with excitement during certain parts of the game. I had goosebumps the entire time.



Walking through Soweto, I realized that we were in one of the most dangerous cities in the world. If there was ever a time to be scared, this was the time. But I didn't feel afraid at all. South Africa wants the world to see the good things happening in this country. Just since I was here three years ago, infrastructure has improved significantly and businesses have popped up left and right.

South Africans - and all Africans, I think - want the world to see more than crime and AIDS when they look on a map. People here have achieved so much since their first free election in 1994. South Africans are proud of that, and they should be.

Granted, there is still a long way to go. The Colombian team was robbed by two SA staff members at their hotel when they arrived after the game. But Soccer City and the atmosphere of the country shows that Africa is a complicated place. Like everywhere in the world, there are problems and hope. The World Cup seems to be a beacon of hope for nearly everyone here, and it's exhilarating to be a part of it.