How South Africans parade

Today we went to a parade for Bafana Bafana. This was my first time to go to a South African parade.

The parade started an hour late, lasted about two minutes and was so loud I think people in Botswana heard. Oh, cultural differences.

We picked up our friends Tanya and Gianna at the airport today. It was pretty cool because we arrived on the right day this time. The airport is the loudest, craziest airport I've ever been to. I think everyone from Argentina and Mexico is now in South Africa. Everybody. They're all here. And they brought fancy drums and hats. We saw Germans in Leiderhosen. We saw Italians, Chileans and lots and lots of Brazilians. The energy in this city is awesome. I can't wait for the World Cup to actually start.

We drove from the airport to Sandton, where we picked up our FIFA tickets. The parade was set to start at noon, and of course, the soccer team only left their hotel to start the parade at 1 p.m. The crowd didn't mind one bit - all the more time to dance and play vuvuzelas. When the parade actually started I took Mia a block away and stood behind a wall. It was far too loud for babies.

We left the parade and came home for a braai. It was South African through and through - tons of meat. Alfie grilled up ribs, chicken and two kinds of sausage. Carin stepped in and intervened with potatoes and a lovely salad, making sure that the Americans had something green on their plates.

Later the loudness continues when Mia discovered her diaper. Of course, she's been wearing diapers for the past eight months, but tonight she discovered that she's wearing one while I was putting her pajamas on. She'd look down, notice her diaper, tug on it and then squeal with joy. She was quite excited and shared the good news with everyone.



Tanya and Gianna were pretty tired from their travels, so we stayed home and visited. It was a quiet ending to the loudest day of our vacation so far.