...Ok, so maybe there are. But, that's how our new friend, Brenda, described the World Cup being in South Africa. With this being the first time for the continent of Africa to host the World Cup, everyone is abuzz with excitement! It's an international event that is bringing the world's focus on Africa.
Football (or soccer, as we call it) is the leading sport around the world. Though America is slowly catching on, the rest of the world is on fire for football! The World Cup is the Super Bowl of soccer with nations from around the world uniting to cheer on their teams to victory. It's bigger than the Olympics! Yeah, kind of a big deal.
Michael and I are so pumped to be a part of such a history-making moment for Africa. The first day of the World Cup we were anticipating the opening ceremony and opening match. We had made plans to hang out with our usual crew of friends and watch at Brenda's house at 5:00 just in time to catch the beginning. Brenda is a friend of Aggie. We all decided to make salsa, guacamole, and fresh tomatoes and cheese as party snacks. Being the star chefs that we are, Michael and I began chopping tomatoes, cheese, mangos, and onions away like a pair of Paul Bunyan twins. We got skills. We knew we had to rush. But, then a dreadful phone call came. "OH NO! YOU'RE KIDDING ME! WE MISSED IT?" exclaimed Aggie into her phone. Somehow, we had wrong information about the schedule of the games. We had missed the beginning of the most glorious event because we were cutting up tomatoes and onions. Womp, womp, womp.
No worries, we weren't gonna let a little schedule mishap rain on our parade. After finishing up, we headed over to Brenda's and began watching midway through the first game South Africa vs. Mexico. She greeted us by giving us two really cool yellow jerseys that the entire nation is wearing in unison. It reads, "Africa United. It's our time." They're fantastic! Once we all got food and settled, we watched an exciting game that ended in a tie. I actually really like soccer. It's exciting to watch, and the footwork and technique of the players is amazing. America needs to get on the ball with real football.
We ended up watching a re-run of the opening ceremony and a concert later that night. Filled with colorful fabrics, vibrant voices, and creative dances, the opening was a hit!The concert featured local African artists, Angelique, Alicia Keys, the Black Eyed Peas, and my fiavorite K'Naan. I'm telling you "Wavin' Flag" is amazing! Everytime it comes on, everyone immediately sings in unison, "When I get older, I will be stronger. They'll call me freedom, just like a wavin' flag. so wave your flag..." Ah, so legit. It's the new "We are the Champions" No kidding! Is it a hit in America too?
So, here's to the World Cup. An event that has no words, except 5 blog paragraphs...
-Nick
Hey,
ReplyDeleteIt's so cool you get to watch the world cup while its actually taking place instead of the games being at 830 here (but the NBA finals were amazing). I went on youtube to hear that song, and I like it. K'naan actually came to WashU in the fall and I heard him perform live. But as far as his new song, I haven't actually heard it anywhere else (so I don't think it's a hit here). Well I thought I would answer that question for you. Have fun and I can't wait to see you soon.
~Olivia