The next morning, British cousin and his friends took off for Lesotho. The third friend however was arriving from England and he had an extra ticket for the 1:30pm Netherlands-Denmark game in Soccer City that day (as well as for the Argentina – S. Korea game a couple days later). Once again, we waited for that incompetent third party from the day before to return the car that he had borrowed and promised to return hours prior.
It took a full 20 minutes or so from our drop-off point to get to Soccer City stadium. We kept walking and walking waiting for the stadium to come into view. When it did it was so magnificent. I must say it is most favourite stadium. It took another 20 minutes or so to actually get to our seats high up in the bleachers for Category 1. The atmosphere here was more relaxed – more civilized I guess. Or maybe it was just the fact that this was a Dutch vs. Danes game. I was quite surprised. I do like Netherlands but they hardly cheered when they scored and subsequently won the game. The Danes on the other hand were clearly there to have a good time!
After the game we tried to find someplace to eat but Soccer City is so isolated and we ended up walking around in circles. We finally went back to the point we had been dropped off at to wait to be picked up…several hours later. At this point I had made contact with the guys and decided to join them in Nelson Mandela Square. We ended up watching the Italy – Paraguay game in a bar there while the Brazilians, yet to play their first game, were out in the Square making noise as if the tournament was over and they were going home with the Cup. It was actually a fun time. David Moyes, Everton coach, was having dinner there as well and some of the guys went up to speak with him. By the time the game was over groups of fans from Mexico, Netherlands and we had gathered and before we knew it we were all banging on our tables and singing praises of our teams in succession. What a blast!All this time though, I had been unsuccessful in making contact with Ivorian cousin in order for him to pick me up. So when it came time to disband, we decided to try and find my home (since I had the address) and someone had a GPS. Right! Try as we may we couldn’t find the location, let alone the house, and my cousin was still not answering the phone.
I just ended up going back to the campus where the guys were staying. Forty-eight hours and I’m yet to return home. Goodness, I needed a hot refreshing bath!
A lover of mangoes. A woman - smart, without pretense, lefthanded, Afropolitan - navigating this thing called life. An unapologetic believer in social justice and karma. Choosing to radiate positive energy and be true to myself. Here, my musings.
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