Monday, February 11, 2013

We're Famous


Sort of.  Okay, not really.  Let me explain.

Last weekend we went to the AFCON (African Cup of Nations) quarter-final game in Durban.  We purchased our tickets back in October.  We knew we’d have amazing seats by getting our tickets so early, but we had no idea who would be playing in the game.  Luckily, Bafana Bafana, the South African national team, ended up advancing to the very game we had tickets to!

Being in Durban for the Bafana Bafana game was so much fun.  You could feel the excitement throughout the city.  So many people were wearing Bafana Bafana clothing and carrying flags.  Remember vuvuzelas?  Those obnoxiously loud horns that everyone was blowing during the 2012 World Cup?  Well, let’s just say we’ve embraced the awesomeness that is the vuvuzelas.  They were being sold, along with all kinds of gear, on practically every street corner.  We knew we needed to look the part for the game, so we went to a market to buy knockoff jerseys.  Our friend, who is a great bargainer, negotiated the man down to R50 (about $6.50) per bright yellow jersey.  We knew that matching yellow jerseys were not going to be enough though.  We had a goal:  we wanted to be on tv!

We were on a mission.  We purchased large paper and numerous colored markers.  We knew the best way of ensuring fame was to have amazing posters.  After much discussion, we decided on “USA Loves [big red heart] Bafana Bafana” was the way to go.  Two hours later (I’m really not sure why it took us so long to make four signs) we were ready to go.

While walking to the stadium in our matching yellow shirts, we purchased a few South African flags and a couple of vuvuzelas.  We figured the more fan gear the better.  Needless to say, we started to attract a fair amount of attention.  Watching people take our photo and listening to drivers honk their horns, we just knew our plan was going to work.  When we stopped in front of the stadium to take our own group photo, a bunch of random fans jumped in.

We finally reached the stadium, but our work was just beginning.  We first had to identify the cameramen.  We then spent some time practicing our poses and smiles.  Throughout the entire game, we’d all stand up, hold our signs and smile whenever we saw a cameraman turn to take a crowd shot.  Finally, during the break before penalty shots, we saw one of the cameramen slowly turn his camera in our direction.  This was it.  It was our time to shine.  We stood up, held our signs high and cheered with all our might.  Sure enough, our cell phones soon started beeping.  People had just seen us on tv!  Fellow volunteers saw us, South African co-workers saw us, and even some of our learners (the few with televisions) saw us.  We were superstars!

P.S. The game itself was a lot of fun.  South Africa played Mali, and the score was 1-1 at the end of regulation.  Neither team scored in overtime, and South Africa unfortunately ended up losing during penalties.  Our 15 minutes (ok, seconds) of fame was more interesting than details about the game though, right? 

Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Birds Must Be Crazy

Our brief bird entry, notwithstanding, we haven’t really updated this blog in some time.  [Please consider all of our typical apologies/excuses inserted here.]

Speaking of the birds, the situation has worsened and morale has deteriorated.  Since we informed you guys, we’ve developed quite a bit of intel, but little in the way of a concerted counterattack.  We now realize that this bird was protecting a hidden nest above our front door in the space between our ceiling and tin roof.  We’ve come to this realization thanks to the cacophonous chirping that now awakens us daily and provides a constant irritant throughout the day.  Moreover, our surveillance of the area has shown not one, but two, offensive birds that patrol our front door area.  Since the hatching of the eggs, the violence has escalated.  On Friday alone, Matt was hit twice and Sara and Wandy were each hit one time.  When two of the ladies from the kitchen that we’re friends with came to inspect, they were also dive-bombed and narrowly escaped being hit.  They ran screaming inside our house to the amusement of Sara’s Grade 7 Girls’ Club.  So what do we do now?  We have started using our back door religiously, but the birds now know about this alternative access point as Matt was dive-bombed in the back of our home.  Yesterday, Wandy came to our house wearing a bucket as a helmet.  These bird episodes have begun feeling like we are living a Hitchcock nightmare.  The day that these young birds grow old enough to fend for themselves cannot come soon enough. 

What else is new?

Oh yeah!  Almost forgot.  We are staying until June.  We originally planned to leave in early April after the first school quarter, but we decided that by staying through the second quarter (and the end of the semester) we can make a bigger difference for some kids.  It was not an easy decision because we were looking forward to coming back, but we feel that the potential value of staying these extra months is worthwhile.  Plus, Matt has no interest in returning to a world where the Clippers are better than the Lakers.  So you guys need to postpone the welcome back parade, but at least the extra 3 months of planning should guarantee its success.  For those of you truly marking your calendars, the last day of the term is June 21.  We should come back to the States sometime in the two-week window between that date and the 4th of July. 

Tomorrow begins the third week of the school year here.  It feels good to be getting back into the swing of things.  Some day earlier this week marked our two year anniversary of being in South Africa – yay for us!  If the bird attacks continue tomorrow morning, we may actively recruit some slingshot-armed assassins at school tomorrow.  We’ll let you know.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Bird From Hell


We are terrified of a bird.  Seriously.  We have a bird that is always outside our house.  It has been known to dive bomb at people, but it’s getting more aggressive.  Yesterday, it hit Sara in the back of the head as she walked out the front door.  This morning, it hit Matt in the head.  This afternoon, it hit Sara again in the head as she was unlocking the door.  Insane!  We’re currently recruiting boys who have slingshots to take care of it.  Don’t judge.

P.S. We promise to write a real blog post this weekend.