Thoughts on the Trip to Cape Town

Well, where do I begin? I suppose I should start with my location: I am sitting at the desk in my hotel room in Cape Town, South Africa. After six years of dreaming about going to this fantastic spectacle, and roughly 42 hours of traveling (including a layover in Dubai) I am finally attending the World Cup.

The trip was long, but surprisingly not that stressful. Much of that has to do with Emirates Airlines. If anyone reading this ever has a chance to fly with that airline, I would suggest taking it: it will change your standards for airlines. The main thing that is fantastic about modern Emirates planes is the ICE system, which stands for Information Communication and Entertainment. The seat in front of you has a tv on the back of it, and you are given a remote. With this remote, you can choose from roughly 200 movies to watch, a whole host of television shows, games to play but most importantly, World Cup matches to watch. Granted, they were the days’ previous matches, but since our hotel in Dubai didn’t have the Brazil vs. North Korea game, I was very happy ICE was playing it. Oh and speaking of Dubai, I can tell the two days I spend there after South Africa are going to be wild. It’s like a much crazier Las Vegas in a much stricter society, making for an interesting combo. Also, when we landed there at roughly 11 PM, it was 111 degrees. Well at least I’m allowed to wear shorts there. In the United Arab Emirates, women are supposed to be completely covered except for their faces while in public, meaning my mom and sister are going to have to wear khaki pants and light sweaters while there. They’re trying to get me to suffer along with them by forcing me to wear pants, as opposed to my preferred shorts: we’ll see how that goes for them.

After sleeping (sort of) in Dubai, we boarded the 9 AM flight for Cape Town, arriving in the rainbow nation around 5 PM. We were off the ground for literally five minutes when the first vuvuzela horn was heard. We hadn’t even gotten out of the airport yet (and as I type this at 10:30 PM, at a fairly isolated hotel, plugged into my IPod, and South Africa having just lost to Uruguay, I still can hear the dull horns. I’d like to state up front that before going to the tournament, I was very pro-vuvuzela. We shall see if that remains the case. The hotel we are at is fantastic. It’s tucked away in a nice neighborhood and has a gorgeous view of the whole city. I was a little worried when we got off the plane, since the first thing you see once you depart the Cape Town airport is the many miles of townships, giving me all of a sudden this horrible vision of our hotel being a tiny shack with mud floors. The townships seem endless, it makes one wonder just how many people reside in them. They’re also much worse in person than they are in movies or any other media: I wouldn’t wish for anyone to have to live in those awful conditions. Really reminds a tourist that this beautiful nation was under the rule of apartheid no less than fifteen years ago.

Upon my family's arrival at the hotel, we relaxed and then watched the South Africa vs. Uruguay game at the bar in the lobby. The game was a depressing affair, as Uruguay dominated the game, led by Diego Forlan, winning it 3-0. To make matters worse, South Africa’s number one goalkeeper was shown a red card for fouling Luis Suazo in the penalty area, meaning he will not be available for the now must win match against France. Although the outlook is bleak, I’m not counting out South Africa yet. Either a win by France, or a tie means that South Africa could advance with a win against the French. I know their backs are against the wall, but being the hosts comes with the added perk of the enormous stadium’s crowd backing you. It also doesn’t hurt when France could’ve easily imploded by then, so their rocky situation may help Bafana Bafana sneak through. Anyway, tomorrow’s plan is to go to the fan zone. Been looking forward to this for years, since many people seem to think the massive centers full of people cheering for the games on the massive television screens is a better experience then actually attending the matches. We shall see, but I expect a full crowd to be there for at least the Mexico vs. France match. Then Friday is the big day: USAvs. Slovenia in Johannesburg. I will be in attendance and cannot wait! That pretty much describes this entire trip: I’m mostly thankful to just be here and be a part of the atmosphere. It is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially since this edition of the tournament is in Africa.