Soccer Safari

So, I’ve been here for over a month, the World Cup is coming to a close, and only have a week left. It’s about time for me to tell everyone my favorite things about this country. In another article I will discuss the top ten soccer-related World Cup stories, this is about the South African experience. Enjoy.

1) Against the odds and the opinions of the pundits, South Africa put on a fantastic tournament.

Yes, there wasn’t the infrastructure or public transportation offered in Germany 2006, but South African officials did the best with what they had. Air travel and private transportation were the primary forms of movement around the country and despite the inconvenience of going through security, air travel was relatively cheap.

Games went off without a hitch. Security concerns proved unfounded. Sure there were instances of petty crime, but such problems can and do happen anywhere in the world.

In most venues the Park & Ride and Walk & Ride options were efficient and convenient. Only in few rural venues was there congestion and difficulty leaving stadia.

On the whole, it was a wonderful tournament and South Africans deserve to be proud of the first World Cup on the continent.

2) South Africans are the nicest people I have ever met.

After a month and a half in the country I am finding it difficult to leave. The biggest reason is the hospitality of the wonderful people I have met. When I arrived I wasn’t sure if I would buy a local phone, if it would be worth it. It was. I have forty numbers in the phone, mostly of South Africans I have met on my travels, many of whom I have hung out with more than once.

My British hosts in Johannesburg, who I spent three weeks of my month and a half with, have treated me as a member of the family. This trip wouldn’t have been possible without them. Keith, Clare, and Paul have gone out of their way to ensure my time in the capital has been productive and given me a true South African experience. Clare cooked numerous South African meals for my enjoyment, Keith has treated me like a second son, and Paul made sure I met many of his friends and has shown me around the city as only a young person can.

My African friends from Johannesburg, Lucky and Emmanuel, have gone out of their way to show me a good time, while Thabo, Lebo, Biggie, Tozi, and Thabang all have shown me African hospitality. Tozi, who is from Zimbabwe but has lived in Johannesburg for over ten years, has challenged my to a game of Pro Evolution, a soccer video game. I’m going to have to show him how Americans play video games.

I came to Pretoria for three days two weeks ago. I had such a good time staying at the guest house run by the Blignaut family, Lynette and Jan, that I came back when I came back to town. Just because they made me feel at home. I ate with the family when other guests ate on their own. Their daughter Janri has become a good friend and I will be sad to leave them all next week.

Regardless of the people I will inevitably leave, I have made friends for life. And I am thankful for that. This country is a wonerful place because the people make it so.

3) The food here is fantastic.

Im not sure where to begin, so let’s start with Braai. The South African word for barbeque, it is so much more than tossing meat on the grill. Braai is an experience. South African beef is some of the best in the world and their sausages have a unique, smokey flavor that I won’t soon forget. Before USA matches, we always went to local bars around stadiums and enjoyed beer and braai. Next door to bars are often butcher shops. You go inside, buy some fresh meat, then head outside to cook it up yourself. All of this fun can be had for about 20 Rand, or just under 3 dollars.

South African beef jerky, known as Biltong, is always fresh and spicy. It is just better than 90% of the jerky you will find in the states. The only stuff that compares is when you go straight to a butcher and buy the good stuff.

Even the oranges, which you can often buy on the side of the road at red lights, are some of the best I’ve ever had. And you can get two bushels, with twenty or so in each bag, for 10 or 20 Rand, depending on the vender and how much you feel like negotiating.

4) I love that you can speed past cops on the highway.

Driving in South Africa is always an experience whether you are avoiding the mini-bus taxis that zig-zag across the road or passing a slow car on a one-lane highway. You always have to be aware and keep an eye open for other drivers. Even though there are speed limits on the major highways and police are always visible, motorists always fly past them. There is almost an unwritten rule that as long as you aren’t going too fast or causing problems for other drivers, you can go just about whatever speed you see fit.

5) And If they do pull you over for any reason, you can bribe your way out of it.

I’ve been hearing stories about this since I arrived. I heard a story from one American friend about his buddy getting out of a speeding ticket by offering the officer that pulled him over a salad left over from dinner.

More often than not, a ticket that may cost 500 Rand and a whole lot of hassle for everyone involved, can easily be payed off on the spot for as little as a fifth of the price.

So when I arrived back in Joburg from my travels in Cape Town and was promptly pulled over, I was interested to see how the interaction would pan out. I was looking at my phone, about to call my parents, when a cop driving past saw me fiddling. He pulled me over and upon finding out I was American, told me we would have to drive to the station where I would have to pay 500 Rand.

I told him I was new in town, looking for the address of the place I was heading, which was just a little white lie. The officer at my window and his partner, who was constantly circling the car, talked it over. I told them I thought they were picking on me because I was American, and he casually denied the accusation with good nature, saying he treated everyone the same.

I knew he didn’t want to take me to the office and waste his day, and I knew that the station was the last place I wanted to head.

So he said to his friend, who was on the other side of the car, by my bumper, “What should we do with him?”

Then he addressed me saying, “You thought we were ‘ripping you off?’”, a term I had used earlier, “Well now you’re right.”

So I reached for my wallet, which had 130 Rand inside, and pulled out the cash. He said, “Keep the 30, just give me the 100.”

Both of us were satisfied – me with paying 15 bucks for the experience and him for getting something out of the deal without having to go to the station, which would inhibit him from doing the same thing again with a different unsuspecting motorist.

All in all, a good deal.

6) When people pass each other here, they toss on their hazard lights to let the other person know they appreciate it.

The first time I saw this I didn’t know what to think. But then I realized it was a courteous gesture that is easier for another driver to interpret than a wave. It’s simple and nice. And gives a little method to the chaos of driving in this country.

It also can be used in other ways. If a driver does something silly, like cut someone off, they toss their hazards on for a second and say sorry. Love it.

I might bring it back with me.

7) Beers are only 10 Rand, or $1.30

Enough said. Even in stadiums, with jacked up prices, beers reach a whopping 30 Rand.

Sure beats paying eight bucks for a Bud at Citi Field or Yankee Stadium.

South African winter is like springtime in New York.

South Africans think their winter is cold. I will concede that for about a week in Joburg during the group stages, it got into the negatives in Celsius at night. So it dipped below freezing. Yea, that is cold.

But I routinely see winter hats, gloves, scarves, and heavy coats during the daytime, when it is about 60 degrees. Hilarious.

I walk around in a long sleeve tee shirt and get strange looks from people that think I’m crazy.

Don’t go to the Northeastern United States if you are afraid of cold weather. Ever. At least from the months of October through March. And probably not April either.

9) In my time in South Africa I have learned the ins and outs of Cricket and Rugby. Finally

I love sports. All of them. For years I’ve been trying to figure out the actual rules of both games and now I have. I can’t get over how similar cricket is to baseball and especially how similar rugby and football are. After watching both sports for extended periods of time in this country, I see how Americans took what they liked and changed what they didn’t.

It was really easy to learn the rules in the end. In rugby, there are forwards (linemen and line-backers) and there are backs (running backs and receivers). When someone gets tackled there is a scrum, similar to the line of scrimmage, a battle of the big men. The object is to get the ball to the backs so they can carry it with their speed and elusive abilities.

When they score a tri, a touchdown, they get five points. The ensuing extra point is worth two. They have penalty kicks, which are like field goals and worth three points.

The difference is the American invention of the forward pass, giving autonomy to the quarterback, a position that doesn’t exist in rugby in the same sense.

The best part about rugby is that the game doesn’t stop as often as in football. When a guy is tackled play resumes immediately, there is no break for teams to regroup. It’s a bit faster even if the action isn’t as exciting during the play as in football.

When a player is penalized harshly with the equivalent of a personal foul, he gets a yellow card and sits in the “Sin Bin” for ten minutes. Football could take a page out of that book and maybe personal fouls wouldn’t happen as often.

10) There is a team in the South African Premier League called Wits University F.C.

This is the most intriguing story I’ve come across in this country. I saved the best for last. Wits are a University team that plays with the big boys. Most of the players on the team are either currently in University or went to the school at some point. Very few players on the team had no former affiliations with the school.

Lets think about that in regards to American sports..

What if the best young players could go to school and still play professionally? Think Duke basketball and Miami football. Think of the possibilities. The best players currently enrolled at the school and graduates of the university could play together. Time to pay our athletes? What if you could get an education while playing pro? Maybe some American soccer players would come to South Africa to play pro and get an education at the same time.

Just some food for thought.