The Beautiful Game pt.2

Wow, it is pretty hard to believe that an entire week ago I was getting ready to leave for my first World Cup game in Port Elizabeth. Time just flies by here! In order to go to that game, my two friends, Ronnie, Justine, and I had to drive approximately 8-10 hours across what is called the “Garden Route.” This is a famous and scenic drive across the coast, mountains, and flats of South Africa. I don’t think I will ever forget portions of that drive. It was certainly the most beautiful road trip I’ve ever been apart of. But then again I usually just drive from MD to AL! The drive went very well and was surprisingly easy not only enduring the amount of time it took but to find where we were staying.... Well almost surprisingly easy to find where we were staying. Actually now that I’ve written that, I’m wrong, it wasn’t very easy at all! After dropping Ronnie off a hostile in Jeffery’s Bay (one of the more famous surfing places in the world) me and Justine had yet another adventure in a foreign and unknown city in a rental car! After driving through and out of P.E. for about 30 km or so we realized we had missed the entire city... Yes the city. We drove into, through, and out of it without realizing we were out of the city for 10 minutes. Thus began a long journey of calling the people we were staying with and stopping a local petrol stations which all eventually led to our safe arrival in P.E.

We were staying with the grandparents of some missionaries Justine knew from her past in the mission field. Very random but awesome at the same time. We got to stay in an absolutely beautiful apartment where they were living. It was a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment, so we slept in the living room. This is the view that we had from the window though! We could even see Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium from it! And we got to stay with this lovely couple, who even made us breakfast in the mornings, all for free! On Saturday morning Justine and I got to explore some of the city. Thankfully we were staying within easy walking distance of the boardwalk. So we walked around for a couple hours and had an awesome lunch with a view of the ocean for around 9$. Good deal my friends.

And then it was game time. When we first arrived in Cape Town a bunch of us decided that we wanted to go to a World Cup game since we are here during the World Cup. Easy decision. We ended up getting Category 1 tickets at around the 60 yard line, only 18 rows up. I will never ever forget walking into that stadium for the first time. Truly unforgettable. The game was between Uruguay and South Korea and the atmosphere was like I was dreaming. 40,000 people who wanted to watch, talk about, and blast their vuvuzelas as much as I did! Still seems pretty surreal. I have tons of pictures and videos of the match but I can’t really upload those until I get home in August. Later that night we went to an “American Diner” where we watched the U.S. v Ghana game and I ordered two meals again. I eat much more than average person and my roommates constantly remind me of this fact! I’m going to be so fat when I am older...

The U.S. ended up losing to Ghana and I wanted to cry. Not really, but it was pretty disappointing. I guess I’ll cheer for Ghana now since they are the only African team left and it would be great to see this continent

rally around those guys. The next morning we all got up and headed back towards Cape Town, but we had to make one stop. This stop was so that a couple of my friends could jump off the worlds largest bungie. Pretty insane. I wish I could have done it, and I most certainly would have if it were cheaper! The jump is around 900(?) ft I believe. Just crazy stuff my friends. After my

friends jumped from the bridge on your right we continued our journey back home where I saw one of the most stunning things I have ever seen. I caught a glimpse of myself in the rear view mirror.

Actually I saw the moon rise out of the flats in the dark night. The moon was as yellow as the sun but obviously not as bright. It really did look like cheese, but so much more astounding. It is really indescribable and I can’t really say much more than that. I just kept looking and staring at it for as long as I could. Unforgettable. I didn’t even try to get a picture of it because it wouldn’t even begin to capture it.

The thing I most regret about this trip was not bringing a high quality camera. I have a little handheld thing but I wish I would have done everything I could (loan from the bank or something!) so I could capture these types of moments. They happen all the time here and I always have to miss them. The whole ride back, I wished I had this camera so I could show you how beautiful it was because it was truly a blessing from God for me to see it. And yes I just talked about how yellow the moon was for a couple paragraphs and how it was a blessing. Cheesy huh? (pardon the pun ;)

So on Tuesday morning I got a call. It was someone offering me a ticket to that night’s game in Cape Town. It was the game between Spain and Portugal! Two of the top teams in the world were playing that night and I got a fairly cheap ticket to go with some friends from church. I couldn’t turn it down, sorry Mom and Dad! We were dropped off in down town Cape Town and got to walk the Fan Mile all the way to the stadium. The Fan Mile is this exhilarating walk with thousands of soccer fans down a street with music blasting and parades. Just classic. After a fairly stressful wait in the security line we made it to the stadium. We walked in as the flags were coming out for the opening ceremony. The stands were already filled when we got there, and since we were sitting towards the top of the stadium I got to see how gorgeous the whole thing was. The atmosphere was even better than the Uruguay v S. Korea game

that I went to. The fans were insane and the vuvuzelas never stopped. I even got a chance to be a part of the massive wave that was going around the stadium. I am incredibly thankfully that I got to be there for that game with 62,000 other soccer fans. At half time we moved down to the first category hoping to sit in some empty seats, and we did. We ended up seated at around the top of the Spanish box where I was less than a hundred yards from Ronaldo. He stood there the whole time and occasionally walked. (See picture on right) I booed at him the whole time and loved watching every minute of that game. He proved to the world and himself, that night, that he is not the best player in the world.

So there you go. An unforgettable weekend and Tuesday night. Don’t worry I’m still doing mission work down here, just have the weekend and some nights to explore this incredible country. I love it here. I could live here. Mom and Dad, I am transferring to Cape Town University! -- Just kidding.

Tomorrow we are doing something called Samaritans Feet. Where the kids that regularly come to Holiday Club will receive the Gospel and a pair of brand new shoes. I will be washing their feet and handing them new shoes. I am truly blessed to be a part of this kind of thing. Please pray that God works tomorrow through me and through everyone participating. Thank you so much for your love and support! I’ll let you know how it goes!

God Bless,

Josh